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Articles

2017 State of CMMS Recap

Maintenance Connection recently released its 2017 State of CMMS report, an analysis based on survey data from roughly 1,000 organizations. The report analyzes how maintenance teams use computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS), along with the resulting impact on operations and performance. A variety of organizations participated, from industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, and government, as well as maintenance departments with as few as 1 to 5 employees up to 50 or more. Their survey responses revealed the following findings.

Reliability Engineering for Maintenance

Hydraulic System FMEA Made Easy

In the not too distant past, most senior level managers would cringe when someone said a failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) needed to be performed on the hydraulic system. What immediately came to mind is a bunch of highly paid people sitting around a table dreaming up ways to eliminate things that may or may not happen to their hydraulically operated equipment.

Leadership for Reliability

The Challenge: Developing a Reliability Culture

In some organizations, reliability is not just a word, but a culture that has been built over a period of time. Developing a reliability culture is not solely a top-down approach or dependent on the company’s vision. Sometimes, it is taken as a normal, routine job, while other times, it may get a fast-track status.

Internet of Things Digitalization (IoT)

Will Digital Twin Replace SCADA? Will Anything Else?

For decades, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) has been the industry standard for asset management. But, the sizable investments in digital twin concept offerings on the part of two leading digital industrial companies have generated much discussion about the long-term viability of SCADA. Gartner’s recent forecast that digital twin will be one of the top 10 strategic technology trends for 2017 is one of several reports that point to momentum in this category.

Work Execution Management

How Nova Scotia Power Implemented Its AM Program: Equipment Integrity Through PdM and RBI

Aging assets, changing utilization, demographics and regulatory changes precipitated the need for an innovative and comprehensive asset management (AM) program at Nova Scotia Power Inc. (NSPI). Building on the elements of PAS55 and ISO55000, NSPI constructed a program for its power production business. The universal challenges of an aging infrastructure and workforce, along with industry specific and regulatory changes, demanded a shift in the company’s organizational philosophy toward asset management. Many of the company’s generating equipment assets are 30 to 40 years of age and had reached a point where new strategies were required. Among those strategies is the implementation of condition-based monitoring (CBM) techniques.

Asset Condition Management

Internet of Condition Monitoring Community - Special Interest Group Founders Meeting

Companies’ explosive focus on improving financial performance through leveraged (i.e., fixed) asset optimization has become even more fiery with the rapid adoption of the Industrial Internet, which enables multitudes of devices and equipment to be connected. The result of this combination is accelerating levels of asset management innovations and creativity not seen in the industrial asset space from both a products and services perspective.

Reliability Engineering for Maintenance

Asset Strategy Management: The Missing Link in Reliability Programs

While the process of reliability-centered maintenance has not changed much over the past 20 years, technology has certainly changed. You are now able to be more efficient in the way you go about reviewing maintenance tasks and you can improve how you use the increasing data available to you. However, even with new technologies, more data and a strong approach to maintenance strategy development, many asset managers are still leaving millions of dollars of their organization’s money on the table. It’s money that can be easily saved if you know why it’s disappearing and how to save it.

From a Different Angle: A Perspective - The Myth of World-Class Maintenance

We’re all guilty of using the term “world-class” when referring to a maintenance department or program. Clearly, world-class is important because there are books (2,951 on Amazon, but not all are about maintenance world-class), papers at conferences and consultants doing extensive assessments all based on world-class maintenance.

Work Execution Management

The Top 10 Improvements to Pursue in Your MRO Spare Parts Program

Proactive organizations recognize that one of the critical success factors in achieving a best practices reliability program is developing a sound maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) spare parts program. That notion is quickly followed by the realization that there are potentially hundreds of improvement opportunities that typically could be associated with a materials management effort. As such, it becomes overwhelming to determine where to start.

Asset Condition Management

Minimize Costs Through Machine Learning

Machine learning is an approach of exploring and building algorithms that enable computers to continuously learn and adapt.

With utilities, unknown failures and the maintenance that goes into fixing them can add up at lightning speeds. A recent study conducted by GlobalData Power estimates that expenditures for wind turbine maintenance have been projected to rise from $9.25 billion to $17 billion by 2020.

Asset Management

Realizing Commercial Value from ISO55001 Aligned Asset Management

This article demonstrates the commercial value for an organization improving its entire enterprise asset management approach in line with the ISO55001 standard. An organization implementing ISO55001 must first come to terms with clear asset management objectives, a planning process that optimizes the investment portfolio which, in turn, is delivered by efficient lifecycle processes, and a persistent and comprehensive continual improvement process that is documented and controlled.