Articles

Find all articles across all article series listed in reverse chronological order.

Failure Analysis – Mitigation

Failure Simulation has confirmed all root causes in the Storm Packer failure analysis. The focus is now on mitigations that prevent them from occurring again.

Mitigations are controls that prevent failures or reduce their probability of occurring. Ideally, an OEM implements mitigations to the product through Design for Reliability (DfR) activities before commercialization. Some mitigations may be best practices in product design. Others may be best practices for installation or maintenance processes. Some have been acquired through FRACAS programs. However, all will be based on institutional knowledge.

Is the Human Being Really an ‘Asset’?

We often hear our organizations referring to their workforce as their greatest ‘asset’. But are they really?

Let’s first define ‘asset’ from a financial perspective:

“In financial accounting, an asset is an economic resource. Anything tangible or intangible that can be owned or controlled to produce value and that is held by a company to produce positive economic value is an asset. Simply stated, assets represent value of ownership that can be converted into cash (although cash itself is also considered an asset)”

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by James Kovacevic Leave a Comment

Understanding Soft Foot and How to Correct It

Ensure Your Precision Alignment Program Is On The Right Foot.

Imagine (or maybe you don’t have to) that you take out your brand new Easy-Laser system, and proceed to perform a shaft alignment. However, it seems that no matter what you do, you can’t get a great alignment. What is going on? The foundation looks good, new shims were used, the asset is clean, and there is no pipe strain. After some discussion with others, they mention a term in which you are unfamiliar with, soft foot.
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by James Reyes-Picknell Leave a Comment

Proactive Maintenance is More Covid, How “Covid” is Yours?

Proactive maintenance requires fewer people and is more suited to physical distancing, yet cost-savings measures are driving more reactive work and workplace crowding than necessary. Proactive maintenance is more “Covid”. You have laid-off workers, contractors, and reduced spending on maintenance and parts. In fact, Covid-19 presented you with a great savings opportunity! Have you done anything to make sure those costs stay down though? Short term maintenance cost savings are easy to achieve. but they bite hard later! [Read more…]

by Greg Hutchins Leave a Comment

Speaking Up is Hard (Especially) for Risk Managers

Guest Post by Andrew Sheves (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

In David McKee’s book for children ‘Not Now Bernard’, a young boy tries to warn his parents about a monster in the yard, but they’re too busy to pay attention. All they say is ‘not now Bernard’ and ignore him. In the end, the monster eats Bernard and moves into the house, but his parents are still too busy to notice.

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by Nancy Regan Leave a Comment

MTBF versus Useful Life

There’s a big difference between MTBF and Useful Life. The two values are often misunderstood and misapplied when assigning Preventive Maintenance task intervals. In this video, I’ll explain which one is used to assign intervals for Scheduled Replacement and Scheduled Restoration tasks. We’ll also discuss Operating Context and how that can affect Manufacturer Recommended Maintenance. This is an “edutainment” video. If you’d like to skip the fun stuff (although I don’t know why you’d want to ☺️), I’ve time stamped the Reliability Moments below. Enjoy!

by George Williams Leave a Comment

What is an Asset Management System?

George Williams, CEO of ReliabilityX, explains what an Asset Management System is. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to share them in the comments below. We would love to answer them.

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by Steven Wachs Leave a Comment

How do I Test my Data for Normality?

Many statistical tests and procedures assume that data follows a normal (bell-shaped) distribution.

For example, all of the following statistical tests, statistics, or methods assume that data is normally distributed:

Hypothesis tests such as t-tests, Chi-Square tests, F tests
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
Least Squares Regression
Control Charts of Individuals with 3-sigma limits
Common formulas for process capability indices such as C_p and C_pk

Grade Your RCA Effort and Print Out Your Private Report Card…

If you had to give a grade to your current Root Cause Analysis (RCA) initiative, what would it be? How would you come to that conclusion (grade)? The paradox many face with such initiatives is drawing the distinction between compliance and actual effectiveness. What would our RCA grade be based on? In this article we will focus on the key elements to quantifiably measure your RCA initiative, so the organization can focus on the elements of the initiative that are lacking.

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by Doug Plucknette 1 Comment

Personal Expectations

A friend I have been mentoring for quite some time now asked me recently if I had a set of personal expectations I hold myself to. As part of our conversation, I quickly came up with 4 or 5 things and then later on sat down to list out the expectations I try to live by.

I think my parents set the groundwork for what I would consider my list of personal expectations. My Mom and Dad had sound values and I think it’s those values that influence our expectations. With that said, here is my list;

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by James Kovacevic Leave a Comment

Hey, Maintenance Planner! Do You Know What to Report on in Weekly Meetings?

As an Enterprise Maintenance Planner, you manage the backlog, provide a maintenance schedule, liaise with Maintenance and Operations, maintain excellent knowledge of the facility and its equipment, and find ways to optimize productivity. Phew! That’s no small to-do list.

Every day, you’re working hard to:

Keep the backlog as low as possible
Keep downtime to a minimum
Manage an organized working schedule
Successfully communicate updates to Operations and Maintenance
Work towards many other tasks and goals too!

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by Carl S. Carlson Leave a Comment

Facilitation Skill # 4 – Asking Thought-starter Questions

“A thought, even a possibility, can shatter and transform us.” – Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

One of my favorite FMEA facilitation techniques, and one that can significantly enhance meaningful participation from FMEA team members, is called “Asking Thought-starter Questions.”

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by James Reyes-Picknell Leave a Comment

Pay $3k to Keep out of Trouble, or More to Get out of Jail

Pay $3k now to keep out of trouble or more to get out of jail later. Your plant asset performance is down and you know it. It’s only a matter of time before there is an accident. You need to improve but funds are limited.

The expert consultants will want to begin with some sort of an assessment. They will identify problems and offer solutions, for a price (likely $50k or more). You can’t afford it. Some consultants might even be former employees. Ask yourself, “if they worked here before, then why didn’t she/he fix what was wrong when they were here?” Consider getting a different consultant but you will still struggle with a big inconvenient truth! [Read more…]

by Greg Hutchins Leave a Comment

Great Communications – A Matter of Time?

Guest Post by Malcolm Peart (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

Punch lines, ad-libs, and instrumental solos, even a single note on a Tibetan singing bowl, all depend on one thing…timing. Project Communication is also about timing and, whilst many people speak and opine with impunity the timing of written communication and converting possibly wild words into black & white can often mean the difference between collaboration and cooperation or resistance and antagonism.

Product reliability and Materials Engineering

This article is the first in a series about material engineering and product reliability. The intent of the article is to provide you with a basic understanding of product reliability as viewed through the eyes of a material engineer. When I first talk to engineers who have a different background or focus, I start with the basics. As we speak more, I expand into relevant areas one at a time. That is what I hope to do with this series. Introduce you to some basics, and then move on to a deeper dive into the topic.

When considering product reliability, a materials engineer is concerned with how the materials in components respond when exposed to stressors that can cause the materials to degrade. Stressors include mechanical loads, corrosive environments, chemicals, heat and cold, electricity, and radiation. You may find additional stressors based on the environment components are used in, or how they are used. It’s a problem if a component or joint in a product degrades to the point where it stops functioning as required.

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