MRG Reliability Tip

Defining Your Reliability Terminology

An essential component of any Reliability Program is to define your terminology at EVERY step of the journey.

With MEL classes and Function descriptions, ensure that everyone saying or hearing ‘Switch’ have the same understanding of the term. In Maintenance and Work Order Systems, I have seen a ‘Tighten Connection’ task, generated from an Infrared scan, entered as Work Type: PdM, Corrective, Repair, Emergency, PM, Reactive, Routine, Condition Based, and even Optional. Define your terms! The definitions must be understood by Planning, Scheduling, Electrical, Mechanical, Instrumentation and Operations. They must be supplied to or developed with any contract work management teams.

Even ‘common sense’ terms like ‘Done’ and ‘Complete’ MUST be defined for each step of the process. This is especially true when Milestones or KPIs are based on job or task status. Develop a list of the criteria that must be met before the status is changed. Correctly explaining what “Done” means, for every step and phase, can avoid misunderstandings and overrun expenses, as well as providing more efficient tools for analyzing and reporting on performance and progress.

MRG is Featured in Uptime Magazine's June/July Edition!

MRG is Featured in Uptime Magazine's June/July Edition!
Operational Readiness:
Bridging the Gap Between Construction and Operations for New Capital Assets

There is ample proof and little argument today that organizations that deploy best reliability-based maintenance practices to existing operational assets produce significantly more asset availability at lower costs. Where making a profit is important, such organizations have a dramatic bottom-line impact and enhance their competitive footing. Numerous articles have been written detailing the mechanics of such programs and the successes of companies that have employed them. We argue (and empirical evidence supports) that developing such a program, that is bringing new assets into these reliability-based maintenance programs early in an asset's lifecycle, is more cost effective than developing a program at any other time, and can drive significant value both in the short and long term.

Think of best reliability-based maintenance practices as a risk-mitigation program designed to anticipate and mitigate potential problems that are likely to negatively impact total project value once operation begins. Such programs prepare the organization that will be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the new assets during design and construction. With the right preparation, the organization will be more ready to assume the operations duty than has historically been the case. The term "operational readiness" is rooted in this principle.

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