Earlier I had written about the use of RFID for tracking hazardous substances. One of the readers, Sujith, wrote to me that RFID can be a ignition source and thus pose a potential for fire/explosion.
[Read more…]RFID: Potential Ignition Source
Improve Critical Equipment Reliability and Reduce Maintenance Costs
In today’s competitive business environment, reliable equipment operation is crucial for uninterrupted operations and increased productivity. On the other hand, saving on maintenance costs can be a perilous path to tread.
Maintaining a balance between the two factors can have far-reaching effects, potentially even raising maintenance costs. The solution lies in optimizing equipment reliability, making it the bedrock of maintenance efforts.
It may be difficult to accelerate double-digit percentage cost reductions in some industries, such as pharmaceuticals and nuclear. Nonetheless, the primary focus should be on improving equipment reliability, which could lead to lower maintenance costs. [Read more…]
A Pivotal Moment
In this week’s edition, we dig into a scenario you’ve probably run across when working in Excel or other software, for example Minitab —at least I have, many times.
Say you have a complete dataset. The data has been collected, and you’re now getting ready to run plot it or run some sort of analysis on it. It should be plug and play, but it ends up not being the case as the data is not formatted in the right way, and you’re not able to run your analysis (it happens pretty frequently if you ask me).
[Read more…]Example ACE 3T Maintenance Procedure with Inspection & Test Plan (ITP)
Here is a great example from an industrial operation of a maintenance procedure using an Accuracy Controlled Enterprise (ACE) 3T standard operating procedure (SOP) format. To make it better would need photos and/or videos included for critical tasks. 3T stands for Target-Tolerance-Test, which are the minimum criteria needed to specify maintenance task quality and prove compliance. The 3T’s are a simple maintenance work quality assurance technique we invented to maximise the chance of doing outstandingly high-quality maintenance work that brings you outstanding plant and equipment reliability.
[Read more…]Risk Rankings
Guest Post by Malcolm Peart (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
We have general risks and, quite often when risks manifest themselves the various militaries around the world are called in to deal with the issues, crises, disasters, and catastrophes that occur. The military do not enter these on their own volition nor are they of their own making but, in line with the principle that risk is best dealt with by the party most suited, the military are tasked by their lords and masters.
Self-Discipline Part 3
We’ve spoken enough about the psychology of self-discipline, let’s get into actionable steps, things that are easy to remember and implement on a day to day basis. If writing some of these down on a post-it note help remind you, do it.
[Read more…]1717 – Lifecycle Maintenance Cost
William Sutherland was a ship’s master carpenter in the late 1600s. Returning to shore, he became a foreman in the Portsmouth dockyard, then was promoted to be a senior manager at the Deptford yard. Sutherland wrote two books about naval architecture and ship construction. His 1717 book Britain’s Glory: or Ship-Building Unvail’d documented lifecycle maintenance in the Royal Navy.
[Read more…]Value Of Life
As safety professionals, we are often required to consider value of life in decision making.
So, what is the economic value of a life? According to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), it is $5.8 million [in 2010]. Click on the link below to read more…
[Read more…]Qualitative Assessments: 3 Bad Examples That Will Improve Your Effectiveness
Opinion-based data is the foundation of qualitative assessments. Qualitative assessments are used in various applications, including asset management, risk management, human reliability analysis, and customer surveys. The usefulness of any qualitative assessment is a function of design, analysis, and administration. This article provides three examples of poor qualitative analysis to avoid and, in turn, improve the effectiveness of your work.
Qualitative Assessment Scales
Likert scales are five-point ordinal scales where participants select a label (or numerical value) that equates to an opinion or attitude. Labels are paired (i.e., agree-disagree, strongly agree-strongly disagree) symmetrically around a neutral center. Today, we see 5-, 7-, and 9-point versions of Likert scales in everything from customer surveys to risk assessments.
[Read more…]Getting Started
If this is your first time reading my newsletter: I am thrilled that you decided to give it try!
If this is not your first time: I’m glad you’re still here!
We’ve got a few things to go through in this week’s edition.
However, before we get into the cool stuff, that is showcasing useful functionality and interesting use cases, I feel it would behoove me to lay down some of the foundational things you’ll need to do to get you started in R, should you be interested.
[Read more…]Screw Conveyor Auger Shaft Mid-Point Breaks
Are your screw feeder and trough screw conveyor auger shafts snapping in half?
Analysis of a broken screw feeder shaft on a granular Copper Sulphate Bagging Hopper Feed Screw explains how stress cause shaft failure
If you have rotating shafts breaking at the centre of the span then you quite likely have a metal fatigue problem. Take a read of the report below.
The 316L stainless steel screw feeder shaft on a 3200mm long, 260mm diameter, 1:1 pitch flight screw broke in the middle. The shaft was 50mm Schedule 40 316L stainless steel pipe. The screw flight was 6mm thick 316L plate stitch welded to the shaft. The screw had been replaced new only 4 weeks prior. The screw was removed from the trough in two pieces and the break was at the middle of the screw. The break was generally square to the shaft.
[Read more…]Don’t Fear Disruption: Leverage It
Guest Post by Daniel Burrus (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
I challenge you to read this paragraph and then close your eyes and focus. Think about the future. What does it look like to you? How do you think humankind operates 20, 30, or 40 years from now? Are we even more digitally connected than we already are? What behaviors or actions are commonplace now that might be nonexistent then?
[Read more…]Unpacking Continuous Improvement Strategies
With U.S. annualized inflation rates exceeding 5.0% each month since May of 20211 – the longest stretch this century – the need for sustainable cost improvements has rarely been greater. And one source of cost reductions available to nearly every manufacturer is the elimination of waste and quality defects within their own facilities. Understanding the major continuous improvement (CI) strategies may help manufacturing leaders find a path toward lowering their costs and creating healthier margins for their organizations.
[Read more…]Covariance of Renewal Process Reliability Function Estimates Without Life Data?
Email from www.smartcorp.com advertised how to forecast inventory requirements using time-series analyses: single and double exponential smoothing, linear and simple moving average, and Winters models. SmartCorp compares alternative times-series forecasts in a “tournament” that picks the best forecast. Charles Smart says forecasting, “…particularly for low-demand items like service and spare parts — is especially difficult to predict with any accuracy.”
Time series forecasts also quantify variance. Excel’s time-series FORECAST() functions do exponential smoothing, account for seasonality and trend, and “pointwise” confidence intervals. Pointwise means only one confidence interval is valid at a time; not a confidence band on several forecasts!
Worker Safety? There’s An App For That!
I have always been fascinated by Apple products. Apple’s iPhone besides providing the “cool” touchscreen also lets developers create customized applications. Here are a few safety applications you may find useful:
[Read more…]