Framework Proposal for Preventive Maintenance in Third-Party Suppliers: An Action Research in the White Goods Industry

Purpose – In the white-goods context studied in this research, applying preventive maintenance principles in the supply chain is a major challenge due to the lack of communication, integration and cooperation between customers and suppliers. Thus, this study proposes a framework that presents concepts incorporated into a new software to support maintenance management of tools at third-party suppliers.
Design/methodology/approach – To achieve this objective, the action research method composed of three cycles was applied, being the first cycle a development step, the second cycle an implementation step of the process in a first supplier and the third cycle responsible for expanding the process to a second supplier.
Findings – As a result of the study, the structured framework used for the proposed software is presented. The framework indicates a path for implementing preventive maintenance at suppliers based on theory. Additionally, the action research showed the proposed framework is capable of generating higher integration and cooperation between the client company and its suppliers, increasing the performance levels of companies in the supply chain. The implementation of the framework through software and dashboard allowed the preventive maintenance implementation, resulting in improved quality levels in supplier parts and less line stoppages .
Research limitations/implications – The limitations of the work are linked to the impossibility ofgeneralizing the results found through action research and also related to the lack of quantitative analysis of the results obtained.

Framework, Supplier Quality Management, Total Productive Maintenance, Supply Chain integration