During a recent Meridium - SAP webinar titled "Optimizing SAP Maintenance Plans" produced by RealibilityWeb.com, attendees were asked: What percentage of your previous RCM/FMEA recommendations actually made it into SAP? The answers indicate reliability & maintenance professionals are still struggling to get the recommendations coming out of their RCM/FMEA studies into SAP for execution.

13% of the respondents answered that 76% - 100% of their recommendations make it into SAP
16% of the respondents answered that 51% - 75% of their recommendations make it into SAP
29% of the respondents answered that 26% - 50% of their recommendations make it into SAP
43% of the respondents answered that 0% - 25% of their recommendations make it into SAP

The science behind these recommendations continues to gain strength and credibility as asset performance management systems mature and RCM/FMEA programs improve. But as great as these recommendations may be for improving reliability and the business, if they are not being implemented in SAP and thus the work is not being executed out in the plant, we have failed. The process is dead. What we need are "living" asset strategies that provide a closed loop process to assure implementation in SAP and work order execution with an audit trail to hold everyone accountable.

Below is an excerpt from the paper "Living Strategies for Reliability and Optimization" by Meridium subject matter expert Chris DeFalco.

Develop and Implement Asset Strategies

Asset strategies have often been discussed in the context of the evolution from reactive to preventative to condition-based maintenance. Comprehensive asset strategies should include all types of maintenance and operation tasks. A comprehensive asset strategy will be a mix of task types (condition-based, preventative and reactive) that is optimized to mitigate the risk of failures.

Most existing asset management strategies are the result of:

• Original equipment manufacturer recommendations
• Original construction project recommendations
• General experience
• Reacting to problems

It is more prudent to employ a strategy development technique to determine the appropriate tasks based on failure mode assessments and conditional probability.

Some examples of strategy development techniques are:

• Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM)
• Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
• Risk Based Inspection (RBI)

RCM, when applied correctly, is the most comprehensive technique and is function based, typically at a system level. It will provide a complete list of asset management tasks along with recommendations for improved process design and/or efficiency.

FMEA is considered an element of RCM, and can be applied for less critical assets as a more streamlined approach. RBI is a method of assessing conditional risk, typically of fixed equipment to determine the optimum inspection frequency.

All of these methods, and there are others, provide a strategy plan, or collection of tasks that must be managed. The tasks are implemented in SAP and improvement opportunities are typically tracked in recommendation management systems.

The key point here is that whatever strategy development method or combination of methods is used for a system or asset, the resultant tasks need to be implemented and executed.

Tip submitted by Chris DeFalco, Chris has more than 18 years of experience in reliability engineering and the implementation of technical solutions. He has provided a range of services for Meridium customers such as project management, consulting, and training. Chris has wide-ranging knowledge of APM work processes and technical solutions. In his current role as a Product Manager, this experience and knowledge help him to successfully direct and integrate product solutions to meet customer needs.

Chris has held various engineering positions with major corporations in both the process and manufacturing industries. During this time he was responsible for the implementation of reliability improvements, failure analysis systems, expert diagnostic systems, and the leadership of condition-based maintenance and RCM programs.