Viewpoint: The North American Maintenance Excellence Award

By Stanley T. Grabill, CMRP, 2013 Chairman, Foundation for Industrial Maintenance Excellence

The North American Maintenance Excellence (NAME) Award is an annual program to recognize North American organizations that excel in performing the maintenance process to enable operational excellence.

The NAME Award is run by the non-profit Foundation for Industrial Maintenance Excellence, established in 1990, whose board of directors comprise past winners. We are volunteers—and represent some of the best owner/operator practitioners in the business. Companies represented belong to multiple business verticals: Automotive, Biomedical, Chemicals, Food, Mining and Metals, Petroleum, Pharmaceuticals and Pulp & Paper. There have been over 70 applicants and 21 winners to date. The program follows an annual venue, starting with the initial application deadline of June 30, whereby all applicants are eligible to achieve this recognition.

What are the objectives of the NAME Award?

1. To increase the awareness of maintenance as a competitive edge in cost, quality, service and equipment performance. 2. To identify industry leaders, along with potential or future leaders, and highlight “best” practices in maintenance management. 3. To share successful maintenance strategies and the benefits derived from implementation. 4. To understand the need for managing change and stages of development to achieve maintenance excellence. 5. To enable operational excellence.

What are the benefits of participation?

1. Maintenance process assessment: Completing the application facilitates an internal audit of strengths and opportunities for improvement. 2. Competitive awareness: Entering the award program increases the participants’ awareness of their maintenance process and reflects favorably on their commitment to utilize maintenance as a competitive advantage. 3. Goal setting: This helps sites establish priorities and competitive performance goals based on standards of maintenance excellence. 4. Feedback for continuous improvement: Participants are provided valuable benchmarking comparison data to support their continuous improvement. 5. Increased cooperation: Participating in the NAME Award program builds a sense of site teamwork and emphasizes the value of interfunctional support.

What are the areas of evaluation?

1. Organization in the areas of operations and maintenance team development, effective human-resource utilization, employee development and training, and progressive employee involvement. 2. Work processes, which includes Maintenance Execution, Planning and Scheduling, Reliability and Continuous Improvement HSE, business planning, performance measurement and reporting, and fixed asset/capital project management. 3. Materials Management, including Storeroom Customer Service Levels and Inventory Control, Procurement activities and Supplier Alliances, and Strategic and Operational Storeroom Materials Planning.

Is there a screening process to help prospective participants understand if their sites have a good chance of winning?

Yes. Go to our Website and submit a “Quick Check,” a two-page questionnaire designed to allow a potential award candidate to investigate its site’s readiness to apply. The questionnaire is designed to explore industry Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Once completed, it is forwarded to the NAME Board of Directors, which reviews it and assigns a score, thus helping the candidate determine if the site is ready for the full award application. This service is provided free of charge.

What is the timing?

Each year’s applications must be completed by June 30. The NAME Board reviews them by mid-August, at which time the applicant is deemed eligible for a final site examination. Others are notified with our feedback. The site examination occurs in the September-to-October time frame, followed by a decision and notification in November. The NAME Award is publicly presented at the MARTS Conference in Chicago, typically in March.

For further information, please visit www.nameaward.com. MT&AP

stan.grabill@honeywell.com