In part one of our Reliability and Maintainability series we discussed how R&M helped lower business cost through improving equipment effectiveness – in part two we’ll look further at the topic
Whilst R&M activity is usually the responsibility of an organizations engineering department, R&M has far reaching repercussions. Many factors influence R&M from system design, quality of materials and operational environment. The result can influence (and require imput from) a broad range of function groups from procurement, design through to the end customer themselves. Benefits can be significantly increased from the holistic view of the enterprise rather than a single view of design or engineering.
However cost is not the only driver – reliability can be a driver of other business risks. Take for example manufacturing environments that employ just in time production principles, a major malfunction, where spares are not immediately available can shut down a production facility – preventative maintenance is therefore crucial – and it isn’t industry specific having significant impact across diverse sectors from defense, aerospace and automotive.
Successful R&M programs, inherent from design onwards, rely on good quality data which goes beyond the OEM handbook!). Usage, environment, configuration, MTBF and MTTR amongst others are all taken into account to help predict equipment reliability (and cost requirements). Data is important for two reasons – firstly it help predict performance and secondly it helps analyze current performance.
However with the data comes the associated problems of how to process it. R&M Modeling –the understanding of how equipment configuration and operational scenario’s or environments affect the equipment is increasingly commonplace and the support of R&M software has become integral in most cases. Commercially available tools are now available as an alternative to bespoke in house systems and consultancy services offering propriety tools and methodologies are also available.
Whilst R&M is nothing new, modern R&M has seen a closer coupling between end users, suppliers and manufacturers, sharing and collaborating over the R&M program and designing R&M in from product conception. Some sectors seem to have embraced this more than others, perhaps driven by long term value for money implications and the Military world have adopt R&M without question incorporating various standards to support the principles.( (for example the UK’s Royal Air Force (RAF) has various standards e.g. Def Stan 00-40,00-42) and has seen the significant OEM’s and manufacturers play an active role with the end customer in delivering benefits.
Surely then R&M is integral in meeting the needs of the modern customer, focusing on the whole product life cycle and equipment effectiveness. Tools and techniques seem to be developing at a rapid pace in particular the software tools that ensure standards compliancy and structure. With Globalization now upon us all, with customers and supply chains reaching across geographical boundaries R&M will also need to “go global” – collaboration throughout the supply chain is key success factor. Given this trend demand for R&M resources will continue to grow as business seek to leverage the benefits of the programs.
