Member Spotlight: Brent Corey, MMP

Brent has spent most of his career - over 30 years so far - in the pulp and paper industry where he achieved 3rd Class Power Engineering certification. He also achieved Journeyman Machinist status and now a "Maintenance Management Professional" designation having recently completed the PEMAC MMP program at British Columbia Institute of Technology.

Employer: Vancouver General Hospital
Job Title: Maintenance Supervisor

Since 2008 Brent has been a supervisor in the maintenance department at Vancouver General Hospital, one of the five largest hospital facilities in North America. Parts of the building are over 100 years old so his workday as the Mechanical Maintenance Supervisor is never boring. Having the opportunity to teach, lead and learn with a team that is interested in getting better at what they do every day is what keeps Brent going to work and he's convinced that approach keeps the team enthused as well. "When our team gets more efficient we don't just sit back. It frees up time to take on new things and we work on getting those things working better, too. We started a lunch and learn program where we have sales reps come in to give us 1-hour seminars (not sales pitches) on their category of products, mechanical seals, for example. At first it was a bit of a chore to get everyone to attend. But now we all look forward to our monthly learning sessions and it seems like everyone is interested in working smarter and implementing the best solutions, not just doing things the way we used to do it. For example, nobody was excited about laser alignment; we were actually actively going the opposite direction. But when the guys learned more about the advantages and exactly how to do it, they got into it, mastered it and then they wanted to take on the next thing. By now I have guys researching the solutions to problems they are facing and bringing in ideas. That's what it's all about."

Brent had this to say about participating in the Maintenance Management Professional Certificate Program: "The MMP program was awesome. It takes the mystique out of maintenance as a part of the business and helps short circuit a whole lot of trial and error. If you were to take this program early in your career it would get you job-ready. For me it was later in my career and it has really helped me perform at a higher level and get my whole team on board with continuous improvement. Most people who get into maintenance are people who are more comfortable with their hands. They fix things. But if you want to go anywhere in maintenance you have to be able to talk in terms of how it impacts the bottom line. How can maintenance make my business better? How can maintenance be a profit centre instead of a cost?"