Accendo Reliability

Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site

James Kovacevic — Thought Leader

Author of Maintenance and Reliability articles, ebooks, and host of Rooted in Reliability, co-host on Speaking of Reliability.


This author's archive lists contributions of articles and episodes.

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203-Digital Transformation with Dave Drerup

203-Digital Transformation with Dave Drerup

Digital Transformation with Dave Drerup

Data is the single most important parameter that helps you define the rest of the parameters in asset management. That’s why it is very important to capture the right data in the most efficient manner possible—capturing it using digital means rather than traditional ways. Some organizations struggle with digital transformation because they have been doing things the traditional way for the longest of time period and they have difficulty understanding the benefits digital transformation brings to a company. Digital transformation starts with asking the right questions and getting answers by using reliable data, analyzing it, and then, utilizing it to bring value to the organization.

The points addressed in this podcast highlight:

  • Why is Data such an important parameter?
  • What does Digital Transformation mean?
  • What are the positive effects of Digital Transformation if done correctly?

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202-RCAM with Richard Overman

202-RCAM with Richard Overman

RCAM with Richard Overman

This episode revolves around the book titled as Reliability Centered Asset Management by Richard Overman. It is based on using the principles of reliability centered maintenance to manage your assets. It helps you understand the processes involved in managing your assets effectively by finding answers to questions such as; how or why your assets are failing? What are the consequences of those failures? And how to take actions to prevent those failures from occurring in the first place. It is based on the application of RCM principles to ensure reliability through-out the lifecycle of the asset.

The points addressed in this podcast highlight:

  • How or why are your assets are failing?
  • What are the consequences of those failures?
  • How do you  take actions to prevent those failures from occurring in the first place?

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201-Culture with Patrick Parker

201-Culture with Patrick Parker

Culture with Patrick Parker

If a methodology or a program isn’t producing desired value for an organization even after putting all the necessary resources into it, the root cause might be the culture of that organization. The culture of an organization consists of its practices, common goals, and shared values. If people aren’t putting efforts into securing the goals that an organization values, there’s definitely something wrong with the organization’s culture. That’s why culture is so important for managing assets and the overall success of the organization. A good culture is formed when the organization has set some standard procedures and values in place to ensure certain practices.

The points addressed in this podcast highlight:

  • What does the culture of an organization consist of?
  • Why is culture important in managing assets?
  • How do we improve the cultire of an organization?

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199-Oil Mist Lubrication with Heinz Bloch

199-Oil Mist Lubrication with Heinz Bloch

Oil Mist Lubrication with Heinz Bloch

Lubrication is one of the most important aspects in asset management and having a sophisticated tool for this purpose makes a real difference to facilitate an organization’s lubrication program. This is where oil mist lubrication helps to achieve your lubrication goals. Its mechanism is based on creating a slightly pressured area that prevents moisture and other contaminants to enter into the bearing itself which also preserves the integrity of any vulnerable components as well as your lubricant. That’s how oil mist lubrication differs greatly from the traditional lubrication as it effectively keeps your lubricant pure from contaminants in the air outside.

The points addressed in this podcast highlight:

  • Why is lubrication one of the most important aspects in asset management?
  • What are the benefits of this method?
  • What are the issues associated with lubrication?

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198-PDM with Martin Blenkers

198-PDM with Martin Blenkers

PDM with Martin Blenkers

All through Europe, America and other emerging economies, the new wave of industrial technologies is bringing a fundamental shift to how we approach operations. With tools like artificial intelligence and machine learning, reliability and maintenance as we know it is being curved in vastly different ways. Martin of Uptime Works helps us get up to speed with how we can start leveraging predictive maintenance strategies to improve productivity and cut on costs.

The points addressed in this podcast highlight:

  • What Predictive maintenance is
  • The importance of predictive maintenance (PDM)
  • Technologies that can strengthen successful PDM
  • Major considerations before getting into PDM

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197-Change from the Middle with Brandon Weil

197-Change from the Middle with Brandon Weil

Change from the Middle with Brandon Weil

For maintenance and reliability programs to be successful, often it will be championed by middle management. These are the people who interact and report on progress and challenges faced on the plant floor. Brandon Weil joins us on this episode to shed some light on how middle managers can contribute to productive change in an organization.

Key highlights from this episode are:

  • How often the drive from change comes from middle management
  • Strategies for influencing up and down the organization
  • Challenges and solutions to win and implement change

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196-Reliability Trends with Fred Schenkelberg

196-Reliability Trends with Fred Schenkelberg

Reliability Trends with Fred Schenkelberg

“We’re not invited on Oprah to talk about Maintenance Management … Podcasts allow us to get insights from our peers.”

In this episode, James once again interviews Fred Schenkelberg. Fred is the reliability expert at FMS Reliability, reliability engineering and management consulting firm he founded in 2004. Fred talks with us today about digital content and its role in the Reliability community.

We start by discussing the traffic levels on various topic posts and how the basics are still what attracts the most views and searches. Articles like Four Effective Risk Mitigation Strategies are getting roughly 4,500 views a month. 

Something ruminated on is the idea that these basics articles are still so popular. That higher-education is not preparing people for their fields -and while math and science are necessary to get the job done correctly, many of the relevant day-to-day skill sets and knowledge used in these industries are learned in practice and on the job.

In this episode we covered:

  • The Web Content Side of Reliability
  • The Benefits of Podcasts to Niche industries
  • Accendo and the creation of content ‘Toolboxes’

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195-Supportability with Lucas Marino

195-Supportability with Lucas Marino

Supportability with Lucas Marino

Supportability entails matching the design and logistics requirements of an asset to its operational needs. When buying equipment, decision-makers are usually quick to base their decision on the upfront capital investment without weighing in the effects of continuous operational expenses. Other foregone considerations in valuing an asset can touch on areas like supply chain requirements, equipment obsolescence, personnel training, configuration management and environmental impacts.  Lucas joins us on this episode to help create an understanding of supportability.

Some of the important insights include:

  • Differentiating supportability and reliability
  • Reasons for implementing supportability
  • Challenges and opportunities for supportability

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