Connecting Reliability with Maintenance

The increase numbers of physical assets in the recent years have made the maintenance system of these assets quite difficult. An unreliable maintenance will cost the company quite a big deal. The cost will include both the direct and indirect costs associated with all reliability issues. Therefore to avoid these extra costs, the maintenance systems of these assets have to be reliable.

Maintenance Reliability is the process to make sure that assets continue to give the service what their users want them to do in the present operating context. This RCM requires the machinery stakeholder to monitor, asses, predict, and understand the working of the machine. Reliability Centered Maintenance provides a framework where the function and possible failures of a machine can be analysed. Maintenance system is then established not only to reduce maintenance cost, but increase the reliability of the assets in its lifetime.

Reliability Centered Maintenance is usually used to create a cost effective maintenance strategy to find out the causes of the machine failure. But there can be other less tangible benefits which RCM may provide.

·         Identifying hidden failure in the machinery

·         Discovering significant and previously unknown failure.

·         Producing training to system engineers and machine operator.

·         Providing a detailed review and improvement where necessary, for plant documentation.

The use of this RCM will increase the efficiency of the machine thus giving more output in the cost effective way.  

Can You Believe That Machines Talk?

If there is any era that will always be cherished by the world, it is the industrial revolution era. The era of industrial revolution was one of the most innovative periods in the history of mankind; it marked the introduction of robotics and machines in order to improve production; developments that changed the course of human history.

Since those inspiring days machine and heavy equipment have continued to dictate the daily lives of man. More and more goods are being produced at a faster rate than ever before, individuals and organisations have therefore developed more confidence in the ability of machines and equipment to get the job done, faster, with more efficiency and less supervision.

Most organisations now have a distinct budget for purchase and maintenance of machines/equipments which can often run into millions. Company executives, technicians and stakeholders are therefore more aware of the need to have a comprehensive method of ensuring that equipments perform to the highest expectation at the minimum cost, which is where monitoring instruments as a concept came in to being.

Monitoring has become a crucial element that has been built into machines in order to enhance the efficiency of the machine, as well as the performance of the humans that work with them. The standard maintenance procedure was the method that was initially used to monitor machines performance and ensure that they produce at optimum capacity; however this solution was at the mercy of human error and omissions in terms of both assessment and actually doing the routine maintenance schedule.

The major difference from the standard maintenance procedure and the new world monitoring is that while the old method only aims to correct or repair faults, and prevent break down by randomly changing equipment parts, condition monitoring aims to thoroughly check every equipment part and component for performance; as well as provide analytical information on the gradual degradation and overall performance of the machine. In fact, it simply listens to everything the machine is saying and provides solutions in real time.

This type of maintenance process is carried out through a variety of techniques, which include oil analysis, vibration analysis, thermal imaging and ultrasonic measurement. Most of these methods offer a diagnostic, speedy and accurate information flow that will ensure that equipment are maintained and monitored with a reliable level of precision.

Here is a little more on different condition monitoring techniques:

Oil analysis, as the name suggests, involves carrying out detailed analysis of the contaminant and condition of the oil in the machine. It is one of the most commonly used methods that helps determine the exact component of a machine that is degrading.

Vibration analysis provides information on the parts of the machine that needs to be properly fixed or secured. This method pinpoints parts of the machine that are out of place or misaligned.

Thermal imaging is designed to pick up heat signals that will notify extremely hot components. Ultrasound measurement is used to measure pipe thickness and other equipment that has only one accessible point.