reliability engineering

A tool is anything used as a means of accomplishing a task or purpose. The purpose of this research is to review the tools available that could be used as a means to improve maintenance strategies and failure analysis processes. The tools reviewed basically fall into one of two categories, these being "Prediction" or "Problem solving". The predictive and problem solving tools reviewed are generic tools that are not specifically aligned to any software package or vendor. In many cases software has been developed to fit these tools or in some cases a generic tool or process has developed from a software package.

Originally presented at IMC-2004 - The 19th International Maintenance Conference

This article will explain how Archimedes' actions could have been connected to classic failure modes. It goes on to describe experiences on current projects and offer suggestions to improve the reliability of modern process units. More specifically, it will explain and disprove the over-simplification of the graph of Reliability (risk of failure) vs. Time - THE BATHTUB CURVE.

How do I move towards Proaction when I work in such a Reactive environment?

Maintenance Strategies

Break Down Maintenance
The fix controls you, you do not control the fix. The basic strategy is totally reactive. When things break, we fix them!

Preventive Maintenance
This is a time-based maintenance strategy. On a predetermined periodic basis, equipment is taken off-line, opened up, and inspected. Based on the visual inspection, necessary repairs are made (if any) and the equipment is put back on-line. Some preventive maintenance is necessary. For example, various state laws require that annual boiler inspections be conducted. While this is a well-intended strategy, it can be very expensive as typically 95% of the time everything was OK.

Abstract: The key to Reliability is more a mind-set than the hard technologies that exist on the market today. When we travel to conferences and shows for Reliability we are inundated with vendors that supply technologies to execute Reliability strategies. Such technologies are integral to the ultimate success of a Reliability endeavor. However, if the organization does not have the foresight and vision needed at the executive level to set the stage, then the principles of Reliability will likely not take hold enough to change the culture. Does your organization practice the principle of Reliability?

What would you say if someone asked you to give your company a million dollars from your maintenance program? You would probably laugh, look puzzled, or straight out bludgeon the poor guy. If you did have that much money available you would have already given it, right? WRONG! The fact of the matter is that we give away millions of dollars from our maintenance budgets all of the time but to the wrong places. The money is tied up in inefficiency. There are several inefficiencies that plague our maintenance programs today. They range from lack of direction, poor historical data collection, and lack of admittance. The problem is that the longer the inefficiency goes on the harder it is to break.

Note: Originally presented by Bill Keeter, Allied Reliability, at EAM-2006 The Enterprise Asset Management Summit in Las Vegas

A strong Failure Reporting, Analysis, and Corrective Action System (FRACAS) is the backbone of a good asset performance improvement effort. The FRACAS provides the business elements required to close the loop on Root Cause Failure Analysis (RCFA) and Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) efforts. The FRACAS changes RCFA from what are often one shot exercises to a managed program for systematically improving equipment and process performance. This chapter describes the basics of implementing the FRACAS and how to use it to insure implementation of RCFA recommendations.

It might seem trivial, but the best way to improve reliability is to choose equipment that doesn't breakdown! At the very least, choose designs that when they do fail they are easy, inexpensive and quick to fix. With the right choices in the beginning, maintenance departments can guarantee maintainability. The field of guaranteed maintainability was coined by Atlanta based consultant, Ed Feldman.

Originally presented at IMC-2006 - The 21st International Maintenance Conference

In an airline environment, there is only one acceptable standard - perfection.

Safety is everything, and since reliability is a large factor in safety, it gets a lot of attention.

An airline looks at reliability at every level of the operation, from performance of an aircraft to performance of the individual piece-parts of that aircraft. Airlines look at the impact of everything that touches an aircraft. Everything is calculated and recalculated to determine the impact to the operation. Small changes can impact the operation in a large way, and those impacts have to be predicted and dealt with.