Let's Just Call it RCE - Reliability Centered Everything

I get mad at Stan Nowlan and Howard Heap from time to time. Fifteen years ago their work titled Reliability Centered Maintenance became the focus of my life when I first discovered the impact that RCM could have on manufacturing reliability. Since that time, I have authored somewhere around twenty articles on the subject, been a featured speaker at nearly three conferences a year and last year I even completed a book on the subject, describing what I see as the most effective way to complete a RCM analysis as well as the impact it can have on equipment and process reliability (Reliability Centered Maintenance using RCM Blitz™). For those who have taken the time to become educated in what a good RCM analysis is all about, the know power of this tool and where it applies. I know from experience, Reliability Centered Maintenance can and will deliver incredible results.

So, why am I mad at Stan Nowlan and Howard Heap?

Well, they are the two men responsible for putting the "maintenance" tag on what should have been called Reliability Centered Everything. For those who are in the know when it comes to RCM forgive me while I attempt to enlighten those who believe the word "Maintenance" somehow makes RCM incomplete. From the time I first began to learn what RCM was and how it should be applied I understood one thing to perfectly clear, the process does not work nearly as well without a cross functional team that includes representatives from Maintenance, Engineering, and Operations. This cross functional team is required because we need to understand the failure modes that could result from the context and environment in which we operate our equipment. One should note that the word operate or operator has been used more in this paragraph than the word maintenance. This makes me wonder from time to time why old Nowlan and Heap didn't call their process Reliability Centered Operations?

The second thing I learned as I studied up on RCM was the importance of discussing all likely failure modes; this would include failure modes that result from improper design, operation or maintenance as they applied to the components that make up the system. These failure modes should be discussed in terms of how each of the failures could impact our business and RCM decision logic should be applied to mitigate each failure mode by developing a corresponding maintenance task.

So, as we look at the process of analyzing failure modes we will discuss failure modes that could have been engineered into the equipment in the design phase. Excuse me, why did they not call this Reliability Centered Design?

As the team works to develop tasks for mitigating failure modes we will assign maintenance tasks to the various trades as well as equipment operators. Hello, pardon me; did you say we will assign maintenance tasks to the operators? Are you sure this is not Reliability Centered Operations? This is just down right confusing, are talking about equipment operators or maintenance mechanics?

Believe it or not even the original Reliability Centered Maintenance methodology assigned maintenance tasks to the equipment operator. The operators they were referring to were the pilot and co-pilot, each is assigned several maintenance tasks in the form of an operator check lists that are completed each time they operate the equipment. The equipment operators at manufacturing facilities around the world should also have similar tasks that put in place to ensure the equipment is fit to function as well as other tasks that look to detect potential failures based on operating or process conditions. The difference between Reliability Centered Maintenance and other tools that look to involve the operating crew in set up, change over and maintenance is when we assign tasks in RCM the operator is well aware as to why this task needs to be completed and the potential consequences to our business if we elect to not perform the task.

Thanks to Nowlan and Heap lots of things these days are becoming "Reliability Centered" today. I performed a Google search and discovered we have Reliability Centered Sales, Reliability Centered Lubrication, Reliability Centered Design, Reliability Centered Risk Management and Reliability Centered Engineering. The reality is while they all claim reliability centered something other than maintenance, I happen to know that everything they are trying to sell or do is already covered by Reliability Centered Maintenance.

While I don't wish to be any older than I am today, I sure would love to have had the opportunity to meet Stan Nowlan and Howard Heap. Our meeting would start with me asking for two signatures on my well read Nowlan and Heap RCM document and once that was completed I would ask the question that might satisfy the masses who are afraid of the word Maintenance.

"Guys, why didn't you call it Reliability Centered Everything?"



If you are interested in learning more about Reliability Centered Maintenance or RCM Blitz™, GPAllied is offering public courses in locations around the world. Please click on the RCM Blitz link for more information.

Why do RCM Implementations Fail?

RCM Implementations don't fail, believe me if you understand what your getting into upfront, use a proven process to select your asset for analysis AND you commit the resources, your implementation will be a huge success.

In looking through the above posts, I can clearly remember performing my first RCM analysis and the ordeal that followed as we struggled to:

a) See the value in the analysis we had just completed (Someone told us that RCM should be performed on every piece of equipment at our plant so we selected one of our most common assets.

b) Free up the resources necessary to implement the tasks that came out of the analysis.

Lets be honest here, one of the biggest reasons why companies fail to implement is because we as consultants don't give them clear detailed expectations on what the full RCM cycle is and in many cases when it becomes clear that Reliability Centered Maintenance is more than the analysis they have neither the time or resources necessary to implement.

This is something I think we all have struggled with at one time or another and again as I think back to the struggles of my first RCM, if understood what was really involved in completing a successful implementation I would have made darn sure we selected a winner and made very clear to my managers what the full cycle of a RCM analysis really is.

1. Select a critical asset that is suffering from equipment related operational, speed or quality losses
2. Baseline reliability data for this asset (How do you know if you improved if you never measured upfront?)
3. Perform all necessary upfront work to ensure we have the right people to perform the analysis and all the information the team will need to ensure a thorough and accurate analysis
4. Train the team and perform the analysis
5. Task assignment
6. Implementation - Get agreement upfront, this work is not hard and it should not take more than 3 months. I now have a third customer who completes implementation in 3 weeks.
7. Track and report results including Return on Investment. Step 7 is directly related to step 1.

Think about it, the companies we work with on a day to day basis to all kinds of things that are more difficult than RCM in fact the facilities their equipment resides in required a major amount of planning and resources to construct but before they started they had a plan and a budget.

I have yet to have someone call me to perform a RCM analysis on a plant that never got finished. Supply a good plan, communicate the potential benefits, resources and budget required to complete the project and we will have a winner. Last but not least, don't start your second RCM until your first on is at least 80% implemented.

Help Your Effort Off To a Good Start With a Quick Win

I couldn't begin to estimate how many times I have told new and potential customers the importance of selecting the right assets for your first RCM Blitz™ analysis. While it would be fantastic if every company we worked with understood the power and results that can be delivered through a focused and thorough analysis, the truth of the matter is there is nothing I enjoy more than being given one shot to come in and show the results that this tool can deliver.

While our customers at times can struggle through the process of implementing the tasks that were produced through the analysis they just as quickly are thrilled as they witness the improvement in reliability that is a direct result of their new maintenance strategy. With a new found sense of energy what started out as a one-time shot to give RCM Blitz™ a chance now turns into a client who understands what we mean when we say Reliability Centered Maintenance should deliver a return on investment through improved manufacturing reliability and a reduction in health, safety and environmental incidents and accidents.

When it comes to RCM there is nothing more important than getting your effort off to a good start with a quick win. Wins deliver the proof necessary to gain lasting support throughout your business and the resources required to deliver world class results.

At Allied Reliability and GPAllied we know what it takes to deliver these results. Every one of our RCM Blitz™ instructors and facilitators has years of experience in maintenance and reliability AND each has had to attend extensive training and mentoring to achieve certification in the process. The end result is a team of experts who can come to your facility and teach you how to make RCM Blitz™ part of your continuous improvement effort.

If your interested in learning more about RCM Blitz™ feel free to contact me directly through e-mail at plucknetted@alliedreliability.com or by phone at 585-329-7040. Information in regard to RCM Blitz™ and public courses available around the world can be found at http://www.alliedreliability.com/gpalliedtraining/us_middle_east_asia.asp