Optimization of staff numbers in the process industries: an application of DEA

The process industries are particularly vulnerable to plant, process, and product failures. They are also interested in reducing labor costs and improving the efficiency and manpower utilization of the maintenance labor and supervision. This article suggests the utilization of data envelopment analysis (DEA) as an objective optimization approach for the comparative efficiency evaluation of the maintenance sections of a maintenance department. An example is presented with real life data from a local petrochemical company to demonstrate the application of the method. Comparative efficiency scores indicate that the petrochemical company could reduce the number of staff and supervisors in a number of maintenance sections or, alternatively, improve their outputs.