• contract
• indicators
• global service
• maintenance

This work deals with a contractual form recently introduced in maintenance management, called Global Service (GS), where the contractor designs, manages and supplies various services on its full responsibility for the achievement of goals commonly agreed by the parties and clearly measurable in time. It offers great opportunities for improvement in terms of plant reliability, cost reduction and strategic focus but also raises many strategic and operational issues.
The purpose of this work is to guide the firm considering the GS option through the decisions that should be made during the whole life of the contract: understanding company’s current situation; choosing the GS option among other modes of contracting; selecting a GS provider; drawing up the contract; contract performance measurement; performance evaluation at payment; cancellation.
A case of maintenance outsourcing by GS is examined from the viewpoint of real operations and relations. Finally, a set of performance indicators to positively influence behaviour is suggested.