by Randall Noon, P.E. | Aug 21, 2021 | Learning from Mistakes, Plant Operations
Author’s Note: As with a number of my past articles for The RAM Review, this one also is an amalgam of several similar event investigations. Any details that would otherwise allow a specific company or person to be identified have been generalized, combined, or...
by Randall Noon, P.E. | Apr 22, 2021 | Asset Management, Learning from Mistakes
Today’s root-cause methodologies often employ the following failure-investigation process. It’s straightforward and practical. And the failure-cause spreadsheet that results from the process will provide a convenient record-keeping document to use in...
by Randall Noon, P.E. | Dec 5, 2020 | Learning from Mistakes, RAM's Human Factor, Safety Matters
The following is an amalgam of several similar event investigations. Details that would otherwise allow a specific company or person to be identified have been generalized, combined, or removed. The purpose of this brief study is to illustrate specific principles and...
by Randall Noon, P.E. | Aug 1, 2020 | Learning from Mistakes, Workforce Issues
The following account is a “think piece” (as my editor would say), concerning a management initiative. While the overall facts are genuine, the story posted here is based on several organizations that have gone through similar experiences. Once you read it, please...
by Randall Noon, P.E. | May 14, 2020 | Asset Management, Learning from Mistakes
The Second Law of Thermodynamics is the one about entropy tending to increase in a system as it moves toward equilibrium. A corollary of the Second Law relating to maintenance engineering is that all operating machinery eventually fails if left alone. It’s only...
by Randall Noon, P.E. | Nov 23, 2019 | Learning from Mistakes
Those who deal with rotating-equipment maintenance are well aware that ensuring long equipment service life requires rotating elements to be balanced to minimize vibrations. There are a number of reasons for this. High vibrations in rotating equipment can damage...
by Randall Noon, P.E. | Sep 28, 2019 | Learning from Mistakes
Do you remember the old short story, “The Lady or the Tiger?” by Frank Stockton? It emphasized a crucial choice. In some ways, this case study is similar. It involves two critical pumps at a power plant and the decision as to which should be refurbished. There is no...
