Analysis of key factors to improve maintenance management in the oil & gas industry in Latin America

This article analyses the application of maintenance management (MM) in the oil and gas industry in Latin America. We conducted a web-based expert panel to develop a set of consensus activities that managers consider when managing maintenance projects. A heterogeneous group of 96 professionals related to maintenance tasks was selected to represent all the relevant perspectives (top management; maintenance; production; quality; logistics; and finance). Some 396 maintenance practitioners took part in a second online survey aimed at establishing the key MM factors that summarised the correlations among the previously defined maintenance activities. Moreover, an equation to discover the influence that these factors have in MM improvement was obtained. Finally, maintenance practitioners were classified into groups with similar MM styles according to previously defined MM factors. Results showed that three latent factors encompassed all MM activities: manpower efficiency; project management and IT; and asset performance optimization. Project management and IT was the most influential factor in MM improvement. Four groups were identified as representing different MM styles. The MM framework outlined in an inductive manner enables maintenance practitioners in the oil and gas industry to find out their strengths and weaknesses and plan their maintenance strategy accordingly. Moreover, the outlined procedure can be generalized for use in any industry.