Articles

Failure to Launch: Why IoT Projects Fail to Get Started

The May 2019 The RELIABILITY Conference™ saw a significant increase in the number of sessions and vendors that included the Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 4.0, or digitization topics/themes. The IoT related content has been on a steady rise for the past couple of years, with no sign of slowing down as evidenced by the agendas for the MaximoWorld 2019 and IMC-2019 conferences in August and December 2019, respectively. Of course, if you are in the business of maintenance reliability, this subject prevalence is nothing new to you.

Reliability Engineering for Maintenance

How the Quest for Better Pumps Came to (Almost) Nothing: Part 2

Part 1 in the June/July 2019 Uptime issue closed with the experience-based statement that failure risk can escalate by certain specification practices, including some contained in API 610. Without going into the many possible reasons for bearing life reductions, the quest for better bearings in upgraded process pumps elicits several observations that should be considered when preparing a modern pump specification.

Leadership for Reliability

Moving Down a Reliability Continuum in Pursuit of Excellence

Southern Gardens has embarked on a journey in pursuit of achieving excellence in reliability. The key is perseverance because the road is often bumpy. Continuous improvement moves you down the continuum, so when you think you are at the end, you realize there is always room for improvement.

Work Execution Management

Battle of the Work Types

Terminology used by maintenance departments produce a wealth of information when performing an Internet search. World-class maintenance status, cost benefits of preventive maintenance vs. corrective maintenance, 6:1 maintenance golden rule and maintenance effectiveness are just a few examples. As you scan through search results for terms such as these, you’ll come across professional articles, opinions, exercises and infinite calls to action inviting searchers to contact an organization for additional information. You will likely find guarantees to improve your maintenance operations and overall bottom line by following recommendations. However, what you likely won’t find is a clear-cut understanding of the differences between these maintenance terms due to a lack of consistency among sources.

Internet of Things Digitalization (IoT)

The Impact of Federated Manufacturing on the Industrial Sector

When considering the future of production in the era of Industry 4.0, there is a truism that applies to any revolution: It is much easier to recognize when it starts than to predict how it will end. Within the hype zone of digitalization, the topic of federated manufacturing has, thus far, gained relatively little attention.

Asset Management

Improving Asset Contributions to the Bottom Line

What are your contributions to the bottom line? Many asset managers are often put in an awkward position when confronted with this question, which refers to the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit. This question is not necessarily demanding to know the asset manager’s individual contributions to the bottom line, but the contributions and input of the maintenance system and the assets he or she manages to the overall bottom line.

Work Execution Management

How to Improve Your PM Program in 10 Steps

If you currently have a preventive maintenance (PM) program in place and want to improve it, there are 10 steps you can follow to do so. Following these steps will uncover inefficiencies, including over- and under-scheduled PMs, equipment with PMs that don’t need them, and noncritical equipment that is prioritized over critical equipment for preventive maintenance.

Reliability Engineering for Maintenance

How the Quest for Better Pumps Came to (Almost) Nothing: Part 1

Pumps are fluid machines that move liquids over short and/or long distances. They were invented well before the industrial revolution and even Archimedes tinkered with pumps, on or about 250 B.C., somewhere near the historic city of Siracusa in Sicily. Without pumps, modern process plants would not exist. But not all pumps are well constructed, well maintained, correctly installed, or properly operated. And while some pumps have stayed on-line without interruption for six years, others continue to experience random failures several times in the course of a year. Pump improvement can be both a career enhancer and a value-adding proposition, as this two-part article will show.

Articles

Failure to Launch: Why IoT Projects Fail to Get Started

How the Quest for Better Pumps Came to (Almost) Nothing: Part 2

Moving Down a Reliability Continuum in Pursuit of Excellence

Featured Reliability Leader: Ramesh Gulati

Why Your Digital Twin Approach Is Not Built to Last and What to Do About It Now

Battle of the Work Types

Why Machine Learning and AI Are the Future of Oil Analysis

Are You a Maintenance Hero or a Reliability Leader?

The Impact of Federated Manufacturing on the Industrial Sector

Improving Asset Contributions to the Bottom Line

How to Improve Your PM Program in 10 Steps

How the Quest for Better Pumps Came to (Almost) Nothing: Part 1