Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site
A listing in reverse chronological order of these article series:
In many dealings throughout my career, including myself, it seems commonplace that people do not want to admit they need help. From physically, mentally, in life, or in business, our egos seem to always keep us from reaching our full potential. [Read more…]
In all production facilities, the success of most business operations is closely tied to the performance of their maintenance operations. On a busy plant floor, for example, all it takes is for a critical machine to breakdown mid-production and the ripple effects begin; from lost deadlines to stressed staff, wasted materials, and so on.
Identifying exactly when an asset will fail still remains a big priority and “tools” like the p-f curve are here to guide us in the right direction.
At SDMyers, we can’t stress enough the importance of safety when testing high-voltage electric-power equipment. Our partners at IRISS share our passion for the safety of maintenance workers in the field, including our own mobile diagnostic technicians. We hope that this guest blog from them is educational. If you find value in it, please leave us a comment. And, if you enjoyed this article, then here’s information on the safest way to obtain oil samples from cabinet transformers without de-energizing them. [Read more…]
Maintenance, is already a big enough challenge for many of us, yet beyond lies the realm of Asset Management. Back in 2004, As the second edition of Uptime was being written, the UK was introducing a specification for Asset Management and requiring network utilities to implement it. Drivers included the justification of rates charged to customers by these natural monopolies, the need to convince regulators that good asset management was indeed being practiced and to avoid failures that were increasingly becoming more serious and more publicized. The UK’s Publicly Available Specifications, PAS 55-1 and -2, were the first in this field. Those specifications underwent revision a few years later (2008) and early implementations were successful. The Institute of Asset Management (IAM) in the UK became the primary proponent of PAS 55 and the driving force behind a movement to create a new international standard. Along the way various documents were written to explain asset management and various national and international groups were formed to promote good asset management – some from national groups that were focused predominantly on maintenance. [Read more…]
The buzzword, “continual improvement,” is a hard one to miss. No matter how it’s worded, the notion of making changes that positively affect your business isn’t new. If you’re exploring ways to continually improve your maintenance operations, consider the benefits of integrating your computerized maintenance management software (CMMS) with other business applications. Software integrations can vastly increase the efficiency of your everyday operations and processes. Read on to learn our top CMMS integrations for your business.
Combining CMMS software with other relevant components of your organization helps eliminate duplicate or redundant processes. For example, critical information that is typically only found in a CMMS can be utilized by additional departments to improve the accuracy of their operations. The likelihood of errors decreases dramatically when systems communicate directly with one another. [Read more…]
Ultrasound is an effective technology that can be used for a few different purposes, not only condition monitoring. Here are my thoughts on the top uses: [Read more…]
Lately, I’ve been struggling with poor quality sleep. Sleep has a huge impact on my mood and the insomnia has contributed to increased suicidal ideation and depression. Ironically, the reason why my sleep quality has decreased is due to the new medication I am taking for depression (when I’m through this, I will talk about this more. Right now, it’s too raw of a subject). [Read more…]
Excluding primary practices that still prevail in most industrial companies, the evolution of MRO Materials Management Technology can be summarized in three technological waves, as shown below. [Read more…]
Getting experts to agree on most things is challenging at best, and often,downright impossible. Getting transformer experts to agree might be even more challenging. Despite the fact that transformers have been around for nearly a century—and with varying opinions on transformer design and maintenance—most experts agree that not all transformer failures are alike. Also widely recognized is that the life of the insulation or paper is the primary limiting factor towards the life of the transformer. [Read more…]
Here are a couple of curious observations:
Whilst there is considerable knowledge and expertise available it does not seem to get far beyond those specialists. [Read more…]
The relationship between maintenance planning and scheduling is similar to that of love and marriage, peanut butter and jelly, or bacon and eggs. It’s difficult to have one without the other. Each of these vital disciplines influences the other. But each is a distinct and separate process and, when performed properly, not really a feat of engineering but more an art form due to the vast number of activities required.
The disciplines for maintenance planning and scheduling are among the premises leading to the utilization of CMMS programs. It is helpful to have a solid, proven manual system in place for planning and scheduling before embarking upon utilization of a CMMS program for planning and scheduling. If a well-defined and functioning manual system exists, it makes the transition to the computerized system easier and more understandable. [Read more…]
A title like this is supposed to make you curious about two things: First is whether you are aware of these myths and second is if you are aware of them but wrongly believe them. They are myths after all.
Working in the reliability field with a focus on electrical systems, I have become increasingly aware of how many people believe in one or more of these myths and, more strikingly, stake their production uptime and even their career on them. I am not over-exaggerating. It is a big problem we seldom hear about because following these myths has led to a significant increase in the number of transformer failures with a corresponding dramatic increase in the cost of those failures.
So let’s get started. Be honest about it. If you know these are myths and are thinking the right way, then you will no doubt have just verified your prowess. On the other hand, if you believe some or all of these myths, then now is the time to recalibrate and set the record straight. [Read more…]
Most of us would agree that there is a new global economy being forged in the manufacturing sector today. Inevitably, this translates to a renewed focus on transferring more business value to the customer. Driving value in maintenance translates to high reliability and central to this will be linking RCM (Reliability Centered Maintenance) facilitation with effective maintenance program implementations. [Read more…]
“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right” Henry Ford.
Henry Ford understood the power of the mind and the power of belief systems. Many of us limit ourselves with what we’ve been told throughout our lives or what we’ve been conditioned by society. Understanding your beliefs and the story behind those beliefs is the first step to changing them so your beliefs work for you.
Two of my go-to limiting beliefs are self-worth related and have caused me a lot of grief. [Read more…]
