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Find all articles across all article series listed in reverse chronological order.
I seldom hear anyone criticize the risk matrix in asset management. Such criticism is usually reserved for the risk management community, where the risk matrix remains the favorite punching bag. On the other extreme of analytics, Monte Carlo analysis is seen as the quiet, poorly understood savior of all. As with most things, the truth is somewhere in between. This article briefly describes when to apply a risk matrix and when to opt for Monte Carlo analysis.
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Here’s a simple illustration of how MTBF oversimplifies data, concealing essential information.
By convention, we tend to use MTBF for repairable data. That is fine.
You may also be aware of my dislike for the use of MTBF, for many different reasons. If you find yourself suggesting your organization, customer, industry or whomever to stop using MTBF, you may want to use this simple example to illustrate the ‘value’ of MTBF. [Read more…]
As industries increasingly rely on complex electromechanical systems, the importance of Return Parts Analysis (RPA) cannot be overstated. This crucial process involves forensic examination of failed components to determine root causes and prevent future issues. Let’s explore why RPA is essential, particularly for components like valves, sensors, pumps, and electrical boards.
Return Parts Analysis provides invaluable insights into component failures, offering benefits that extend far beyond simple troubleshooting:
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ISO 55000 and ISO 55001 are frameworks into which you must add the correct policies, procedures, knowledge, and actions that deliver world class physical asset management. They cannot of themselves cause asset management, maintenance and operational excellence. Users of ISO 55000 and ISO 55001 must turn the framework into a full set of the correct and proper processes and practices used business-wide and life-cycle-long in your company to cause it to operate at world class performance.
What is missing in ISO 55001 you do with the Plant Wellness Way enterprise asset management methodology. There is but one rule to follow in the PWW EAM methodology to get the best asset management and operational excellence solution: Produce the least atomic stress state in component materials-of-construction all the time. Select strategies, procedures and practices that cause that result and you have the best asset management solution to feed into an ISO 55001 framework. Plant Wellness Way EAM perfectly complements ISO 55000 and ISO 55001 so that when used together you build a life cycle EAM system with the processes and practices that ensure outstanding equipment reliability and great enterprise asset management success.
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What happens if an autonomous AI robot has preemptive authority to use deadly force to ensure its safety or the public’s safety ? We are not too far from this when autonomous robots will have risk based, problem solving and decision making capabilities and even statutory authorities.
Last week, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors gave the San Francisco Police Department authority to use killer robots. The vote was 8 to 3 to approve robo cops. San Francisco is the most liberal city in the United States. Oakland and other cities are thinking the same.
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Many maintainers fail to make improvements or make them stick. It’s not lack of intention, it’s a chaotic environment and inability to really lead change effectively.
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Failure is an inevitable part of maintenance operations. Machines break down, components wear out, and unexpected issues arise despite the best preventive measures. However, the difference between a high-performing maintenance team and one that struggles lies in how failures are managed. Effective failure management is not about eliminating all failures—an impossible goal—but about controlling their impact, learning from them, and using them as opportunities to improve reliability and efficiency.
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Do we need comprehensive failure data to perform Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM)? This question brings us to Resnikoff’s conundrum, a thought-provoking concept introduced by mathematician Resnikoff in the 1970s. Resnikoff pointed out that while failure data is useful, data on critical failures—which we aim to prevent—is often missing or minimal. So, how do we manage RCM effectively without it?
In this video, I explain how a facilitated working group approach to RCM fills in these data gaps by leveraging the knowledge and experience of equipment experts. Join me, Nancy Regan, as we explore this unique aspect of RCM!
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(Also known as “Brinelling,” “False Brinelling,” or “Plastic Flow” depending on cause and appearance)
Abstract: Unlike fatigue cracks or abrasive wear, plastic deformation represents a threshold failure where the material’s yield strength is exceeded, leading to permanent dimensional change. In high-precision components like bearings, even microscopic plastic flow the “failure fingerprint” can trigger catastrophic system vibration or total seizure. This article explores identifying markers of Brinelling, torsional yielding, and metallurgical slip.
Monte Carlo analysis, or Monte Carlo simulation, is a technique for forecasting that accounts for uncertainty and variability. As an analytical tool, Monte Carlo analysis forces the project development process to incorporate wider thinking and minimize biases. As a communication tool, Monte Carlo analysis is powerful in showing the probabilities and possibilities and identifying the input parameters that impact a specific project context.
Monte Carlo analysis is now more convenient and affordable than at any point in its 70-year history. The technique provides huge additive value for large and complex projects and capital-intensive programs.
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I was preparing to write this article and wondered how many search hits would appear for MTBF? So, opened Google and did an MTBF search. It is a common if misunderstood, acronym.
Beyond the 5,200,000 Google search results, it was the first page results that got me thinking. Keep in mind that Google often serves up a combination of what it thinks you are seeking and which sites have been useful for others.
Let’s break down what you find when you do an MTBF search. [Read more…]
In the automotive industry, particularly when dealing with electromechanical components, the validation process is a critical phase that ensures the safety, reliability, and performance of products before they reach the market. However, there is a growing trend among companies to avoid failures during this process, often leading to panic when they occur. This article explores why encountering failures during validation should be seen as a blessing rather than a disaster.
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There are several risk management solutions that organisations can implement to strengthen their organisational culture to create a positive ‘risk culture’ outcome.
These organisational practices include:
Use Equipment Criticality to Match Planned Maintenance Strategy to the Operational Risks
Planned maintenance has the purpose of rejuvenating equipment before parts start failing. Use maintenance strategy based on continual renewal to reduce operating equipment risk of failure so that you have your plant and equipment in good condition and thus free of age and stress related defects waiting for the chance to fail.
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In the previous chapter the first part of a practical look at how to apply agile methodologies to your hardware development process was explored.
This chapter completes a look at how to apply agile methodologies to your hardware development process.
As illustrated in the diagram at the beginning of this blog, companies that follow an agile hardware product realization process plan to invest more resources early in the process and, as a result, are able to realize extra profits over the product’s lifecycle. Compare the two lines showing the investment and profit profile of a standard (old ways) development process (from the diagram shown in the previous blog post) with that of those organizations who invest strategically early in the process.
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