Meat + Poultry - February 2009 - 47

OPERATIONS & ENGINEERING

Ensuring
zero downtime
Root-cause analyses can help
prevent production log jams
By Mark Eystad
meatpoultry@sosland.com

maintenance manager's goal is zero downtime, all
the time. But those in the industry live in the real
world where downtime actually occurs. If one isn't
measuring his or her downtime, someone most certainly is
measuring it for them. So what are industry people doing
to reduce downtime?
Conducting a formal root-cause analysis (RCA) on the
top two to three downtime reasons each week is an integral part of any world-class maintenance organization. In
previous articles, maintenance dashboards have been discussed. Another good gauge on the dashboard is a weekly
downtime pareto. This pareto is a simple graph listing the
top downtime reasons from most lost time to least and the
number of occurrences of each reason for the week. These
top downtime reasons are usually significant enough to justify a formal root-cause analysis.
A formal root-cause analysis is required following a catastrophic downtime event. A catastrophic downtime event
is any downtime caused when equipment on a critical path
causes a complete loss of production. For example, when a
gearbox failure on a chiller causes the plant shut down early, this is considered catastrophic downtime and requires a
root-cause analysis to ensure it will not be repeated.
There are four main parts to a complete RCA. The first
part is an official record of the events as they occurred.
This section of the RCA consists of documenting who,
what, where and how much time was lost. The second part
consists of the brainstorming section of the analysis where
there are a specific set of questions designed to encompass
any possible cause, followed up with studies conducted to
identify the specific cause. The third part is a review of
current preventative measures that may or may not exist,
which are designed to prevent this downtime. Finally, and
most importantly, is the formal action items that must occur to prevent this downtime from reoccurring, including
what defines success.
48

MEAT&POULTRY

February 2009

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The brainstorming step in the RCA
will not be successful without full
participation from everyone involved.
Just the facts
The fi rst part of the root-cause analysis is a review of the
actual occurrence. Discuss with the people who where
actually involved what they saw. This is like being a detective. No one wants to be blamed or place blame when
being interviewed for the facts. Make it clear that nothing they say can be used against them. It should be made
perfectly evident to everyone involved the purpose of the
discussion is to prevent the reoccurrence of the downtime, not to place blame on any one person or department
when collecting the facts. Also documented are any "quick
fi xes" made to get production back up until maintenance

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Meat + Poultry - February 2009

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