Upon my son’s return from studying abroad for a semester, I asked him what he learned. He said there are a lot of smart people in the world.
I concur. [Read more…]
What I’ve Learned from You
Process Optimization
Welcome to the final blog in my 10-part series called “Uptime Insights”, where we explore a journey of excellence in maintenance. To stay on top, managers must implement strategies that keep operations performing at high levels. In these articles I will show you how to achieve excellence in maintenance – a critical business process in any capital intensive industry. [Read more…]
Warranty Prediction
The offered warranty is an internal part of many purchase decisions, plus many business models.
While obligatory to offer a warranty, especially for consumer products, the specific terms, duration, and eventual total cost of honoring warranty claims may vary dramatically.
One key to managing the overall warranty expense is to estimate the potential future warranty claims, followed by accurately tracking actual expenses during the warranty period. [Read more…]
How Control Valves Work
Control valves regulate the flow of a liquid or gas by opening or closing internal passages.
They form part of a control loop used to control a process. The control valves respond to instructions from the controller and adjust the internal openings accordingly.
Keywords: sensor, setpoint, trim, actuator, sealing class, tuning, proportional, integral, derivative. [Read more…]
Altered States: Risk Perception After the Event
Guest Post by Geary Sikich (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
Heightened Awareness or Reactive, Backwards Looking?
From financial crises to energy catastrophes to earthquakes and threats of terrorism, we hear a lot about events that challenge our ability to identify and manage risk.
Unfortunately, some of the things that emerge from many of these events are reactive regulatory rules and requirements. [Read more…]
Design of Experiments and Reliability
During the design phase, we make decisions that create the eventual reliability performance of a product.
It is the decisions we make that matter.
Also during the design phase, we explore numerous questions. [Read more…]
Teamwork Produces Superior Results
Welcome to part nine of my 10-part series of blogs called “Uptime Insights”, where we explore a journey of excellence in maintenance. To stay on top, managers must implement strategies that keep operations performing at high levels. In these articles I will show you how to achieve excellence in maintenance – a critical business process in any capital intensive industry. [Read more…]
Net Positive Suction Head Losses
Net positive suction head losses (or why you can suck through a straw).
Pumps cavitate and run dry when the pressure leading into them falls below the vapor pressure of what they are pumping. At vapor pressure, the liquid boils into a vapor and fills the pipe.
In order to know that the pressure to a pump is always above the vapor pressure, it is necessary to calculate that the pressure losses from pipe friction and suction lift will not cause the pressure to drop under the vapor pressure.
The presence of dissolved gas in the liquid complicates the problem. [Read more…]
Are You Playing Asset Roulette?
Guest Post by Keith Ridgeway (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
Did you know on average around 30% of all organisations do not know what they own, where their assets are located or who is using them; and over 65% of information recorded on asset registers is incomplete, inaccurate or even missing. What’s more concerning is a number of these assets may not be statutory compliant e.g passenger/good/DDA lifts, fire, gas, pressure asset etc. [Read more…]
Analyzing a Taguchi L4 Array Experiment
We’ve collected data and it’s time for the analysis.
As you may recall, in the last article on Planning a Taguchi L4 Array Experiment, we drafted a set of four prototypes. The specific arrangement of factors and levels will now allow us to analyze each factor separately.
The intent is to find the optimal level or setting for each factor, plus which is the most important factor. [Read more…]
Overview of Reliability Engineering
An Overview of Reliability Engineering Tasks and Application from a Product Design and Plant Operation Perspective
A Guest Post by Lennox Bennett
Abstract / Summary
In deciding what industry you want to work as a reliability engineer, it is always good to have an understanding of what functional responsibilities you are expected to execute as a part of the job function.
You should always carefully review the job description then compare your knowledge acquired through training and on-the-job experience and ask yourself if you are capable of performing functions required without additional training.
Furthermore, we need to consider our technical limitations and at the same time be aware that the job description provided may not exclusive represents all the tasks you are expected to perform. [Read more…]
Managing Failures Before They Occur
Welcome to part eight of my 10-part series of blogs called “Uptime Insights”, where we explore a journey of excellence in maintenance. To stay on top, managers must implement strategies that keep operations performing at high levels. In these articles I will show you how to achieve excellence in maintenance – a critical business process in any capital intensive industry. [Read more…]
Unfired Pressure Vessel Inspections
Pressure vessels must be regularly inspected and be maintained in a safe operating condition.
New Australian laws stipulate that all pressure vessels must have a Hazard Level rating (‘A’ highest to ‘E’ lowest) which reflects the vessel’s safety risk (see AS3920.1).
The higher the risk the more stringent the requirements for operating and inspecting the vessel.
Keywords: receiver, non-destructive testing, internal inspection. [Read more…]
Black Swans, Grey Swans, White Swans
Guest Post by Geary Sikich (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
We hear a lot about things that are being called “Black Swans” today thanks to Nassim Taleb and his extremely successful book, “The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable,” now in its second edition. I have written several articles centering on the “Black Swan” phenomenon; defending, clarifying and analyzing the nature of “Black Swan” events. And, I am finding that wildly improbable events are becoming perfectly routine events. [Read more…]
Planning a Taguchi L4 Array Experiment
One of the simplest ways to learn design of experiments, DOE, is to just give it a try.
The Taguchi DOE approach uses orthogonal arrays. This subset of the possible approaches to DOE simplifies the process to create and analyze experiments.
Let’s plan a simple experiment using the Taguchi DOE approach. [Read more…]
