Rob McCarren had been managing plant-floor maintenance for a long time. He was brought up in a different era, learning the craft of keeping machinery running. His small team of technicians maintained a rhythm of preventive maintenance, and were counted on to move machinery with some regularity as management constantly worked to optimize material flow.

Over the years, Rob had also developed a sixth sense; he could just tell when a particular piece of equipment was about to fail, and he often knew why.

Which is why he was put out by questions he was getting from the new VP of operations – a man who had been brought in from outside the company, and who had a reputation for shaking things up.

Rob had been asked to assemble a detailed operating cost for each piece of equipment, and the VP seemed especially interested in anything to do with motors – asking for more information about when each motor or drive was serviced. Rob was very conservative with money, rewinding motors whenever possible to keep costs down. He was proud of the fact that much of the equipment – machines, compressors and conveyors alike – was still running on OEM-installed motors. He just couldn’t understand the scrutiny. So far, he’d tried to appear enthusiastic and interested in the review. But he was sure it was a waste of time.

As Rob follows direction from above, how can he demonstrate that he has minimized operating costs through careful maintenance of motors and machines?