Do You Speak RELIABILITY?

Part of the mission at Reliabilityweb.com® is to discover and deliver approaches to make reliability leaders and asset managers safer and more successful. I am blessed to be able to meet some of the best reliability leaders and asset managers in the world as I travel to learn (discover) and teach (deliver). There is nothing more satisfying than seeing someone presenting their journey based on the use of the Uptime® Elements™ framework.

Since December 2013, over 1,300 Reliability Leaders have been certified by the Association of Asset Management Professionals ¹. The team at Reliabilityweb.com has trained over 10,000 people around the world who use the Uptime Elements framework to guide their reliability journey on a more informal basis.

At its simplest level, the Uptime Elements framework is a language that aligns stakeholders across the organization.

All things that can be mastered begin with the acquisition of a specialized language that contains words, concepts and ideas. An example would be a doctor in medical training who begins by studying the specialized words, phrases and concepts related to the practice of medicine. The same is true for reliability.

Organizations that begin their journey with some effort to install the Uptime Elements framework as a specialized language create alignment from day one and avoid the pitfalls that result from a lack of precision in language and a lack of distinction for ideas and concepts.

At a level above language, the Uptime Elements framework is a system designed to embed a culture of reliability across the enterprise through an engaged and empowered team that ranges from the executive suite to the frontline workforce.

Reliability Leaders Discover for Themselves

There are some fantastic leadership books and courses available from the masters, including Stephen Covey, John Maxwell and others. These books and courses tend to focus on traits and techniques that, even when mastered, do not create leaders.

Leadership cannot be taught in a classroom, so at one of its highest levels, the Uptime Elements framework is a leadership system designed to allow you to discover for yourself what it is to be a Reliability Leader™.

Being a Reliability Leader is defined as someone who can realize a future that was not going to happen anyway.

These leadership fundamentals focus on creating a culture of reliability and when combined with the technical activities of Reliability Engineering for Maintenance, Asset Condition Management and Work Execution Management result in an effective reliability strategy.

Why Revise the Uptime Elements Framework?

There were numerous drivers to revise the Uptime Elements framework, including:

1. Three years of experience applying the Uptime Elements framework have taught the Reliabilityweb.com® team some valuable lessons we wanted to share.
2. Many organizations that adopted the Uptime Elements framework are expressing interest in using ISO55000 as a managing system to advance asset management.
3. Current European and Australian approaches to asset management are designed for public infrastructure and can be heavy-handed, confusing and bureaucratic, making them hard to implement in lean North American organizations.
4. There is a distinct lack of diversity of ideas related to asset management and reliability. It was time to expand the gene pool of ideas and concepts.

Figure 1: Uptime Elements – A Reliability Framework and Asset Management System

What's New?

The space allotted for this article does not permit me to dive into full details around the revisions, however, this brief overview should provide a clear glimpse.

Reliability Strategy Development (RSD)

Continuing to refine the concepts expressed in the Reliability-Centered Maintenance ProjectManagers Guide², a new element, Reliability Strategy Development (RSD), is formed that combines various approaches for developing reliability strategies based on failure modes. A new matrix that details the value and outcomes for each of the seven questions of SAE-JA1011 compliant RCM supports educated choices when selecting methodologies. The former elements of Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM), Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and PM Optimization (PMO) are combined in this new element.

Reliability-Centered Design (RCD)

One of the powerful inquiries from the Uptime Elements is: “Where does reliability come from?”

One of the answers is design.

This new element begins the discussion and the journey toward the aspect of ensuring reliability from the beginning.

Fluid Analysis (FA)

The element was formed by advancing the body of knowledge on Oil Analysis, encouraged by users of the Uptime Elements framework who use synthetic lubricants and test fluids like fuel and
coolant.

The Reliability Journey (RJ)

The RJ element replaces and expands The Reliability Leadership Travel Guide and describes the true nature of what it looks like to be on the reliability journey.

The Asset Management Knowledge Domain

This is the most significant addition, with nine new Uptime Elements to complete the framework by connecting the technical activities to leadership and aligning them with the business process (see Figure 1).

The new Asset Management knowledge domain is fully aligned with the intent of ISO55000. It is designed to provide a path for companies who are on a reliability journey to conduct that journey in the context of asset management.

Body of Knowledge

More significant changes were made to the Uptime Elements Body of Knowledge based on feedback and the requirements of the revisions.

Uptime Elements Passport Series has moved from the 29 individual passport booklets to five Uptime Elements knowledge domain books to make reading easier and to enhance the open book Certified Reliability Leader^TM Exam.

Complete Body of Knowledge

The Journey to Improved Business Performance by Steve Thomas (ISBN: 978-0-9832258-9-8), featuring all the concepts taught in the author’s first two books, Successfully Managing Change in Organizations and Improving Maintenance & Reliability Through Cultural Change. The book is written in a way that readers can quickly apply the knowledge gained.

Don’t Just Fix It, Improve It! by Winston P. Ledet, Winston J. Ledet and Sherri M. Abshire (ISBN: 978-0-9825163-1-7), an easy read because it is told as a story and is a good reminder of why you can’t just focus on maintenance planning and scheduling. The really good performers eliminate the defects before they ever turn into work orders. Small problems are seldom left to turn into big failures and big problems rarely happen. The authors hit the nail on the head when they demonstrate through the story that improvement efforts that simply focus on driving the right maintenance work practices bog the organization down with too much work and seldom succeed. Only after building in the defect elimination culture and reducing the defects coming into the system can the organization achieve the best practices benchmarks. The small problems don’t clog the computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) and the work processes can focus on the big issues. Small problems are taken care of immediately at the source.

Uptime Elements Dictionary for Reliability Leaders and Asset Managers by Ramesh Gulati (ISBN: 978-1-941872-63-5), which represents a significant step toward improving the knowledge of and communications between cross functional stakeholders who need to speak one language of reliability. The compilation reflects a virtual explosion of commonly practiced concepts, ideas, methodologies and various approaches to advance reliability asset management.

Uptime Elements Bonus Posters

Uptime Elements Passport Series - Includes the Uptime Elements Chart.

Complete Body of Knowledge - Includes all four posters.

PDF Download: reliabilityweb.com/steal-these-graphics

Request flat posters:mrostore@mro-zone.com

To order a laminated set: reliabilityweb.com/bookstore

Summary

Change is never easy. However, the team at Reliabilityweb.com feels these revisions increase the value and potential for those who choose the Uptime Elements as a strategy and road map.

We learn from you as you advance reliability and asset management in one big, virtuous circle. Keep working, learning, sharing and communicating so we can work together to discover and deliver approaches to enhance safety and success.

1. Association of Asset Management Professionals CRL List http://www.maintenance.org
2. https://reliabilityweb.com/articles/entry/reliability_centered_maintenance_project_managers_guide