As you well know, the goal of PMS is maximum operational   efficiency   of   all   equipments   and   the reduction  of  equipment  downtime,  maintenance manhours, and maintenance costs. Even though the PMS provides methods and resources to accomplish each  goal,  it  is  not  self-sufficient  and  does  not  replace the  initiative  of  maintenance  supervisors  nor  reduce  the need for technically competent personnel. Recording and feedback of maintenance and personnel data allow continuing  management  analysis  and  improvement  of maintenance  methods  and  personnel  use.  If  the  ship’s force accepts the PMS program and makes full use of its  planning  methods,  the  maintenance  system  will promote confidence and reliability, and will be capable of ensuring that the combat system will be available when it is needed. Data  gathered  from  the  fleet  show  conclusively  that ships that adhere to their PMS schedule maintain a significantly higher state of materiel readiness with no greater maintenance manpower usage than ships that do not. The SERT concept is designed to ensure that the combat system PMS is properly scheduled, managed, and  used. PMS PROGRAM (COMBAT SYSTEMS) The primary ingredients of the PMS program areas follows: Comprehensive   procedures   for   planned maintenance of the combat system, subsystems, and equipments System fault isolation procedures Scheduling  and  control  of  maintenance  task performance Description of the methods, materials, tools, and personnel  required  for  maintenance Adherence to the PMS following  results: Improved   confidence Reduced  testing  time program will provide the in  system  maintenance Elimination of redundant testing resulting from lack  of  coordination Detection   of   most   malfunctions   during scheduled  maintenance  events MAINTENANCE SCHEDULING The normal flow of events and requirements the SERT  will  use  in  developing  an  integrated  maintenance schedule  is  illustrated  in  figure  4-9.  This  figure  shows maintenance  management  responsibilities  and  the sequence of events that flows from the departmental master and work center PMS record books (containing the  Maintenance  Index  Pages  [MIP]),  through  the scheduling  tools  (Cycle,  Quarterly,  and  Weekly Schedules), to test actions, unscheduled (corrective) maintenance,  and  reporting.  The  figure  does  not  show the variants and constraints the SERT must consider in the quarterly, weekly, and daily scheduling due to the shipboard  environment.  These  considerations  were discussed earlier in this chapter in the description of SERT. Maintenance Index Page (MIP) The  MIP  contains  a  brief  description   of   the requirements on the maintenance requirement card for each item of equipment, including the periodicity code, the manhours involved, the minimum required skill level,  and  (if  applicable)  the  related  maintenance requirements.  The  MIPs  for  all  equipments  in  a department are contained in the department master PMS record. The department master PMS record is used by the  department  head  to  schedule  maintenance  on  the PMS  schedule  forms.  Each  work  center  has  a  PMS record that contains the MIPs that apply to that work center. Cycle  Schedule The  Cycle  Schedule  is  used  by  the  combat  system officer (CSO) to plan quarterly, monthly, and other requirements.  It  is  a  visual  display  of  preventive maintenance  requirements  based  on  the  ship’s  overhaul cycle. Quarterly  Schedule The Quarterly Schedule, planned from the Cycle Schedule, is a visual display of the ship’s employment schedule.  This  schedule  is  prepared  by  the  CSO  in cooperation  with  division  officers,  maintenance  group supervisors,  the  system  testing  officer,  and  SERT members,  and  shows  the  current  status  of  preventive maintenance  for  each  group.  The  Quarterly  Schedule assigns  specific  requirements  in  conjunction  with  the ship’s operational schedule. 4-20