Designing for Reliability

In manufacturing, reliability is the product of Maintenance. But there are many factors that can limit the degree of reliability that Maintenance can deliver. One of the most significant is the inherent ability of

Always check your work

As a maintenance mechanic it almost goes without saying that an essential step in most detailed work plans is to check your work before you hand the equipment back to the operator. Sometimes that’s

Controlling materials returned to Stores

An essential part of a complete business process for managing a maintenance storeroom is a robust and simple procedure for returning materials to Stores. The components of this procedure should meet the following requirements:

How effective is PM in reducing downtime?

  The answer to this question, as with many questions about Maintenance, is “it depends”. I’ll illustrate with an example: In a large multi-line pulp and paper mill, a 20″ knife-gate valve on the

Getting the most from your PM programme

Here are a few ideas on setting up a preventive maintenance (PM) programme that will support your reliability objectives without costing more than it needs to. The comments below apply to both condition monitoring

Allocating and analyzing downtime

  As a part of a reliability improvement programme, many process industries assign the losses resulting from each downtime or lost production event to the department “responsible” – usually operations, mechanical or electrical (and