Be sure to check out Management Resources Group, Inc. in the April/May 2011 issue of Uptime Magazine!
Business Case for Data Integrity
Written by Robert DiStefano (Chairman and CEO) and Stephen Thomas
[click here]
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
MRG, Inc. is published in BIC Magazine!
Be sure to check out Management Resources Group, Inc. in the May 2011 issue of BIC Magazine!
Control New Assets With Maintenance and Reliability Readiness
Written by Michael Desabris (VP)
[click here, Page 134]
Control New Assets With Maintenance and Reliability Readiness
Written by Michael Desabris (VP)
[click here, Page 134]
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Celebrate Little Wins
Celebrate Little Wins
While the ultimate goal of a Maintenance & Reliability is to achieve large changes in asset performance and the organizational culture, this cannot be achieved all at once. This goal can only be achieved step by step over time through consistent and persistent effort. Often an organization will have large durations of time where little or nothing has been said about the organizations progress. This can have the effect of making it look like nobody cares about the M&R effort anymore, "flavor of the month" syndrome. One way to combat this is to identify every small victory which moves the organization toward its ultimate goal. Even the smallest win can build support within the organization and create new stories to tell. These small celebrations will maintain the cultural momentum necessary to achieve the proactive maintenance program your organization has set as it's "Big Win" goal.
While the ultimate goal of a Maintenance & Reliability is to achieve large changes in asset performance and the organizational culture, this cannot be achieved all at once. This goal can only be achieved step by step over time through consistent and persistent effort. Often an organization will have large durations of time where little or nothing has been said about the organizations progress. This can have the effect of making it look like nobody cares about the M&R effort anymore, "flavor of the month" syndrome. One way to combat this is to identify every small victory which moves the organization toward its ultimate goal. Even the smallest win can build support within the organization and create new stories to tell. These small celebrations will maintain the cultural momentum necessary to achieve the proactive maintenance program your organization has set as it's "Big Win" goal.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Demonstrate PdM Program Value
Demonstrate PdM Program Value
Prior to implementing any new PdM technology, be sure to perform some CMMS data mining activities first. Attempt to capture historical statistics on the types of failures you're trying to prevent with the particular technology you're implementing.
For example, if you're starting a rotating equipment vibration program, review CMMS WO history/failure codes for bearing-related failures and document these (numbers of failures & associated costs) in some form of chart/graph. This historical failure information will serve as your program baseline.
Keep this documentation up to date and, as the PdM program matures, you should see a steady decline in the number of bearing-related failures caused by vibration. Communicate this positive information throughout the entire facility in order to demonstrate the value of your PdM activities.
Prior to implementing any new PdM technology, be sure to perform some CMMS data mining activities first. Attempt to capture historical statistics on the types of failures you're trying to prevent with the particular technology you're implementing.
For example, if you're starting a rotating equipment vibration program, review CMMS WO history/failure codes for bearing-related failures and document these (numbers of failures & associated costs) in some form of chart/graph. This historical failure information will serve as your program baseline.
Keep this documentation up to date and, as the PdM program matures, you should see a steady decline in the number of bearing-related failures caused by vibration. Communicate this positive information throughout the entire facility in order to demonstrate the value of your PdM activities.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Take Control of your New Assets with a Maintenance and Reliability Readiness Plan
Have an Advanced Sneak Peek at MRG's May Article in BIC Magazine!
Take Control of your New Assets with a Maintenance and Reliability Readiness Plan
Having spent more than 25 years in the engineering, maintenance and construction industry, I have found that applying well thought out maintenance and reliability plans early in the design and construction phase is "cheap insurance" for quickly attaining availability and throughput targets while lowering the costs of maintenance for the remainder of the asset lifecycle. In fact, investing just 0.1% to 1% of the project costs on maintenance and reliability readiness yields:
See the full article in the May Issue of BIC Magazine!
Take Control of your New Assets with a Maintenance and Reliability Readiness Plan
Having spent more than 25 years in the engineering, maintenance and construction industry, I have found that applying well thought out maintenance and reliability plans early in the design and construction phase is "cheap insurance" for quickly attaining availability and throughput targets while lowering the costs of maintenance for the remainder of the asset lifecycle. In fact, investing just 0.1% to 1% of the project costs on maintenance and reliability readiness yields:
- Faster, safer more reliable start ups
- Sustainable availability and throughput targets
- 10-20% reduction in overall maintenance costs
- 20% reduction in the costs of spares
- Engaged workforce
See the full article in the May Issue of BIC Magazine!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Reliability Tip
Reliability Tip
In Conjunction to Your Maintenance Activities, Populate your CMMS with Current and Accurate Foundational Asset Data
All too often, basic asset information such as manufacturer, model, serial number and additional characteristics are not included in a plant's CMMS. In addition, spare parts lists for these assets are typically non-existent or are sparsely populated. Upon completion of maintenance activities, take a few minutes to capture asset nameplate information as well as any spare parts used during the repair and add the information to the hardcopy work order.
In Conjunction to Your Maintenance Activities, Populate your CMMS with Current and Accurate Foundational Asset Data
All too often, basic asset information such as manufacturer, model, serial number and additional characteristics are not included in a plant's CMMS. In addition, spare parts lists for these assets are typically non-existent or are sparsely populated. Upon completion of maintenance activities, take a few minutes to capture asset nameplate information as well as any spare parts used during the repair and add the information to the hardcopy work order.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Remote Risk?
Remote Risk?
When the impact is large, it only takes one.
Protect yourself with asset reliability solutions.
We take risks in virtually everything that we do - even in everyday events like crossing the street. In business, risks are events that could prevent achievement of an objective. Asset intensive companies take risks that the physical assets they invest in may not provide the returns they planned. In some industries, companies also take the risk that their physical assets may expose them to costs that are far greater than the value of their investment. Generally, markets recognize these risks and demand high returns for risky investments. Nevertheless, the past few years have shown us that companies that do not actively manage their risks imperil themselves, their industries and their communities.
The science of managing risk has advanced considerably in the last decade, driven by the occurrence of events that were thought to be only remotely possible but that had enormous impact. This excerpt from "Enterprise Risk Management - Integrated Framework" (COSO, 2004) provides a description of the role of risk management:
Operational Risk Management is the subset of Enterprise Risk Management that covers the uncertainty and risk associated with running physical assets.
The COSO framework meshes very well with reliability best practices but starts at a more strategic level, focusing on securing the organization's objectives rather than preserving system function. Applying the framework to an organization progresses through a series of analytical steps that should seem familiar to a reliability centered maintenance (RCM) practitioner:
1) Identify events that could affect an organization's ability to achieve its objectives, either positively or negatively.
2) Characterize the risk associated with these events by evaluating their potential severity of impact and their
likelihood of occurrence.
3) Define how the organization will respond to an occurrence.
4) Specify the controls that will be used to mitigate the impact of an event.
5) Establish how event-related information will be disseminated and how communications will be managed.
6) Monitor changes to the likelihood or potential impact of an event.
Because historical data is scarce on many events, evaluations are generally qualitative, resulting in relative values for severity of impact and likelihood of occurrence. A robust operational risk assessment evaluates the impact of events from the perspective of safety, environment, production, quality and maintenance cost. Once the organization's risk profile is understood, RCM and Failure Modes and Effects Analysis techniques are very effective at identifying needed controls.
Most companies have the system capabilities needed to properly monitor and manage operational risks but do not effectively use these capabilities for this purpose. A number of condition monitoring systems are on the market today and are widely used within asset intensive businesses. Additionally, EAM systems like IBM's Maximo and or SAP's PM module are designed specifically to manage and track the work that is vital to regulatory compliance. Financial benefits may be significant. Companies that actively manage operational risk should enjoy significantly lower cost of capital from increasingly savvy investors.
When the impact is large, it only takes one.
Protect yourself with asset reliability solutions.
We take risks in virtually everything that we do - even in everyday events like crossing the street. In business, risks are events that could prevent achievement of an objective. Asset intensive companies take risks that the physical assets they invest in may not provide the returns they planned. In some industries, companies also take the risk that their physical assets may expose them to costs that are far greater than the value of their investment. Generally, markets recognize these risks and demand high returns for risky investments. Nevertheless, the past few years have shown us that companies that do not actively manage their risks imperil themselves, their industries and their communities.
The science of managing risk has advanced considerably in the last decade, driven by the occurrence of events that were thought to be only remotely possible but that had enormous impact. This excerpt from "Enterprise Risk Management - Integrated Framework" (COSO, 2004) provides a description of the role of risk management:
- All entities face uncertainty and the challenge for management is to determine how much uncertainty to accept as it strives to grow stakeholder value. Uncertainty presents both risk and opportunity, with the potential to erode or enhance value. Enterprise risk management enables management to effectively deal with uncertainty and associated risk and opportunity, enhancing the capacity to build value.
Operational Risk Management is the subset of Enterprise Risk Management that covers the uncertainty and risk associated with running physical assets.
The COSO framework meshes very well with reliability best practices but starts at a more strategic level, focusing on securing the organization's objectives rather than preserving system function. Applying the framework to an organization progresses through a series of analytical steps that should seem familiar to a reliability centered maintenance (RCM) practitioner:
1) Identify events that could affect an organization's ability to achieve its objectives, either positively or negatively.
2) Characterize the risk associated with these events by evaluating their potential severity of impact and their
likelihood of occurrence.
3) Define how the organization will respond to an occurrence.
4) Specify the controls that will be used to mitigate the impact of an event.
5) Establish how event-related information will be disseminated and how communications will be managed.
6) Monitor changes to the likelihood or potential impact of an event.
Because historical data is scarce on many events, evaluations are generally qualitative, resulting in relative values for severity of impact and likelihood of occurrence. A robust operational risk assessment evaluates the impact of events from the perspective of safety, environment, production, quality and maintenance cost. Once the organization's risk profile is understood, RCM and Failure Modes and Effects Analysis techniques are very effective at identifying needed controls.
Most companies have the system capabilities needed to properly monitor and manage operational risks but do not effectively use these capabilities for this purpose. A number of condition monitoring systems are on the market today and are widely used within asset intensive businesses. Additionally, EAM systems like IBM's Maximo and or SAP's PM module are designed specifically to manage and track the work that is vital to regulatory compliance. Financial benefits may be significant. Companies that actively manage operational risk should enjoy significantly lower cost of capital from increasingly savvy investors.
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