Maintenance management systems (mmss) have existed for 20 years.Nearly every highway agency has a system in operation. It is appropriate to examine the experience to determine what is being done right and where improvements are needed. An effective mms results in improved service and efficiency and reduced costs through preparing work programs that are based on prevailing field conditions and budget constraints, staffing at optimum levels, scheduling and directing maintenance crews for maximum productivity, and assuring that work programs are followed. The introduction of microcomputers has profoundly affected maintenance operations. Use of the computer often falls at two extremes. Some believe that the computer is a nuisance and a generator of paper. They would rather not have to apply it. At the other end of the scale, there is a tendency to equate management systems with the software. Some are mesmerized by the technology and losesight of the objective of the computer systems. Use of computers inhighway maintenance operations is examined. Issues discussed include determination of management functions that are most effectively automated and some pitfalls to avoid in system design. This paper appears in transportation research record no. 1276, Maintenance management 1990: proceedings of a workshop, jackson, mississippi, july 25-27, 1990.
Abstract