CRL Maintenance Planning and Scheduling 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary goal of maintenance planning in a reliability-centered organization?
- Minimize the number of maintenance technicians required
- Ensure all necessary resources and information are available before work begins (Correct answer)
- Reduce the total number of work orders issued
- Increase the frequency of corrective maintenance tasks
Correct answer: Ensure all necessary resources and information are available before work begins
Effective maintenance planning ensures that labor, parts, tools, permits, and instructions are all in place before a job starts, eliminating delays and improving wrench time.
Question 2: Which metric best measures the effectiveness of a maintenance planning function?
- Total number of work orders completed per month
- Percentage of planned versus reactive maintenance work (Correct answer)
- Average overtime hours per technician
- Number of spare parts stocked in the warehouse
Correct answer: Percentage of planned versus reactive maintenance work
The ratio of planned (proactive) to reactive (unplanned) maintenance work directly reflects how well the planning function is preventing emergency breakdowns.
Question 3: In maintenance scheduling, what does 'schedule compliance' measure?
- The percentage of work orders completed within the scheduled time window (Correct answer)
- The number of hours technicians spend on administrative tasks
- The ratio of corrective to preventive work orders
- The average response time to emergency breakdowns
Correct answer: The percentage of work orders completed within the scheduled time window
Schedule compliance measures the percentage of scheduled work orders that were actually completed as planned, indicating adherence to the maintenance schedule.
Question 4: What is 'wrench time' in the context of maintenance management?
- The time required to tighten all bolts on a piece of equipment
- The percentage of a technician's shift spent performing actual hands-on maintenance work (Correct answer)
- The time it takes to procure a replacement wrench
- The scheduled duration for a planned maintenance task
Correct answer: The percentage of a technician's shift spent performing actual hands-on maintenance work
Wrench time is the proportion of a technician's total available time spent actually performing productive maintenance tasks, typically 25–35% in unplanned environments and 50–55% in well-planned ones.
Question 5: A maintenance planner is developing a job plan for an equipment overhaul. Which element is MOST critical to include?
- A list of all employees who have worked on the equipment historically
- Detailed task steps, required parts, special tools, and estimated labor hours (Correct answer)
- The equipment's original purchase price and depreciation schedule
- A list of all previous corrective work orders for the asset
Correct answer: Detailed task steps, required parts, special tools, and estimated labor hours
A complete job plan must contain task sequences, required materials, special tools and permits, and labor estimates so that all resources are mobilized before work begins.
Question 6: What is the recommended sequence for processing a maintenance work order from initiation to closure?
- Identify → Plan → Schedule → Execute → Close/Document (Correct answer)
- Schedule → Identify → Execute → Plan → Close/Document
- Plan → Execute → Identify → Schedule → Close/Document
- Execute → Plan → Identify → Close/Document → Schedule
Correct answer: Identify → Plan → Schedule → Execute → Close/Document
The standard work order process flows from identification and prioritization, through planning and scheduling, to execution and documentation, ensuring accountability and continuous improvement.
Question 7: Which of the following best describes a 'backlog' in maintenance management?
- Work that has been completed but not yet invoiced
- Approved, planned work that has not yet been scheduled or executed (Correct answer)
- Equipment that has exceeded its design life
- A list of vendors approved for emergency purchases
Correct answer: Approved, planned work that has not yet been scheduled or executed
The maintenance backlog is the accumulation of approved and planned work orders awaiting scheduling and execution, and managing it is essential to balancing workload and resources.
