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.

by James Kovacevic

169-RCA Trends with Chris Eckert

RCA Trends with Chris Eckert

RCA is a process where you get to the root cause of the problem and then solve it by using a systemic approach. To get started with RCA, you need to gather your data first. Once you set your data points to gather meaningful and useful data, then, you can perform RCA to prevent a failure or find a solution to fix it. There are four basic steps for a good RCA. In the first step, you should be able to gather fresh data the minute a failure occurs. In the second step, you have to determine the impact of that incident. You should know what you are looking for?

In this episode, we covered:

What is RCA?
Learn the four basic steps for a good RCA!
How have Millennials improved how RCA is done?
And much more!

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by James Kovacevic

168-What are Functions with Nancy Regan

What are Functions with Nancy Regan

Reliability Centered Maintenance or RCM is a philosophy that is rooted in the fundamentals of the reliability and maintenance. There are seven steps or principles of RCM that can really help you do RCM correctly. The first four steps of RCM make up FMEA and when you combine the next two with these, it gives you a FMECA baseline. With these seven steps, you can do all the wonderful things that make up a successful reliability program. In RCM, functions are where you start your journey. A function can be defined as what you need from a piece of equipment.

In this episode, we covered:

What is Reliability Centered Maintenance?
Learn the 7 principles of RCM!
How can you apply RCM effectively?
And much more!

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by James Kovacevic

167-Greatest Manufacturing Challenges with Calvin Williams

Greatest Manufacturing Challenges with Calvin Williams

Every organization’s end goal is to have continuous improvement. There are tools out there that can help you with it. One of such tools is the Impruver. It helps you keep your performance up-to-date and notifies you when you miss something and gets you on your way towards what need to be done. Another tool that helps you make continuous improvement is digital action board. It places an accountability process in place where you can see the results for yourself, improve the area that needs it, and keep tracking individual and overall performance. Having those checks brings a sense of responsibility in everyone that directly impacts manufacturing of your facility.

In this episode, we covered:

How can you achieve continuous improvement?
Find out which organizational tool is right for you!
Why is it getting more difficult for big companies to stay current with market trends?
And much more!

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Taking Reliability Block Diagrams to the Next Level

Using RBDs to model different systems and circumstances

In the previous post, the basics of a Reliability Block Diagram were covered using simple Series or Parallel paths. In real life, most systems or processes are not that simple and require a different level or type of models, often used in combination with other types.

So in our continued exploration of RBDs, let’s explore a few different models that may be used. [Read more…]

by James Kovacevic

166-2nd Habit with Peter Horsburgh

2nd Habit with Peter Horsburgh

Whenever there’s a problem in the plant, it always comes to finding the root cause if you are looking to solve it and stop it from reappearing later on. To successfully do that, you need to have what’s going on with your plant. You should have the complete understanding of the processes and the events that might have led to that issue in the first place. It isn’t always a single root causes that results into a failure. It can be a number of small things that contribute to that problem and result in a failure. So, there can be multiple causes for a single problem.

In this episode, we covered:

What is Root Cause Analysis?
Learn about 5Y!
How can you apply RCA effectively?
And much more!

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Understanding Reliability Block Diagrams

How To Evaluate The Reliability Of A System Or Process

60% of failures and safety issues can be prevented by ensuring there is a robust equipment design and that Maintenance & Reliability is taken into account during the design phase. Equipment should be designed with the following in mind:

Designed for Fault Tolerance
Designed to Fail Safely
Designed with early warning of the failure to the user
Designed with a built-in diagnostic system to identify fault location
Designed to eliminate all or critical failure modes cost effectively, if possible.

[Read more…]

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165-Reliability Catch Up with Fred

Reliability Catch Up with Fred

Reliability and Maintenance industry changes very fast. The organization always enlist the help of consultants when their assets are failing. The reason why it doesn’t work sometimes is because the companies don’t know what they are looking for. Before you go about hiring some consulting firm, you need to have some certain information for them to begin with. Once you know what the problem is and what is it that you are trying to accomplish, it becomes easier for consultants to help you with overcoming failures and stopping them in the first place. You have to understand where you are at? What kind of problems are you facing?

In this episode, we covered:

Reliability and Maintenance industry
How do you select the right tools?
Do you need a consultant?
And much more!

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The Role of Software In Reliability Engineering

Deciding if Software is Right For Your Program

Let’s face it, the field of reliability engineering is diverse and full of statistics, models and detailed analysis. The detailed calculations, the building of models and analysis, have been performed with great success in the past and currently. The models built through manual calculation have been successful and demonstrated the importance of reliability engineering.

[Read more…]

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164 Unsung Heros with Ryan

Unsung Heros with Ryan

With the kind of data that technicians collect in the field on a daily basis, it is very hard to note down everything. What they usually do is they go into the shop, perform some routine repairs and then come back to their desks to note everything they have encountered. Even if they manage to note down every single thing into their notebook or whatever paperwork they have available to them, they have to move around a lot and hassle through data every time they leave their position to go into the shop and then, come back.

In this episode, we covered:

Reliability and Maintenance industry
How do you select the right tools?
Do you need a consultant?
And much more!

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163-FRACAS with Brandon Weil

FRACAS with Brandon Weil

With changing technology in the reliability and maintenance industry, the best practices are always changing in order to improve the overall reliability for the long term. Failure reporting analysis and corrective action system or FRACAS is one of the best tools towards just achieving that goal. It is a process for collecting failure history, analyzing it for patterns, getting to root causes, implementing the corrective actions and then, monitoring the results of those actions. So, it is basically the collection of all the other reliability processes merged into one. In order for this to work, you can’t just rely on the PMs.

In this episode, we covered:

What is FRACAS?
How can you use FRACAS effectively?
How do you start with a FRACAS process?
And much more!

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162-Bearing Isolators with Chris and Woody

Bearing Isolators with Chris and Woody

One of the major reasons of bearing failure is the operating conditions of the machine. That’s why bearing isolators are used to keep the bearing separate from the external environment. It is a type of seal that helps keep bearing and the oil free from contamination. There are several different types of bearing isolators. The major categories are contacting or mechanical—which have been used for rotating equipment for a long time—and non-contacting seals that are used for dynamic purposes and consistent performance. The latter type has a long life because those are not making contact with the equipment.

In this episode, we covered:

An overview of Bearing Isolators
The types of bearing isolators
Other factors you need to focus on aside from analysis
And much more!

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Focus on the Important Issues, Not the Many Issues

Utilizing the Pareto Method to Prioritize Improvement Activities

There is limited time, money or resources in every maintenance department. Sometimes you have 2 of the 3, sometimes just 1. So how do you prioritize the items or issues that will have the biggest impact on your facility? There is a simple, yet vital principle that can be used in your facility to determine which issues to focus on. This principle started in a garden in Italy while studying peas… This principle which started with an observation of peas can have an important impact on your operation.

[Read more…]

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161-PdM Survey with Tom Wilk

PdM Survey with Tom Wilk

Predictive maintenance is a continuous activity and it is really hard to drive PdM program success without having a clear set of goals and a vision that everyone understands. The industry trends for reliability and maintenance are changing fast and so are the organizations that want to keep up with the new technology. The results of PdM Survey from 2017 to 2018 show that the type of technology that a company uses effects its reliability program on a larger scale. In this survey, the participants were asked questions about the type of technology being used in their organizations and how satisfied they were with them.

In this episode, we covered:

Why you need goals and a vision in your PdM program!
The obstacles that get in the way!
What departments should be involved?
And much more!

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How to Deliver Sustainable Gains in Maintenance Planning

Utilizing the PDCA Methodology in Work Planning

It is well known that maintenance planning & scheduling can deliver significant improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of the maintenance department. Maintenance planning & scheduling seems simple enough, plan the work and schedule it to be done at the most opportune time. However, why is it that the organization seem to struggle with realizing the benefits of maintenance planning & scheduling? In my experience, I have seen organizations that focus on the scheduling portion of work management, while not fully planning the work. Doc Palmer (an authority on Maintenance Planning & Scheduling) has said that you cannot schedule without proper planning. So how is it that they are scheduling work without knowing what needs to be done and what materials are required?

[Read more…]

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160 Transition on the road to Asset Management with Susan Lubell

Transition on the road to Asset Management with Susan Lubell

Asset management means to get the best value from your assets in a collaborative way. It helps you manage your assets safely and in a cost-effective manner. The organizations need to understand the risks involved in introducing unsafe practices into the field. These unhealthy practices can put the lives of your engineers at risk and cost you heavily in terms of asset damage and equipment repairs. Asset management is a journey and even though your organization might already be doing asset management, there’s always room to improve.

In this episode, we covered:

The first steps of Asset Management
Asset Management isn’t a crash diet!
What departments should be involved?
And much more!

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