Determinação de custos em manutenções preventivas em uma empresa de transporte ferroviário

Abstract

This study addresses the need to understand and manage maintenance costs, crucial for the effective and safe operation of a railway transportation company's systems. The lack of detailed cost tracking can pose operational and strategic challenges, hindering informed decision-making and efficient resource allocation, especially considering the continuous maintenance required to support core activities. The present work focused on calculating the costs involved in daily and weekly maintenance activities within the railway sector. It adopted an exploratory approach, utilizing case study methodology and quantitative research to analyze the collected data. Types of preventive maintenance, their frequencies, and activities were identified, with a concentration on daily and weekly reviews, which represent over 90% of maintenance orders. Direct costs were calculated considering labor and necessary inputs for each type of review. No indirect cost survey was conducted due to the company's restriction on accessing relevant accounting information. Data were obtained from internal documents such as maintenance records and planning and maintenance control sector reports. The study concludes that the analysis of preventive maintenance costs represents a significant advancement for the company, highlighting the previous lack of monitoring in this area and the importance of this work as a starting point for a more cost-conscious management approach. Detailed information on types of preventive maintenance, activities, and associated costs was obtained. On average, labor accounted for 36.2% and materials for 63.8% of daily review costs, and 29.7% of labor and 70.3% of materials for weekly reviews. These data serve as a foundation for future analyses and comparisons, providing managers with a clearer understanding of activity financial behavior, thereby facilitating decisionmaking and cost control.