All machines and equipment fail for two reasons—distortion or degradation. Distortion causes parts to suffer such high stress or fatigue that their atomic structures fail. When parts degrade their atomic structure is attacked by environmental elements. Physics of Failure methods lets us analyse equipment for situations that cause their parts’ atomic structures to suffer excessive stress, or to degrade. We can identify the real causes of atomic failure and so institute the fewest maintenance and operational activities to keep equipment at its highest reliability, and the operating plant at its highest availability.

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by Nancy Regan Leave a Comment

Are FMEA and RCM Separate Processes?

When you do RCM you also create an FMEA.

In this video, I explain the connection between Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) and Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA). Many people wonder if these are two different processes, but when you perform RCM, the first four steps—defining functions, identifying functional failures, analyzing failure modes, and assessing failure effects—essentially fulfill the requirements of an FMEA. By following the RCM process, you’re already doing the work needed for an FMEA. I break this down and show how they align.

I’m Nancy Regan, and I hope this clears up the confusion! Thank you for watching.

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by Mike Sondalini Leave a Comment

Using Condition Monitoring as a Reliability Improvement Strategy

Condition Monitoring when used to drive reliability improvement offers diagnostics, information and data for Root Cause Analysis and equipment redesign, along with verification of defect or design correction.

Condition monitoring applied proactively is a context embracing world class reliability maintenance concepts.

Where condition monitoring is used as a proactive defect elimination strategy to drive failure prevention the benefits really add up with improved Reliability giving extended Mean Time Between Failures and additional Plant Availability. There have been recorded instances where the gains in improved plant uptime has lead to deferment of expensive plant expansion.

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by James Reyes-Picknell Leave a Comment

Today’s Gremlin – It’ll never work here

Today’s Gremlin – It’ll never work here is the first one we’ll deal with. We’ve all run into him at one point or another. “It’ll never work here” is someone, or many, who has / have been around for a long time. This is one of the many gremlins we talked about when we introduced this series of articles.

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by Joe Anderson Leave a Comment

How a Mission Statement Drives Behavioral Change in Organizations

A Guide to Aligning Values and Actions

A mission statement is more than just a set of words on a company’s website or a framed plaque on the wall. When crafted thoughtfully and embraced by leadership and employees alike, a mission statement can serve as a powerful tool for driving behavioral change within an organization. It’s the foundation upon which culture is built and provides direction for decision-making, aligning team efforts with the broader vision. But perhaps most importantly, a mission statement can be a catalyst for shifting behaviors and guiding individuals and teams toward shared goals.

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by Nancy Regan Leave a Comment

Do You Have to Do RCM on All Your Assets?

Do you have to apply Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) to every asset? Of course not! In this short video, I explain how RCM can be applied as broadly or as narrowly as you need, depending on your organization’s specific needs. Don’t worry about doing RCM for everything—just focus where it matters most!

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by Miguel Pengel Leave a Comment

A Free Jack-Knife Diagram Online Calculator

At Pardus Consulting, we’ve just launched an online Jack-Knife Diagram (JKD) calculator that transforms downtime data into a clear, actionable visual.

By entering failure codes, counts of interventions and MTTR values, you’ll see at a glance which issues are both frequent and severe—no manual plotting or spreadsheet gymnastics required.

We’ve previously talked about this method as a much needed upgrade from Pareto Charts when prioritising downtime events and focus areas in our article HERE. [Read more…]

by André-Michel Ferrari Leave a Comment

Reliability Engineering – It’s all about Models!

Definition of Reliability

The concept of Reliability is often misused, misunderstood, and misinterpreted. Reliability in its academic root, is defined as the probability that a system will perform its intended function in a specified mission time and within specific process conditions. So, it is in essence a probability.

The ageing variable is crucial in calculating the reliability of a system. Reliability is the Probability of Success. And 1 minus the Probability of Failure. In the equation below , the ageing variable is time (t).

$$ \displaystyle \large R\left(t\right) = 1 – F\left(t\right) \:\:\:\: (where \: F = Failure \: Probability) $$

Reliability engineering is based on building data models to predict future system performance accurately. Based on past performance records. The model is more or less precise depending on how many past records we have. The more data, the more precise the model. At the end of the day, a well defined model, even with a little data, is better than no model. At least we can proceed in the right direction. That is, make the best possible decision for our assets.

This article looks at a non exhaustive list of models in the Reliability Engineering realm.

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by Mike Sondalini Leave a Comment

Aiming for Operational Excellence

The aim of being in business is to satisfy customers in ethical ways while making a profit. To achieve this, variable and fixed costs should be as low as possible without sacrificing on quality products or customer experience.

The term Operational Excellence is often used to refer to a range of technical, soft-skills, and culture components. Regardless of how it is phrased, the core definition and goal are the same – to produce better operational results, and create value for customers and shareholders. In short, Operational Excellence performance is to produce the best quality products or services customers will buy for the lowest expenditure to maximize operating profit. The most successful businesses have built systems and processes that automatically keep their costs low and profits high

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by Nancy Regan Leave a Comment

The Standard for Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM)

What Is SAE JA1011? The International Standard for Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM)

In today’s video, I explain SAE JA1011, the internationally recognized standard that sets the minimum criteria for any process to be called Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM). Published in 1999, this 12-page document was created to ensure that the term “RCM” is used correctly, following the original principles defined by Stanley Nowlan and Howard Heap. If you’re ever presented with a process claiming to be RCM, SAE JA1011 is your go-to reference to verify that the process is True RCM.

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by Mike Sondalini Leave a Comment

Machines only Stop Working after their Parts Fail

The level of care given to an equipment item depends directly on the size of business risk if it fails. Reduce the chance of its failure and you increase its reliability. It becomes vital to know the full range of risks each part within an equipment item will suffer. The right asset management strategy starts by knowing which parts are at risk and it is completed when the necessary actions to prevent all failures are in use. Asset Management that does not identify all the risks to equipment parts when selecting equipment maintenance and operating strategies will get you doing the wrong work.

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by James Reyes-Picknell Leave a Comment

Gremlins Today

“Gremlins today” is a series of short articles on problems that plague industrial operations the world over.

Originally, Gremlins were fictitious mischievous trouble makers who caused Royal Air Force aircraft breakdowns during World War II. Author Roald Dahl published a book about them in 1943, based on his own experience as an RAF pilot. Pilots in the RAF used to carry lucky Gremlins to ward off their effects. Dahl worked with Disney to publish a cartoon book based on them, but it never made it into a movie at the time. Never-the-less, it did loosely inspire the 1984 movie, “Gremlins,” by Steven Spielberg.

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by Joe Anderson Leave a Comment

The Power of Vision in Leadership and Organizational Success

All Things Rise and Fall on Vision—or the Lack Thereof

In leadership, vision is everything. It’s the guiding star that directs decision-making, inspires action, and shapes the future of an organization. Whether in business, maintenance, or any other field, a clear and compelling vision can determine the trajectory of success or failure. Without it, even the most well-intentioned efforts can flounder. The power of vision in leadership and organizational success cannot be overstated. In essence, all things rise and fall on vision—or the lack thereof.

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by Nancy Regan Leave a Comment

Is a Formal Criticality Analysis Necessary?

Do You Need a Formal Criticality Analysis to Select Equipment for RCM? In today’s video, I answer a common question: is a formal criticality analysis required to determine what equipment should undergo Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM)? While you can perform a formal criticality analysis, it’s not always necessary. One of the best ways to get started with RCM is to focus on equipment that causes chronic downtime or has the highest costs. Starting small with pilot projects on your highest pain points is a practical approach. Join me in beautiful Santiago, Chile, as I share how common sense can guide your RCM efforts, ensuring you get the reliability you need without overcomplicating the process.

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by Mike Sondalini Leave a Comment

Creating Procedures and Check Sheets

With the Quality that Improves Reliability

Ultimately reliability is in the hands of the people that use, build and rebuild equipment. High equipment reliability requires precision workmanship and steady, considerate operation (known as Degradation Management). Both equipment operator and equipment maintainer need to be precise, they need to know exactly what to do to always produce great reliability. Most procedures and check sheets are so poorly written that they cause equipment to be failed. Standard operating procedures can create reliability if they ensure that users meet minimum quality standards. World-class standard operating procedures set not only a minimum level of quality, but they also set a highest level of quality that when achieved deliver amazing equipment reliability.

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