Design for Reliability with Fred Schenkelberg
There are times when companies look for bringing in a new piece of equipment or implement a system that makes their work easier. They install it properly and put a lot of effort into making that equipment work with the other systems in place but the results still don’t meet their expectations. So, what else can they do to make the outcome desirable? That is what should be taken into account in the design phase because if you have the design exactly right, it is easier to fix things when failures occur.
And when the companies design for the integration of different systems, they need to make certain assessments like what are the goals for implementing a system? What do they expect from it? They need those specifications that they are going to achieve because it’s not just about satisfying the customer at the moment, you need to understand the working, potential failures, and certain mechanisms for future maintenance of the system. It certainly cannot be done in a short time because it’s a whole process of decision making and this takes time to see the results that meet or exceed your expectations. It definitely takes a lot of work to design for this.
Now, in order to do all this, you need to start somewhere and the very first step should be to take inputs from every person who can help. You need to communicate the wants and needs, with your team and have their opinion in order to analyze the requirements of the client or the organization. You can ask the vendors of the equipment about certain specifications of the equipment that you wouldn’t know otherwise. There are standard failure modes and their solutions in the manuals provided by the manufacturers that can save you a lot of time in gathering data.
You need to document all the information that you receive and publish it for everyone to see. In this way, not only every staff member knows the standard fixes and procedures, he is actually learning on his own by implementing it on site and off site. You get the support of every co-worker too and that is something very valuable. All these activities take time but help a lot to have a refined design that defines the exact steps for everyone to do their jobs in a better way.
When you have a good design input, you make better decisions while aligning, installing, and maintaining the machinery. These lead to improved reliability programs and that saves you time and cost. You have a standard and documented workbook for every technician, engineer, and manager to follow and they learn things while performing the best practices their organization has to offer. As a result, you have a skilled workforce, lessons are learned and implemented next time, and failures are minimized. This leads to optimized performance for the equipment and huge increase in the production. The quality of your products is improved and customers are happy with your services.
Eruditio Links:
- Eruditio, LLC
- A Smarter Way of Preventative Maintenance – Free eBook
- Maintenance Planning & Scheduling: Planning for Profitability Video Course
Fred Schenkelberg Links:
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