During a recent COVID-19-compelled social-distancing phone call with a colleague, our discussion turned to the topic of asset-management practices and their overall effect on equipment care and the maintenance workforce. My colleague then challenged me to identify the three leading practices that have proven to be the most effective. Coming up with my top-three list wasn’t at all difficult.
A leading practice is both an adjective and a noun, and is defined as a practice, process, method, or approach that consistently produces successful results. The hallmarks of a successful enterprise are reflected in its way (or practices) of managing people, assets, and work requirements on short- and long-term bases. These hallmarks are referred to as leading practices.
Following the rules of common sense and good management, leading practices are often referred to as best practices, successful practices, or good management practices (such as GMP in pharmaceutical and food industries). They are similar in that they:
♦ represent core foundational activities that can be built upon,
♦ recognize value added activity
♦ strive to eliminate waste
♦ can be measured
♦ are designed to manage, control, and Improve our daily business.
Choosing and declaring a top-three answer for anything is arguable and should, by nature, stimulate debate. My choices are based on hundreds of maintenance-operation- effectiveness reviews (MOERs), audits, and program-implementations performed over the past 30+ plus years. They all contain the above attributes defined in a leading practice, and are foundational to all of the major maintenance philosophies and methodologies in use today, including reliability-centered maintenance [RCM], condition-based maintenance [CBM], predictive maintenance [PdM], and preventive maintenance [PM], among others. And all of them are all immediately embraceable.
#1 LEADING PRACTICE: Business Processes
A business process is a collection of related activities or tasks designed to produce a deliverable in the form of a service, product, or defined result. Business processes allow us to understand “who we are,” who we serve,” and “what is expected” from the maintenance department and the stakeholders/clients it serves.
Business processes can be represented in a procedural list format, or in graphical diagram used to facilitate the identification of workflow, decision-making points, and contact points (hand-off points) requiring either an input or output to or from the maintenance department and its stakeholders/clients.
Effective business processes assure work/service consistency and quality, and are compliance-measurable.
#2 LEADING PRACTICE: Work Planning & Scheduling
Successful maintenance departments are underpinned by a strong and disciplined approach toward the planning and scheduling of work. Often confused as one and the same, maintenance planning and scheduling represents two distinct functions.
♦ Planning provides all the information required to complete the maintenance activity that includes a detailed job plan identifying step by step tasks, relevant drawings or photos, time estimate for the job, resource requirements (trades, tools, and parts, and any permits or permissions required). In a planned environment no work is released for scheduling till the job plan is complete and all resources are available.
♦ Scheduling is a daily process that evaluates when a job can proceed. Taking into account resource/asset availability, criticality and priority rules, and prior work commitments, planned and unplanned work are both managed onto a daily schedule from the backlog of planned work. To facilitate this process, regular meetings between maintenance, producting, and engineering take place to determine future work forecasts and daily work schedules.
Smaller maintenance departments may hire a single individual to perform both the planning and scheduling functions.
#3 LEADING PRACTICE: Performing Precision Maintenance Well
Simply put, precision maintenance is about the correct setting up and tuning of an asset’s mechanical systems. These are the basics skills that all trades learn at the outset of their careers—the same skills that all machinery relies on to operate reliably thrpoughput its life cycle. Precision maintenance performed well will significantly reduce failure of equipment as long as long as the asset is not operated outside of its design specifications.
The four cornerstones of precision maintenance are:
♦ Fasteners: Precision fastening is about using the correct fastener type, correctly assembled (correct washer style/placement and use of precision shims), tightened to the correct torque or. Proper fastening techniques eliminate deadly vibration and help keep drive systems in alignment
♦ Lubrication: Precision lubrication is about placing the right lubricant, in the right place, in the right amount, at the right time. Effective lubrication can almost eliminate bearing failure and significantly reduce a machine’s energy footprint.
♦ Alignment: Precision alignment requires all driver/driven systems be set up /checked for offset and angular misalignment to ensure maximum power transmission, longevity of drivetrain components, and minimized energy consumption. All control surfaces and switch points/triggers must be correctly aligned to ensure operational accuracy.
♦ Balancing: Properly balanced rotating systems such as drivelines and motor assemblies ensure minimal vibration and extended component life cycle with reduced energy requirements
Collectively referred to as “FLAB,” these four precision-maintenance cornerstones are written about extensively and the topic of webinars and workshops by The RAM Review’s Drew Troyer.TRR
Click Here To See The List Of Drew Troyer’s“
“Cut the FLAB”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ken Bannister has 40+ years of experience in the RAM industry. For the past 30, he’s been a Managing Partner and Principal Asset Management Consultant with Engtech industries Inc., where he has specialized in helping clients implement best-practice asset-management programs worldwide. A founding member and past director of the Plant Engineering and Maintenance Association of Canada, he is the author of several books, including three on lubrication, one on predictive maintenance, and one on energy reduction strategies, and is currently writing one on planning and scheduling. Contact him directly at 519-469-9173 or [email protected].
