At 2:37 a.m. one Tuesday morning, an electrical fault inside a motor control center (MCC) room caused roughly ten hours of downtime. The E&I supervisor was called in and the maintenance manager was notified.

tales from the shop

The Foundation for a Successful Reliability Journey!

Eric Ayanegui

Tommy Cocanougher

Our story goes way back to the very beginning of our journey, to the inception of an idea that we can be better at what we do, that there is more to learn and a better way of doing business.

tales from the shop

Everything’s Fine, or Is It?

Gail Petersen

This tale from the shop is about an upstream oil and gas company in Alberta, Canada, that was created through the acquisition and merger of four small companies.

tales from the shop

It’s Supposed to Sound That Way

Brendon Russ

The plant had begun to experience a strange rash of pneumatic and instrumentation failures after a week of heavy thunderstorms.

A weekly collection of recommended articles and videos to boost your reliability journey. Right in your inbox

DOWNLOAD NOW

tales from the shop

Initiative Coordination and Executive Sponsorship Buy-In

John Fortin

A citywide electric utility launched a multi-year program to enhance asset management, leveraging expert consultants and leadership to implement best practices and drive organizational change.

tales from the shop

How a Change Can Derail the Launch of a Laser Alignment Program

Reliabilityweb.com

A tale of battling tradition with technology, and how a friendly competition convinced even the most seasoned mechanics to embrace change.

tales from the shop

Why Your Fluid Analysis Program May Not Be Living Up to Your Expectations

Jack Poley

Many condition monitoring (CM) programs fall short of expectations due to overlooked critical steps and practices from the outset.

tales from the shop

What Am I Supposed to Do With This?

Brendon Russ

Tales from the Shop are designed to cover the universal and painful lessons that we are likely to learn on a typical reliability journey. Hopefully our contributors pain will be your gain!

tales from the shop

The Support Needed to Launch, Maintain and Improve Your Reliability Strategy!

Eric Ayanegui

Tommy Cocanougher

The need for executive sponsorship when launching, maintaining and improving an effective reliability strategy is paramount. See the difference in this Tale from the Shop.

tales from the shop

What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?

Kenneth Snyder

Tales from the Shop are designed to cover the universal and painful lessons that we are likely to learn on a typical reliability journey. Hopefully our contributors pain will be your gain!

tales from the shop

All Together Now

Thomas Povanda

In the fight against cancer, when a drug is finally approved and ready to be commercialized, every dose counts. A major pharmaceutical company with a blockbuster oncology product had to find a way to get every dose to every patient that was in desperate need of it.

tales from the shop

Best Year Ever!

Brendon Russ

Is the best yet to come? One company realizes that their best can be better in this Tales from the Shop narrative. See what happens after they implement continuous improvement processes.

tales from the shop

Maintenance Strategy Development

Hugh Creasy

When parts keep breaking, what do you do? This team, with the help of failure mode and effects analysis, was able to get to the bottom of the problem. You're not losing your brearings, after all.

tales from the shop

Lessons Learned, Lessons Lost

Malcolm J. Werner

This Tale from the Shop tells the story of one company's simple error that led to a massive shutdown. Utilizing Uptime Elements, they were able to accurately and efficiently diagnose and resolve the problem.

tales from the shop

A Good Blamestorming Session

Brendon Russ

Playing the blame game is no way to handle any problem. When data isn't reviewed, it is easy for companies of all sizes to fall into this trap.Read how one team handled a faulty machinery problem, and the blame surrounding it.

tales from the shop

You Guys Can Handle It

Gail Petersen

Utilizing resources is smart, but using the right resources for the problem is smarter. This Tales from the Shop story features a situation when a company decided to turn to the wrong resources.

tales from the shop

Decision Making

John Fortin

Tired of biased decision-making in your organization? Imagine prioritizing projects based on clear objectives, not power plays. Multi-objective decision analysis (MODA) levels the playing field, ensuring fair project selection through data-driven, transparent processes. See how one company used MODA to shift the balance and prioritize the right projects for the right reasons.

tales from the shop

Isn’t That the Definition of Insanity?

Jonathan Guiney

Ever felt like a young grasshopper in a room full of seasoned masters? This reliability engineer did, facing skepticism and resistance when implementing new plans. But instead of sweating, he learned two golden rules: Respect knowledge, and involve the team.

tales from the shop

Critical of Analysis

Brendon Russ

Is Everything Really Critical? When Everything is Critical, Nothing Is. The reliability team conducted a meeting and met with representatives of the various departments of a facility, such as safety, quality, operations, engineering, maintenance, and even the plant manager.

ChatGPT with
ReliabilityWeb:
Find Your Answers Fast