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.
3 Considerations on Data
Articles
Find all articles across all article series listed in reverse chronological order.
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…]
Building on a Good Reliability Goal
If we set a product reliability goal of 99% reliable over two years in the requirements document, what are we supposed to do tomorrow? On the other hand, if our goal is to write 1,000 pages for the next great novel by the end of the year and we have no pages written so far, well, we should write a page or two tomorrow.
A good goal provides a vision, a measurable milestone, a target. What it lacks is what we do from now till achieving that goal. If the goal is 1,000 pages in 365 days, we may want to set up a process to write at least 3 pages per day.
So, given a reliability goal, what do we do tomorrow, next week, and each week between now and when the goal is due?
A Good Reliability Goal
In previous work, I’ve written about setting reliability goals, connecting the goal to customer expectations, technical capability, and business needs. Plus, have written about the four (five) parts of a complete goal, including Function(s), Environment, Duration, and Probability (and all four continue to get more difficult as customers expect more).
A well-stated reliability goal provides direction and a measurable target for the entire team. It provides a basis to compare progress and to help frame “is the design reliable enough yet” discussions.
This is all well and good, yet is it enough? [Read more…]
Asset Management in Public and Private Sectors
Most of my firm’s clients are in the private sector but occasionally we do some public sector work. We usually notice a number of distinct differences in practices and in what motivates those practices. It would be nice to say that one can learn a lot from the other, but in truth, both can learn a lot from each other.
I thought it might be useful to compare and contrast the two sectors (based on personal observations) and then propose an idea for learning from each other. [Read more…]
Rushing to Wait – Failing to Plan
Guest Post by Malcolm Peart (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
Just Do It!; “He who hesitates is lost”; and “Strike while the iron is hot” are all expressions used with impunity when a project is about to start as we are encouraged to ‘get on with it’ as nothing can go wrong, go wrong?, wrong!
After all, ‘a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step‘ and projects have to start sooner or later. But what happens when project planning is incomplete and project participants are caught up in that unfortunate project dilemma of ‘wild enthusiasm’ as they carry on with a sense of urgency while conveniently disregarding risk. [Read more…]
How to Tackle Maintenance Budgeting
A computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) is an application that allows for effective management of all types of maintenance activities. This includes maintenance budgeting for expenses such as labor, parts and miscellaneous costs for completion of work orders, replacement of equipment at the end of its useful life, as well as tracking of special projects and purchasing.
Budget Forecasting
Operating a maintenance department cost efficiently without having a plan that outlines the working budget is difficult. Often decisions are based on guesswork or emergencies with no real data to show when, where or how maintenance was performed in the past and what is needed in the future.
What Are You Focused on in 2020?
As we’re kicking off 2020, I’m looking forward so I can deliver great content to you. I have been sharing a lot of personal content lately about my journey and I hope that it’s fueled something inside you to change your life for the better.
I’ll keep it brief this week but I would appreciate it if you filled out the survey here. It’s 5 easy questions about what you desire from me in 2020 and should take you less than 5 minutes. Thank you in advance for answering and for following my content!
Reliability Never Sleeps,
Rob
Designing for Safety: Human Errors
Human Errors may be Unpreventable but, Preventing Harm is an Option
“You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water” – said Rabindranath Tagore, Nobel Prize recipient for literature. Not preventing harm is an example of this quote.
The quotation is an inspirational reminder that people achieve nothing unless they take purposeful action that has measurable results. Taking action on potential human errors, so that harm to system users is totally prevented, is a very productive goal because its impact is highly significant.
This article mostly discusses safety in hospitals because everyone is familiar with safety issues in healthcare. The principles equally apply to any process such as design, manufacturing, construction, and aerospace (Boeing 737 Max is an example). [Read more…]
Variance Transmission
The concept of Variance Transmission is important for interpretation of DOE analysis results. This video talks about the concept to help you improve your decision making. [Read more…]
No Surprises – Asset Management Made Easy
Good physical asset management is about making sure our physical assets do what we want them to do at optimum operating cost and tolerable levels of risk to safety, our environment and to your business.
Managing physical assets to achieve that in an industrial setting involves much more than simply buying and running a piece of equipment. [Read more…]
Why a CMMS May Fail
CMMS: Computerized Maintenance Management System
Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) is an integral part of today’s industrial & commercial maintenance operations. During the last many years there have been a lot of advances made on improving CMMS & many products are now available in the market. Evolution of CMMS functionalities have now made it a vital component of Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) systems employed by many medium & large organizations around the globe. EAM as a whole is not the scope of this article; rather the focus is only on the CMMS. [Read more…]
Reading is Fundamental, But Comprehension Is Important Too
Guest Post by Joseph Paris (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
The art of debate has devolved. No longer is it used as a tool of discovery, understanding, reconciliation, and progress. Today, it is a tool used to beat one another into submission –with the wholesale surrender of the beliefs and values held by one party over the other being the goal. [Read more…]
Xpo Fluke ii900 review
Product demo of Fluke ii900 Sonic Industrial Imager. This unit combines the ultrasound and the visual spectrum to allow the user to see compressed gas leaks. This product demo includes and unboxing, review of features, a test, and review of pros and cons. [Read more…]
Is a Professional Certification Worth It?
The way we learn, prove our worth, and the nature of work are all changing. Professional societies are struggling to adjust to these changes. Universities and employers likewise are experimenting and exploring new ways to operate.
Over the past few months, I’ve received about a dozen inquiries on how to prepare for the ASQ Certified Reliability Engineer (CRE) exam in order to obtain the ASQ CRE certification. Many also asked if I had a course available. Thus, I decided to run a live course (learn more at the live course page – note: if you see this after the course start date we’ll have a sign up for those interested in future classes). [Read more…]
Can You See the Forest for the Trees?
Last week, I was really struggling with anxiety and feeling like I haven’t made any progress in my personal development. I felt like I had taken 1 step forward and many steps back to return to a place where I was paralyzed in my own mind. My coach, Susan Hobson from Elite High Performance Coaching recommended that I put together a 2019 highlight reel of all of the things I had done that were meaningful in my development. [Read more…]
