Reliability Centered Maintenance

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Establishing the Frequency of On-Condition Maintenance Inspections

Ensuring The Inspections Will Catch the Defect Before A Functional Failure Occurs

Ever wonder how some organizations make their vibration or thermographic program work, and not only work but deliver huge results to their organization?  They use a systematic approach to establishing the correct frequencies of inspection.   Establishing the correct frequencies of maintenance activities is critical to the success of any maintenance program.   Too infrequently and the organization is subjected to failures, resulting in poor operational performance.  Too frequently, and the organization is subjected to excess planned downtime and an increased probability of […]

By |2019-04-19T15:49:45-04:00March 6th, 2017|Equipment Strategy, Reliability Centered Maintenance|Comments Off on Establishing the Frequency of On-Condition Maintenance Inspections

Establishing Fixed Time Maintenance Intervals

How to Select The Optimum Fixed Time Maintenance Intervals

Think about your maintenance program. How often are your PMs scheduled?  How were those frequencies established?   If you are in the majority, the chances are that the frequencies were either established from the OEM manual, or by someone in the department without data.

Establishing the correct frequency of maintenance activities is critical to the success of any maintenance program.   Too infrequently and the organization is subjected to failures, resulting in poor operational performance.  Too frequently, and the organization is subjected to excess planned downtime and […]

By |2019-04-19T15:49:45-04:00February 27th, 2017|Equipment Strategy, Reliability Centered Maintenance, Reliability Engineering|Comments Off on Establishing Fixed Time Maintenance Intervals

Living With The 6 Failure Patterns

How To Manage Each Failure Pattern With An Effective Maintenance Strategy

Most maintenance and reliability professionals have seen the six failure patterns (or failure hazard plots), described by Nowlan and Heap.  In case you are unfamiliar with them, you can learn more about them in a previous article on them.   Here is a quick summary to jog the memory, just in case.

  • A. Bathtub Curve – accounts for approximately 4% of failures
  • B. Wear Out – accounts for approximately 2% of failures
  • C. Fatigue – accounts for approximately 5% of failures
  • […]

By |2019-04-19T15:49:46-04:00February 20th, 2017|Equipment Strategy, Reliability Centered Maintenance|Comments Off on Living With The 6 Failure Patterns

What Can You Do to Improve Reliability?

A Question & Answer Period with Fred Schenkelberg on the what can be done to improve the reliability of your operation.

5397530925_87102f74b2_zSo far in this series, we have had the opportunity to discuss the role of reliability engineering in today’s maintenance environments.  In this final post of the series, I had the opportunity to ask Fred Schenkelberg some questions related to this very topic.  Fred, with his years of experience, was able to provide some great insights to the role of reliability engineering, and […]

By |2019-04-19T15:50:04-04:00April 4th, 2016|Design FMECA, Design For Maintainability, Design for Reliability, Reliability Centered Maintenance|Comments Off on What Can You Do to Improve Reliability?

Where Does Maintenance Fit Into Reliability?

Maintenance Provides the Key Function of Preserving

9994624755_30d39c68be_zWith the design FMEA complete, the equipment should have high inherent reliability.  The equipment can then be installed in the plant, and provide a high level of performance to the business, at least initially.  This is where Maintenance comes in.  Maintenance can enable a low Life Cycle Cost, by preserving the reliability of the equipment.

Definition of Maintenance

According to the Professional’s Guide to Maintenance & Reliability terminology, maintenance is “all actions necessary for retaining an item in, […]

By |2019-04-19T15:50:04-04:00March 21st, 2016|CAPEX Management, Defect Elimination, Early Equipment Management, Equipment Strategy, Reliability Centered Maintenance, Reliability Engineering|Comments Off on Where Does Maintenance Fit Into Reliability?