RSA RELIABILITY NEWSLETTER

Since establishing this website last May of 2007, I have made many efforts to improve it and I am glad to inform each and everyone that this site is now equipped with e-commerce specially for those interested in purchasing the courses they want. 

 

Finally, should you be interested in contributing to our articles section or share any feedback, I encourage you to email me at  rollyangeles@rsareliability.com.  If for any reason you wish to unsubscribe from our newsletter, kindly send me a blank email with unsubscribe as the heading and we shall remove you from our mailing lists. Once again welcome to our May Edition of our Monthly Reliability Newsletter for this year 2008 and I hope that you find it worthy of  sharing this newsletter with your people.

 

My Warm Regards,

 

 

 

 

 

Feedback from previous Newsletter: My TPM Experience, A Successful Failure

 

What a passion-filled, wonderful newsletter!  It will help everyone understand who you are and why you have strong feelings about things.  Thank you for sharing this part of your life with all of us.

 

C. Robert (Bob) Nelms, Failsafe Network, President

 

I am glad that I actually took the time to read your link.  Your story triggered me back to my personal memory lane. As a matter of fact,  several member on our team are seasoned Lean and TPM guys with heart breaking story.  Personally I had similar experience where TPM initiative was killed off when CEO was removed suddenly and I understand the pains. Not in simple words but actually went through depression when it happened the second time.  I subsequent refused to conduct any TPM work for many years. Rolly,  we certainly don't see you as a failure when you said you had failed in getting the PM awards, I certainly don't.   I personally do not think the award is important but it is how the people had endeared from this challenge is important.   In fact I think you should be proud of yourself.

 

Alex Teoh,  Pamalex Consulting, Principal

 

Top 10 Problems Experience On Preventive Maintenance

 

A survey was recently conducted regarding Top problems maintenance experience with their Preventive Maintenance activities.  Instructions was to select at least 3 to 5 problems and issues they experience with Preventive Maintenance based on the lists.  15 people responded to this survey and the results of the survey are as follows : 

 

1) Add on PM Checklists Syndrome - where PM checklists/activities seems to grow (9 votes)
            
2) Infant Mortality Failures - problems arises after a PM replacement and overhaul (8 votes)

3) Replacement of good parts to conform with PM specs and procedures (4 votes)

4) Random Failures - where random failures are included in the PM checklists (6 votes)

5) Ageing workforce - nearing retirement (1 vote)

6) Lack of training on the maintenance function  (8 votes)

7) Still Reactive and lot of corrective maintenance even with a sound PM Program. (9 votes)

8) Frequent reorganization in the plant - where new boss makes a new system (2 votes)

9) Lack or poor documentation in PM. (7 votes)

10) PM is waived - Operations wont give equipment for PM to cope with production. (3 votes)

I believe in the value of doing Preventive Maintenance, however, most industries do not benefit much from doing Preventive Maintenance. In this issue of our Reliability Newsletter, we will try to explain these problems and understand what Preventive Maintenance can and cannot do.  The problem with Preventive Maintenance is global which means that regardless of country and industry you are in right now, these problems remain the same.  Why ? It is because we simply abuse the use of our Preventive Maintenance Strategies.  

 

(9 Votes) : Add on PM Checklists Syndrome - where PM checklists and

                        activities seems to grow

Remember when you are just new with your industry or when the equipment was just commissioned in your plant,  your vendors left you a lists of what to do with your equipment from time to time, from the simple tasks of inspecting and replacing some parts in your equipment that are likely subject to wear.  But through the years new activities are added in the checklists and today you have a long lists of activities to perform, yet this lists continues to grow by the day.  Is this a familiar issue with your Preventive Maintenance ?  This lists simply comes from daily audits conducted on your plant.  When we don’t catch a failure, and your boss says make sure it does not happen again, it is simply added in the growing list of activities for PM. Am I right ?

 

The Golden Rule of Preventive Maintenance is basic and quite simply.  Our belief that the more Preventive Maintenance we perform on our equipment, the less likely it is to fail is no longer true and valid.  The Airline Industry was the first to discovered this fact more than 30 years ago from the study of the late Stanley Nowlan and Howard Heap.  However, sad to note that their study had not reach many of us in the maintenance world because we are too busy putting out fires.  Just remember “ More PM means More Problems, and Less PM means Less Problems.

 

(9 Votes) : Still Reactive and lot of corrective maintenance even with a

                       sound Preventive Maintenance Program

 

So  despite  the  very best efforts and activities  industries spend on Preventive Maintenance, why is there still a lot of firefighting and breakdown maintenance being performed?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The answer was already provided in our February 2008 Newsletter Issue : An Inconvenient Truth About Preventive Maintenance. If you have missed this issue, kindly click the link that is underlined. The starting point in developing an effective Preventive Maintenance Strategy is first to understand the different patterns of failure.  Failures are diversified in nature. Preventive Maintenance overhauls and replacement is only applicable if the parts will wear out with direct relation to the age or period it was being used.  Most Preventive Maintenance people are misguided by this principle. When the failure is not age related or random in nature then stop using PM, because this is where Preventive Maintenance would be at its weakest point. I think that’s all I have to say about that. Period ! 

 

(8 Votes) : Lack of training on the maintenance function 

 

Is maintenance people deprived of training or they don’t have the time to attend to it ?  Have a TNE or Training Needs Analysis been conducted to the maintenance function in order to determine their needs or not ?  Training plays a very crucial and important role in any reliability improvement initiative.  This is where people acquire knowledge in order to understand their equipment’s better.  Technology is fast and rapidly changing at the speed of light, but have we change the way we do maintenance on our equipment or not ? After so many decades of frustration from a firefighting mode, sad to note that many are still on this type of mode, thanks to the caveman who invented fire. Maintenance people need to be trained, and, let us not deprived them of this privilege.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At my small firm RSA Reliability, we do not only provide a diversified lists of courses on reliability and maintenance, what is important is that we make it a point that each of the delegates present understand the role of maintenance in their industry and that if you belong to the maintenance function, we make them feel proud of it. 

 

(8 Votes) : Introduction of Infant Mortality Failures

 

The best quote on Infant Mortality Failures can be read from page 143 on the book of the late legend John Moubray on Reliability-Centred Maintenance, he said, “It is also borne out by the machine operator who says that every time maintenance works on it over the weekend, it takes us until Wednesday to get it going again”.

 

Moubray explains the fact that scheduled overhauls, can actually increase the chances of overall failures by introducing infant mortality failures into otherwise stable system.  Infant Mortality Failures are usually experience right after a maintenance intervention, or during commissioning of equipment’s. Infant Mortality Failure exists and that being aware of its existence is the first step in reducing its likelihood. If our PM team is not equipped with the proper knowledge, tools and skills to perform a replacement or much more an overhaul, better think again on trying to dismantle your equipment to comply with your PM activities.

 

(7 Votes) : Lack or poor documentation in PM

 

What is important in PM Documentation is documenting what is relevant and not.  PM make decisions from these documents and if these documents are flawed and half baked then our decision on PM will be jeopardize. History records, interview from operators, measurement & readings, troubleshooting guides are just some of these relevant information that must be documented.  Other industry acquire CMMS or Computerized Maintenance Management System.  What is important is that before acquiring such softwares, maintenance understands what information he needs to use and relevant to them.

 

(6 Votes) : Random Failures are included in PM checklists

 

Random Failures are failures which can occur at any given period.  With this type of failure, there is little or no relationship between how long the component or equipment had been in service and the likelihood of failure occurring. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Given this case of Failure History of 100 Ball Bearing that failed in service where the period represent the years in service and that for every year, we encounter the same failure of the bearing.  Between the 3rd and the 4rth year we encounter 20 failures of this bearing.  A suitable replacement period is not feasible at this stage because the failure is indeed random in nature.  Electronic, electrical parts fail randomly.  Hence, if the failure is random in nature, again there is no amount of scheduled PM that can prevent this type of failure.  Maintenance tasks for random failures can either be Predictive Maintenance if the component provides a clear potential failure or provides sign or signal that it is in the verge of failing like this case.  Other options are allow it to Run To Fail if the failure have minimal consequences and the only consequences there is to it will be the direct cost of failure and addressing the Root Cause of Failure to address why this component keeps on failing.

 

(4 Votes) : Replacement of good parts to conform with PM specs

 

One of the most controversial questions raised with Preventive Maintenance is that “Is the part we are going to replace is actually on the verge of failing or not?” The “Assumption” is yes, but most of the time, the assumption is wrong and the parts lifespan had not been reached because we replace it at an early stage and when we do replace good parts which are still capable of running then we waste money.  When the part or component have no problem, then we really don’t need to replace it ? Do we ?

 

We do not want to take away Preventive Maintenance credibility here, that is not my intention, what I am after is educating them regarding the diversity and patterns of failure so that they can decide their activities more confidently, there is always a thin line in doing PM.  It is not their fault, remember, they are deprived from training as seen on this survey.  All I am saying is that allow your people to understand these things so that we can transition once and for all from being reactive to being proactive. 

 

(3 Votes) : PM is waived, operations won’t give the equipment for PM