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Find all articles across all article series listed in reverse chronological order.
In this Q and A article, a reader asks a challenging question about the linkage between FMEA boundary diagrams and Design FMEAs. There are many linkages between different elements of FMEAs, and this question/answer highlights one of the key linkages.
“In all affairs, it’s a healthy thing to hang a question mark on the thing you have long taken for granted.”
Bertrand Russell
Imagine being asked to discuss a breakdown during a production meeting. Only you are not aware of a breakdown, but production is claiming there was one and it could have been prevented by some Preventative Maintenance. You ask what equipment the breakdown was on and check the records. The records show there was a minor corrective action on the equipment last night, but not a breakdown.
After some discussion, the production manager explains that there was a leak, and the line had to be stopped to repair the leak. You know that a leak is not a breakdown, and will not impact production. The production manager saw a leak and assumed it was a breakdown. The end result was an unplanned outage lasting 30 minutes. [Read more…]
In this article on pulse jet bag house dust collectors we cover twelve factors spanning their design and operation.
A bag house dust collector is used to separate dust from a dust-contaminated gas stream. The gas is filtered through bags made of fabric. The fabric traps and filters out the dust while the cleaned gas passes through. The fabric consists of either woven or intertwined (felted) fibres. The bag fibre is selected for its ability to give a long working life within the internal environment of the dust collector. [Read more…]
ISO maintains risk has implicitly been a part of the standard since the ISO 9001:2015 revision. How? In the new standard, ‘preventive action’ has evolved to ‘actions to address risk and opportunities.’ This changes the Corrective Action – Preventive Action (CAPA) model. In the past, Preventive Action was implemented as a result of Corrective Action specifically to prevent the recurrence of the nonconformity. [Read more…]
With the advent of ISO 31000 and other ISO standards suggesting organizational risk management practices, your organization may have or soon will implement a risk management plan. Reliability of your products, systems, or assets is an element of the organization’s risk profile.
As reliability professionals, your knowledge and skills are a natural fit within any risk management plan. You may focus exclusively on the reliability performance-related risks You may find the skills and tools to identify and mitigate risks play an important role beyond just reliability performance.
Large and small organizations face risks. The lines of communication differ as do the context, culture, and management practices between any two organization. The implementation of a risk management plan has to fit your organization.
Here are few general guidelines and practical considerations when implementing your organization’s risk management plan. [Read more…]
In my prior article, “A Primer on Probability Distributions”, the usage of different types of histograms to display data was discussed. The histogram would acquire a bell shape if the data were normally distributed. The main limitation of the histogram approach is that the shape of the histogram can change radically with the selection of the bins used. Instead, a probability plot could be used.
This article discussed probability plots. They are extremely useful for the analysis of big and small data sets.
The process to design and deliver a reliable product involves identifying risks. Taking action to understand or mitigate those risks involves much of the day to day work of reliability engineering.
Taking action to set expectations and improve decisions involves change. Change of understanding, change of specifications, change of expectations, change of designs, processes, and results.
It is the changes, big and small, that occur that achieve the desired results for the customer and organization.
You also know that not every suggestion is greeted warmly. Not every proposal is funded. Not every recommendation is accepted. [Read more…]
Like it or not we live in a society where we like to keep score. The score provides feedback; it gives those who are not involved information on the progress or success of those who are involved. The score can be delivered in an endless number of formats, the price of your company stock, net profits, unit cost of product, overall equipment effectiveness, or percent emergency/demand maintenance. In the world of Reliability Centered Maintenance RCM Guru Jack Nicholas gathered a team of experts several years ago to develop the RCM Scorecard. The result of this effort was a comprehensive tool that evaluated Key Performance Indicators at various periods before and during an RCM Project. [Read more…]
The Vasa is a Swedish ship that was constructed between 1626 and 1628. It is a great story of an engineering disaster, well that’s how it is labeled. It doesn’t take too much investigation to see it is really a leadership disaster.
I saw the Vasa in beautifully restored condition at it’s museum in Stockholm Sweden. It was retrieved from the ocean floor in 1961. Amazingly after almost 300 years it was intact and well preserved in the freezing waters off Sweden. This is it’s story… and warning! [Read more…]
Can you identify the effect of the door latch-pin failure in this case study? The loss of the aft cargo door on the American Airlines DC-10 aircraft will be the focus of this Problems and Solutions article. This real-life case study is being used to practice identifying FMEA elements.
The CMMS is often looked at as a tool for planners, engineers and managers, but that is only partially true. The CMMS is a powerful tool for the technicians as well. But getting the technicians to use the CMMS can be a difficult journey, and can blow up in your face if is it not rolled out and communicated properly. As with other best practices, having the technicians use the CMMS is not easy, but by doing so you can dramatically improve the performance of the operation. [Read more…]
If you are ever in the fortunate position of developing a maintenance system from the beginning, the list below will help you focus your efforts. Maintenance systems in small business, develop by default and without much forethought. This list puts together, in one place, the important components of a workable maintenance system. [Read more…]
Quality, system, and internal auditing are focusing on risk management, process control, process capability, and organizational effectiveness. These value added audits require more information to be collected and analyzed to evaluate value, risk, waste, effectiveness, and efficiency. As an organization moves toward value added auditing, the auditor or audit team will collect more information, conduct in-depth analysis, and obtain sufficient evidence in order to reach conclusions. [Read more…]
The uncertainty concerning the future performance of a product or system is a risk to the customer and supplying organization. A product that fails too often or in an unsafe manner may require repair, replacement, or a recall.
A product’s performance including its reliability performance reflects on the organization that designs, builds, and sells the product. A poor reliability performance is no longer a risk to that individual product, rather it is a risk to the product line and organization as well.
Reliability professionals have long been involved with identifying and mitigating risks. The increased emphasis on enterprise risk management through standards such as ISO 31000 require reliability professionals to consider the larger risk management framework and how reliability related risks fit within the larger context. [Read more…]
We facilitate. As reliability professionals, we often lead teams to identify risk. We help cross-functional teams find and implement solutions. We bring people together and ease their ability to communicate clearly with each other.
Whether a leader or participant we have a role to achieve the desired goals. Our ability to facilitate enables us to work with others to get things done. Understanding how to facilitate well permits us to add value when leading or participating on a team. [Read more…]