RCM’s bad reputation
Improving reliability has always been the top priority of many maintenance managers and practitioners. And so as an industry, we’ve come up with numerous strategies to help us achieve that goal. One notable strategy that has created hype in the maintenance world is Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM). See, everybody wants to join the RCM bandwagon […]
Your CBM Efforts Will Fail Without Effective Planning & Scheduling
This article first appeared in reliable plant. You can read the first version of this article here. Many maintenance organisations around the world are reactive. They experience excessive breakdowns, low productivity, and high maintenance costs. To break this reactive cycle, a common solution organisations implement is Condition-Based Maintenance. The problem is this strategy rarely works. […]
Root Cause Failure Analysis Using The 5 Whys Method
As maintenance practitioners, we’ve all have heard about the 5 Whys. And chances are, many of us have used this approach to execute Root Cause Failure Analysis at some point in your career. While it may seem like a simple and easy-to-use tool to look for root causes, you need to approach the 5 Whys […]
How to get your leaders to support your maintenance improvement initiatives
Introduction “Management doesn’t want to invest in maintenance and reliability”. Does this sound familiar? It’s a common complaint I hear when I talk to maintenance practitioners. And the discussion soon moves on to: “Management doesn’t understand.” “Management isn’t supportive of continuous improvement.” “Management just wants to run the equipment and fix it when it breaks.” […]
Why risk-based criticality assessment is a waste of time
Introduction Some people might hate me for saying this, but I need to put this out there: Risk-based criticality assessment is a waste of time. It’s more of an academic exercise rather than a practical one. Many people advocate for criticality assessment because you “need to know your critical assets“. When you read articles, books, […]
My Personal Journey to Escaping the Vicious Cycle of Reactive Maintenance
Working in a highly reactive maintenance environment is extremely stressful. Imagine being trapped in a never-ending cycle of chaos, where every day brings a new crisis to manage, and you’re constantly trying to figure how to put out fires. This is the reality for many professionals working in a highly reactive maintenance environment. The relentless […]
Maintenance Planners deserve BETTER.
Maintenance Planners are the unsung heroes responsible for increasing your team’s productivity by at least 30%, translating to hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars saved each and every year. Yet, despite the immense value they create, planners are often undervalued, and their role is misunderstood in many organizations. In this article, we’ll dive […]
The Reliability Culture Ladder
When it comes to improving reliability in your plant, culture is key to your long term success. Without establishing the right culture your hard-won improvements will simply erode over time. And before you know it, you’ll be back in that vicious cycle of reactive maintenance. But what is reliability culture? And how do you measure […]
Technology is great, but the basics will make or break you
Diving headfirst into new technology might seem like a good idea at first. Especially when it comes to improving your plant’s reliability. In fact, when I ask my students and clients what their strategy is for improving their plant’s reliability, two common strategies that often come up are investing in a new CMMS…. or better […]
You can’t maintain your way to reliability
We often hear the phrase “maintenance is key to reliability”. And while it’s true that proper maintenance is important, it’s not the only factor that determines your plant’s reliability. In fact, relying solely on maintenance to ensure reliability can be dangerous to your organisation. In this short article, I’ll explain why that’s the case. Maintenance […]
