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on Maintenance Reliability

A listing in reverse chronological order of articles by:

by James Kovacevic Leave a Comment

Understanding Soft Foot and How to Correct It

Ensure Your Precision Alignment Program Is On The Right Foot.

Imagine (or maybe you don’t have to) that you take out your brand new Easy-Laser system, and proceed to perform a shaft alignment.  However, it seems that no matter what you do, you can’t get a great alignment.  What is going on?  The foundation looks good, new shims were used, the asset is clean, and there is no pipe strain.  After some discussion with others, they mention a term in which you are unfamiliar with, soft foot.
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by James Reyes-Picknell Leave a Comment

Proactive Maintenance is More Covid, How “Covid” is Yours?

Proactive Maintenance is More Covid, How “Covid” is Yours?

Proactive maintenance requires fewer people and is more suited to physical distancing, yet cost-savings measures are driving more reactive work and workplace crowding than necessary. Proactive maintenance is more “Covid”. You have laid-off workers, contractors, and reduced spending on maintenance and parts. In fact, Covid-19 presented you with a great savings opportunity! Have you done anything to make sure those costs stay down though? Short term maintenance cost savings are easy to achieve. but they bite hard later! [Read more…]

by Nancy Regan Leave a Comment

MTBF versus Useful Life

MTBF versus Useful Life

There’s a big difference between MTBF and Useful Life. The two values are often misunderstood and misapplied when assigning Preventive Maintenance task intervals. In this video, I’ll explain which one is used to assign intervals for Scheduled Replacement and Scheduled Restoration tasks. We’ll also discuss Operating Context and how that can affect Manufacturer Recommended Maintenance. This is an “edutainment” video. If you’d like to skip the fun stuff (although I don’t know why you’d want to ☺️), I’ve time stamped the Reliability Moments below. Enjoy!

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by Robert (Bob) J. Latino Leave a Comment

Grade Your RCA Effort and Print Out Your Private Report Card…

Grade Your RCA Effort and Print Out Your Private Report Card…

If you had to give a grade to your current Root Cause Analysis (RCA) initiative, what would it be? How would you come to that conclusion (grade)? The paradox many face with such initiatives is drawing the distinction between compliance and actual effectiveness. What would our RCA grade be based on? In this article we will focus on the key elements to quantifiably measure your RCA initiative, so the organization can focus on the elements of the initiative that are lacking.

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by Doug Plucknette Leave a Comment

Personal Expectations

Personal Expectations

A friend I have been mentoring for quite some time now asked me recently if I had a set of personal expectations I hold myself to. As part of our conversation, I quickly came up with 4 or 5 things and then later on sat down to list out the expectations I try to live by.

I think my parents set the groundwork for what I would consider my list of personal expectations. My Mom and Dad had sound values and I think it’s those values that influence our expectations. With that said, here is my list;

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by James Kovacevic Leave a Comment

Hey, Maintenance Planner! Do You Know What to Report on in Weekly Meetings?

As an Enterprise Maintenance Planner, you manage the backlog, provide a maintenance schedule, liaise with Maintenance and Operations, maintain excellent knowledge of the facility and its equipment, and find ways to optimize productivity. Phew! That’s no small to-do list.

Every day, you’re working hard to:

  1. Keep the backlog as low as possible
  2. Keep downtime to a minimum
  3. Manage an organized working schedule
  4. Successfully communicate updates to Operations and Maintenance
  5. Work towards many other tasks and goals too!

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by James Reyes-Picknell Leave a Comment

Pay $3k to Keep out of Trouble, or More to Get out of Jail

Pay $3k to Keep out of Trouble, or More to Get out of Jail

Pay $3k now to keep out of trouble or more to get out of jail later. Your plant asset performance is down and you know it. It’s only a matter of time before there is an accident. You need to improve but funds are limited. 

The expert consultants will want to begin with some sort of an assessment. They will identify problems and offer solutions, for a price (likely $50k or more). You can’t afford it. Some consultants might even be former employees. Ask yourself, “if they worked here before, then why didn’t she/he fix what was wrong when they were here?” Consider getting a different consultant but you will still struggle with a big inconvenient truth! [Read more…]

by Bryan Christiansen Leave a Comment

How Can Reliability Engineers Improve Maintenance Management

How Can Reliability Engineers Improve Maintenance Management

Reliability engineers are responsible for keeping equipment or facilities operational, extending their useful lives, and managing maintenance costs by formulating relevant maintenance management policies and programs. They offer guidance to maintenance teams, analyze existing maintenance programs to identify opportunities for improvement. Unlike maintenance supervisors, these professionals rarely engage in the daily execution of maintenance tasks. The roles of reliability engineers span the entire lifecycle of an asset beginning from the design phase, operational stage to disposal. How do reliability engineers influence the gradual improvement of maintenance management in different organizations? [Read more…]

by Robert (Bob) J. Latino Leave a Comment

A Mechanic’s Story: The Human & System’s Contribution

A Mechanic’s Story: The Human & System’s Contribution

In this original post, A Mechanic’s Story: Basic Component Fatigue, we took a detailed journey through the physical side of a shaft failure RCA. We stopped at the physical side of that failure, parallel misalignment. However, stopping at the component level of failure does not constitute a credible and thorough RCA. Actually stopping at this level is more along the lines of a Shallow Cause Analysis (SCA). So let’s explore what makes the difference between a Shallow Cause Analysis and a Root Cause Analysis (RCA).

In the previous post we stopped at parallel misalignment. We will continue drilling from that point down. We ask ‘How could we have had parallel misalignment?’ Our team of subject matter experts (SME) hypothesizes 1) it was either misalignment at installation or 2) it became misaligned during operations. 

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by James Kovacevic Leave a Comment

10 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Next Maintenance Assessment

Assessments are a key tool for driving sustainable improvements in you Maintenance, Reliability, or Asset Management program.

When you hear the work assessment or audit, does it send shivers down your spine?  Do you envision a week or two of some “expert” digging through your data, processes, and performance, looking to get you in trouble for something you did or didn’t do?

While some audits may be to find issues or wrongdoing, most assessments should be viewed as a key activity to improving your current programs or systems.  These assessments, are used to compare your current program to industry best practices, identifying areas which could be improved.  The assessment typically includes a Recommended Course of Action (RCOA) which highlights what gaps should be focused on first.  So, whether the assessment is driven by corporate, internally or externally, how can you get the most out of a Maintenance assessment? [Read more…]

by James Reyes-Picknell Leave a Comment

How to Keep the Boss Out of Jail

How to Keep the Boss Out of Jail

Here’s a case where they didn’t know how to keep the boss out of jail! In Jan 2019, a mine tailing dam (the structure used to contain waste from mining operations) collapsed. The video below shows the event. 259 people were confirmed dead and 11 declared missing. Cause – liquefaction – a commonly occurring phenomenon, and one that this particular mine had been warned about. Outcome – fatalities and associated human cost, suspended operations (for a brief period), company reputation, criminal charges (executives and engineering consultants). Risk management is an often neglected part of our job. [Read more…]

by Alex Williams Leave a Comment

There’s More to Maintenance Software Than Work Orders

There’s More to Maintenance Software Than Work Orders

At its core, maintenance software is a tool that allows you to generate and schedule work orders and get the right people to do each job. Maintenance software automates paper processes by enabling people to create requests for maintenance work. Maintenance workers then enter the requests into the computerized maintenance management system software (CMMS), which generates the work orders. However, when it comes to the functions of a CMMS, work order generation is only the tip of the iceberg.

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