James Reyes-Picknell — Active Contributor

I’ve been asked this many times, along with, “when will it be available in “my language?”

Here’s the answer… My book Uptime – Strategies for Excellence in Maintenance Management is now in its 3rd edition, and it includes a chapter on Evidence-Based Asset Management. That approach—using data plus expert knowledge—was groundbreaking back in 2015. Since then, AI, machine learning, and advanced analytics have changed the game. The science behind Uptime is still valid, but the methods need updating.

So, people ask me all the time: “Is there a 4th edition coming?” My answer: “Yes… but not in the way you might expect.”

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We hear about data driven decisions and it’s become somewhat of a mantra for IT departments, managers and even executives. But they’ve got it wrong! Data shouldn’t drive anything – it can’t. But it can be a powerful enabler if we want. A subtle shift in language can lead to big gains in performance!

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Many maintainers fail to make improvements or make them stick. It’s not lack of intention, it’s a chaotic environment and inability to really lead change effectively.

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Some managers resist outside help to make improvement in how they are managing reliability and maintenance. They think they can “get back to basics” first and then re-assess. They fail to see that if they could really do that on their own, they wouldn’t have allowed the slide to where they are today.

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Demographic shifts in the workforce have given us “younger” companies with less experience and little guidance other than the way we were “raised”. Has the way you were raised left you with a mindset that is getting in your own way?

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Operations / production problems often have their roots in the lack of performance, or outright failure, of their physical assets. The costs (both real and opportunity) are huge and it can impact environmental compliance as well as safety.

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Perfection is difficult to achieve. It takes a lot of work and that delays progress. In operational environments that can lead to lost or deferred opportunities, and leave money on the table.

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Is your project ready for operations when you want to start up? Can you commission and start up with ease and expect to reach full and steady production quickly? Or is your experience with project start ups more chaotic?

Chaos is natural

Conceptually, entropy is a scientific measure that represents that natural state of everything – chaos. The more chaotic things are, the more entropy they have. We tend to prefer things orderly and predictable. To achieve that we add energy, but without it, we will have chaos. If start ups after a capital project are chaotic, it means you have missed something. Think of it as not having enough energy. That energy is fore-thought and preparation. With it, your project is ready for operations.

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Outsourcing is a form of alternative service delivery where one company hires another to perform some of its functions. It’s fairly common in some fields, such as accounting, manufacturing, human resources, procurement, and IT, but not as common when it comes to maintenance and asset management. It has its advantages and risks and must be approached carefully.

In July/Aug 2014, we authored an article on outsourcing in PEM magazine (now MRO Magazine). Although outsourcing isn’t yet as popular in North America, as elsewhere, it is increasingly being seen as an option. Here are a number of considerations to make when considering outsourcing or contracting services.

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Uptime is now in its 3rd edition

My book, “Uptime – Strategies for Excellence in Maintenance Management”, now in its 3^rd edition includes a chapter on “Evidence Based Asset Management”. It emphasizes the use of historical data, enhanced (substantially in most cases) by “evidence” from experts obtained through a structured interview process of “knowledge elicitation.”

The questions asked are not leading, they are designed to get at reliability related information from the experiences of those who generally do not understand the mathematics of reliability. That process is painstakingly accurate and tedious. Projects that I was involved in, involved highly educated reliability and data science experts, and took upwards of 6 months to produce analytical results that could be used.

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Getting the right parts for your maintenance isn’t quite as easy as you might think. To begin with they must be included in your spares inventory and stocked on your site. If not, they must be purchased when needed. If you are reacting to a breakdown, you will need them in a hurry, and you may find yourself short. Why does that happen? And, what can you do about it? Missing parts can cost you time – time that the equipment is down and not producing. Your operators are idled and your supply chain folks are scrambling to help you. That increases maintenance and operating costs, reduces production output and reduces available working capital. Those parts are like gold to your operation!

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The need

Our Rapid Reliability Assessment is designed for small or budget constrained operations. Consulting engagements with the big firms are expensive and out of the question. This is for smaller operations that need something that is not overly intrusive, not expensive, and gives them big bang for their buck.

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Today’s Gremlin – “Assumptions” can get a planner or a supervisor into a lot of trouble. You might be very knowledgeable and have great faith in your trades-persons, but assuming they know what you know, can be dangerous. There’s always discussion about “how much detail” to put in a maintenance job plan. It should be safe to assume your trades know how to perform those basic skills that earned them their trade. But it is not safe to assume they are familiar enough with your equipment and operation to use those skills correctly.

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Today’s Gremlin – “Perfectionist”, is often a planner or an engineer. This Gremlin holds himself or herself to extremely high, pretty much unattainable, standards. They cannot be found to be wrong by anyone. Perfectionists go to great lengths to get everything they do, 100% right, 100% of the time.

We all know that getting part way complete, even a large part of the way complete, is quick and easy. Although whatever we are doing may not be perfect, it is close and for most purposes, it may be good enough.

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Today’s Gremlin – “No plan needed”, shows up even where there are planners. This gremlin is comfortable creating maintenance work schedules that are little more than wishful thinking! Plans describe what work must be done, how it should be done and with what resources (skills, tools, parts, etc.). Schedules show when the work will be done. Between the two steps is a check on the availability of all those resources. Without them, the schedule is at risk. Without a plan, you don’t even know what to check on! “No plan needed” is at the heart of maintenance inefficiency.

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