About this title

Defect Elimination (DE) has long been an essential part of achieving and sustaining asset reliability and continued business improvement.

Winston Ledet defined a defect as, “anything that erodes value”. The “anything” are events that are significantly impacting the operating capacity of a business and this means it is not restricted to one type of event outcome. It can be applied to events where the outcome is the loss of any of your business’s value drivers. These may include productivity and profitability through quality and quantity losses, fines and suspensions, health, safety and environment noncompliance, and other negative events that will erode value.

The aim of defect elimination is to eliminate the defect by applying the “fix forever, not forever fixing” mantra by resisting the urge to apply a temporary fix to the defect.

My intention for writing this book is to provide a structured approach for those looking to implement a defect elimination program and present two options for executing the defect elimination process. As a young engineer early in my career, I lacked an appropriate syllabus for starting a defect elimination program, which resulted in many hiccups, bumps and missed opportunities along the way.

This book is meant to act as a guide and give you options for how you and your organization want to develop a defect elimination road map. Defect elimination gives you the power to make your day as predictable as the next by achieving defect-free days, one after the other.

About the Author: Tim Rice

As a child, Tim Rice would pull apart everything in his home, from computers to clocks to lawn mowers, in a bid to understand how they worked. This fueled an interest in engineering and led him to complete a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and, later, a Graduate Diploma of Maintenance Management.

Tim has since had an eye-opening 15-plus year career in the mining and mineral processing industry, where he has been able to further fuel his curiosity on heavy mobile equipment and fixed plant assets and provide significant value to his employers.

His interests are in driving a whole of life asset management process and demonstrating how a reliability mentality can deliver positive gains for any organization, especially when utilizing a defect elimination program.

Having this experience, Tim believes it is his duty to pass on his knowledge to others through coaching and mentoring, which is something he truly enjoys.

Away from work, Tim enjoys being outside, whether it’s surfing the waves of his native Australia or shredding the snowy mountains across the globe.

Contents

DEDICATION

PREFACE

PUBLISHER’S FOREWORD

CHAPTER 1: What Is Defect Elimination

CHAPTER 2: Eliminating or Mitigating the Defects

CHAPTER 3: Defect Elimination Program

People & Roles

Communication & Engagement

Program Health & Assessment

CHAPTER 4: Left to Right Defect Elimination Process

Identify the Defects

Prioritize the Defects

Analyze the Defects

Develop Solutions for the Defects

Implement the Solutions

Verify and Sustain the Improvement

Left To Right DE Worked Example

L2R DE Process Worked Example 1: Storyboard

L2R DE Process Worked Example 2: Formal Report

CHAPTER 5: Right to Left Defect Elimination Process

Identify the Defects

Prioritize the Defects

Analyze the Defects

Develop Solutions for the Defects

Implement the Solutions

Verify and Sustain the Improvement

Right To Left DE Worked Example

R2L DE Process Worked Example 1: Storyboard

R2L DE Process Worked Example 2: Storyboard

CHAPTER 6: Final Thoughts