Uptime Magazine - October/November 2008 - (Page 58)

reliability upload Turning A Blind Eye RCM & the Sub-Prime Mortgage Meltdown by Neil Bloom Y ou might be curious and wonder what in the world RCM has to do with the current financial crises, so let’s explore what it is that they have in common. As we will see, RCM has a distinct similarity to the current global sub-prime financial fiasco. Many of you have heard about Reliability Centered Maintenance, or RCM as it is called. But how much do you really know about it? there are those who have been through the challenges of attempting to begin an RCM program and then there are those who have successfully completed the RCM process. RCM originated in commercial aviation and, unfortunately, since it left that industry, it has become a very difficult and costly process. It was never intended to be that way. In fact, RCM today hardly resembles what it was intended to be by its founders Stanley Nowlan and Howard Heap. It has been conservatively estimated that less than 10% of all RCM programs attempted will succeed. Looking at it another way, over 90% of all RCM programs attempted are destined for failure! For those of you with first-hand experience, who have attempted to implement an RCM program, you understand why RCM has been so difficult. Remember, there is a major difference between a program such as RCM, which is designed to truly enhance safety and reliability and its cost avoidance benefits, such as avoiding potential disasters….. and a more generic PdM or betterment program which is strictly an economic exercise implemented solely to reduce known costs. There is nothing wrong with PM betterment efforts or using standardized PM task templates. However, with almost the same amount of effort, one can successfully achieve a true comprehensive RCM program instead of settling for something with far less value and effectiveness. RCM is a logical way of identifying what equipment in your facility is required to be maintained on a preventive maintenance basis rather than a let-it-fail-then-fix-it basis. Many have heard the phrases “don’t fix it until it breaks” or “don’t break it by trying to fix it.” There is a grain of truth to these axioms, but they depict a very shallow approach if you are striving to achieve reliability and safety levels for your facility that are the best they can be. Many plants have tried the “hit-and-miss” approach, or the old “how-we-used-to-do-it” approach, or the “runon-luck” approach to maintenance. These methods will get you only so far until your luck runs out, and the potential for a disaster looms right around the corner. In the absence of a structured RCM approach, reliability will rest solely on the basis of seat-of-the-pants experience, with a strategy consisting of a best-guess decision process. That approach falls far short of modern-day expectations. However, in real life everything is not perfect. For example, there is no universally perfect climate or environment. Likewise there is no universally perfect reliability environment. For example, there are those who are responsible for plant reliability that may still be in a relatively early stage of getting their program going. They are really doing the best they can with the resources they are allocated. In meeting and talking with many of the people in this stage of their reliability program development, I am deeply encouraged by their devotion and passion. They are continually striving to do better. They implement predictive maintenance (PdM) in all the ways they can and use the best judgment available to them. Then there are those reliability professionals that find themselves in a more experienced and progressive reliability environment. These folks have the benefit of being in a more highly developed situation with a greater flexibility to implement more advanced preventive maintenance methods and tools such as RCM. Even with those employing a methodology such as RCM, there are those just beginning in their journey, RCM and Reality From many decades of first hand experience with RCM and associated preventive maintenance program initiatives, approximately 80% of those people who are contemplating implementing an RCM process to improve their plant reliability, do not have a grasp of what it really is. The majority of these folks have good intentions, however, what they are settling for is a means to convert time-directed overhauls into condition monitoring PdM tasks. Or they want to use cookie-cutter PM templates, or find better ways to schedule their PM’s, october/november 2008 58

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Uptime Magazine - October/November 2008

Uptime Magazine - October/November 2008 Contents Upfront Upclose: An Asset Management Oasis in the Desert Information Technology: Streamlining Through Simplicity Lubrication: Phases for Framing a Solid Foundation Infrared: Do Your Homework Before You Buy Maintenance Management: Get It Together by Getting Together Motor Testing: Key Elements in Motor Decision Making Precision Maintenance: Shedding Some Light on Tolerances Reliability: RCM & the Mortgage Meltdown Ultrasound: A Multidimensional Tool Vibration: The Whirling Pump Mystery, Solved with ODS Upgrade: Are You Looking in the Right Place for Your Wear Debris?

Uptime Magazine - October/November 2008

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