In my social circle, the topic of conversation will, at some point, invariably turn to any and all things with engines, motors, and wheels. In a recent small gathering of conversation-starved friends (due to COVID lockdowns), this interesting question was posed: “How are today’s auto/motorcycle manufacturers able to profitably offer and honor 4-to-10-year drivetrain warranties on vehicles that are often driven by people who have no respect for maintenance, yet demand the highest level of reliability? (In comparison, an industrial machine that receives regular structured maintenance and is operated by a skilled operator can be lucky to get through a one-year warranty period without some form of mechanical failure.)
It wasn’t always this way. Up until the 1990s, it was unusual to find an automotive company that offered more than the universal one-year warranty. Vehicles from the 1970s and ’80s had terrible quality and reliability problems that cost their manufacturers greatly in terms of warranty claims and reputations.
A TURNING POINT
A massive change came about in North America with the 1999 introduction of ISO/TS 16949 quality-management-system requirements designed specifically for automotive design and development, production and, when relevant, installation and service of automotive-related products.
TS 16949 was a quality-management system that taught automotive manufacturers, and in turn, their suppliers to:
♦ Understand and define how an organization can meet the requirements of its
customers and other stakeholders.
♦ Look for and promote continual improvement.
♦ Define objectives and continuously improve their processes for reaching them.
♦ Emphasize defect prevention.
♦ Adhere to specific requirements and the use of core tools from the automotive
industry that include:
♦ Promote variation and waste reduction strategies in the supply chain.
♦ Document and implement corporate responsibility policies.
To better understand the industry’s quality and reliability issues, automotive companies listened to their customers and stakeholders and began to mine their data. And they had lots and lots of data. Every car repaired in their dealerships had a detailed work order that outlined every procedure and part used during and after the warranty period. Among other things, these work orders told the manufacturers what failed, how often it failed, how reliable (or unreliable) the drivetrain systems were, and the warranty-cost of failure to the manufacturer and dealer.
The automotive companies recognized that tightening their engine-build tolerances and alignment generated a number of welcome benefits for them and their customers: This permitted the use of higher-quality synthetic lubricants that, combined with electronic timing and fuel management, extended oil changes, reduced lubricant loss to combustion bypass, improved fuel mileage, and increased engine horsepower. All paths led to the higher quality, performance and reliability we see in our vehicles today.
To stop “shade-tree mechanics” and vehicle owners tinkering with settings and performing lack luster maintenance, many previously adjustable and changeable items have been redesigned to be electronically adjusted with proprietary software and tools, or have been taken away altogether. For example, many new automobiles don’t have dipsticks or drain plugs, and require very specific lubricants. This, in turn, forces owners to use a dealer’s service department or risk voiding their vehicles’ warranties.
In asset- management terms, drivetrains are now designed and assembled using precision-design and precision-maintenance techniques for controlling bolting, setup, balance, vibration damping, and lubrication before the owner receives the vehicle.
Still, pristine record-keeping and regular precision maintenance are essential to ensure the reliability and safety of today’s cars and trucks. Interestingly, when it comes to equipment and process reliability, the referenced experience of the automotive companies and their customers has some similarities with suppliers and end-users of today’s industrial machinery.
BEYOND VEHICLES
To be fair, unless used as cabs, buses, long-haul trucks, and the like, automotive products typically don’t see the continuous loaded use that industrial machines endure during their lifetime. Many industrial assets are unique in that their operating condition varies greatly from one customer to another based on such things as load, speed, temperature, cleanliness, raw-material quality, maintenance quality, and maintenance frequency.
The reality is that many industrial machines lead less-than-ideal lives in plant environments, where they’re often subjected to the harshest of conditions and forms of abuse. Moreover, many maintenance and reliability departments don’t take the time to understand the root causes of their machines’ failures, much less put life-cycle- management strategies in place. It’s up to industrial-machine end-users to make their operating conditions known to the OEMs prior to equipment purchase, and work together to understand what might fail prematurely, and what to do to prevent that failure. This simple approach can yield positive dividends for all parties
THE FINAL WORD
The key to a reliable life cycle is to mine past machine repair data to understand the typical failures an operation encounters, how often they occur, and the root causes. Only then is the reliability and maintenance group able to recognize negative trends and processes that can be overturned.
Taking a precision-maintenance approach to new equipment start-ups prior to machine acceptance can ensure that those assets have a good chance of making it through their warranty periods unscathed. Adopting and implementing an engineered lubrication management program, combined with a consistent housekeeping program and precision-maintenance program for existing assets will drastically eliminate/reduce almost all preventable equipment-maintenance problems.
As for the question in the title: In the end, reliability is the responsibility of both the manufacturer and the end-user.TRR
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].
Tags: reliability, availability, maintenance, RAM, asset management, ISO/TS 16949
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