756 ORGANIZATION AND OPERATION 



without the assistance of the regular maintenance department. 

 By being permitted to repair their own apparatus the operating 

 attendants become more familiar with its details and learn better 

 how to operate it and take operating care of it, and are given an 

 interesting occupation, in addition to saving the time of the 

 maintenance men in attending to minor repairs. 



The aim is to substitute preventive maintenance for breaking 

 down repairs. The result of this inspection and maintenance 

 system has been that the apparatus is kept in better condition, 

 and this has been accomplished with the minimum of attention 

 on the part of superiors, as the system is more or less automatic 

 in its workings. At the same time, the reports and schedules 

 give the superior very definite knowledge of the condition of his 

 equipment. All this work being laid out before the man in the 

 form of instructions relieves the superior of continually correcting 

 new men and instructing them in how things are supposed to 

 be done. It also eliminates dependence on word-of-mouth 

 transmission of instructions from one man to another. 



This systemization tends to minimize the possibility of 

 neglect of maintenance work on apparatus, and by scheduling 

 the work as to time and making necessary the planning of the 

 work to get it through in that period, there is less time lost in 

 doing the maintenance jobs or between jobs, and the maintenance 

 or operating shifts are thus able to turn out more work and better 

 work. 



