Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site
A few weeks ago, I wrote about my thought processes for choosing an oil sampling location. To continue on the lubrication theme, I wanted to give you a few ideas for contamination control. Next week, I’ll take on lubricant storage. [Read more…]
CMMS Work Order Priorities explained. [Read more…]
Watch how I made the same mistake with my shoes…and how I could have used RCM to help me! [Read more…]
When using tools such as DOE and Monte Carlo analysis, it is important to understand the capabilities of the input variables. This can lead to robust design. However, many do not ask the right questions and are surprised with less than desired performance. [Read more…]
In another article, I discussed the results of the risk survey conducted annually by the World Economic Forum. The survey respondents are considered the economic elite. The responses provide an indication of the concerns of the movers and shakers of business. Consequently, the questions asked, and the risk concerns expressed are more policy oriented. [Read more…]
Let’s agree that the EAM Data is our organizations’ “Augean Stables”. And, we the Maintenance & Reliability professionals are “the Hercules”. It’s dirty, smelly & massive. But it is only we who can dare to cleanse it. We are the Hercules of today’s organizations. [Read more…]
I created and posted this meme a few weeks ago and it went viral through the LinkedIn reliability community. It was a tongue-in-cheek look at the vicious circle that keeps most plants in a fire-fighting mode. One of the people who shared the post asked ‘what comes first the chicken or the egg?’ In our case, reliability work comes first. [Read more…]
Equipment is described as reliable when it functions as designed without failure. Admittedly, equipment failure of any kind is quite inconvenient especially in fast-paced environments like the manufacturing sector. However, the consequences of failure – if it were to occur – go just beyond the usual inconveniences of unplanned downtime, lost productivity, lost revenue, etc. All these are bad enough, but should equipment failure cause injury or fatality, recovering from the consequences could become an uphill task.
Basic overview of how long description text is managed in most CMMS systems. Tips on why you should avoid using the long description to store valuable information. [Read more…]
Oh, why oh why didn’t I employ the “Essence” of RCM when I packed for my keynote speech? Watch how I “suffered” because I didn’t! [Read more…]
Model Building is a key theme for several advanced techniques. It boils down to creating an equation. Done well, one can predict and forecast how things will behave. Creating understanding reduces product risk and increases the chances for success. [Read more…]
Guest Post by Geary Sikich (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
Merriam Webster Dictionary defines reputation as:
1a: overall quality or character as seen or judged by people in general
b: recognition by other people of some characteristic or ability has the reputation of being clever
2: a place in public esteem or regard: good name; trying to protect his reputation
Google Dictionary:
the beliefs or opinions that are generally held about someone or something.
“his reputation was tarnished by allegations that he had taken bribes”
a widespread belief that someone or something has a particular habit or characteristic.
“his knowledge of his subject earned him a reputation as an expert”
A few weeks ago, I got a question about the best place to take an oil sample for oil analysis. Instead of generic answers like, “after the pump before the filter” or “never on the drain”, I like to take a more practical approach. [Read more…]
In a previous article, we compared and contrasted the definition of a requirement, with a ‘story’, which is used in agile/scrum. In that article, we stated: “requirements and stories establish a clear understanding of customer needs in the context of desired functionality”.
What if we want to establish a clear understanding of a customer’s needs in the context of desired business functionality? The customer can be an internal or external customer, business functionality can be a business process (IT-enabled or otherwise).
Sometimes we just need a simple plot of a few data points. When there is scant data a histogram or box plot just is not informative. This is a great use for a one dimensional scatter plot, dot plot, or a what is called a strip chart in R.
The basic idea is to see where the data lines along a line. For example, let say we have 20 times to first failure. A table of numbers is not all that helpful. We could explore using a cumulative distribution plot (Weibull analysis), yet it would be difficult to fit a distribution with so little data.
Let’s turn to a strip chart to get a look at the data. [Read more…]
