Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site
When testing, it is good to know your options. The Advanced tools of Design of Experiments are good to consider. What are they, why should you consider them, and when should they be used. Those are the topics we will discuss in this video. [Read more…]
One of the best things about my job is from time to time I get to work with some fantastic young people who have a passion for the Maintenance and Reliability business and have made the decision to pursue a career in this business. I really enjoy being a mentor, guiding the ambitious and offering advice on where to find information, articles and real, workable solutions. [Read more…]
Imagine if every day you had to relearn a process or use a different CMMS. Chances are you would get virtually nothing accomplished, leaving your plant operating poorly. Now we all know that we having to relearn a process every day or using a new CMMS is not practical nor is it rooted in reality (not to be confused with the Rooted in Reliability podcast). But this type of thing happens more often than you may think. [Read more…]
This story is about risk at the enterprise program/project level. It is an example of centering your design around a high-tech solution to a problem when a low risk proven technology would have more than sufficed. Technical expertise ego got in the way of a practical low-cost approach resulting in unplanned schedule and cost growth. [Read more…]
Orifice plate meter flow measurement. An orifice meter is a circular piece of metal plate placed between flanges in a pipe. In it is a square-edged round hole machined 0.5 to 0.8 pipe diameter in size. Pressure tapping points are placed either side of the plate at specified distances. The orifice causes a flow restriction and produces a pressure drop from one side of the hole to the other. The amount of pressure difference is proportional to the flow of fluid through the hole. The flow is calculated from the pressure difference and flow areas using accurate mathematical formulas. [Read more…]
I was recently talking with my colleague Fred Schenkelberg from FMS Reliability (this conversation can be heard here), about a plane that he had never heard of. Most of the world hasn’t heard of it. And there is a reason you probably haven’t either. The plane in question is a case study on how to design something to fail.
How do you know if YOU need robustness? It is a combination of testing and analysis. Can you afford it? How do you decide? This video helps set the stage for this decision. [Read more…]
I recently had a very interesting discussion with a craftsman at a large automotive manufacturer. During this discussion, he outlined a few of the issues he saw in his plant, and why they weren’t able to overcome them.
The craftsman indicated that he had been reading my previous posts and that it all made sense. In fact, he stated, ” it is common sense, but we don’t have that here”.
Using IOT Intelligent Things to Monitor Risk in Real-time
Although in ISO 31000 monitoring risk is another of its key tenets, I again see little monitoring in most risk management systems. Periodic review, dashboards, heat maps, and KRI reports are all Review (a different ISO 31000 tenet) not monitoring. IoT technology can deliver real-time monitoring of risk for more than just physical environmental metrics.
To monitor means to supervise and continually check and critically observe. It means to determine the current status and to assess whether or not the required or expected performance levels are actually being achieved. [Read more…]
This topic is provided by http://www.isixsigma.com/library/
It’s important when resolving a problem that you address the problem and not a symptom of the problem. Determining the real problem is called finding the root cause. There are special techniques for determining the root cause of a problem. One technique is known as “The 5 Whys.” [Read more…]
When it comes to ensuring a task or deliverable is accomplished, we often see the word “owner” used. Perhaps surprisingly, there really is no true ‘owner’ of anything in the context of program or project management.
We can begin explaining this with two adjectives: responsible and accountable.
Something to think about in a day and age when most companies post their Mission, Vision and Goals on the company web page. Do we really stand behind these statements and demonstrate the behaviors that clearly show we are willing to do what it takes to create a safe workplace? [Read more…]
I know what Robust Design is, but do companies really need it? If so, who needs it and why? This video helps address that question. [Read more…]
NOTE: This post will be a little different from my normal posts. Instead of discussing a specific topic, I will be covering my journey in understanding Asset Management and some key takeaways from the journey. [Read more…]
Awareness of risk can lead to unforeseen risk behaviors based on knowledge that is sufficiently convincing to lead to false positives.
“The more you know, the more you know you don’t know.”
― attributed to Aristotle
