10 Things You Can Do Today to

Improve Reliability at Your Site

BY D P LU C KY ON M A RC H 1 4 , 2 0 1 2 1 0 C O M M E N T S

As companies around the globe look to improve equipment reliability I cant

help but think of the Technicians and Craftspeople I had a chat with after a
conference presentation. As they step up to introduce themselves to comment
on the presentation some will often say I really liked your presentation but I
dont think our management would ever support a program like this. What you
are doing makes a lot of sense but we just dont have the people and our
operations managers dont understand maintenance and reliability.

For the companies and people who are struggling to understand the
concepts of reliability and precision maintenance I would like to offer a list of
ten things any individual can start doing today to make an impact on equipment
reliability at your plant AND how the maintenance organization is viewed at
your facility.

1. Begin using data to support your cause. The best maintenance

organizations understand that data drives the best business decisions.
Its no longer enough to say this pump or that machine is a piece of
garbage, you need to prove it is. How often has it failed, how much
have we spent on repairing the machine over the last two years and
what were the product losses to the company in relation to the down
time. If this machine is really has issues with reliability the data should
clearly show this, compare the reliability of this machine to a similar
assets.

2.Use RCA (Root Cause Analysis) to identify and eliminate

causes. If you have been able to prove that a given asset has issues
with reliability you should first look to identify the causes of why this
machine is failing and look to eliminate or mitigate each of the causes.
The nice thing about Root Cause Analysis is you dont need to spend a
fortune on training or software to get started. Read a book and open
your Microsoft Excel and you can get started in identifying and
mitigating causes next week. Its important to remember that nearly
 every failure mode can have several causes so dont stop after you think
your found the cause. Keep working and identify as many causes as
possible and I like to use a RCM decision process to address each
potential cause.

3.Begin working with precision. Regardless of the course I am

instructing as soon as I begin to stress the importance precision
maintenance has on reliability I see one or two sets of eyes begin to roll
and someone will say We dont get the time to use those fancy tools, we
only have one torque wrench in the shop and we have never gotten a
laser alignment tool. Well then we need to begin collecting data that
supports the need for these tools, I want one person to begin using the
torque wrench on all the flanged connections he/she assembles and
mark each one in some way that identifies it was assembled with the
proper tools and hardware. Have another person who has dial
indicators start performing precision alignment on rotating equipment
where you are given the time to complete this and track these as well.
Report to managers each month how many were performed correctly
and also report any failures on equipment that was; A- assembled
properly; B-failures on equipment where precision tools were not used.

4.Relieve some stress! It doesnt take 10 years of experience for

someone to be able to recognize pipe stress. Pipe stress comes from
improperly supported or installed pipe flanges or fittings and is one of
the most common failure modes we see in performingRCM
Blitz (Reliability Centered Maintenance) on equipment at sites
around the world. Pipe stress at pump connections will lead to
premature pump bearing and seal failures as well as leaks at flanged
connections and welds. Start today to identify and repair areas where
piping connections are stressed from improper fit or support.

5.Close and secure your electrical and instrument panels. I have

worked at plant sites all over the world and one of the telltale signs of a
plant with major reliability issues are open or partly closed electrical
and instrument panels. (Partly closed means one of the 8 bolts required
to seal the panel door is installed; the rest are lose or missing.) This
reason this is a sure sign of unreliability is these devices should be some
 of the most reliable components at your site and if the panel doors are
not secured it means the technicians are constantly having to work in
them. The real problems begin however when the doors are not
properly sealed, this exposed the components to all the enemies of
electricity, dust, dirt, and moisture will soon compromise the life of
every component in the panel. Today is the day to reverse this trend,
look for open or partly closed panels, clean them with a vacuum brush,
replace the door gasket if needed and seal the panel the way it was
designed to be.

6.Clean your motors. Having come from a company where the MTBF
for critical electrical motors exceeded 20 years, I was shocked to find
out about the issues most other companies have with electrical motors.
One of the most common failure modes I address when analyzing
electrical motor failures is overheating the motor due to the motor
being dirty. Electrical motors are not designed to be run with a coating
of dirt, dust or product built up all over the motor fins and fan guard.
The buildup acts as an insulator and keeps the motor from cooling itself
when in operation and will result breakdown of the motor insulation.
Take a walk around your site and clean the motors with a wire brush
and let your motors breath!

7.Organize and update your drawings. Somewhere along the line in

the last 100 or so years, someone began telling maintenance people that
you should never touch or write on a drawing and this could be further
than the truth. Maintenance people NEED and should always have on
hand an up to date set of drawings to work from. They should be
informed the drawing is print, copy, or file that needs to be corrected
and updated anytime we make a change to the equipment. One does
not need to be an engineer to update a print and send it back through
the proper channels to ensure the master is corrected. If fact your
company should have in place a MOC (Management of Change)
process for managing your equipment drawings. Learn that process
today and begin work on updating the drawings for your critical assets.
Accurate drawings will always reduce the MTTR (Mean Time To
Restore) as this improves troubleshooting AND reduced the likelihood
of other errors and incidents.
 8. Improve your foundational elements. Walk down the rotating
equipment (Fans, Blowers and Pumps) at your site and make a list of
those that have issues with the following

Little or no foundation to speak of The foundation for rotating

equipment should be 3 to 6 times the mass of the rotating assets (pump
and motor)
Severely cracked or damaged foundation, to the point where the
rotating equipment is loose or severely vibrating.
Rotating equipment is visually out of alignment
Im just guessing but if you have made a list of these items and
compared them to the bad actors list from data collection step many of
these locations will be on that list.

9. Educate yourself on sound lubrication practices and

standards. A large percentage of all failures we address are lubrication
related. Seems that same person that taught our maintenance people
that they should never touch or update a drawing also decided 100 years
ago that lubrication is so simple and so intuitive that everyone should
know how to lube the day after they first learn to walk. Now let me state
that lubrication is so specialized that someone may not have a direct
impact on plant reliability with what they learned in one day but today is
the day you should start working to receive a MLT (Machine Lubrication
Technician) certification. It is in this learning process that one will
clearly see the flaws in your present lubrication program and what needs
to be done to achieve lubrication excellence at your site.

10. Record accurate history. Good maintenance history begins and ends
with the maintenance technicians. It is the technicians after all who
actually do the hands on work to with every task they perform but seldom
to I tour a plant and see good and accurate failure history. As a
maintenance tradesperson if you want to have an impact on the reliability
at your site on a day to day basis, you have to use precision maintenance
tools and techniques on a daily basis AND you need to record accurately
what you worked on.
 What did you work on? (Location and Equipment ID)
What may have been the potential cause/causes of the failure?
How long did the repair take?
Were the necessary parts readily available?

In the end, this list could contain another ten or twenty items or
suggestions and as always I am always interested in hearing your thoughts so
please feel free to comment or add some additional items that you believe
someone could do starting today to improve reliability at your site!