The Importance of Asset Criticality

The Importance of Asset Criticality

Here’s the scenario. You’re a recently hired Asset Manager/Reliability Engineer and you’ve been tasked with defining and implementing plant-wide Reliability initiatives. Your initial assessment reveals a significant number of asset breakdowns, overall asset health is degrading, and reactive/emergent maintenance is the norm. It’s a daunting task and you’re not entirely sure where to begin.

When determining which assets to address first, the asset criticality/priority matrix should serve as your guide. Initiatives such as RCM, FMEA, Bill of Material (BOM) development, PM/PdM application, etc., should be targeted toward the most critical assets first with an eventual progression towards the least critical. In your new role, you should first review the Master Equipment List (MEL) for completeness, accuracy and prioritization. Properly ranked/prioritized assets take into consideration all aspects of an organization and have been ranked using mathematical formulas or quantitative analysis, thus eliminating the “gut” feel and subjectivity from the ranking process. Criticality criterion regarding Maintenance, Production/Operations, Safety, Environmental and Quality should be developed and personnel from the aforementioned departments should be represented during the ranking process. An added benefit to having asset criticalities is greater accuracy when prioritizing work during Planning & Scheduling activities. So in conclusion, utilize those asset criticalities to “eat the elephant” one bite at a time and make an overwhelming task seem much more manageable and achievable.