Reliability Engineer’s Toolbox for Asset Management

Although reliability engineering techniques have been around for many years, and simple techniques for calculating MTBF and Availability are commonly used, the use of time-dependent data and system (RAM) modeling are not so commonly found in industrial maintenance. The major reasons are that (a) the necessary data may not be available, and (b) it is all too readily assumed that a high level of math skills may be required.

This presentation introduces tools and techniques to help organizations manage their assets throughout the life cycle. In particular, we show how reliability data analysis supports an effective Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) study. RCM has been widely adopted for over 15 years in industrial plants -- what do the MTBF values that they often use really mean? We also discuss conducting RAM studies and tactics to improve performance. RCFA is a key tool to identify the root causes of failure - a prerequisite in order to improve performance. In identifying the path to failure, we find in many cases that human issues have played a key role.

Good analysis requires good data. In manufacturing, analysts typically have excellent test data but this is often not the case in asset management. We show some examples of the data problems that may prevent effective analysis. Companies spend big sums on sophisticated CMMS systems with failure coding functions to manage their assets but the data collected is poor and rarely analyzed effectively.

 

David Thompson Ramsoft Ltd United Kingdom