How to Measure a Contractor's Performance





By Mike Cowley  
OTHER PARTS OF THIS ARTICLEPt. 1: Ten Reasons for Outsourcing FailurePt. 2: Guidelines for Outsourcing ContractsPt. 3: This Page


If managers have any hope of successfully outsourcing maintenance, they need to give contractors adequate information in the scope of work to indicate the performance measures managers will use to judge performance. To that end, here are common maintenance performance measures managers can use to judge the performance of a contractor:

  • Backlog weeks, which list all deferrable work not yet scheduled for completion. Goal: Four-six weeks.
  • Schedule compliance, which measures the accuracy of the contractor's weekly schedule. Goal: Greater than 95 percent.
  • Preventive maintenance (PM) compliance, which measures how up to date the contractor's PM program is. Goal: Greater than 99 percent.
  • Percent planned work, which measures the percent of total man-hours planned. Goal: 80 percent.
  • Customer satisfaction, which measures the satisfaction customers receive from the contractor. Goal: Greater than 95 percent.
  • Response time to trouble calls, which measures the responsiveness of the contractor. The goal depends on culture, so it could be 15, 30, or 60 minutes.

These performance measures should give managers an idea of the types of measurements that will help develop a statement or scope of work. They also should help managers develop an outsourcing contract that has a strong chance of success and leads to a more efficient operation.

Agree? Disagree? Have something to say? We want to hear from you. Visit myfacilitiesnet.com/members/Michael-Cowley/default.aspx, and "Start a Conversation."

Michael Cowley, CPMM, is president of CE Maintenance Solutions. Cowley provides maintenance training, coaching, and consulting services to facility and manufacturing organizations nationwide, and he is a frequent speaker at national facility management conferences.


Continue Reading: Management Insight: Maintenance Solutions Columnist

Ten Reasons for Outsourcing Failure

Guidelines for Outsourcing Contracts

How to Measure a Contractor's Performance



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