I often ask my classes ‘If we follow our procedures to the letter, do nothing more and nothing less; would we optimize our system productivity, safety and reliability?’ The answer is NO. [Read more…]
Should a Procedure = Practice?
Articles
Find all articles across all article series listed in reverse chronological order.
Leaders & Losers
by Alan Ross
As professionals in the field of electrical system reliability, we have a choice.
We can follow the leaders, or we can follow the losers.
It may seem harsh to say that there are “losers” out there, because that’s one of the words that nobody likes to hear. Well, I don’t mean “loser” in the same way kids do when they hold up an “L” on their foreheads on the playground (see above). I mean it in the literal sense. A loser is someone who has experienced loss. [Read more…]
Understanding Software FMEA
“My software never has bugs. It just develops random features.” Anonymous
More and more mechanical and electrical systems include software integration. The FMEA methodology applies very well to software as well as hardware. It is possible to include software functionality in the System FMEA as part of the functional descriptions. However, for complex software functionality such as embedded control systems, it may be useful to perform a separate software FMEA.
What is Depreciation?
Depreciation is one of the more poorly understood, yet commonly encountered terms in managerial accounting. In accounting lingo, depreciation is the systematic allocation of the cost of an asset across its useful life. That’s a mouthful. But breaking down the definition into simpler terms helps explain how its used and why it’s important when conducting Return on Investment Analysis. [Read more…]
The Risks that Go with Globalization
Guest Post by Joseph Paris (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
It is undoubtedly and incontrovertibly true that global extreme poverty has declined as capitalism has driven globalization – the trade between and among nations – to increase over time. Certainly, there are arguments to be made that the growth in wealth has also been increasingly concentrated in the hands of fewer people, but the world as a whole has benefited. The charts below from Our World in Data, showing the number of people living in extreme poverty from 1820 to present, clearly demonstrate that the economic benefit of globalization has been as positive as it has been apparent [Read more…]
Myth busting 26: I’ve read the book, now I’m…
Educational institutions realize that we all learn differently and combinations of learning styles will reach most of us. Some of us learn by seeing (reading), some by doing (tactile), some by hearing (aural). Most of us have a bit of each of these and rarely only one is enough. In college and university there is reading as well as assignment and lab work. We need both, so, how do we learn once we leave the academic world? [Read more…]
Who called this meeting, anyway?
Often, when the completion of a task or deliverable is needed, a meeting is a good way to establish mutual understanding of the way forward. With many resources working remote these days, effective meetings are taking on even greater importance.
Do you think RCM is obsolete? If so, think again!
Just like the “Welcome to Las Vegas sign” has stood the test time, so has RCM. In this video, I explain how we’ve never needed RCM more than we do right now… [Read more…]
Design Assurance Reduces Equipment Risk
“It was supposed to work in our application. This failure is going to cost us a lot of rig time.”
Was this product checked out prior to purchase? Was it fit-for-purpose? Some due diligence was probably used, but the better question is…was the product assessed through Design Assurance? Design assurance is an engineering process that confirms the product meets performance requirements and complies with design policies and industry standards. [Read more…]
Swiss Cheese and Our Healthcare
The graphic of the Swiss Cheese Model (attached is an expression from AHRQ) is a good one and one that many will remember and relate to.
However, I would like to expand on that model and express that more commonly, there is a not a singular or linear path to failure. There are typically multiple paths of failure that converge together at some point in time to cause an undesirable outcome. [Read more…]
Now You Understand Your Risks: What’s Next?
Guest Post by Andrew Sheves (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
Naturally, a lot of time and effort in risk management goes into understanding the risks that you face. After all, if you don’t understand what you’re up against, there’s not a lot of risk management to be done. However, even when you complete a comprehensive risk assessment, this is just the beginning of the process. Now the real work starts and you have to answer the big question. [Read more…]
Myth Busting 25: We need engineers to do RCM
Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) is method for determining the most appropriate failure and consequence management strategies. It deals with your physical assets in your current operating context. The first four questions in the RCM method, are defined in standard, SAE JA-1011, “Evaluation Criteria for Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) Processes.” They utilize the time proven engineering method, Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA). [Read more…]
Discovering what Inherent Reliability is all about is as easy as watching a couple of raccoons!
Watch how two raccoons rescue themselves once we provide them with the right tool…and then they serve us up an excellent lesson on equipment Maintenance and Reliability. [Read more…]
Why is Nobody Talking About This?
I had to learn a lot to become a transformer reliability leader. I have an engineering background and a transformer maintenance and testing background, but to be the practitioner I wanted to be I had to get educated. I sought out reliability knowledge. I found much of that knowledge through reading and research. It started with Google searches and Wikipedia articles, and it eventually led to half-a-dozen subscriptions to magazines and journals related to the field. It’s incredibly important to keep up-to-date with the industry and with reliability. [Read more…]
Is the 5-Ys a Valid RCA Tool for Significant Events?
I think that 5-year olds had a lock on 5Y’s well before it became a ‘named problem solving tool’. How many times have our kids at that age asked ‘Why’ about everything?
How many ‘Why’s’ do we answer before we say, ‘I don’t know, go ask your mother or father!’
Again (to me), the traditional 5-Y tool is technically incapable of expressing multiple paths of logic that occurred simultaneously. It treats failure like it always happens in a linear pattern (never multiple, simultaneous paths). [Read more…]
