Plant Floor

Selected focus / Money

Cost ControlWhat moves the number?

Cost is an outcome. Control demand, risk, materials, and lifecycle decisions before cutting the number.

Are costs falling because the system improved, or because work and risk were deferred?

Reference target

Within ±5% of budget without growing deferred risk

Use a consistent definition and your plant’s operating context.

The improvement path

Build the foundations.
Then move upstream.

Choose a stage. See what each system does, why it belongs, and the first action to take.

Stage 1 / Maturity 1

Make cost and risk visible

Connect labor, material, downtime, and deferred work.

01 / Build this first

KPI Review System

What it does
Turn metric movement into owned operating action.
Why it matters here
A KPI review system keeps cost beside availability, reactive demand, and deferred-risk indicators so savings cannot hide damage.
Your first move

Select 5–7 KPIs that align with your department's biggest gaps

02 / Directly moves this KPI

Work Order Management

What it does
If it's not in a work order, it didn't happen.
Why it matters here
Work-order cost and asset history provide the transaction detail needed to explain where maintenance money is going.
Your first move

Define minimum required fields: asset, priority, work type, description, completion notes

Build on: KPI Review System

Stage 1 of 4

Supporting layer

Useful after the foundations hold

Put Fix the System to work

One improvement. Three useful views.

Open the book’s worksheets
  1. 01Explore

    Choose the right tool

    Start with your role and the foundations your plant has in place.

    Maintenance Tool Roadmap
  2. 02You are here

    Trace what moves the KPI

    Find the supporting systems and the first change to investigate.

    KPI System Map
  3. 03Explore

    Give the change an owner

    Connect the result to a role measure, a practical action, and a review.

    KPI Cascade Framework

Use the book’s cycle and playbook picker to choose a response, then bring the relevant worksheet to the team. These connections guide an investigation; they do not prove a cause.

Need the KPI definitions?

Build the maintenance dashboard

Take the complete path with you

A visual pack for sharing. A field guide for working.

Share the two-slide overview, or bring the two-page PDF field guide to your next team review.

Substack

The weekly brief

Fix the System.

One practical maintenance systems essay every week. No gate, no consulting pitch.

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Fix the System book cover

The operating manual

Fix the System.

Chapter 3 maps the cycle. Chapter 14 selects the first playbook. Chapters 15–24 install the response behind the KPI.

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