<p>The Composite Maintenance Quality Index (CMQI) represents a novel, multidimensional framework designed to quantify and benchmark the overall quality of maintenance operations in industrial settings. This paper presents the conceptual development, empirical validation, and practical application of the CMQI across a sample of 120 manufacturing units spanning five industrial sectors in India. The CMQI integrates six primary dimensions&mdash;Preventive Maintenance Compliance (PMC), Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF), Corrective Maintenance Efficiency (CME), Spare Parts Availability (SPA), Maintenance Cost Ratio (MCR), and Workforce Competency Index (WCI)&mdash;into a single weighted composite score. Using a combination of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) for weight determination and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) for structural validation, the proposed index demonstrates strong psychometric properties, with a Composite Reliability (CR) of 0.89 and Average Variance Extracted (AVE) of 0.67. Results indicate that CMQI scores vary significantly across sectors (F = 18.34, p &lt; 0.001), with the automotive sector exhibiting the highest mean CMQI (74.6 &plusmn; 8.2) and the textile sector the lowest (51.3 &plusmn; 9.7). The index provides maintenance managers and industrial engineers with a diagnostic tool for benchmarking, gap analysis, and continuous improvement planning.</p>

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