Medal Paints: A Case Study

1. INTRODUCTION
The practical management problem faced by managers at Medal Paints is that there has been an increase in equipment breakdown due to lack of maintenance on the equipment. The company was faced with a challenge of maximising production outputs and minimise cost. When minimising costs very often company s look at the cost of maintenance and Medal Paints also decided to minimise costs by cutting down on maintenance costs.
The company purposely allows the equipment to function until a breakdown occurs, at this point responsive maintenance will then be performed on the equipment. When that occurs it is the operator/user’s responsibility to report any faults and breakdowns to the maintenance team. The maintenance team has the responsibility

(S,Mohammad Hadi Hadavi, 2009)
2.3. Improving maintenance performance.
As mentioned above, the environmental conditions which the equipment experiences (e.g. the speed of the equipment, the load the equipment carries, the person operation the equipment, and the production method) all have an influence on the equipment life. Thus assessing the condition of the equipment is vital in order to identify any faults that may have occurred during it being used Basim Al-Najjar (2007).
The purpose of my research is to describe the extent of lack of maintenance on equipment due to cost minimisation at Medal Paints and how Medal Paints can improve on its maintenance performance.
Over all research question: What is the extent impact of lack of maintenance on the equipment due to minimization of costs and how can the company improve maintenance performance?
3. LITERATURE REVIEW: SUB-QUESTIONS
An emphasis was made that the effects of lack of maintenance on equipment would result in equipment down time. When the equipment is on downtime the production process would be on hold. This does not only affects the production team, but is also affects the company as a

 Question 2: What are the effects of maintenance on equipment?
 Question 3: What factors contribute in equipment deterioration?
 Question 4: How can company s improve on equipment performance?
4. DELIMITATIONS, ASSUMPTIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE
Limitations: maintenance of equipment can be seen as an adequate measure of work on an equipment to restore or preserve it. For the purpose of my study, I will concentrate on the effects of lack of maintenance, the contributing factors to equipment deterioration and how company s can improve on equipment performance.
Assumptions: in order to conduct the study I go assume that the lack of maintenance on the equipment has resulted in may unresolved issues such as: quality issues, the occupational health and safety of employees and a decrease in customer satisfaction.
Significance or importance of resolving the research: the finding of this study will assist the managers at Medal Paints to understand the importance of maintenance and how it impacts the whole company. The finding of this study will heighten the literature review in the following ways:
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