Page 429 - Improving Machinery Reliability

Maintenance for Continued Reliability 393

sis: what failed, why did it fail, what could be done to prevent it from occurring, the
maintenance cost and the production impact should be reviewed in weekly or twice-
monthly meetings. Reviews should be attended by those directly involved in the
work process. The discussion should address ideas on how PM programs or the work
processes could be improved.
Often maintenance as a percent of replacement asset base (RAB) is used as a
benchmark maintenance measurement. It is sometimes very insightful to look at
maintenance as a percent of RAB for just rotating equipment or instruments. Even
calculating maintenance as a percent of RAB by manufacturer or process service can
shed light on the subject of high-cost maintenance items. There are many interesting
iniformation sorts that can be “thought up” or realized by those responsible for the
program once information scope and accountability have been assigned to them.
Of all the different maintenance philosophies in industry, the bottom line is ”what-
ever is effective is effective.” Just as there is no single financial measurement that an
inldividual or a major industrial company can rely on to monitor and ensure its finan-
cial health, there is no single maintenance task or work process that a maintenance
organization can rely on to monitor and ensure its effectiveness. This means that
there is no “right answer” to PM. There is no manual that clearly outlines what is
needed. An organization’s PM program and its work processes are a function of its
goals and objectives.
This overview represents what has proved effective in helping two maintenance
organizations fulfill their role in plant production, that of ensuring production capa-
bility, The whole is the sum of the detailed parts. A detailed understanding of the
plant, its systems, its components and parts, its equipment and task-specific PM
information, its work processes, and its measure-and-improve process, all are neces-
sary to make maintenance effective.
Some lessons that have been learned and the key points that have proved to be
effective are summarized below.

e The role of maintenance, that of ensuring production capability, should be a key
driver in maintenance related decisions.
0 In many cases, ineffective maintenance is more the result of a failure to manage
the process by which work gets done than lack of available technology. For PM, or
any maintenance work process to be effective, it must be managed.
0 Unfortunate as it may be, the devil is in the details. Failures, or loss of function,
that do occur within a manufacturing or production unit always seem to be a detail
that was overlooked or never known.
Companies have the resources, the people, within their gates to solve most of their
problems. The key is to become more effective at utilizing them. Who else is more
familiar with the problems at hand than those left with the task of fixing them?
0 Documenting the work process using the template found in Table 10-3 has proved
invaluable both as a training and communication resource and a benchmarking tool.