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Living RCM by OMDEC

For many decades now, maintenance engineers have tried to harvest data to improve the reliability and cost of operating the physical assets in their operations. They have gathered, manipulated, displayed, and stored data in great quantities. Today, limitless data emanates from the CMMS as well as from CBM programs such as vibration and oil analysis. Operational and control data from DCS historians and real time databases add more complexity to the problem of achieving reliability from fact. Despite concerted efforts a simplistic relationship between the human energy exerted in data centered activities on the one hand - and asset reliability, availability, and profitability on the other, has eluded vendors, engineers, and managers.

LRCM Overview

Enter the missing link - living RCM (LRCM), a logical process by which to expose, track, and extract bottom line benefits from each maintenance initiative undertaken over the years.

LRCM binds RCM /FMEA knowledge to the work order system. Each significant work order will, as a result of that relationship, contribute a useable data point to the analysis of reliability. Why analyze reliability? There can be no measurable improvement in maintenance performance without first having conducted reliability analysis (RA). Further, there can be no RA without having acquired samples of data points (called histories or life cycles) at the granularity of the failure mode. Well tried conventional failure codes cannot provide the data needed for RA. This explains the paucity of evidence based decision making in maintenance today. LRCM addresses this gap by empowering maintenance staff to surmount four challenges that obstruct the achievement of reliability from data.

1. Data extraction and transformation.
2. Management of the relationship between the work order system and the RCM knowledge base.
3. Sample generation.
4. Reliability analysis.

LRCM applies fundamental RCM to each challenge by combining technology solutions that encourage vital human participation and control over the entire process. Key information needed from the CMMS is “age” or “life” or “event” data. Simply, LRCM enables the referencing and growth of knowledge. Each significant work order becomes, through LRCM, both an instance of a RCM knowledge record and a point in a sample essential for conducting a reliability analysis. In Challenge 2 the maintainer discriminates Functional Failure, Potential failure, and Suspension at work order closure and the planner accomplishes the work order / RCM record link. The automated generation of a sample (Challenge 3) facilitates Reliability Analysis (Challenge 4) through advanced tools such as EXAKT.

EXAKT

EXAKT is a reliability analysis tool that relates many dimensions, namely Reliability versus Age versus each monitoring variable (condition indicator) that it finds to be significant to Reliability. We can now combine/correlate relevant Condition Monitoring data to build predictive models (EXAKT predictive modelling software) to determine Optimal Condition Based Maintenance activity, and make evidence based Predictive Maintenance Decisions. The ‘EXAKT’ decision support module is described as;

1. A decision support tool for predicting reliability and optimizing Condition-based Maintenance so as to improve reliability, to reduce failures and save maintenance costs

2. Applies statistical methodologies to equipment history

3. Identifies the critical variables affecting reliability

4. Predicts equipment failure based on combining multiple equipment condition measurements and correlating them with failure modes

5. Produces a formula for continuous monitoring of failure predictions

6. Estimates remaining useful life of equipment – how long till failure

7. Defines the probability of failure in a given time period

8. applies statistical confidence levels – how confident are we of our prediction?

9. Defines the mix of preventive replacement and run to failure in order to:

    - Optimize costs - Optimize reliability - Achieve the optimum balance of risk, cost & reliability

10. Calculates lead time available to prevent failure

Conclusion

Living RCM (LRCM) as the title suggests is a robust, planned and on-going automated process, the key point being the continuous data collection and building of valuable RCM knowledge. LRCM draws data from the CMMS, CBM and other key data sources including past RCM project data. The selecting, loading and combining of ‘reliable’ data and knowledge on significant assets for RA from ‘multiple’ sources within an automated and defined business process driven model provides tremendous value in the decision making process of maintenance engineers and managers.

OMDEC offers training, consulting, pilot and integration packages specific to a range of industries including mining, hydro, utilities, petro chemical and more.

Please contact Chris Murfin at email chris@omdec.com Ottawa, Canada office, telephone 613-762-0856 - EXAKT and LRCM products and solutions are available exclusively through OMDEC and authorised partners worldwide. 2010-09