Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site
A listing in reverse chronological order of articles by:
Traditionally RCA is only utilized after an event has occurred, so how can one call it proactive? This perception is explored through trying to understand the current paradigms that exist about RCA, what it is and when it is used. Do we really have to wait for an undesirable outcome to occur in order to use RCA? [Read more…]
Oftentimes, plans and strategies are developed and implemented. Many times the implementation is handed off and the team left on their own to implement. And many of the times, the implementation fails or the results are not delivered.
Why is this? It is because there is a lack of governance and accountability. These are more than just words. They are a system, process and a sense of ownership throughout the organization to ensure that the plan is implemented and any roadblocks are dealt with. [Read more…]
These are challenging economic times and opportunities abound with many of our customers to add new business value. They are turning to us and asking: “You’ve brought great value to our Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM-R) program through knowledge capture, personnel education, laying the foundation for a ‘living’ maintenance program and so on. However, what additional value can you provide us beyond what you have already done?” One answer: “Focus on writing high-value, asset maintenance tasks. i.e. Tactical PM Program Implementations”. [Read more…]
It’s important to make sure you do the right Proactive Maintenance at the right intervals because you can catch things before they become serious failures. How a trip to the vet put it all in perspective for me… [Read more…]
Foreword By Robert J. Latino: I wanted to dust off this impactful paper written by my father before he passed, and ask for your opinions about how far we have really come in the field of Reliability Engineering, based on your experience?
You are the ones that carry on the Reliability torch today. Based on Charles’ reflections about his Reliability career, how far has your facility come and what hurdles do you still face? [Read more…]
Many organizations often struggle to move plans forward. This may be due to the decision-making process and the people involved in the process. Often times the various decision makers are scattered across the company and may be distracted by issues in the plant. In other circumstances, the organization may know what the end goal is, but may not be aware of how to get there. [Read more…]
Contributed by: David A DeCastro (Salvador, Brazil).
In traveling the world in search of excellence in MRO Materials Management (indirect materials / spare parts), I noticed two curious facts. First, even in developed countries, both the industrial companies and providers of ERPs (enterprise management systems) are often technologically quite backwards outside the realm of their product specialization. Secondly, those typically smaller companies or subject matter experts who have developed differentiated technology, tend to keep it as a safe and guarded trade secret, failing to commercialize their brilliance. [Read more…]
How a construction site reminded me that an effective Reliability Program starts with RCM. When something new is built, the construction crew starts with the foundation. The same thing goes for a Reliability program. [Read more…]
Why do our Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) dictate that equipment is an asset and our employees are liabilities? Don’t our executives always tell us ‘our people are our greatest assets?’ How come our financials don’t support their assertion? [Read more…]
Storerooms are a critical part of any maintenance and reliability program, but they are often overlooked. When a storeroom is operating at best in class levels, the right parts are available at the right time. The storeroom is only able to achieve this when it its into the maintenance department.
If you can’t sell all you can produce, then reducing costs is often the only way to improve margins, but that simplistic accounting perspective is not always the case. Cost control is often thought to be key to attaining profitability but it the case of maintenance it can get you into trouble. Cost control can have a big opportunity cost if you don’t take advantage of the opportunities you have. Consider that what you might really want is greater value – more for less, no just less. [Read more…]
Are you living in Reactive Mode? Gain independence from your equipment by optimizing maintenance tasks so you can get the Reliability you need from your equipment. [Read more…]
In times that promise to be a financial challenge for many corporations, we must make decisions as to where to invest our scarce dollars and where to cut from our current operations. When faced with these decisions, we must be realistic and pragmatic about how short-term decisions impact our long-term goals. Yes, when times are hard, how well positioned will we be when the economy picks up (and keep the faith, it will pick up)? [Read more…]
Performing a PM Optimization is not always as simple as it sounds. Often a Maintenance Planner will assemble a team of technicians to ask what is value-added and what is missing from a PM Routine. While these may be good questions to ask before diving into an analysis, or after an analysis, it does not base the answers on data. Basing the PM Routine on data, not intuition is critical to the long-term success of any organization.
To perform a PM Optimization, there are three main types of analysis to focus on the effectiveness of any PM Routine. The specific analysis used will depend on how mature (or effective) the current PM Routine is, and on the specific type of failures that the PM Routine is trying to address.
If the current PM routine was not developed utilizing an acceptable tool such as Reliability Centered Maintenance, Failure Mode Effect Analysis, or Maintenance Task Analysis, then this is the first step to performing a PM Optimization. By utilizing Review RCM, or an FMEA, the organization can begin to document and analyze the current failure modes experienced with a specific piece of equipment. This analysis will identify if the current tasks are effective for the type of failure (i.e. wear out or random failure).
At the completion of the Review RCM analysis, a documented equipment strategy will be available to ensure that the right maintenance is being performed for the specific type of failure mode. At this point, the organization can implement changes to their PM program and begin to experience an improvement in the effectiveness of their PM Program.
But what if the PM Routine was developed utilizing an accepted tool? Then there are two other types of analysis that should be utilized to analysis the failure data and make data-driven improvements to the PM Routine.
A Weibull analysis is a common statistical analysis tool used in maintenance and reliability. The Weibull analysis is used for Non-Repairable Components, meaning that it is used for parts that are discarded after failure.
To use a Weibull analysis, begin by plotting the life data. A Beta (or slope) of the plot will provide information as to whether the failure is related to a wear-out failure mode, a premature failure mode or a random failure;
While quite effective with non-repairable components, the Weibull analysis can only be used with a single failure mode. If multiple failure modes are included in the life data, the Beta will not be correct.
With the Beta determined, the type of maintenance being performed can be reviewed to determine if it is in line with the type of failure being observed, i.e. random, or age related. If the maintenance activity is replacing a component every 300 days and the Beta value is 1, then the right type of maintenance is not being performed and an on condition task should be established.
Lastly, the characteristic life (n) for an age-related failure will be provided as part of the Weibull analysis. This can be used to assist in determining the appropriate frequency of the maintenance activity.
Now, if the component being maintained is a repairable component, a Weibull analysis is not the right tool to use. This is where a Mean Cumulative Function Plot comes into play. This is a plot of time in hours versus the count of failures to date.
By plotting the time in hours versus the count of failures, you can begin to see how long components are lasting. Also, you can perform an analysis on the data which will indicate the slope of the data;
Based on this line, the type and effectiveness of the maintenance activity can be evaluated. As with the Weibull analysis, the data will allow the organization to see what failure modes are occurring when. With this information, the maintenance activity and frequency can be reviewed. A word of caution, do not take the average of the life data. Look at the plot and determine when the maintenance activity should be performed based on the probability of preventing the failure.
Armed with this three analysis, any organization can effectively perform a PM Optimization focused on the effectiveness of the maintenance activities. However, this is only the first part of a PM Optimization process. The cost/benefit must be calculated to determine if the maintenance activity is worth doing. If it has been determined that the PM Routine is worth doing, then the PM routine needs to be analyzed to perform it in the most efficient way.
Do you have a structured approach to your PM Optimization? Do you use a rule of thumb for your reviews? What is preventing you from using data to perform your PM Optimization?
Remember, to find success; you must first solve the problem, then achieve the implementation of the solution, and finally sustain winning results.
I’m James Kovacevic
Eruditio, LLC
Where Education Meets Application
Follow @EruditioLLC
References;
A visit to Quincy Market in Boston clears up a big misconception about RCM. It isn’t feasible to do RCM on all your equipment. Here’s why… [Read more…]