Status of Maintenance Engineering in Ghanaian Manufacturing Industry
Abstract
The intent of this paper is to investigate maintenance engineering practices of manufacturing firms in Ghana, an area of research that does not seem to have received adequate attention in the past. Owing to technological pressures many firms now employ ever-increasing sophisticated machinery for production and the application of sound maintenance engineering principles has become necessary in order to assure cost effectiveness and enhanced operational and technical efficiency. The descriptive survey design approach was adopted in the study with a questionnaire sent to 60 firms but returned by 30 of them, supplemented with material from the literature. Data gathered were analysed using descriptive statistics involving frequency counts and regression analysis via MS Excel and Stata10. In addition graphs were plotted for visual effect. The results reveal such problems as the inefficient methods of training maintenance staff in most firms in most firms, resulting in their inability to retain knowledge for repair of some types of faults and the non-application of modern tools and techniques in maintenance. Further, larger firms show a greater tendency to follow standard maintenance procedures more regularly than smaller ones and use of contract maintenance is increasing in Ghanaian manufacturing industry. These findings may be interpreted to mean that firms need to chart strategy for developing capacity through relevant training and practice for coping with highly sophisticated industrial machinery and for managing the balance between the ever increasing sophistication production machinery and technical skills development.
Keywords: Status; Maintenance; Engineering; Manufacturing Industry; Ghana
References
Adejuyigbe, S.B.(2006). Industrial Automation in Ghanaian Industries: The Case of
Kumasi Metropolis. Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences,1(4),383-393.
Ahuja, I.P.S., and Khamba, J.S. (2007).An Evaluation of TPM Implementation Initiatives in AnIndian Manufacturing Enterprises. Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering,13(4), 338-352.
Amoako-Gyampah, K., and Boye, S. (2001).Operations strategy in an emerging economy:
Thecase of the Ghanaian Manufacturing Industry. Journal of Operations Management,19(1), 59-79.
Aspinwall, E., and Elgharib, M. (2013).TPM Implementation in Large and Medium Size Organisations. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 24(5), 688-710.
Assaf,S., Hassanain, M. A., Al-Hammad, A., and Al-Nehmi, A. (2011). Factors
Affecting Outsourcing Decisions of Maintenance Services in Saudi Arabian
Universities.Property Management, 29(2), 195-212.
Association of Ghana Industries (2011).Association of Ghana Industries (AGI)
Membership Register, 2011.
DiPaoloR., (2010).Saving Money with CMMS.
http://www.cmmonline.com/articles/saving money-with-cmms-7], (Accessed on
the 10th of May, 2010)
Dhillon, B.S., and Liu, Y. (2006). Human Error in Maintenance: A Review. Journal of
Quality inMaintenance,12(1), 21-36.
Frazer, G. (2004).Which Firms Die? A Look at Exit from Manufacturing in Ghana,
Retrieved from the website: http://www.csae.ox.ac.uk/conferences/2004-
gprahdia/papers/4f-frazer-csae2004.pdf (Accessed on the 14th of June, 2014)
Gebauer, H., Putz F., Fischer, T., Wang, C., and Lin, J. (2008). Exploring Maintenance
Strategies in Chinese Product Manufacturing Companies. Management Research
News, 3(12), 941-950.
Haroun, A. E., and Duffuaa, S.O. (2009).Maintenance Organization. In Ben-Daya et al.,
Handbook of Maintenance Management and Engineering, Springer, London,
p.14-15.
Jain A. K. (2013). Influence of Modification of Design out Maintenance and Design out
Information System for Maintenance Cost Control and A Lucrative Business (With
a Case Study).International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology,4(1),
-9.
Kumar, U., Galar, D., Parida, A., Stenstrom, C., and Berges, L.(2013). Maintenance
Performance Metrics: A State-of-the-Art Review. Journal of Quality in Maintenance,19(3), 1-9.
McKone, K. E., Schroeder, R. G., Kristy O., and Cua, K. O.(2001).The Impact of Total
Productive Maintenance Practices on Manufacturing Performance. Journal
of Operations Management,19, 39-58.
Mishra, R. C., and Pathak, K. (2006).Maintenance Engineering and Management (4th
Ed).New Dehli: Prentice Hall of India, p. 82-89.
Muller, A., Crespo Marquez, A., and Iung, B. (2008). On the concept of e-maintenance: review and current research. Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 93(8), 1165-1187.
Obeng-Odoom, F., and Amedzro, L.(2011).Inadequate Housing in Ghana. UrbaniIzziv,
(1), 127-137.
Prajapati, A., Bechtel, J., and Ganesan, S. (2012). Condition-Based Maintenance: A Survey. Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering,18(4), 384-400.
Telang, A. D., and Telang, A. (2010).Comprehensive Maintenance Management: Policies,
strategies and Options.NewDehli: PHI Learning Private Limited, p. 48-63.
Tsang, A. H. C. (2002).Strategic Dimensions of Maintenance Management. Journal of
Quality in Maintenance, 8(1), 7-39.
Uzan, A.,and Ozdogan, A. (2012). Maintenance parameters based production policies
Optimization. Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, 18(3), 295-310.
Zhou, X., Xi, L., and Lee, J.(2006). A Dynamic Opportunistic Maintenance Policy for
Continuously Monitored Systems. Journal of Quality in Maintenance, 12(3),
-305.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Section
License
By submitting and publishing your articles in the African Journal of Applied Research, you agree to transfer the copyright of the Article from the authors to the Journal ( African Journal of Applied Research).
