Articles

Find all articles across all article series listed in reverse chronological order.

by Mike Sondalini Leave a Comment

How Well should a Maintenance Job be Planned?

How Well should a Maintenance Job be Planned?

How well should a maintenance job be planned ? All maintenance work needs a plan that lets the maintainer do the work correctly, safely, in the least possible time and for the least cost. Selecting the information and details that go into the maintenance job plan is vital to its success. Leave out necessary specifics and facts and you put the job at increased risk of failure, loss and waste. Exactly what details are necessary to allow maintenance work to flow wonderfully well at minimal cost and time are important for a maintenance planner and their managers to know.

by Greg Hutchins Leave a Comment

Leadership in the ISO 31K Context

Leadership in the ISO 31K Context

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

This article is the second of fourteen parts to our risk management series. The series will be taking a look at the risk management guidelines under the ISO 31000 Standard to help you better understand them and how they relate to your own risk management activities. In doing so we’ll be walking through the core aspects of the Standard and giving you practical guidance on how to implement it.

In this particular article, we’ll be highlighting the role and importance of leadership and commitment to supporting robust risk management practices. We’ll also be looking at the benefits of such support together with some practical tips for doing so.

by Carl S. Carlson Leave a Comment

FMEA vs FMECA: What’s the Difference?

FMEA vs FMECA: What’s the Difference?

What is the difference between FMEA and FMECA? Are they the same or different? The answer may surprise you. Let’s explore this topic.

by Miguel Pengel Leave a Comment

Jack Knife Diagrams for Reliability Engineering

Jack Knife Diagrams for Reliability Engineering

Jack-Knife Diagrams, also known as Log-Scatter Plots, serve as an invaluable visual tool in the realm of Reliability Engineering for prioritizing areas of downtime that require improvement. While many engineers rely on Pareto Charts, we will explore the shortcomings of this approach and how the Jack-Knife Diagram overcomes them.

Now, let’s delve into the distinction between the two methods.

by Sanjeev Saraf Leave a Comment

How Risk Perception Affects Regulations

How Risk Perception Affects Regulations

Risk is a perception.

Our perception of risks is mainly affected by two factors:

(a) whether we are voluntarily accepting the risk.

A good example is a refinery worker considers the risks at workplace lower than his cousin who has only read about chemical plants; and

(b) potential consequences of event or act or decision.

by Gabor Szabo Leave a Comment

Being in a State of Flow(charting)

Being in a State of Flow(charting)

Today we look at how to draw simple flowcharts in R.

I think I am not far off when I say that flowcharts are an essential tool in the engineering toolbox. They provide a visual way to describe a set of activities, or a a process if you will. This can range from listing sequential steps in a manufacturing process to laying out a project plan to describing a decision making process (think decision trees).

“If you can’t describe what you are doing as a process, you don’t know what you’re doing.”
– W. Edwards Deming

It comes as no surprise that engineers love to use flowcharts to describe or document stuff. If you’re like me, you’ve probably used various Microsoft Office applications to draw flowcharts. I, for example, have mastered creating flowcharts in PowerPoint over the years. Some prefer Visio or maybe some other application (Figma, Miro and the like).

by Greg Hutchins Leave a Comment

How to Reliably Design for a Single Point of Failure

How to Reliably Design for a Single Point of Failure

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

Reliability is designed into a product. Poor reliability is long term, difficult and expensive to rectify because it is woven into the fabric of the product. That is why high reliability products require complete and accurate analyses, simulations, and models to be successful. High reliable components are essential as well. Single point failures are taboo but, in some cases, there is no way to avoid them.

This paper presents two examples of how to design single point failures for high reliability.

by Mike Sondalini Leave a Comment

Decoding the ISO 55001 Asset Management Standard – Understanding ISO 55001 Clauses

Decoding the ISO 55001 Asset Management Standard – Understanding ISO 55001 Clauses

Understanding ISO 55001 clauses is vital for building a compliant ISO 55001 Asset Management System. Understanding ISO 55001 clauses is easy with a logical flowchart.

The meaning of the contents in the ISO 55001 asset management standard must be correctly interpreted and properly addressed in your asset management system

To fully understand the implications of an ISO 55001 clause, it is necessary to strip each sentence, phrase, and sub-point down into its logical elements

Learn how to turn the text in an ISO 55001 clause into a logical flowchart that lets you fully appreciate the implications and build the correct application in your asset management system.

by Nancy Regan Leave a Comment

Equipment Experts Couldn’t Believe Response

Equipment Experts Couldn’t Believe Response

Equipment experts are the untapped gold in any organization.

They know where the vulnerabilities lay, and they know what to do about them. Don’t waste this vital resource.

RCM memorializes the expertise and experience of equipment experts.

by Larry George Leave a Comment

Time Series Forecasts for Service Parts?

Time Series Forecasts for Service Parts?

Do you want easy demand forecasts or do you want to learn and use the reliabilities of service parts and make demand forecasts and distribution estimates, without sample uncertainty? Would you like to do something about service parts’ reliability? Would you like demand forecast distributions so you could set inventory policies to meet fill rate or service level requirements? Without sample uncertainty? Without life data? Don’t believe people who write that it can’t be done!

by George Williams Leave a Comment

Self Ownership Part 4

Self Ownership Part 4

The focus on attention to detail is one of the most critical portions of self-ownership. Everyone can walk by trash, but when the leader does it, it’s sending a message. The focus on attention to detail, especially in contracts, is best illustrated by the famous rock group, Van Halen.

Rock stars are able to put seemingly insane requests into what they need from the venues they perform at, and Van Halen was no different. After all, they’re the reason venues can charge hundreds of dollars per seat, they can choose to be picky.

by Sanjeev Saraf Leave a Comment

Physical Explosions: LNG Rapid Phase Transitions (RPT)

Physical Explosions: LNG Rapid Phase Transitions (RPT)

LNG spilled onto water sometime undergoes a rapid phase transition (RPT) or physical explosion creating localized overpressures.

Such physical explosions are also observed when water contacts molten metal or hot lava (steam explosions)

by JD Solomon Leave a Comment

Why Managing Dissenting Views is Critical for Good Group Decision Making

Why Managing Dissenting Views is Critical for Good Group Decision Making

Majority voting and consensus decision making are two distinct approaches to making decisions in group environments, each with its own characteristics and implications. Consensus decision-making is an alternative to debate and passage of proposals that can be approved through a majority vote. It does not emphasize the goal of the full agreement but instead focuses on acceptance or “living with it.” Choosing the right method for the context, and more importantly, managing the dissenting view, is important in making good group decisions.

by Greg Hutchins Leave a Comment

Introduction to the ISO 31K Risk Management Framework

Introduction to the ISO 31K Risk Management Framework

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

This article is the first in our risk management series. The series will be taking a look at the risk management guidelines under the ISO 31000 Standard to help you better understand them and how they relate to your own risk management activities. In doing so we’ll be walking through the core aspects of the Standard and giving you practical guidance on how to implement it.

In this particular article, we’ll be introducing you to the ISO 31000 Standards, the guiding principles, and outlining the risk management framework.

by Mike Sondalini Leave a Comment

Using Predictive Maintenance in a Plant Wellness Paradigm

Using Predictive Maintenance in a Plant Wellness Paradigm

Traditional Predictive Maintenance strategy results in out of control production from random planned equipment outages. A Plant Wellness strategy reduces the need for condition monitoring because you get ahead of failure and eliminate all root causes so there cannot be failure.