Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site
Find all articles across all article series listed in reverse chronological order.
Let me first say that this is not a slam against accountants or the accounting profession. This is intended to help put what they do in perspective and to show the similarity of what they do with what we, as maintainers, do. [Read more…]
Guest Post by Geary Sikich (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
Inferno, the first part of Dante’s Divine Comedy that inspired the latest Dan Brown’s bestseller of the same title describes the poet’s vision of Hell. The story begins with the narrator (who is the poet himself) being lost in a dark wood where he is attacked by three beasts which he cannot escape. He is rescued by the Roman poet Virgil who is sent by Beatrice (Dante’s ideal woman). Together, they begin the journey into the underworld or the Nine Circles of Hell. [Read more…]
Vibration in equipment is the result of unbalanced forces.
Out-of-balance is corrected by adding or removing material so that when the equipment is operating the unbalance is controlled to an acceptable level.
Keywords: spring stiffness, damping, center of rotation, center of mass, natural frequency, isolation mount, counterbalance, out-of-phase. [Read more…]
A good plot reveals the data’s story.
Repairable system data is what is called by statisticians a renewal process.
The repair activity may restore the system to as good as new. Sometimes, the repair pretty much leaves the system in a state similar to just before the repair.
What happens most often, though, is the chance of system failure changes after each repair activity.
A simple plot can help us see what is happening. [Read more…]
We know that there are no “quick fixes” or “silver bullet solutions” when it comes to improvements in maintenance management. In my last article I pointed out that 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…]
Guest Post by Greg Hutchins (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
The idea of supply chain risk management has been around for about 10 years. It is only in the last 5 years, that it has become popular. We are still at the early stage of supply chain risk management adoption and deployment.
In terms of total dollar amount, external suppliers provide a significant portion of a manufacturer’s product. For U.S. firms, 50% to 80% or more of the final price of a product can be the cost of purchased goods. In Japan, it can be even higher.
For these reasons, any supply disruption can kill a supply chain. As a result, supply chain risk management is now critical to a company’s competitiveness. [Read more…]
Coatings provide industry with low-cost solutions to difficult chemical corrosion problems.
This article covers the use of rubber, fiberglass, and epoxy linings.
Keywords: rubber lining, resin, composite glass fibers, overlap joints, adhesive, primer, corrosion barrier, repair. [Read more…]
Warranty is a part of doing business. Warranty management is not just the terms listed on the box.
Understanding the entire warranty process, along with your options, permits you to manage your warranty, rather than the other way around.
This is a short overview.
Pieces of a warranty program occur well before the first product ships and may affect the company bottom line for years after you ship your last product.
Brand promise, marketing, finance, customer service are not common areas for a reliability engineer.
Yet, the impact of product failures tends to dominant warranty expenses.
Therefore understanding the many elements around warranty management is essential for any reliability engineer. [Read more…]
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve received the same question a few times.
The CRE exam is perceived as a daunting task. One worth preparing well to be successful.
How do you prepare? What should you do to best prepare?
Let’s explore a few hints and tips that have been previously discussed here. [Read more…]
Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) is extremely useful for organizations considering certification in Asset Management or looking at improving their asset care practices.
Exploring RCM as a tool, getting training for instance, is something that any organization interested in Capital Asset Management™, Asset Management or compliance to ISO 55001, really should do. Here’s why… [Read more…]
Guest Post by Geary Sikich (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
If you want senior management to pay attention give them something that challenges their focus – and understand that their focus is not on how many computers you have or RTO, RPO stats. It is on business survivability – will we be in business tomorrow given the issues that we face today. [Read more…]
Bridging is the name given to the self- created arch that develops just above the outlet of a bulk material silo or hopper as it empties.
A bridge forms when wall friction holds up the ends of the arch.
To overcome bridging the wall friction must be reduced or prevented from occurring. [Read more…]
It is a very conscious decision to have reliability be a part of your products brand.
What conversations with marketing and the leadership have occurred for your next product development program?
Was there a conscious decision to place your product in a certain range of reliability?
Too many times it’s a discussion that happens as the product is reaching it’s Beta stage of development, “Let’s measure its reliability and see where it’s at and if we need to improve it”.
You can measure reliability that late in the game but you have little opportunity to change it. So what if it is far lower than the product target market expects?
What if it is far overbuilt and millions of dollars of cost savings were missed in this first generation of the design?
It happens this way more than not. [Read more…]
Upon my son’s return from studying abroad for a semester, I asked him what he learned. He said there are a lot of smart people in the world.
I concur. [Read more…]
Welcome to the final blog in my 10-part series called “Uptime Insights”, where we explore a journey of excellence in maintenance. To stay on top, managers must implement strategies that keep operations performing at high levels. In these articles I will show you how to achieve excellence in maintenance – a critical business process in any capital intensive industry. [Read more…]
