by Drew Troyer, CRE, CMRP, T.A. Cook/Accenture, Editor | Jan 24, 2021 | Asset Management, Newsletter Column, RAM's Human Factor
I routinely teach courses and workshops on various aspects of equipment-asset management, reliability engineering, and precision and proactive maintenance. During those sessions, I frequently refer metaphorically to parts of the human body and what causes it to be...
by Drew Troyer, CRE, CMRP, T.A. Cook/Accenture, Editor | Jan 16, 2021 | Asset Management, RAM Tools & Methods
The ultimate goal of the maintenance work management process is to ensure that the highest priorty jobs are executed effectively and on time to prevent functional failure of plant equipment. Achieving this goal requires that each of the serially connected...
by Drew Troyer, CRE, CMRP, T.A. Cook/Accenture, Editor | Jan 3, 2021 | Newsletter Column, RAM's Human Factor
As maintenance and reliability professionals, we love rules of thumb and other easy-to-implement, tried-and-true solutions to problems. Experts who specialize in the human factors of failure refer to rules of thumb as “heuristics.” The reason we like...
by Drew Troyer, CRE, CMRP, T.A. Cook/Accenture, Editor | Dec 12, 2020 | Cut the FLAB, The Sustainable Plant
Over the years, I’ve written extensively about what I call “managing FLAB” in the plant. FLAB is both an acronym and a play on words. As an acronym, it stands for fasteners, lubrication, alignment and balance, the foundational mechanical and electrical elements...
by Drew Troyer, CRE, CMRP, T.A. Cook/Accenture, Editor | Dec 5, 2020 | Asset Management, RAM Tools & Methods
At its core, reliability engineering is an analytical process. We’re the actuaries for the manufacturing-process industries. We analyze data to determine failure rates and mean times between/to failure (MTBF/MTTF) or mean time to repair (MTTR). We employ Weibull...
by Drew Troyer, CRE, CMRP, T.A. Cook/Accenture, Editor | Nov 28, 2020 | RAM Tools & Methods, Workforce Issues
I’ve always been amazed and impressed by the knowledge and problem solving capability of plant-floor workers. Skilled and knowledgeable tradespersons and operators really know what’s going on at a site. And they’re an extremely valuable resource in our quest to run...
by Drew Troyer, CRE, CMRP, T.A. Cook/Accenture, Editor | Nov 21, 2020 | Asset Management, Lubrication Corner, The Sustainable Plant
The potential to reduce the environmental impacts of industrial operations with better management of parasitic frictional losses is well-documented. The science and technology associated with surfaces in relative motion, including friction, wear, and lubrication is...
by Drew Troyer, CRE, CMRP, T.A. Cook/Accenture, Editor | Nov 13, 2020 | Plant Operations, The Sustainable Plant
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 22% of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are attributable to industrial plants and facilities. As RAM professionals, we play a vital role in designing, operating, and maintaining the equipment that produces...
by Drew Troyer, CRE, CMRP, T.A. Cook/Accenture, Editor | Nov 7, 2020 | Asset Management, Plant Operations
Older readers of The RAM Review may remember inventor Ron Popeil’s entertaining infomercials for his rotisserie oven and his mantra “set it and forget it.” You could load the meat for cooking, set the cooking details, and go on about your business because the machine...
by Drew Troyer, CRE, CMRP, T.A. Cook/Accenture, Editor | Oct 24, 2020 | Asset Management, RAM Tools & Methods
“Amnesia” is a partial or total loss of memory. “Corporate amnesia” is when a company suffers that type of “memory” loss. The impact can be significant. Our plants and facilities depend upon the knowledge and know-how of highly...
