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The Risks that Go with Globalization

The Risks that Go with Globalization

Guest Post by Joseph Paris (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

It is undoubtedly and incontrovertibly true that global extreme poverty has declined as capitalism has driven globalization – the trade between and among nations – to increase over time.  Certainly, there are arguments to be made that the growth in wealth has also been increasingly concentrated in the hands of fewer people, but the world as a whole has benefited. The charts below from Our World in Data, showing the number of people living in extreme poverty from 1820 to present, clearly demonstrate that the economic benefit of globalization has been as positive as it has been apparent [Read more…]

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Myth busting 26: I’ve read the book, now I’m…

Myth busting 26: I’ve read the book, now I’m…

Educational institutions realize that we all learn differently and combinations of learning styles will reach most of us. Some of us learn by seeing (reading), some by doing (tactile), some by hearing (aural). Most of us have a bit of each of these and rarely only one is enough. In college and university there is reading as well as assignment and lab work. We need both, so, how do we learn once we leave the academic world? [Read more…]

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Design Assurance Reduces Equipment Risk

Design Assurance Reduces Equipment Risk

“It was supposed to work in our application. This failure is going to cost us a lot of rig time.”

Was this product checked out prior to purchase? Was it fit-for-purpose? Some due diligence was probably used, but the better question is…was the product assessed through Design Assurance? Design assurance is an engineering process that confirms the product meets performance requirements and complies with design policies and industry standards. [Read more…]

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Swiss Cheese and Our Healthcare

Swiss Cheese and Our Healthcare

The graphic of the Swiss Cheese Model (attached is an expression from AHRQ) is a good one and one that many will remember and relate to.

However, I would like to expand on that model and express that more commonly, there is a not a singular or linear path to failure. There are typically multiple paths of failure that converge together at some point in time to cause an undesirable outcome. [Read more…]

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Now You Understand Your Risks: What’s Next?

Now You Understand Your Risks: What’s Next?

Guest Post by Andrew Sheves (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

Naturally, a lot of time and effort in risk management goes into understanding the risks that you face. After all, if you don’t understand what you’re up against, there’s not a lot of risk management to be done. However, even when you complete a comprehensive risk assessment, this is just the beginning of the process. Now the real work starts and you have to answer the big question. [Read more…]

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Myth Busting 25: We need engineers to do RCM

Myth Busting 25: We need engineers to do RCM

Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) is method for determining the most appropriate failure and consequence management strategies. It deals with your physical assets in your current operating context. The first four questions in the RCM method, are defined in standard, SAE JA-1011, “Evaluation Criteria for Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) Processes.” They utilize the time proven engineering method, Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA). [Read more…]

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Why is Nobody Talking About This?

Why is Nobody Talking About This?

I had to learn a lot to become a transformer reliability leader. I have an engineering background and a transformer maintenance and testing background, but to be the practitioner I wanted to be I had to get educated. I sought out reliability knowledge. I found much of that knowledge through reading and research. It started with Google searches and Wikipedia articles, and it eventually led to half-a-dozen subscriptions to magazines and journals related to the field. It’s incredibly important to keep up-to-date with the industry and with reliability. [Read more…]

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Is the 5-Ys a Valid RCA Tool for Significant Events?

Is the 5-Ys a Valid RCA Tool for Significant Events?

I think that 5-year olds had a lock on 5Y’s well before it became a ‘named problem solving tool’. How many times have our kids at that age asked ‘Why’ about everything?

How many ‘Why’s’ do we answer before we say, ‘I don’t know, go ask your mother or father!’

Again (to me), the traditional 5-Y tool is technically incapable of expressing multiple paths of logic that occurred simultaneously. It treats failure like it always happens in a linear pattern (never multiple, simultaneous paths). [Read more…]

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The Net Present Value Method: Measuring the True Value of an Investment

The Net Present Value Method: Measuring the True Value of an Investment

In the previous three articles, we’ve examined the Break-even Analysis and Pay-back Period methods (Part 1 and Part 2) as means of evaluating capital investments. While these back-of-the-napkin methods are excellent starting points for analyzing investments, they’re both poor ending points. Neither provide a reliable basis for comparing investments side-by-side. And neither tell you how much value an investment is adding to your organization. [Read more…]

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Black Swans and the Coronavirus

Black Swans and the Coronavirus

Guest Post by James Kline (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

The term Black Swan has been used frequently.  This is particularly so, with respect to the Coronavirus. In an earlier piece, I discussed the term Black Swan. Given the increased use of the term in the current circumstances, it is worth revisiting the concept. [Read more…]

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Myth Busting 24: Basing your reliability program on Root…

Myth Busting 24: Basing your reliability program on Root…

Root Cause Failure Analysis (also called, Root Cause Analysis) is great for eliminating the causes of failures. It’s usually used where there are major production, cost, safety, or environmental consequences. But it only deals with failures that have already happened – it is usually triggered by the very consequences you would have been better off avoiding altogether. [Read more…]

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Take control of your equipment with 7 essential skills of Maintenance and Reliability

Take control of your equipment with 7 essential skills of Maintenance and Reliability

My Subaru Forester keeps serving up inspiration when it comes to Maintenance and Reliability. On my way to work, my Low Fuel Light illuminated. I had a choice…stop for gas and make it to work…OR…ignore it and get stuck on the side of the road? A no-brainer, right? Then why, in the Maintenance and Reliability world, do we often find ourselves stuck on the proverbial “side of the road?” [Read more…]