Anyone trying to champion reliability in industry has experienced difficulty with obtaining funding from executive management for reliability improvement, regardless if requested from capital expense (CAPEX) or operating expense (OPEX) accounts.
Caught up in the throes of day-to-day existence, the difficult place to be is in the lap of another after-action root-cause failure analysis, a budget review meeting or shutdown/turnaround when your organization is trying to make step-function gains and improvements in maintenance and reliability performance.
All facilities and infrastructure assets deteriorate with time and use. To maintain the effectiveness and value of an asset, renewal work should be performed periodically, and when the asset has reached the end of its functional useful life, it should be replaced.
Reliability systems and standards rely heavily on executive sponsorship to drive change throughout an organization. However, the reality is that executive leaders have limited bandwidth and will not always be the initial drivers of change. “Bottom up leadership” can effect meaningful change, but what are the most important elements of effective “bottom-up leadership?”
CEO’s always name safety as a top priority. If they truly believed that, they would be active sponsors of the corporations reliability effort. If you believe in safety, you must believe in reliability.
The City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management (DWM) is currently preparing to launch a comprehensive 5-year asset management implementation plan (AMIP) using a steering committee comprised of cross-departmental DWM leadership and managers – a critical success factor in realizing the expected benefits of significant multi-year investment.
Do you have an operational excellence, asset management, or reliability-centered maintenance project you would like to get approved at your company? Innovative thinking is critical to your company’s future but you may feel frustrated with your firm’s approval process.
TRC-2018 Learning Zone 30:10
by Keith Staton, Weyerhaueser
How many times do we have reliability projects that appear to be a no-brainer on paper, but we fail to get the buy-in from the “powers that be.” Sometimes even the best projects don’t sway the decision makers. Sometimes reliability has to be sold. This is a light-hearted look at how we sometimes don’t consider the presentation of a potential reliability project and fail to get the buy-in necessary to get it off the ground. A brief case study on how selling lubrication training was accomplished and is still moving forward to this day.
As a reliability engineer in an oil and gas facility, one of the main goals is to minimize reactive work, as well as increase reliability and availability of the physical assets. But another important task is to get the reliability growth noticed by all the people, including leaders and managers. A problem solved is a great chance for a “sales” presentation.
Earlier this year, there appeared to be a moment when Democrats and Republicans could agree on increased infrastructure funding. In his State of the Union address in early 2018, President Trump called on the United States Congress to produce a bill that generates at least $1.5 trillion in new infrastructure development.
IMC-2017 Learning Session - 39:06
by Bill Wilder, Life Cycle Engineering
As our senior leaders move into positions of increasing responsibility, they learn to delegate more projects and tasks to others. Out of necessity they move beyond the “if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself” mentality and realize that by enabling employees to excel and succeed, leaders will excel and succeed.
When faced with a major change initiative that will result in transformation within the company, leaders establish a project management group to handle the project. Tasks are subsequently divided and delegated. Resources are allocated and a utilization plan created. Knowing that change requires leadership, we assign someone with the title of “Project Sponsor”. Yet our major change initiatives still fail. So what is the problem? What exactly is a sponsor and what is their role?
The title of this presentation is “Executive Sponsorship” and will discuss exactly what an executive sponsor is and what they do. We will also explore the meaning of the word “sponsor”, the various types of sponsorship, and the roles of sponsors using the ABC’s of sponsorship.
If you’re getting comments like these, you’re not alone. For those in the reliability field with a technical background, it can be frustrating. Your response might be, “The numbers in the spreadsheets are clear. Why is it so hard to get support from the executive team?”
Although your work is backed by hard science and a solid body of work, the fact is many others in the company may not have a good picture of what maintenance reliability professionals do to contribute to its success.
This article gives you some ideas on how you can demonstrate the value of your work and that of your team’s in order to get acceptance and support from the rest of the organization. As a result, your recommendations get followed, you get the staff and budget you need, and you’re seen as a team player.
The RELIABILITY Conference Learning Session - 32:56
by Keith Staton, Weyerhaeuser Company
How many times do we have reliability projects that appear to be a no brainer on paper, but we fail to get the buy in from the “powers that be”. Sometimes even the best projects don’t sway the decision makers. Sometimes Reliability has to be Sold – This is a light hearted look at how we sometimes don’t consider the presentation of a potential Reliability Project and fail to get the Buy In necessary to get it off the ground. A brief case study on how selling Lubrication Training was accomplished and is still moving forward to this day.
