Maintenance department
AFTER the pandemic (presuming it’s over) maintenance routines, given a low priority during the lockdown period, have become important again now that physical customers are out again.
The state of publicly accessible premises provides an indicator of effective management of companies, membership clubs, malls, restaurants, and condos. A well-lit lobby with clean walls and polished floors, toilets with working flushes and ample toilet paper (even when not charging for usage) and working elevators all demonstrate an effective maintenance culture.
A condominium building with a high occupancy rate, with most if not all unit owners or renters dutifully paying monthly dues, tends to have a well-lit reception area, with no dark corners where trash collects. Receptionists and security personnel are neatly attired and courteous. They answer questions on gym hours and policy on guests who want to use the Olympic pool — Sir, you need to remove your shoes.
Is a disregard for maintenance procedures sheer carelessness? Can its absence be excused as a case of cost-cutting? Do we often dispense with following the users’ manual for keeping equipment working as designed? Do we ignore maintenance schedules and run down equipment until it is no longer usable?
Do we as a country have a maintenance culture?
The maintenance department for offices and malls, especially when applied to non-revenue service areas like lobbies, elevators, and toilets, seems to rate low in a property owners’ list of priorities, right below building access for the disabled.
One reason we consign the maintenance and repair function to an unglamorous position (and low pay) in the corporate culture is the rise of a disposable culture. Shavers, face masks, and even gadgets are not intended to be used over and over to economize and reduce waste to save the earth.
Even with scrupulous maintenance habits, products have their “best-before” dates. Thus, it is no virtue to keep maintaining and repairing a car that is simply breaking down too often. This is usually sold cheaply without any guarantees — “as is, where is.”
The maintenance habit needs to also recognize when a piece of equipment just needs to be replaced. A mobile phone that is planned for obsolescence and no longer accepting new apps is merely handed down to others lower on the technological food chain. Or it is just mothballed when needing repair or parts replacement. There is, after all, a newer gadget with more features and a bigger memory one must have, even if not used to its full capability.
Of course, the antique collectors of watches and cars continue to rehabilitate their classic models and even join other collectors in auctions and trade events. This maintenance approach seeks to enhance the value of a product that is no longer being manufactured. Thus have vinyl records been elevated to collector status — it’s the mellowness of the sound. There is even pride and joy in machining no longer available parts to make obsolete equipment work again.
Thrift shops for second-hand clothes seem to be enjoying a chic resurgence. It’s becoming fashionable especially among millennials to sift through discarded (maybe even donated) coats and jackets looking for a fit. This bargain hunting has nothing to do with lack of purchasing power. It is more connected to advocacy of recycling and saving the earth.
“De-clutter” sales in posh neighborhoods and condominiums have just raised the charm of disposal and re-use. Isn’t this part too of maintaining habits for “previously owned” merchandise. The adventure of stumbling into some underpriced or unappreciated treasure can be a new thrill.
Social relationships too have maintenance issues. A partner requiring “high maintenance” refers to her expensive tastes or his needy and suffocating embrace. Both in time and money, such high maintenance partnerships can be exhausting. Maintenance rules need to be understood from the start.
What about personal maintenance habits like good physical and mental health? In this matter, a person, especially as he ages, needs to follow a healthy lifestyle that requires regular exercise, a good diet, an optimistic outlook in life, and lasting relationships.
This corporal equipment may also need occasional repair and rehabilitation, even when following a good maintenance regime. Replacement of defective parts in this case may not always be possible. Neither is a trade-in for a newer model.
Tony Samson is chairman and CEO of TOUCH xda
