During pre-World War II, people assumed of maintenance as an additional cost to the plant without increasing the value of finished goods. Therefore, maintenance was restricted to fixing the machine when after break down because it was the cheapest substitute. In other words, people used to manufacture and delay for the equipment to develop some failure then start maintenance. Worker could communicate with each other before changing shifts so that the incoming shift will be aware of all possible harms and dangerous areas (Napp, 2009).
Engineers and engineering students who were recruited to join the military were not present for work. As a result, the United States Office of Education arranged a number of maintenance programs. These programs include the Engineering, Science and Management Defence Training (ESMDT) or Engineering, Science and Management War Training (ESMWT) and Engineering Defence Training. All university conducted all these courses with the Office of Education paying for instruction, laboratory equipment, and maintenance (Napp, 2009).