In November 2019, General Motors recalled over 640,000 pickup trucks worldwide because hot gas from a high-tech seat belt can set the carpeting on fire [1]. The recall covers 2019 and 2020Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500 trucks. Also included are some 2020 Silverado and Sierra 2500 and 3500 heavy-duty pickups. All have carpet as a floor covering, GM says it uses a small explosion to move a piston that tightens the belts before a crash. The explosion can release hot gas through an opening in a bracket, possibly setting the carpet on fire. The company reports two fires but no injuries. [Read more…]
Articles
Find all articles across all article series listed in reverse chronological order.
Prioritizing Urgent v Important Reliability Tasks
As reliability professionals, we have a lot to do. Risks to identify, failures to analyze. Plans to draft, numbers to crunch. Meetings, writing, research, and leading fill the day.
The list of tasks that you have before you each day is impressive and daunting. So, how do you focus on what actually requires your attention and not just the tasks that get your attention?
Do Not Just Make Data
Focusing on data only is a limiting view compared to wanting to make decisions. The decisions should come first, and the data to support that comes second. This video covers this conversation. [Read more…]
Infrastructure Renewal – An Economic Necessity
A lot of attention is going to Infrastructure and its renewal. Here in Canada the recently elected Federal Government is about to spend over $100 billion on “shovel ready and shovel worthy” projects. At the municipal level alone (where we “own” about 60% of Canada’s infrastructure), some $123 billion is needed for catching up on deterioration that’s been allowed to accumulate since the 1950’s. That doesn’t take into account needs for growth. I recently attended a conference and listened to a well-regarded key-note speaker who placed our overall spending needs on infrastructure (all levels of government) nearer to $1 Trillion! The number is huge – no matter what it is. [Read more…]
What are the Four Cornerstones of Risk Management?
Guest Post by John Ayers (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
Based on my years of experience, the secret to effective Project Risk Management is what I call the four cornerstones: Project Management; Earned Value Management; Risk Management; and Subcontract Management. This paper explains why. [Read more…]
CMMS Software Benefits for Schools
Schools and universities can host hundreds to thousands of individuals each day. And from classrooms and offices to cafeterias and restrooms, there are many facilities and buildings to maintain. Not to mention critical equipment and systems such as HVAC, alarms, sprinklers and more. Ensuring everything is in working order is crucial so that schools and universities can not only function, but also keep students, faculty, staff and visitors safe. Computerized maintenance management software (CMMS) for schools helps accomplish these critical goals. There a number of CMMS software benefits for schools and universities.
Building Confidence by Progressing Through Struggle
While I was at the gym last week, I was listening to the Brendan Burchard podcast and he was talking about building confidence. He mentioned that you cannot build confidence with external rewards like trophies, awards, promotions, etc. and that you need to build confidence from the inside. The statement that hit me the hardest was that the way to build confidence is by progression through struggle. [Read more…]
Reliability Actions to be Taken in the Early Stages of an R&D Project
While working at HP as a failure analysis engineer, I was asked to join a new R&D project that needed a reliability engineer. My background was in Physics with little experience in reliability other than knowing that failures occur because reliability goals were not met. At HP, reliability engineers were integrated on each HP project by rotating many disciplines of engineering from various parts of the organization. [Read more…]
Trust with Your Information
Your R&D work is full of sensitive information. How do you know you can trust Perry’s Solutions with your process? This video covers this topic. [Read more…]
Emerging Trends In Maintenance Space And Their Relevance For Reliability Professionals
As we enter 2020, it’s evident that many of the changes that are sweeping through maintenance management will continue. The major push behind these changes includes the need for improved resource allocation, optimization of capacity, and increased safety performance/compliance.
With that in mind, this is an ideal time to review some of the biggest topics and trends in maintenance that are shaping maintenance practices and consider their relevance for reliability professionals.
Maintenance Assessments. Do you Need Them?
Conventional consulting approaches begin with assessments to determine your current state of affairs, judge what’s good and bad about it, give it a score, provide a long list of recommendations and then build an improvement strategy based on the outcome.
Strategy development is normally carried out by a select leadership team and then the change is rolled out to lower levels in the organization. This approach has served well for a long time and it is at the outset of almost any major consulting engagement. It is useful when comparing sites among each other, but is there some sort of award for being best? Usually not. [Read more…]
There Might be 50 Reasons to Use a Histogram (or Bar Chart)
When confronted with a stack of data, do you think about creating a histogram, too? Just tallied the 50th measurement of a new process – just means it’s time to craft a histogram, right?
There isn’t another data analysis tool as versatile. A histogram (bar chart) can deal with count, categorical, and continuous data (technically, the first two graphs would be bar charts). It like a lot of data yet reveals secretes of even smaller sets. A histogram should be on your shortlist of most often graphing tools. [Read more…]
Managing Risk is Critical to Project Success
Guest Post by John Ayers (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
A project with a poor risk management foundation is like a house with a fragile foundation. Eventually it will fail.
Why Should It Matter to You?
Knowledge and skills with the four cornerstones of risk management, dramatically increase the probability of you realizing project manager success. Conversely, a lack of knowledge will likely lead to poor project manager performance. [Read more…]
3 Considerations on Data
Last week’s podcast on CMMS integration and this week’s podcast about Haul Truck Fuel Monitoring (will be released on Jan. 20), really bring home a few points on the interaction between reliability professionals and data.
False Hustle
A coaching friend talked to me once about “False Hustle” – things that players do to look like they are working hard. In fact, it is a lazy habit and avoidable by doing things right. The same things happens in corporate situations with product development. This video gives examples for each environment. [Read more…]
