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on Systems Thinking

A listing in reverse chronological order of articles by:
  • JD Solomon — Communicating with FINESSE series
  • Robert (Bob) J. Latino — The RCA series

by JD Solomon Leave a Comment

How Reliability Engineers Can Improve Their Communication in Information Sessions

How Reliability Engineers Can Improve Their Communication in Information Sessions

There was a lot to unpack from the 45-minute information session. After all, three different governmental units evaluated the issue for over three years. We had not had a debriefing on the issue in a year. And the issue was an emerging one, ripe with complexity and uncertainty. Effective communication can be difficult in these types of information sessions.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, Communicating with FINESSE, on Systems Thinking

by JD Solomon Leave a Comment

17 Powerful Insights on Effective Communication Using FINESSE

17 Powerful Insights on Effective Communication Using FINESSE

There are a lot of keen insights in the 2022 FINESSE guest articles for improving communication skills. Looking back on this bold collection reminds me that much good work, and systems thinking, is still needed for as we move into the future.

Effective Communication is a System

Is there a single theme that we can gain from the 2022 guest articles that makes it easier to communicate information related to work-related decisions with complexity and uncertainty? Is there one thing we can do to be an effective trusted advisor? The answer to both is “not really.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, Communicating with FINESSE, on Systems Thinking

by Robert (Bob) J. Latino Leave a Comment

The Power of Purpose: Exploring Transactions vs Relationships

The Power of Purpose: Exploring Transactions vs Relationships

With nearly four (4) decades of experience in Reliability, Maintenance and Safety in my rear-view mirror now, I’ve gotten to pondering about what have I actually learned? What has been my purpose? For those who don’t know me you can learn more about my career pathway by visiting my LinkedIn Profile. In short, I’ve been a practitioner, consultant, educator, author, businessman, mentor and thought-influencer (don’t like the term ‘Leader’, sounds too cocky).

Given all this ‘wisdom’ (polite term for dues paid in years or the state of being ‘old-er’), what have I really learned?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Systems Thinking, The RCA

by JD Solomon Leave a Comment

How ADA Compliance Improves Communication for Reliability Engineers

How ADA Compliance Improves Communication for Reliability Engineers

Sometimes it is easier to start with what not to do. That is often the case for technically trained professionals who are often not the best natural communicators. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and international standards for the visually and hearing impaired provide good guardrails.

The Basics

These are five basics that should be considered as a minimum standard.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, Communicating with FINESSE, on Systems Thinking

by JD Solomon Leave a Comment

How to Compel Uncertainty to Respond (and Strengthen Communication)

How to Compel Uncertainty to Respond (and Strengthen Communication)

Reliability and systems engineers are in it for the long game. Their work feeds big decisions that take months or years to evaluate and must pass through many levels of management. Big decisions are filled with complexity (many interrelated parts) and uncertainty (unknown beyond doubt or not clearly defined). This article provides several key observations about uncertainty and five tips on how to drive out uncertainty with FINESSE.

Knowledge (and the degree of its validation)

Uncertainty refers to situations involving imperfect or unknown information. It applies to predictions of future events, to physical measurements that are already made, or to the unknown. Uncertainty arises in partially observable environments and is due to ignorance, indolence, or both (Norvig and Thrun).

Technical professionals drive toward collecting more data – more knowledge – but is that really what decision-makers care about?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, Communicating with FINESSE, on Systems Thinking

by Robert (Bob) J. Latino Leave a Comment

Top 10 Reasons Maintenance and Reliability Initiatives Fail

Top 10 Reasons Maintenance and Reliability Initiatives Fail

Guest post by Kenneth Latino.

I have been in the business of maintenance and reliability for nearly 35 years. I have had the luxury of working with many industries during my career both as a practitioner in a large paper mill and as a maintenance/reliability consultant. I have been able to see what works and what does not. So, these are some of the mistakes I have made personally and have also seen others make. It is by far not a comprehensive list but does provide some of the more important reasons and some potential solutions.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Systems Thinking, The RCA

by JD Solomon Leave a Comment

So, You Are a Reliability Engineer Forced into Being a Facilitator

So, You Are a Reliability Engineer Forced into Being a Facilitator

Technical professionals are often asked to “lead” teams through the application of assessment tools such as failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA), Root Cause Analysis (RCM), and Reliability Block Diagrams.

In some cases, you may be a department manager. In other cases, you are the subject matter expert. Sometimes senior management simply knows you are willing to do it.

The issue is not whether you are smart enough or the most personable engineer in the group. The problem is that you may have all the hard skills required to do the assessment, but you lack formal training in the soft skills. Most of us do the best we can. 

This article provides some insights for doing better rather than just being adequate.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, Communicating with FINESSE, on Systems Thinking

by Robert (Bob) J. Latino Leave a Comment

My Reliability Journey

My Reliability Journey

Guest post by Ken Latino.

About 13 years ago, I began a reliability journey at a large paper mill. At that time, the mill was pretty reactive and I was naïve enough to think I was going to single handedly turn it around. While I thought I had all the answers and was going to teach the mill a thing or two about reliability, it ended up teaching me a hell of a lot more.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Systems Thinking, The RCA

by Robert (Bob) J. Latino Leave a Comment

So how Should I use the SAP-PM Breakdown Indicator?

So how Should I use the SAP-PM Breakdown Indicator?

Guest post by Ken Latino.

There are many opinions about the use of the breakdown flag in SAP-PM. I would like to offer my opinion on this debate. First, I do not like the term “breakdown”. With a name like breakdown, nobody will want to check the box! No one likes to admit that a something has failed or is broken. I wish the field were named “reliability event” to take away this negative connotation.  I will discuss this in more detail later.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Systems Thinking, The RCA

by Robert (Bob) J. Latino Leave a Comment

Utilizing CMMS/EAM for Defect Elimination

Utilizing CMMS/EAM for Defect Elimination

As we all have learned, eliminating defects is the key to a safe and profitable plant. But how do we know where our ‘bugs” are hiding? There are certainly many ways to uncover where the bugs are, but one place in particular is your computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) or enterprise asset management system (EAM), as it is commonly referred. 

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Systems Thinking, The RCA

by Robert (Bob) J. Latino Leave a Comment

Maintenance – Necessary Evil or Value Creator?

Maintenance – Necessary Evil or Value Creator?

Guest post by Ken Latino.

Have you ever noticed how much emphasis is put on the maintenance budget in an industrial facility?  While maintenance cost is usually just a fraction of what is spent on other costs like raw materials, energy costs and other input costs, it get 95% of the attention.  This is because many think that every dollar spent on maintenance is a wasted dollar.  With this attitude, it causes those at the plant level to make extremely difficult decisions of cost versus risk.  The lower the budget, the more risk has to be taken. 

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Systems Thinking, The RCA

by Robert (Bob) J. Latino Leave a Comment

Can you be Proactive in a Reactive Environment?

Can you be Proactive in a Reactive Environment?

Guest post by Ken Latino

If you are like most people who work in a manufacturing or process plant, you have a plan for your day when you arrive in the morning. As soon as you walk through the gate, you are hit with the equipment failures from the night before. You immediately spring into action to help find parts, drawings, millwrights, fitters and anything else needed to get the equipment repaired as quickly as possible. Once that is underway you are told to compile that urgent report for corporate that is needed immediately. And who can forget the countless meetings that must have your attendance. The next thing you know, it is 7:00 PM and you have done nothing from the plan you had for your day. Sound familiar?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Systems Thinking, The RCA

by Robert (Bob) J. Latino Leave a Comment

Does Improved Reliability Translate to a Safer Plant?

Does Improved Reliability Translate to a Safer Plant?

Guest post by Ken Latino.

I am often asked if there is a relationship between improved reliability and safety? There is certainly anecdotal evidence that suggests that there is a link. I’m sure anyone reading this can attest to similar beliefs from their work environment. But I was particularly interested to see if there was more definitive research that can back up these beliefs with hard data. I was able to find numerous articles that provided additional support data. However, I saw one from Ron Moore that really stood out to me. Ron has been a respected Reliability practitioner and consultant for many years. This article, which is posted all over the internet, shows more than just anecdotal conclusions on this relationship. Ron presents are a clear mathematical relationship that shows us that being more proactive and reliable also makes us safer. 

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Systems Thinking, The RCA

by Robert (Bob) J. Latino Leave a Comment

Electronic Data Collection: The Bridge to the Connected Plant

Electronic Data Collection: The Bridge to the Connected Plant

Guest post by Ken Latino

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has created immense excitement and promise for industrial facilities. Having connected assets that continuously monitor their own health and feed that information back in a way that is timely and actionable will drive business outcomes and help organizations achieve loftier goals. The challenge today is that many of our assets are not yet “connected” or “intelligent,” meaning that they are not yet outfitted with the health monitoring instrumentation that provides the live, automated data feed directly to a centralized repository of data. Yes, critical assets like turbine generators, boiler feed water pumps, highly critical motors and the like are indeed outfitted with modern instrumentation and fail-safe solutions. However, in most industrial facilities throughout the world, this is a very small population of assets.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Systems Thinking, The RCA

by Robert (Bob) J. Latino Leave a Comment

A Practical Approach to Plant Reliability?

A Practical Approach to Plant Reliability?

Guest post by Ken Latino

Have you ever thought about all the many elements of a successful maintenance/reliability initiative? It is the alphabet soup of acronyms. RCA, RCM, FMEA, ODR, CMMS, EAM, BOM, KPI, MRO, PdM, PM, IIoT … The list goes on and on. The problem is that while many of these elements are critical to implementing a successful asset performance management (APM) initiative, it is overwhelming for those tasked with doing it at the plant level. There is a tendency to want to apply all these tools and technologies to all areas of the plant at the same time.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Systems Thinking, The RCA

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