Page 419 - Improving Machinery Reliability

Maintenance for Continued Reliability 383

@ Does failure of the component have a negative impact on the system (and thus pro-
duction)?
@ What does the component need, and how do we preserve it?
e What PM technology can we apply?

The answers to these questions, repeated again and again for every component in
every system, provide the details for a PM program.
The list of questions here is not all-inclusive of the issues you may want to
address in your plant. The list is provided for illustrative purposes. In the process of
developing PM programs you may wish, or be required, to include questions such as:
Does failure of the component have a negative impact on safety? Does failure of the
component have a negative impact on the environment? The list you use is depen-
dent on your goals and objectives.
Regardless of the amount of time and effort spent on the PM technology selection
process, odds are that PM will be over-applied in some areas and under applied in
others. And that’s okay. The process of evaluating and selecting PM technologies is
evolutionary, and there are other tools that will be addressed later in this section to
help iron out the wrinkles.
Documenting the PM Program. Two types of PM program documentation are of
interest. The first type, referred to as equipment and PM task information, is the
detailed information that results from the work done earlier in defining the plant and
selecting PM technologies. The second type, referred to as work process documenta-
tion addresses the need for documentation that defines the process by which PM
tasks are accomplished. Both types of documentation are a necessary part of any PM
program.
Equipment and PM Task Information. One-half of documenting a PM program
involves writing down all information required by an individual to successfully
accomplish a PM task. This information is specific to a piece of equipment and the
PM task to be performed.
As an example, consider the simple PM task of lubricating a bearing. To success-
fully accomplish the task, the following information must be provided to the individ-
ual who will perform the work in the field: equipment number, what point is to be
lubricated, what type of lubricant is to be used, what lubricant manufacturer is
involved, how much lubricant is required, and how often the task is to be performed.
Note that the information listed in this example is a combination of equipment and
PI\? attributes. Equipment attributes include the tag number and the point that is to be
lubricated. PM attributes make up the rest of the list.
Generally speaking, equipment and PM task information defines the what, when,
where, and frequency of PM. It does not define who is going to do the task and why.
It is a function of the PM technology one selects to preserve equipment function and
usually resides in a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS). This
information must be documented for each and every component in the plant.