Planning for Results

October 17, 2019October 16, 2019

There are two things you must do in a successful maintenance program: be good at doing your work, and only do the right work. Both are needed to deliver asset reliability – the cornerstone of sustainable, safe and quality production levels. In chasing reliability many turn to programs for defining the right work, yet many of those efforts will fail. Why? Poor or ineffective planning. The greatest benefits come from defining the right maintenance program using RCM and then implementing with quality work and on schedule. Read more “Planning for Results” →

Blog

Should we outsource

October 14, 2019October 12, 2019

Outsourcing is a form of alternative service delivery where one company hires another to perform some of its functions. It’s fairly common in some fields, such as accounting, manufacturing, human resources, procurement and IT, but not as common when it comes to maintenance and asset management. It has it’s advantages and risks and must be approached carefully.

Silver bullets can backfire!

October 3, 2019October 3, 2019

This article first appeared in PEM magazine, April / May 2014. PEM is now incorporated into MRO Magazine. I’ve updated it with the benefit of another 5 years experience dealing with this very problem.

In my client work I find myself helping many companies who have tried, yet failed to improve their performance in maintenance and reliability. For those that are making their second (or more) attempt there are many reasons for the failures, some technical, may related to company culture and, almost always, things were done on the cheap and rushed. Read more “Silver bullets can backfire!” →

Blog

Lean or Industrial Anorexia

September 26, 2019October 3, 2019

In 2014, at an IMEC conference organized by the University of Toronto, Art Rice of Maintenance Technology Magazine said that in many cases “Lean is a form of Anorexia”. He was right then, and he is still right today.

When I heard him, I realized that in many cases where I’ve seen attempts at “lean manufacturing” the lean really means “understaffed”. In those cases some of the lean manufacturing tools have been implemented, often with the help of outside expert help but lean results haven’t occurred. The introduction of “lean” in those companies was yet another attempt to cut costs without any deep thought as to what caused the high costs before introducing “lean”. Read more “Lean or Industrial Anorexia” →

Asset Management

Do you need Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM)?

September 20, 2019October 3, 2019

Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) is without doubt the most effective method to determine your failure management policies, yet it is sometimes seen as an expensive and time consuming endeavor used to produce what some (mistakenly) believe they can get from manufacturer recommendations and other sources. The naysayers see it as a “gold plated” approach to a relatively simple challenge – produce a decent maintenance program. Read more “Do you need Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM)?” →

Blog

Achieve results using RCM

September 6, 2019September 6, 2019

In the field, we know that there are no “quick fixes” or “silver bullet solutions” when it comes to improvements in maintenance management. Many separate conditions and events must come together properly to achieve “schedule success” – i.e.: the high level of compliance to a schedule of planned work as produced by your planners. That list of includes: Read more “Achieve results using RCM” →

Blog

Maintenance Excellence – no quick fixes

September 4, 2019September 20, 2019

Blog

Rapid PM program deployment

August 29, 2019August 29, 2019

In the first installment of this series we described the basics behind proactive maintenance and some of the considerations users need to make.

The second installment describes RCM – the “gold standard” for reliability program development and physical asset related risk management. This article is for those who are in “panic” or “fire fighting” mode. If you don’t have a proactive program, equipment runs until it breaks and you can’t seem to get ahead of it, then this one is for you. In a few cases you may have a PM program but your not getting the results you want. You could be overdoing overhauls, not doing enough predictive work, not following up on what you find, or the maintenance actions are simply inappropriate for the failures that occur in your circumstances. Read more “Rapid PM program deployment” →

Asset Management

Do you want a PM program that really works

August 20, 2019August 20, 2019

Reliability Centered Maintenance – Re-engineered (RCM-R®)…

… is the world’s leading method for identifying maintenance and other activities required to sustain reliable performance of physical assets. Previously I discussed the various maintenance approaches you can use. This method (RCM-R®) is a structured approach to making those choices. If you want a proactive maintenance program that really works, then Reliability Centered Maintenance is the most thorough approach you can take to get there. Read more “Do you want a PM program that really works” →

Blog

The basics of PM programs

August 12, 2019July 23, 2019

Do you replace your car headlights at regular intervals of six months? Do you wait to replace your tires until they wear through? Do you check your car engine oil with some sort of oil analysis before replacing it? Each component and system in your car has a function that is prone to failure. Each of those has consequences – some with little importance and others with great importance.

Your ability to make decision on what to do (or not do) will be based on a few factors: Read more “The basics of PM programs” →

Reliability Centered Maintenance – Re-engineered (RCM-R®)…

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