Outsourcing maintenance-a question of strategy

As organisations today strive to achieve minimum operating costs and lean operations in terms of manpower, the maintenance activity has become a target for outsourcing. With a growing shortage of skilled and experienced maintenance engineers, facilities management companies provide an attractive alternative to the traditional approach to maintaining assets. However, for many organisations, maintenance is close to the core of their operations and the decision to outsource is a difficult one. How, then, can an assessment be made on whether or not to outsource, and what are the key issues in the decision making process? The author discusses these points.