The Roles & Responsibilities of the Maintenance Planner / Scheduler

Schedule 2/6The Maintenance Planner / Scheduler is known as the coordinator of the maintenance department.  But what if they are unsure of the priorities of the department or business?  It has the potential to increase overtime, planned downtime and increase costs.  That is why this series continues with the Maintenance Planner / Scheduler.   With the Planner / Scheduler clear on their roles and responsibilities, the technicians can deliver the right amount of care.

If you followed the steps in first post of the series, and have reviewed the Maintenance Manager, you can now proceed to the Maintenance Planner / Scheduler.  This post takes the next step of breaking down the individual role of the Maintenance Planner / Scheduler to help you on that journey.

Just to make sure everyone remains clear, I want to make sure everyone understands the difference between Roles and Responsibilities.

  • Role: The role defines the high level expectations of the functional role.  This usually consists of a few statements describing the main purpose of the position.
  • Responsibilities: Defining what specific actions or processes that the role is expected to execute to ensure that they are able to achieve the role definition.

Now we can take a look at the Maintenance Planner / Scheduler in detail.

What Is the Role of the Maintenance Planner / Scheduler?

We all know that the Maintenance Planner / Scheduler’s job is to plan work and schedule, optimizing the technicians, but what does that actually mean?  Does it include turning wrenches on the equipment, or never leaving their office?  Neither is right, but neither is wrong.  They have the role of maximizing the efficiency of the technicians.  So what specifically do they need to do?

  • Develop and document job plans for repair, improvement and PM work.
  • Ensure jobs are ready to be executed right first time
  • Develop a schedule to balance work & site priorities
  • Ensure schedule meets production priorities

Sound simple enough, but as you we all know, there are many sub tasks that all feed into these three items.

What are the Responsibilities of the Maintenance Planner / Scheduler?

Now on to the responsibilities.  These are the specific actions that the Maintenance Planner / Scheduler has to complete to ensure they fill their role.  This include, but are not limited to;

  • Prioritize incoming and backlog work
  • Develop and maintain the job plan library
  • Coordinate with the storeroom, material requirements
  • Facilitate appropriate scheduling meetings
  • Develop Schedules
  • Develop Shutdown Plans
  • Track Work Planning KPIs

We all know that the Maintenance Planner / Scheduler does more than just this, but most activities should revolve around these core responsibilities.

How Do You Measure the Performance of the Maintenance Planner / Scheduler?

Lastly, how is the Maintenance Planner / Scheduler measured on their performance?  Typically a few well balanced KPIs should be selected for each of the following areas;

  • Job Plan Accuracy
  • Job Plan Library
  • Wrench Time
  • PM Compliance
  • Schedule Adherence

With KPIs selected for each of these areas, the Maintenance Planner / Scheduler can quickly see how well he is doing and where there may be a need for more focus.

Does your Maintenance Planner know their roles, responsibilities and accountabilities?  Is it broken down like this, or is there just a job description?  When the clarity of roles and responsibilities is provided, the individual and team can make huge strides forward in their performance.  Both as an individual and as a team

Remember, to find success, you must first solve the problem, then achieve the implementation of the solution, and finally sustain winning results.

I’m James Kovacevic
Eruditio, LLC
Where Education Meets Application