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Find all articles across all article series listed in reverse chronological order.
In continuing this year’s theme regarding common questions on relevant topics, today I have the 5 most common questions people have been asking me about the Industrial Internet of Things. Like every other article or Blog I have posted in the past I encourage you to all to jump into the conversation by asking questions or providing comments to my questions and answers. [Read more…]
Guest Post by James Kline (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
In November 2018, the U.S. Global Change Research Program issued Volume II of the Fourth National Climate Assessment Report. Volume I was issued in 2017. It deals with the science behind global change. Volume II deals with the impact of global warming on natural environment, agriculture, energy production, human welfare, and societal impact. This article discusses the assessments made in Volume II. [Read more…]
Before commencing with the FMEA meetings, it is essential to visibly show the nature and scope of the analysis. This article discusses different ways FMEA scope can be made visible, and why this is a necessary step.
“The soul cannot think without a picture” – Aristotle
The electrical conductivity (and its opposite, resistivity) of water based solutions indicate its electrical current carrying ability. High conductivity occurs when many charged atoms and ions are in the water. This typically means the presence of dissolved metals, salts, acidic or alkali chemicals. Conductivity probes are used to measure the total level of charged particles present. This article explains how conductivity probes work and their application in boiler water treatment and management. [Read more…]
Statistical Process Controls (SPC) is a suite of methods that can be employed to control a manufacturing or assembly process. It has a wide range of potential applications ranging from consumer products to defense. It can be employed at the lowest element of component manufacturing or an assembly operation.
This article discusses the assumptions necessary to understand SPC.
Many times, new equipment does not move smoothly onto the production floor. Eventually, operations will say “just get it out here.” Using our methodology, we have helped companies be in a position where they are telling us to wait to install it! When you can understand the equipment up front, it makes a huge impact. How do you fit on the spectrum? [Read more…]
When is the best time to do an RCM analysis on your equipment?
While RCM Blitz™ can be applied at any time in the asset lifecycle, the best time to do an RCM analysis is in the design phase of a capital project. Reliability Centered Design is much more than a thorough RCM analysis on a critical asset, it also uses [Read more…]
Tasks (or action items) are a fundamental building block of an ongoing work-effort or project schedule. While we tend to think of completed actions as deliverables, a project schedule can also be considered a project deliverable….and the value of well-written task (within the schedule or otherwise) is often overlooked.
Generally, a task begins with a verb (some action to be performed) to achieve a milestone or outcome to some desired level of completion. (Recall a previous related article where we discussed the “definition of done”.)
Guest Post by Geary Sikich (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
The BP Deepwater Horizon catastrophe cast a shadow on the oil industry and its senior executives. Has the industry learned its lessons or will it be forced to repeat the same mistakes over and over again? Oil company executives and board members should have seen the Deepwater Horizon event is as a wake-up call for the industry. [Read more…]
A spinning pump impeller provides the means to draw incoming product through the pump, energise it, and then force it out under pressure. The impeller coverts the electrical energy from the motor into hydraulic energy of the liquid. It does this by taking the liquid into the center of the impeller and flinging it outward at high speed. To efficiently continue to do this the impeller must remain in the same condition as it was when first installed. If the impeller deteriorates the conversion from electrical to hydraulic energy becomes inefficient. Power is wasted, flow and pressure fall and the pump cannot do its designed duty. [Read more…]
Before you go on, please have a look at British comedian John Oliver’s video on infrastructure – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wpzvaqypav8.
OK, if you are reading this and still haven’t watched the video … please go back and try again. You can do it.
If you haven’t watched the video by now, then I concede defeat. In short, the video is a humorous take on the state of US infrastructure. Particularly bridges. Bridges have been collapsing with alarming frequency in recent years. And after much political wrangling there is still no plan to pay for fixing crumbling columns, spans and struts. It is not as if the federal and state governments don’t know how bad things are (again … watch the video).
Oliver proposes a perhaps novel reason for all of this. [Read more…]
Quality Costs for manufacturing or services can be categorized as prevention and appraisal costs, and internal and external failure costs. Control occur in prevention and appraisal activities, both of which rely on data. However, when data is collected, it shows variation. One must understand variation to know how to react.
Dr. Deming indicated that 94% of variation is from common causes and about 6% is from special causes. So what are the common and special causes of variation?
[Read more…]
While a potentially useful technique, Risk management is often an unwanted obligation. Done well, it can prevent field failures and gain needed resources. Does your project or organization get this value? Or do you only experience the pain? [Read more…]
This risk story includes risk at the enterprise level, the program/project level, and the product level. From the enterprise level risk, it was a little naïve on my company’s part to think they could go from zero not having manufactured any sonobuoys previously) to full up production the first time around without investing the time and finances to go up the learning curve prior to making the bid. From the program/product level risk viewpoint, the baseline plan did not include sufficient component and subassembly trial builds and testing before finalizing the concept, preliminary design and final design. [Read more…]
How do you decide what level and type of maintenance to use on an individual item of plant and its sub-assemblies? Not all equipment is equally important to your business. Some are critical to production and without them the process stops. Others are important and will eventually affect production if they cannot be returned to service in time. While other items of plant are not important at all and can fail and not affect production for a very long time. [Read more…]
