Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site
Find all articles across all article series listed in reverse chronological order.
Operations / production problems often have their roots in the lack of performance, or outright failure, of their physical assets. The costs (both real and opportunity) are huge and it can impact environmental compliance as well as safety.
Loss management is a critical yet often overlooked component of operational excellence. Understanding and addressing the various types of losses—minor stops, speed losses, setup and adjustment losses, process failures, and quality losses—are essential to maximizing equipment effectiveness and productivity. By identifying these losses and taking proactive steps to mitigate them, organizations can transform their operations, reduce waste, and enhance profitability.
[Read more…]
True or False? Is Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) a Proprietary Process?
In this video, I explore a common question: Is Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) proprietary? The answer is False! While the foundational book on RCM was written by Stanley Nowlan and Howard Heap of United Airlines, it was funded by the U.S. government, making RCM a public domain process. Although you’ll find various proprietary training materials, the core principles of RCM are accessible for any organization to apply.
[Read more…]
Reliability engineers often struggle with the concept of risk appetite and how it impacts decision making. The long answer is that risk appetite is real and has been recognized by decision analysis academics and gurus over the past fifty years. The shorter, more practical answer is that risk appetite exists in every organization, but it is more implicit than explicit. Context (timing and position) significantly affects risk appetite.
My appetite is often driven by what I ate recently, who else is sharing the meal, and who is doing the cooking. But then, some days I want chicken and some days I want steak.
Colloquially and according to most dictionaries, risk is defined as “the possibility of loss or injury; peril” (Merriam-Webster).
[Read more…]In the realm of mechanical engineering, the reliability and longevity of pumps are critical for numerous industrial applications. Predicting wear-out of pumps can significantly enhance maintenance strategies, reduce downtime, and optimize operational efficiency. One effective approach to predicting wear-out is by monitoring the revolutions per minute (RPM) of pumps over a large population and extended time periods. This article delves into the methodology of creating a wear-out prediction model based on RPM measurements.
[Read more…]
[Note: I wrote and published this article in August 2016, almost 10 years ago. The overall house hasn’t failed yet some windows leak when it’s raining (replaced), the water heater and furnace have both failed (replaced, repaired), and we are enjoying the house as our home. And, while I do get out for walks, I do not play Pokémon Go anymore.]
Seriously, while out walking, listening to a podcast, and playing Pokémon Go, I found an open house to view. A week later our offer was accepted, and next week we close.
I would not have been out walking that Sunday afternoon if not out playing Pokémon Go.
Glad there are no dangerous cliffs nearby. [Read more…]
In the previous chapter, the Product Realization will be defined at a high level as well as the ideas behind a New Product Development Introduction (sometimes written as NPDI) framework.
In this chapter the effects of the market on your product are discussed, what you think is the best version of your idea may be influenced by many factors in the markets you believe you can sell it to.
Maintenance Strategy 101: Correct Equipment Maintenance Management Strategy Selection makes All the Difference
You select and apply maintenance strategy with the purpose of controlling failure. Your maintenance management starts on the project drawing board. If you only select your maintenance management strategies when the equipment is installed, you will always be fighting a losing battle!
Maintenance is a risk management practice used to maximise production and minimise loss and waste. Selecting a successful maintenance strategy requires a good knowledge of equipment failure behaviour and maintenance management practices. Once you appreciate why equipment fails, how equipment fails and when equipment fails you can select the right mix of maintenance strategies to extend and maximise its service and performance.This article takes you through the factors which affect equipment performance and service life. It also introduces you to the maintenance strategies available to you today and how they work. You will also discover within the article many maintenance management benefits that each maintenance strategy will bring you.
[Read more…]
Organisational cultures can either enable or inhibit effective risk management through either constructive or defensivebehavioural norms respectively.
When there is constructive organisational culture, people want to, rather than have to, manage risks and do good risk management. And when there is a defensive organisational culture, people avoid doing good risk management and only do risk management when they have to or are being forced, either by management or regulators, merely as a tick-the-box compliance exercise.
Test your knowledge of Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) with this quick quiz! Which of the following are part of the RCM process? Is it:
A) CBM
B) FMEA
C) CBM and FMEA
D) None of the above
[Read more…]
Dear friends, we are happy to release this 104th technical video. In this video, Hemant Urdhwareshe explains and illustrates use of Monte Carlo Simulation to predict reliability using an open-source free software Argo. Hemant Urdhwareshe is a Fellow of ASQ and is certified by ASQ as CRE, Six Sigma Master Black Belt, CQE and CMQ/OE.
[Read more…]
Many years back when I started my Asset Management journey, the ISO55000 series of standards was always lingering overhead as the “bible” of asset management. The problem was that the systems and processes we tend to learn in this field stem from those standards, but rarely do we deep dive into the documentation and try to mind map for ourselves how it all fits together. [Read more…]
“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” Albert Einstein
There is no more important outcome from an FMEA than identifying and addressing high-risk issues. In this article, I will outline how to evaluate an FMEA against the FMEA Quality Objective for addressing high-risk failures.
The level of risk in an FMEA is identified in the Risk Priority column. For each failure mode and corresponding effect and cause, the FMEA team designates the level of risk, such as “high” or “medium” or “low.” High-risk failures are those that the FMEA teams assigns the highest level of risk, based on appropriate FMEA standard or company policy.
“Address” means “to deal with, handle, or give attention to a problem, issue, or topic in a deliberate and effective way.”
In an FMEA, each of the high-risk failure modes must be addressed by effective actions that reduce risk to an acceptable level. [Read more…]
Spending too much on reliability and not getting the results you expect? Just getting started and not sure where to focus your reliability program? Or, just looking for ways to improve your program?
There is not one way to build an effective reliability program. The variations in industries, expectations, technology, and the many constraints shape each program. Here are three suggestions you can apply to any program at any time. These are not quick-fix solutions, nor will you see immediate results, yet each will significantly improve your reliability program and help you achieve the results you and your customers expect. [Read more…]
At its core, risk management exists to protect us. It aims to reduce both the likelihood and the consequences of adverse events, whether those events affect safety, quality, cost, equipment, or project schedules.
Good risk management is not reactive. It is proactive. It assumes that future events can be influenced and, to some degree, controlled. That belief alone fundamentally changes how organizations plan, design, and operate.
[Read more…]
