Assessment of the maintenance practices of the mechanical engineering workshops in the Sissala East district of the upper west region of Ghana

Abstract

Maintenance is important to the success and continuity of firms, particularly in the changing society as ours. The effectiveness and the survival of organizations are largely enhanced by the ability of management to ensure that there is functional equipment, lands and buildings, infrastructure and fixtures. In the manufacturing setup, there is wear and tear of machines and equipment in the periods of usage that require sufficient maintenance to enhance their useful life. This ensures reliability of the machines and equipment in the production plants as to uninterrupted production runs. However, most manufacturing firms in Ghana have lost their effectiveness and productivity, because of poor maintenance practices. It is in this light that the study attempts to assess the maintenance practices of mechanical engineering workshops in Sissala East District of the Upper West region. Descriptive survey design was used for the study and this was deemed appropriate for the study because it is versatile and practical and it identifies present conditions and points to recent needs of the mechanical engineering companies. The sample technique adopted for the study was purposive sampling technique which implies that only particular group of people were contacted for the study. Questionnaires were the main data collection instruments used to gather the data for study. A total 72 people were sampled for the study. After several analysis from the data gathered, it was established that maintenance practices instituted in the firms are limited to performing regular diagnosis on machines before use, performing periodic inspection of equipment, putting in place all proper tooling activities, personnel and plant protection, conducting regular conditioning monitoring and oil analysis. The study also established that firms encounter numerous challenges in trying to institute regular maintenance practices which include high cost of maintenance parts , lack of adequate funds committed to maintenance and long bureaucratic process involved in processing maintenance order for maintenance projects. The study recommends that manufacturing companies should always allocate maintenance budget to cater for any unforeseen repairs or replacement of equipment.