Articles

Find all articles across all article series listed in reverse chronological order.

Great Communications – A Matter of Time?

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

Punch lines, ad-libs, and instrumental solos, even a single note on a Tibetan singing bowl, all depend on one thing…timing. Project Communication is also about timing and, whilst many people speak and opine with impunity the timing of written communication and converting possibly wild words into black & white can often mean the difference between collaboration and cooperation or resistance and antagonism.

Product reliability and Materials Engineering

This article is the first in a series about material engineering and product reliability. The intent of the article is to provide you with a basic understanding of product reliability as viewed through the eyes of a material engineer. When I first talk to engineers who have a different background or focus, I start with the basics. As we speak more, I expand into relevant areas one at a time. That is what I hope to do with this series. Introduce you to some basics, and then move on to a deeper dive into the topic.

When considering product reliability, a materials engineer is concerned with how the materials in components respond when exposed to stressors that can cause the materials to degrade. Stressors include mechanical loads, corrosive environments, chemicals, heat and cold, electricity, and radiation. You may find additional stressors based on the environment components are used in, or how they are used. It’s a problem if a component or joint in a product degrades to the point where it stops functioning as required.

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by Larry George Leave a Comment

Bivariate Reliability Estimates from Survey Data

Isn’t it enough to estimate the age-specific field reliability functions for each of our products and their service parts? Of course we quantify uncertainties in estimates: sample uncertainties and population uncertainties due to changes or evolution. That’s information to forecast service requirements, recommend spares, optimize diagnostics, plan maintenance, warranty reserves, recalls, etc. What else could we possibly need or do?

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by George Williams Leave a Comment

Terry and Maura Jun 4th

Interview with Terrence O’Hanlon and Maura Abad from Reliabilityweb. Discussion includes the changing landscape of reliability, digitilization, and how Reliabilityweb is adapting to serve their customers.

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by Steven Wachs Leave a Comment

What Is a Standard Deviation and How Do I Compute It?

Most manufacturers would rate product quality as a key driver of their overall ability to satisfy customers and compete in a global market. Poor quality is simply not tolerated. It follows that manufacturers require objective measures of their product quality. While many companies still think of quality as “being in specification,” progressive companies focus on reducing variation to minimize waste and produce products that perform consistently well over time. Quality may be thought of as inversely proportional to variation–that is, as variation increases, product quality decreases. [Read more…]

by Bryan Christiansen Leave a Comment

How Can Reliability Engineers Improve Maintenance Management

Reliability engineers are responsible for keeping equipment or facilities operational, extending their useful lives, and managing maintenance costs by formulating relevant maintenance management policies and programs. They offer guidance to maintenance teams, analyze existing maintenance programs to identify opportunities for improvement. Unlike maintenance supervisors, these professionals rarely engage in the daily execution of maintenance tasks. The roles of reliability engineers span the entire lifecycle of an asset beginning from the design phase, operational stage to disposal. How do reliability engineers influence the gradual improvement of maintenance management in different organizations? [Read more…]

by Robert (Bob) J. Latino Leave a Comment

A Mechanic’s Story: The Human & System’s Contribution

In this original post, A Mechanic’s Story: Basic Component Fatigue, we took a detailed journey through the physical side of a shaft failure RCA. We stopped at the physical side of that failure, parallel misalignment. However, stopping at the component level of failure does not constitute a credible and thorough RCA. Actually stopping at this level is more along the lines of a Shallow Cause Analysis (SCA). So let’s explore what makes the difference between a Shallow Cause Analysis and a Root Cause Analysis (RCA).

In the previous post we stopped at parallel misalignment. We will continue drilling from that point down. We ask ‘How could we have had parallel misalignment?’ Our team of subject matter experts (SME) hypothesizes 1) it was either misalignment at installation or 2) it became misaligned during operations.

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by Doug Lehr Leave a Comment

Failure Analysis – Failure Simulation

With the Storm Packer Root Cause Analysis complete, the probable RCs will be known. The next step is to confirm causation of the failure. In Failure Simulation (FS) the goal is to confirm cause and effect. When more than one probable RC has been identified, the FS will consist of multiple simulation tasks. How extensive will the Storm Packer’s FS program be?

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by James Kovacevic Leave a Comment

10 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Next Maintenance Assessment

Assessments are a key tool for driving sustainable improvements in you Maintenance, Reliability, or Asset Management program.

When you hear the work assessment or audit, does it send shivers down your spine? Do you envision a week or two of some “expert” digging through your data, processes, and performance, looking to get you in trouble for something you did or didn’t do?

While some audits may be to find issues or wrongdoing, most assessments should be viewed as a key activity to improving your current programs or systems. These assessments, are used to compare your current program to industry best practices, identifying areas which could be improved. The assessment typically includes a Recommended Course of Action (RCOA) which highlights what gaps should be focused on first. So, whether the assessment is driven by corporate, internally or externally, how can you get the most out of a Maintenance assessment? [Read more…]

by James Reyes-Picknell Leave a Comment

How to Keep the Boss Out of Jail

Here’s a case where they didn’t know how to keep the boss out of jail! In Jan 2019, a mine tailing dam (the structure used to contain waste from mining operations) collapsed. The video below shows the event. 259 people were confirmed dead and 11 declared missing. Cause – liquefaction – a commonly occurring phenomenon, and one that this particular mine had been warned about. Outcome – fatalities and associated human cost, suspended operations (for a brief period), company reputation, criminal charges (executives and engineering consultants). Risk management is an often neglected part of our job. [Read more…]

by Alex Williams Leave a Comment

There’s More to Maintenance Software Than Work Orders

At its core, maintenance software is a tool that allows you to generate and schedule work orders and get the right people to do each job. Maintenance software automates paper processes by enabling people to create requests for maintenance work. Maintenance workers then enter the requests into the computerized maintenance management system software (CMMS), which generates the work orders. However, when it comes to the functions of a CMMS, work order generation is only the tip of the iceberg.

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by Steven Wachs 2 Comments

What Is Equivalence Testing & When Should We Use It?

Most quality professionals are familiar with basic hypothesis tests such as the 2-sample t test. However, depending on the goals of the study, another type of test, called an equivalence test, may be utilized instead of traditional hypothesis tests. This article will review statistical hypothesis testing in general and then introduce equivalence testing and its application. To illustrate the differences between traditional hypothesis tests and equivalence tests, we will focus on the case of comparing 2 independent samples. The concepts may be easily extended to other situations (such a comparing a sample to a target or paired comparisons). [Read more…]

by George Williams Leave a Comment

Interview with Adrian Messer, Manager of US Operations for UE Systems

We sit down with Adrian Messer to discuss ultrasound and UE Systems new OnTrak system

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by Doug Plucknette Leave a Comment

The Keys To Successful RCM Implementation

If you have attended any Maintenance and Reliability conference in the last several years, chances are you have seen a presentation on the struggles of RCM implementation. Most present that over 70% of companies who attempt to get started with Reliability Centered Maintenance fail to implement the recommended mitigating tasks identified in their analysis.

What Happened?

As many of you know, I have been encouraging my LI contacts for years to take me up on my offer to review any pictures they have of failed parts, and we would try and provide them some preliminary feedback. Well, someone finally took us op on the offer and we wanted to share what was learned (we obtained permission to do so providing the company name was not used).

Here was the original inquiry via LI instant messenger along with the pictures:

“Dear Sir, As per your advise, I’m sending you a photo of failed flange bolts. I belief they were failed due to fatigue. Could you please review them and identify/ label their failure mode. After your comments on this photo, I’ll put up a recommendation on my RCA. Looking forward to hear from you. Regards.”

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