Pages

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Nine "Ps" for Profitable Plant Reliability Improvement Efforts


So if you could sum up the common areas of focus during reliability improvement efforts what would they be? 
The thought behind this blog post was if someone ask us what we are doing or what all is involved in a reliability improvement effort, how can we give them the scope in a concise, and memorable way. This could be used early on in the discovery or kick off phase to outline without overwhelming. 
I have listed nine things that I would focus on and they all start with P for ease of remembering.
Predictive Maintenance
Using technology to understand equipment condition in a noninvasive way before the functional failure occurs
Example: Vibration, Ultrasonic, Infrared 

Preventive Maintenance
Traditional and more invasive time based inspections which should be failure mode based
Example: Visual Inspection of gears in a gear box 

Precision Maintenance
Doing the maintenance craft to the best in class standards to prevent infant mortality
Example: Alignment, Balancing, Bolt Torquing   

Process
Clear series of steps to identify, prioritize, plan, schedule, execute, and capture history with who is responsible for each
Example: Work Identification Process, Root Cause Process. Work Completion Process

Problem Solving
The process for understanding the real causes of problems and using business case thinking to select solutions  that reduce or eliminate the chance of recurrence
Example: Root Cause Analysis, Fault Tree, Sequence of Events 
Prioritizing of Work
The process of determining sequences of work as well as level of effort using tools like equipment criticality and work order type
Example: RIME index 
Parts
These are the processes required to have the right part at the right time in the right condition at the right place for the right cost
Example: Cycle counting process, proper storage procedures, kitting process  

Planned Execution
This piece is about taking the identified work and building the work instructions, work package and collecting the required parts and then scheduling the execution.
Example: Job Packages, Schedules, Gantt Charts 
People
This is where we deal with the change management and leadership portion which is required in order to true make a change to the organization 
Example: Situational Leadership, Communication Planning, Risk Identification, Training

So here are my nine "Psthat you can share as early communication to get your organization on board with your reliability efforts and develop the Profit we all want. 

What would you add? 

4 comments:

  1. I would add Persuasion: As the middle and last seniority groups of us Baby Boomers reach retirement, persuasion will play a very important role in doing things the “new way.” Personally, I have always looked for a better way to meet profit objectives with the least amount of physical effort (including stress) and PdM, CBM , Predictive Maintenance, or whatever we want to call it fits the bill to a T. Add Proactive Maintenance exercises/tools and that “bust your knuckles, put out the fire” maintenance mentality can be nearly eliminated. However: These new tools and new ways of approaching old issues are not easily accepted by the group above. “That bearing needs more than 2 grams of grease! You have to see it bleed out the seals”, is so often cited. In a high pressure water/chemical wash down environment, purging the water and chemicals may be a proven and cost effective method, but that same “make it bleed” mentality exists plant wide because “that’s the way we’ve always done it.” Attrition is one means of conversion of culture but it does nothing for program adherence, so Persuasion will be a very important component of change.

    Mark Gonzagowski, Reliability Services Team Lead. Gerber Products, USA

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete