Plant Services - December 2007 - (Page 42)

BOILER ROOM Getting educated Make a path for reliability to follow T tial failures” as the operative metric of choice. Companies o many organizations, maintenance is a word that with high reliability at optimal cost focus on the number provides little value when, in fact, it provides great of potential failures because they’re focusing proactively, value if developed and managed properly. I’ve not reactively. By measuring MTBF and making decisions worked in more than 600 plants and observed that a combased on this data, you’ll have some exciting quick wins. pany can be its own worst enemy. It faces equipment probEven though you get some quick wins, always stay folems every day because people don’t understand the basics of cused on the main objective – optimal reliability at optimal maintenance and reliability. cost. It might be wise to hire a professional who can proWhat’s most misunderstood about maintenance is that its vide customized maintenance and reliability training that true objective is to maintain the assets so they meet relimeets your needs. Check references and don’t hire the least ability needs at an optimal cost. Many people don’t seem to expensive or your local college. Hire the best you can afunderstand the word reliability, either. Webster’s dictionary ford. If you’re losing money everyday because says it’s the quality or state of being reliable, of reliability issues, then this is money well the extent to which an experiment, test or spent. Ensure the instructor visits your opmeasuring procedure yields the same results Changing a eration a day early to understand your culture on repeated trials. plant culture and problems. Investigate the training agenda In other words, reliability is what your asfrom reactive to and look for topics such as the PF curve or PF sets must have to meet customers’ needs with proactive can interval, leading and lagging indicators, quick repeatable results. If you’re in a production wins, best practices and the like. Remember, environment, you want the equipment to perrequire more you get what you pay for. If you need some form to the standard required to meet productime than ideas send me an e-mail. tion and quality goals. Maintenance sustains you think. Everyone in your organization must have reliability. In any environment, assets must the same vision and understanding of mainprovide the reliability their users require and tenance and reliability. Two tables are posted must be maintained (thus the term “mainteat www.PlantServices.com/plant_culture that outline the nance” was born) so that reliability doesn’t degrade to the education requirements. Table 1 shows the typical number point that an asset can’t meet its intended function. of hours required and what must be taught if the position is Begin with an education in maintenance and reliability for to support and manage maintenance properly. Ensure what’s every stakeholder. This isn’t optional. I’ve found throughout being taught meets the needs of the position. Those needs the years that the more someone says they know, the more are listed in Table 2. you discover they don’t know. The class content should be matched to the person’s posiFew companies understand what it takes to achieve the tion. For example, training an operator in function and functhreshold of optimal reliability at optimal cost. It’s a jourtional failure requires only a brief overview of about eightney, not a short sprint. Changing a plant culture from reminute duration, whereas a maintenance manager would active to proactive can require more time than you think. need to learn more about the topic during a 30-minute class. Moving from a reactive state requires measuring the mean Following the training prescribed will clarify the vision time between failures (MTBF) of your critical assets. That for the future and the correct path forward. It’s time to stop allows you to focus on what’s destroying reliability, not the the losses and begin making money. The journey isn’t easy, fire of the day. This is the first step in the journey to probut it’s navigable. Focus on the basics and the reliability will active maintenance and optimized reliability. (Contact me follow. Let me know if you need a push to get rolling. about the MTBF Users Guide if you need help.) Once you’ve optimized your mean time between failures, you can retire the MTBF metric and use “number of potenE-mail Ricky Smith, CMRP, at askrickysmith@gmail.com. www.PLANTSERVICES.com December 2007 42 http://www.PlantServices.com/plant_culture http://www.PLANTSERVICES.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Plant Services - December 2007

Plant Services - December 2007 Contents From the Editor: Orange Alert The PS Files: Pressed into Innovation Up and Running What Works: Samuel Adams Facility Refreshed in Cincinnati Energy Expert: Energy's "Perfect Storm" Technology Toolbox: Know Your Position Cover Story: Get a Grip on the Steamer Piping: Outside Looking In Web Hunter: Potpourri X In the Trenches: Making a Big Stink Boiler Room: Getting Educated

Plant Services - December 2007

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