LEAN MAINTENANCE FRAMEWORK FOR ARMY VEHICLES SERVICEABILITY

Abstract

Serviceability refers to maintenance, repair activities and is imperative in all organizations. In the context of Military organizations, these maintenance activities encompass the maintenance of equipment, weapons, vehicles, electronic items and other equipment. In planning maintenance, the Malaysian Army needs to consider the supply of supporting hardware so that it can be deployed to any area to where the Armed forces are conveyed. In any case, execution is troublesome when the Malaysian armed force is confronted with the issue of having Type-B military vehicles that do not meet the mandatory 80% serviceability rate that is required in workshop brigade. Type-B military vehicles in military organizations include all vehicles including trailers are not functioned as armored vehicles but are used to carry passengers, all types weapons, bullets, equipments and as a cargo. Type-B military vehicles are divided into operational and non-operational functions. The objectives for this research are threefold: (i) to identify the extent to which Type-B military vehicles in Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Corps (REME) workshops achieve the mandatory 80% state of readiness serviceability level (ii) to investigate the perceived factors that contribute to the level of serviceability of Type-B military vehicles in REME workshops and {iii) to plan and propose a lean maintenance approach that would augment the serviceability level of Type-B military vehicles in REME workshops. The findings reveal that in the sample period of 2012 to 2015, the average serviceability level of 80% was only achieved in year 2012; yet for years 2013 till 2015, the mandatory serviceability levels were not achieved. Meanwhile, the perceived factors that contribute to the serviceability level are human factors, spare parts and financial factors, as shown from the results of a multiple regression analysis using SPSS. The simulation approach employed a three stage system, involving three experiments. Results show that using the simulation approach, a serviceability level of 80% can be achieved. From the findings of this study, the researcher recommends that the mathematical model, conceptual model and optimization table be adapted to suit distinctive maintenance operations in military organizations. This is because these models are important to gauge and build serviceability in repair and maintenance activities and may be useful to top management as an indicator for future activities and for the improvement of serviceability levels of military equipment.