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All articles listed in reverse chronological order.

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Language is The Tragedy of Reliability

Language is The Tragedy of Reliability

I was teaching a class on Reliability 101 a few years ago and it turned out to be one of those great classes where debate and discussion would just pop up all over the place.  I frequently start my classes with “If I end up being the only one speaking today I am going to take that as an indication of complete failure in having engaged you in this material.”  So I was loving that this group were starting to debate each other on the material we were covering.  I wasn’t even in some of the conversations.  This rich environment is where I just spurted out one of my more memorable reliability quotes. [Read more…]

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6 Steps a Maintenance Professional Can Do to Reduce Email

Eliminating the Clutter To Focus On The Important Tasks

EmailA common complaint I hear and experience is as a maintenance professional, our inbox has exploded and grown rapidly with all the daily activities in a plant.  All the emails are perceived to be important, but in reality, they are mostly urgent, or not important and not urgent.

Take a moment and think about how much time you spend reviewing and answer emails.  Even those emails that do not need a response, need time to review and move or delete.  I am guessing you spend at least an hour a day dealing with email.   Now think about what you can do with that hour… you could move the department forward and achieve the department and business goals.

Thankfully there are 6 steps you can implement to reduce the number of emails you receive and reduce the amount of time it takes to manage the remaining email. [Read more…]

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4 Effective Risk Mitigation Strategies

4 Effective Risk Mitigation Strategies

Identifying risk is an important first step. It is not sufficient though.

Taking steps to deal with risk is an essential step. Knowing about and thinking about risk is not the same as doing something about risk.

Risk will occur. Some good, some bad. Some minor, some catastrophic. Your ability to mitigate risk allows you to proactively acknowledge and accommodate risks. Let’s talk about four different strategies to mitigate risk: avoid, accept, reduce/control, or transfer. [Read more…]

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Are We Missing the Point of Risk Management Activities?

Are We Missing the Point of Risk Management Activities?

Guest Post by Geary Sikich (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

The focus of this article is on the application of guidance (ISO 31000, FFIEC, etc.) often resulting in the appearance of compliance resulting from a checkbox perspective rather than actually and actively identifying and managing risk(s) by organizations.

In Risk Management: History, Definition and Critique, by Georges Dionne (March 2013 – CIRRELT-2013-17); the opening statement from the Abstract is revealing: [Read more…]

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Receiving Feedback Well

Receiving Feedback Well

Not all of us are fortunate enough to receive great feedback. We all do receive feedback, and some receive very little actionable feedback.

If you offer proposals, give presentations, make requests, or even just ask for a favor, you will receive some form of response. It often is just an answer to the call to action, and nothing more.

At some point, you may be ‘pulled aside’ so someone can provide you feedback on your behavior, your delivery, your ability or skill. It is this type of feedback that is essential to your improvement. [Read more…]

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Supplier’s Reliability Responsibility

Supplier’s Reliability Responsibility

We, as developers, create designs that we call “our own.”  Rarely are the materials for our in-house manufacturing process raw steel, rubber, and glass, like Henry Ford had feed into the Ford factory in 1930. Our manufacturing process receives a mix of materials and fully functional sub assemblies from other technology companies. It’s unlikely the PCB electronic components, bearings, motors, gears, drivetrains, sensors, power supplies, harnesses are ours. Why would you design any of these with so many options available made by specialists?  This results in us having little input or control in the development and demonstrated reliability of our entire product. [Read more…]

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Pets on Planes

Pets on Planes

So I got to wondering today, is it just me or are there way too many pets on planes these days?

And, just so I can maybe avoid 1 or 2 hate replies I am a pet owner.  I have always loved all of my pets, I have spoiled them on occasion and we treat them like family.  I love coming home the unglued excitement of a wagging tail powerful enough to take anything not nailed down off the closest table but I have to wonder how much our pets really enjoy being dragged onto a flying tin can captured in close quarters for hours at a time only to have the doors opened to an environment where their owners speed walk to the nearest rest room but poor Jake still isn’t allowed to relieve himself? [Read more…]

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The Damage Done by Drenick’s Theorem

The Damage Done by Drenick’s Theorem

The Damage Done by Drenick’s Theorem

Have you ever wondered by we use the assumption of a constant failure rate? Or considered why we assume our system is ‘in the flat part of the curve [bathtub curve]’?

Where did this silliness first arise?

In part, I lay blame on Mil Hdbk 217 and parts count prediction practices. Yet, there is a theoretical support for the notion that for large, complex systems the overall system time to failure will approach an exponential distribution.

Thanks go to Wally Tubell Jr., a professor of systems engineering and test. He recently sent me his analysis of Drenick’s theorem and it’s connection to the notion of a flat section of a bathtub curve.

Wally did a little research and found the theorem lacking for practical use. I agree and will explain below. [Read more…]

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Becoming More Effective With Your Day

How To Save Time As A Maintenance Professional

EfficientYou are running from one meeting to another, to a breakdown, to the storeroom and at the end of the day you stop and think.  What did I really get done today?  The day was busy, but did you accomplish what you wanted to or will make a difference in the long run?

The organization needs to focus on effective maintenance, and as a maintenance professional you need to be effective with your time.  Only if you are effective with your time, can you drive the organization and the maintenance program forward.   Being a maintenance professional it can be difficult to discern between the urgent and important and it is easy to get caught up in the rat race.

This will be a 4-part series on how a maintenance professional can free up time in their day and be more effective in driving their goals forward. [Read more…]

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Moose Lodge Syndrome

Moose Lodge Syndrome

Some 20 years ago, I was volunteering with a not-for-profit organization to develop new products and services.

Our team had lots of ideas. We were excited to innovate, change, add value, and do better. You could feel the energy. It was electric.

The challenge: The organization was riding high and making lots of money on its core products. They did not want or did not need to look at anything new. Why fix something that was not broken from its point of view. OK. We got it. 

Well, our great ideas were stuffed. The energy and enthusiasm dissipated. I left the organization.

Several of us wondered what had happened. Dr. Lindborg, an expert in organizational dynamics, in a moment of inspiration, uttered:

This is the Moose Lodge Syndrome at work.

“What’s that?” we said. A little history may help: [Read more…]

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Electric Motor Problems

Electric Motor Problems

This article presents a basic explanation of electric motor construction and operation along with eleven problems that can be encountered with their use.

Most electric motors in industrial equipment are three phase alternating current induction motors. Induction is the creation of an electric current across a gap. Two types of induction motors are commonly used: squirrel-cage and wound-rotor. The names come from the way they are built.  [Read more…]

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The Check Step of a Risk Management Framework

The Check Step of a Risk Management Framework

Planning and Implementing a risk management framework is an admirable accomplishment. Now make sure it is running well and will do so into the future.

As with any process, there will be opportunities to make improvements. By monitoring and reviewing your program you will find what is working well and what is not. [Read more…]