Top 10 Work Management Errors (and Their Solutions)
Webinar
Free Masterclass
In the United States, 43% of downtime is directly linked to maintenance delays or poor planning (2025 report). That’s nearly half of all production losses — and most of them are avoidable.
This exclusive session will reveal the Top 10 Work Management Errors that hold maintenance organizations back from operational excellence — and, more importantly, show you how to fix them.
Led by Michel Côté (Laurentide Controls, ex-Rio Tinto, ex-Cascades), this masterclass will provide actionable strategies to strengthen your maintenance planning, scheduling, and execution.
You Will Learn:
1. Improving Work Management
Identify the key levers to streamline your company’s work processes and reduce costly inefficiencies.
2. Proven Practices
Learn practical solutions rooted in 30+ years of hands-on experience across diverse industrial sectors.
3. Expert Insights
Engage directly with a recognized expert in reliability and asset management during an interactive Q&A.
About Work Management and Maintenance Optimization
In industrial environments, work management in maintenance is one of the most powerful levers to improve asset reliability and reduce unplanned downtime. Yet, according to recent U.S. reports, 43% of downtime is directly linked to poor planning and scheduling practices. This means that almost half of production losses could be avoided with better processes, clearer roles, and stronger execution discipline. For many organizations, the lack of a structured approach to maintenance planning leads to inefficient use of labor, uncontrolled backlogs of work orders, and underutilization of CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management Systems).
Without effective planning and scheduling, maintenance teams spend too much time firefighting instead of focusing on preventive and predictive tasks. Technicians arrive at job sites without the right parts, tools, or permits. Supervisors struggle with priorities, and managers lack visibility into what work is truly being executed. The result? Higher costs, lower productivity, and shorter asset lifecycles. Studies show that unplanned downtime in heavy industry can cost up to $260,000 per hour, highlighting just how critical efficient work management really is.
By contrast, organizations that implement robust maintenance planning and scheduling practices see significant improvements:
- Technicians spend more time on “wrench time” and less on waiting or searching for parts.
- Backlogs are controlled, prioritized, and aligned with criticality analysis.
- CMMS data becomes a reliable foundation for decision-making.
- Work execution becomes safer, more efficient, and better aligned with production goals.
Building such a system requires documenting roles and responsibilities, training staff at every level, and embedding accountability across teams. It also involves shifting the focus away from reactive firefighting and toward proactive, reliability-centered practices. Companies that adopt this mindset often achieve up to 30% gains in workforce efficiency, reduced overtime, and a measurable increase in asset availability.
This free masterclass led by Michel Côté (Laurentide Controls, ex-Rio Tinto, ex-Cascades) will uncover the Top 10 Work Management Errors most frequently observed in industry and provide concrete solutions to fix them. Drawing on over 30 years of hands-on experience across mining, pulp & paper, and metals, Michel will explain how to transform planning and scheduling into strategic enablers of operational excellence. Participants will gain practical insights, benchmark their own practices against proven standards, and leave with a clear roadmap to reduce downtime, improve efficiency, and optimize asset reliability.
Michel Cote,
Senior Consultant at Laurentide Controls
30+ years of experience
