Management and operations maintenance for a water treatment and supply company

This paper intends to highlight the importance of the maintenance activity for all kind of companies in general and for the water treatment companies in particular. To attain this objective, a literature review on the evolution of the maintenance concept, the relation between the production function and the total productive maintenance (TPM) and the factors that influence the success of TPM is performed. To demonstrate the contribution of the maintenance activity for the improvement of the performance of companies especially for the water treatment companies, a case study of a Portuguese company belonging to the water treatment sector is performed. The water company considered in the case study, regarding management and maintenance activities, has an annual capacity of treatment and distribution of 41 million m3 of drinking water to approximately 438,000 inhabitants spread over a geographic area that represents 15% of the Portuguese territory. Copyright © 2017 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.