This video provides the live audio for our Decision Making with Data presentation. The audio had issues at the beginning but gets better. [Read more…]
Decision Making with Data
Articles
Find all articles across all article series listed in reverse chronological order.
You know it’s time to focus on reliability when…
With 2016 having come to an end, I thought it would be fun to start 2017 with some laughs about when your company realized it was time to focus on reliability. I have a 3-person team who will vote for the best submission on Friday the winner will receive a signed copy of my book Reliability Centered Maintenance Using RCM Blitz™ [this is a reposting of Doug’s article and let’s see if he has another book to give away.) [Read more…]
Public Apathy in the Path of Preparedness
Guest Post by Geary Sikich (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
Introduction
I was supposed to be in Boston presenting at “The Disaster Conferences” a few years ago on 28 January 2015. Well, the weather just put us out to 19 March 2015 for the now, rescheduled Boston conference. I guess that they are still feeling the effects of this week’s blizzard, now named “Juno”; that left Boston with over 24 inches of snow.
According to the Weather Channel Winter Storm Juno pounded locations from Long Island to New England with heavy snow, high winds and coastal flooding late Monday into Tuesday. The storm is now winding down. The National Weather Service has dropped all winter storm and blizzard warnings for Juno.
Using manometers for measuring pressureÂ
A U-tube manometer is the simplest of the pressure measurement devices. Its name comes from the U-shape formed when the two ends of a flexible tube full of liquid are raised to keep the liquid from coming out the ends. A U-tube manometer is a ‘liquid’ balance.
A spring balance used in the kitchen weighs a load by matching the force produced by the weight of the load with the force produced from the tension of the balance spring. The change in length of the spring is a measure of the load’s weight and is shown on a graduated scale by a pointer attached to the spring. Similarly, a U- tube manometer is used to balance the weight of the liquid in one leg of the ‘U’ against the pressure introduced into the other leg. The difference in height between the two legs of liquid represents the pressure pushing the liquid down one leg and up the other. The height difference is measured on a graduated scale. [Read more…]
Determine Success Testing Sample Size
“How many samples do we need?” is a very common question. It is one you will receive when planning nearly any kind of reliability testing. It is a great question.
Having too few samples means the results are likely not useful to make a decision. Too many samples improve the results, yet does add unnecessary costs. Getting the right sample size is an exercise starting in statistics and ending with a balance of constraints.
There are six elements to consider when estimating sample size. We will use the success testing formula, a life test with no planned failures, to outline the necessary considerations. [Read more…]
A Proposed Product Life Cycle Process
In my previous article we covered the advantages of a phase and gate structure for new product development. Now we can discuss some proposed phase names for a new product development or product life cycle (PLC) process.
An organization may have an existing PLC process ‘baked-in’ to their culture and process documentation. Accordingly, there’s a wide range of PLC phase names, all of which are likely acceptable and based on solid reasoning.
Are You an Indispensable Engineer?
#AskAsh – 004 – How to become an Indispensable Engineer
Question
Hi Ash,
What are your best tips for safeguarding your job, but also rise to the top to score your dream position?
As a recent graduate, I have this fear that if the economy turns or my company starts doing poorly that I’ll be the first one cut. What can you do to be indispensable at work?
Thanks,
Erica, New York
Process Capability VI – Non-Normal Variables
The Situation
You have a process that is not capable because sample measurements or SPC data indicate that some characteristics have too much variability. The calculated Cpk’s are too small. What do you do?
Assuming the data is correct, a course of action is to review the assumption is that the measurements are normally distributed. For most situations, this is a reasonable assumption, but other statistical distributions may provide a better description of the data variation.
Test to pass & Test to Improve
In many program cases I see teams “testing to pass” when they should be “testing to improve”. Testing to pass is putting your best foot forward. There is a “mark” and you are going to hit it so you can advance to the next stage. Testing to Improve is looking for defects and response to inputs. The motivation for each is very different. The risk for leaders is overseeing teams who view their role objectives to be in line with “testing to pass.”
The Basics of Planned and Deferred Maintenance
We can plan to do more than we are capable of accomplishing. The remaining items, if they warranty accomplishing become deferred. They roll over to the next’s day’s list of actions to take.
Of course, in practice, the process to plan, execute, and defer maintenance activities is a bit more complex than described above. The ability to maintain equipment in working order along with minimizing downtime and costs is in large part the balance between resources available to conduct maintenance and the increased risk of system failure due to deferred maintenance. [Read more…]
Understanding FMEA Detection: Part 1
Can You Find a Needle in a Haystack?
Failure modes and their causes can be detected in service, like tire pressure monitors on your vehicle. Is that what is assessed in the Detection column of the FMEA? This article discusses detection risk, including examples, and answers this question.
Gear Pump Operation & Maintenance
A gear pump uses two meshing, toothed cogs to force water from the inlet of the pump through to the outlet. Figure No. 1 shows a simplified drawing of an external teeth gear pump on the left along with the alternate arrangement of internally pointing teeth. [Read more…]
Phase and Gate Structure for New Product Development
In previous articles we defined an element of lean as a phase and gate structure for new product development. This assumes a waterfall approach to the project (versus agile product development).
A new product life cycle phase gate structure might entail, for example: “Definition, Concept, Design, Verification, Qualification, Production and End-of-Life”. (Your organization might decide on different phase names.)
There’s an apparent contradiction in using a waterfall project approach and calling it lean project management, however. A goal of any lean process is to work toward ‘single piece’ or continuous flow: agile product development is more like ‘single piece flow’ of information, versus waterfall which is more like ‘batch processing’ of information.
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Wlel Dnoe !
-Aadm
It’s Time To Bring Back Skilled Trade Apprentice Programs!
As I work with teams of operators and skilled trades people performing RCM analyses at companies around the world at some point in time as we are discussing the failure modes and effects I might ask the question; how does your company ensure that the skilled trades people working on your assets are actually qualified to work on the equipment?
This question is often met with a look of confusion. [Read more…]
