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RCM - Reliability-Centered Maintenance

About the Course

Not all equipment are created  equal even if  they are of the same type of equipment. Much of the maintenance requirements have much more to do on how the equipment will be operated or based on the operating condition of the equipment.  This course covers the principles of RCM which is a process used to determine the maintenance requirements of any physical asset in its present operating context. It entails us by asking the seven questions about the asset that is being maintained.  This course provides an indebt details and understanding that the aim of maintenance is not about eliminating failures but rather understanding that each failure have their unique form of consequences and that the degreed of maintenance requirements should be based upon the consequences of failure itself.  Likewise, this course allows us to understand that the best maintenance strategy should not just be confined to the limits of a traditional Preventive Maintenance only.  Maintenance must understand that the behavior of failure occurs in three patterns which is Infant Mortality failures, random failures and age-related or wear out failures and that only around 20% of equipment failures conform to an age-related pattern.


Course Objectives:

  • Gain a deeper understanding of what it takes to make our maintenance most effective and efficient.

  • Recognize that maintenance tasks should be based on the consequences of failures.

  • Learn when to use different maintenance tasks with the help of a Decision Diagram.

  • Understand the six failure patterns and their impact on our daily maintenance activities.

  • Apply Reliability-Centered Maintenance principles in our everyday tasks.


Course Overview:

This course covers the principles of Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM), a process used to determine the maintenance requirements of any physical asset in its present operating context. RCM involves asking seven key questions about the asset or system being maintained:


  1. Functions and Performance Standards: What are the functions and associated performance standards of the asset in its present operating context?

  2. Functional Failures: In what ways does it fail to fulfill its functions?

  3. Failure Causes: What causes each functional failure?

  4. Failure Consequences: What happens when each failure occurs?

  5. Failure Significance: In what ways does each failure matter?

  6. Predictive/Preventive Actions: What can be done to predict or prevent each failure?

  7. Proactive Task Alternatives: What should be done if a suitable proactive task cannot be found?


Background and Importance of RCM

  • RCM was developed by Stanley Nowlan and Howard Heap from United Airlines and emerged from one of the most important pieces of research ever done on equipment.

  • RCM explains both the capabilities and limitations of scheduled Preventive Maintenance.

  • RCM is a process to determine what should be done to ensure that physical assets continue to perform as desired in their present operating context.


Why Attend this Course?

If you are satisfied with the way you and your team perform maintenance, then this course may not be necessary for you. However, if you have any doubts about the effectiveness of your current Preventive Maintenance strategy, despite your best efforts, then this course is essential. It will provide you with a deeper understanding of maintenance and help you improve your maintenance practices.


Course Outline:

Module 1

Changing the Maintenance Culture

Module 2

Introduction to RCM

Module 3

Understanding MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures)

Module 4

Deriving the RCM Information Worksheet (FMEA)

Module 5

Understanding Failure Consequences

Module 6

Understanding the Different Maintenance Tasks in RCM

Module 7

Understanding the Different Maintenance Tasks in RCM

Bonus

Maintenance Task Frequency and Interval Selection


RCM Workshop


Duration: 2 Days (Virtual) / 3 Days (In House Face-to-Face)

©2025  by RSA Reliability and Maintenance Consultancy Firm. All Rights Reserved.

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