RCM Training should always reinforce the importance of ensuring the inherent designed reliability of the asset or system that is being analyzed. It is primarily this function of the RCM process that people fail to fully understand. The importance of properly conveying this message is what most often differentiates successful Reliability Centered Maintenance efforts from those who dabble and fail.
Reliability Centered Maintenance Training should always include a case study that allows the participants to identify failure modes that result in the team making task decisions in each of the following Consequence Categories: Hidden Failure Consequences, Health Safety and Environmental Consequences, Operational Consequences and Non-Operational Consequences.
RCM Training should always include real-life facilitation in a team format. It’s extremely important for those learning the process to understand the detail required to properly assess failure modes, failure effects and tasks.
Customer On Site Training
RCM Training when provided for a customer at their site should include an example from a simple system at their site that everyone in the class understands or can relate to. It is highly important that the site understands that Reliability Centered Maintenance will result in a shift of trying to juggle planned and schedule work with the daily emergency demand to becoming focused on maintaining the function of their critical assets. The performance of tasks identified in the RCM analysis are non-negotiable.
Online RCM training is available but should only be used to give customers a primary understanding of Reliability Centered Maintenance. While there are several different methods of online RCM training, there isn’t one that will do an effective job of simulating the live group dynamic that comes with a live training event. We need to be able to accurately asses each RCM Facilitators ability to work through the process with a team in the room. How to they react when challenged? Are they able to lead the team to specific cause when assessing failure modes? This again, isn’t possible working in an online training format.
Class Size
RCM Facilitator Training – Class size should always be kept to a 10 people or less. It is highly important that each facilitator gets enough time facilitating the class exercise and entering information into the RCM database. While customers will often push to increase the class size, participants will struggle during the mentoring phase of the process when they haven’t gotten adequate time during classroom training. The excitement of getting people through the RCM Facilitator training program should never outweigh the importance of delivering well trained facilitators who are capable of leading their RCM effort.
RCM Implementation Manager
As part of the RCM Facilitator training program I would like you all to stress the importance of naming someone as the RCM Implementation Manager. The most successful RCM initiatives leave the facilitators to plan and facilitate while the Implementation. The Manager ensures that the RCM tasks are implemented and performed. This allows companies to perform more RCM analyses and quickly begin to recognize RCM results.
Reliability Centered Maintenance Analysis Contract
A Reliability Centered Maintenance Analysis Contract should be completed before the start of each RCM analysis regardless of program maturity. I understand the excitement that comes with performing the first RCM’s at a new company. There will always be a number of people in management positions who will say there is no need for the document, that they support the effort. I want that support in writing. The contract is more than a formality, it helps set each facilitation up for success by clarifying the schedule, location, team members, implementation manager and who will be responsible for gathering information for a thorough analysis. We need to ensure our customers are using proven reliability measures on the assets/systems they are performing RCM on.
Overall Equipment Effectiveness
We highly recommend Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) be used in the format we teach in the RCM Facilitator Training. This allows us to understand where your losses are located and if the asset/system is indeed a good candidate for analysis. OEE should be measured each shift for at least a month prior to the start of the analysis and should continue on forever following the completion of the analysis and implementation of the RCM tasks.
The OEE data will without a doubt, clearly show the customer the power that RCM has to improve reliability. Ensure that OEE data is accurate prior to starting Reliability Centered Maintenance. It is preferred that the RCM data be provided by or even calculated using the operations PLC/DCS. Please make sure that the OEE measures are communicated to all stakeholders. RCM Facilitator Training Assessments – Assessments including the comments communicated to each facilitator must be completed prior to leaving the customer site following mentoring sessions. Once you have completed the assessment with the facilitator, you should both sign the document and email it to me on that same day.
It is important that you know each facilitators progress as we participate in a conference call with corporate leadership each Monday morning. While it would be nice for us to meet face to face on a monthly basis, sometimes with customer demands this isn’t possible.
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