Using Review RCM to Improve Plant Performance

Review RCM is a streamlined approach to improving plant performance.

It allows organizations to quickly address ineffective PM programs.  How does it achieve this?

By using the operating environment, failure patterns, and P-F interval, we can answer three basic questions:

1. Will replacement of part on a known interval or usage reduce the probability of failure?
2. Can we see it in the process of failure with sufficient time to respond?
3. Is the impact of the failure high enough to warrant the cost of a PM strategy?

These three elements will help us to determine the type of PM strategy that is value-added.
ᐅ Play Episode

What is an FMEA and How Can It Help?

Failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) is a step-by-step approach for identifying all possible failures in a design, a manufacturing or assembly process.

“Failure modes” means the ways, or modes, in which something might fail.

Failures are any errors or defects, especially ones that affect the customer and can be potential or actual.  They typically include the component, the damage or problem with it and the cause of it

“Effects analysis” refers to studying the consequences of those failures.
ᐅ Play Episode

What is Reliability Centered Maintenance?

Does the age of equipment increase the probability of failure?

That was the conventional wisdom until Nowlan & Heap discovered that components have six different types of failure patterns:

• Bathtub – 4%
• Wear Out – 2%
• Fatigue Related – 5%
• Rapid Increase to Random – 7%
• Random Level of Failure – 14%
• Infant mortality – 68%

This means only 11% of failures are age related… 89% are not age related – so why do PM Programs still rely on time-based maintenance (Replacements, Overhauls) they only address 11% of failures.
ᐅ Play Episode

What is MTBF and Why You Shouldn’t Use It

Mean Time Between Failure or MTBF is almost universally recognized in maintenance, reliability, and asset management.

Why is that?  And does it actually help an organization improve the reliability of their assets?

The answer is a resounding No.
ᐅ Play Episode