19/10/2016

Entropy,reliabilityandmaintenancecostsfornonengineersHowtokeepyourcostsdownandperformanceup!Part3EntropyandMaintenance

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Entropy, reliability and maintenance
costs for non-engineers - How to
keep your costs down and
performance up! Part 3 Entropy and
Maintenance
Posted by JamesReyesPicknell on Jul 20, 2016 1:30:00 PM

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Entropyisathermodynamicconceptthatrepresentschaosanddegradation.It
occursnaturallyinanyphysicalsystemandwillnaturallygrow(i.e.:become
morechaotic)ifwedontdosomethingtoarrestitsgrowth.Doingsomething
requirestheexpenditureofenergy,soenergyiswhatcountersentropy.We
dontspeakofthesethermodynamictermsandconceptsineverydaylanguage
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andconversation,buttheyareatworkbehindthescenes.Wearewelladvised
toremainawareofthemandactaccordinglyornaturewillsteadilyand
relentlesslyincreasethestateofchaosinwhichweexist.
Reliableperformancebyourinstalledsystemsiswhatwewant.Wegetitby
designingsystemsthatarereliable,operatingthemproperlywithout
overstressingthemandbymaintainingthemsotheinherentreliabilitycanbe
achieved.
Doingallofthatrequiresaninvestmentindesign,training,maintainabilityand
maintenanceprogramdevelopment.Thatinvestmentrepresentstheenergywe
mustputintoanynaturalsystemtokeepitstableandminimizethenatural
growthofentropy(orchaos)inthatsystem.Wegetofftoagoodstartby
havingasystemthatiscapableofbeingstablegooddesignandpreparation
ofouroperatingcrewsprovidesthat.Thenwemustkeepitstable,because
eventhebestdesignwilldegradeincapabilityverygraduallyovertime.That
naturaldegradationishowweseethegrowthofentropyinourbuiltworld.

Wevediscusseddesignandoperations.Nowletslookatmaintenance
considerations.
Operateandmaintainisusuallythelongestphaseofaphysicalassetslife
cyclebyfar.Thetimefromconceptdevelopmentthroughdesignand
constructioncantakeafewyears,butO&Mcanlastfordecades,especiallyin
largeindustrialfacilities.Longafterthemoney(energy)isputintoprovidinga
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reliabledesignandmakingsureitcanbeoperatedwell,wearestillspending
money(moreenergy)maintainingit.Therearetwothingswemaintainthe
systemitselfandthecapabilityofthoseoperatingandmaintaining.
Thelatterhasalreadybeentouchedoninthe2ndpartofthisseries.Initial
trainingwontbeenough.Itiswellknownanddocumentedthatknowledge,like
physicalassets,alsodegradesovertime,especiallyifitisntusedalot.
Consideringthatourknowledgeiscarriedinelectricalimpulsesinavastneural
networkwecallthebrain,thenthatnaturaldecayisyetanothermanifestation
ofentropy.Weneedtodosomethingtocounterit.Weneedtoputenergyinto
maintainingthatknowledge,skillandabilitytooperateandmaintain.Again,
trainingiswhatweinvestintodothat.Weareinvestingindirectlyinourpeople
andtheirabilitytodotheirjobswell.
Maintenanceoftheassetitselfisanotherformofenergyweneedtoinvestinto.
Maintenancecostshavetwocomponents:proactiveandrepair.Withinlimits
(note,wecanoverdoithere)themoreoftherightproactiveworkwedo,the
lessrepairworkwewilldo.Proactivecostswillrise,butrepaircosts(whichare
usuallyamultipleofproactivecosts)willfall.Overallmaintenancecosts(total)
willfall.
Ifyouthinkofapiewithtwoslicesoneproactiveandonereactive.Withpoor
maintenancethereactiveslidewillbemuchlarger.Withtherightamountof
proactivemaintenancethough,thereactiveslicewillbesmallerbutmorethe
overallsizeofthepieshrinks!Thisisallgoodnewsbecauseouroverallcosts
willfall.
Andmore!Thereduceddowntimeformaintenancealsomeanslessdowntime
foryouroperatorssoovertimecostsassociatedwithcatchinguponproduction
runquotas,etc.arereduced.Reduceddowntimemeansmoreuptimeyouget
moreproductiveoutput.Ifwedefinefailureasanydefectthattakesthe
machineryoutsideofdesiredperformanceparameters,thenwedbecatching
problemsbeforeweseetheirnegativeconsequences.Qualitywouldimprove,
wedhavefewerleaksandemissionsandequipmentwouldruninefficient
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operatingbands.Overallyourunitcostsofproductionwillgodownbecause
yougetmoreoutputandatareducedcostoftheinputs.Whatsnottolike
aboutthat?
Theresalsoanotherbigeconomiceffectthatpeopleoftenoverlook.Your
marginswillalsoincrease.
Maintenancecostshavebothvariableandfixedcomponents.Fixedcostsare
thoseyouspendevenwhenyourfacilityisshutdown.Youdontsimplyclose
thedoorsandabandonit,sothatlittlebityouspendonpreservingthe
equipmentsoitcanbeusedagainbecomespartofyourfixedcosts.For
instanceyoumaystillpaytokeepitlit,heated(toavoidfreezinginwinter),etc.
Thisfixedcostisconstant.
Variablecostsincreaseandfallwithproductionlevels.Themoreyouproduce,
themoreuseyourassetsgetandthemoreyouneedtospendmaintaining
them.Astheyrunyourassetsconsumelubricants,beltswearout,bearingsfail,
metalfatigues,etc.Thelinerepresentingvariablecostsslopesupwardstothe
rightasproductionlevelsrisefromzero.
Revenueisearnedasyouproduce,sotherevenuelinerisesfromzerowhen
youareproducingnothing,to100%atthepointwhereyouachieve100%
productionlevel.Letsassumethatwhateveryouproduceisalwayssoldata
constantprice.Therevenuelinewontbudge.
Thereisabreakevenpoint.Atthatpoint,therevenuelinerisesabovethetop
oftheslopedcostline.Totheleftofthatpointyouarelosingmoney,totheright
youaremakingmoney.Theamountyoumakeisreferredtoasmargin.
Ideallythemarginisaswideaspossible.

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Notethatyoumakemoremarginathigherlevelsofproductionwherethegap
betweenrevenueandcostsisgreater.Ifwecanmovethebreakevenpointto
theleft,thenwecanincreasethemarginandbecomeprofitableatevenlower
levelsofproduction.Theentirebusinessismoresustainable.
Doingtherightmaintenancecanimpactonbothfixedandvariablecosts.Ifwe
lowerthefixedcost,thenwelowerthetotalcostandmovethebreakevenpoint
totheleft.Ifwecanreduceourmaintenancecostsperunitofoutputbydoing
therightmaintenance(rememberthattherightamountofproactive
maintenancereducesthemoreexpensivereactivemaintenance),thenwe
reducetheslopeofthevariablecostline.Thatalsoincreasesthemargin.
Sohowdoweachievethat?
Wewantthemaintenancelegofourstoolmodeltobetherightlengthnottoo
short,nottoolong.Itmustbetailoredtofitthedesignandoperatingcapability
ofyourworkforceandtheassetitself.

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Maintenanceisaformofenergy(i.e.:spending)thatservestoreduceorlimit
entropygrowth.Wemustdotherightmaintenanceandonlythat.Ifwedothe
wrongmaintenance,thenwecanactuallyspeedupentropygrowth.
Forexample,youveprobablynoticedthatafterplantshutdownsyouroperators
struggleabittogettheplantrunningagain.Itscommontoseefailuresduring
startup.Thiscanbecausedbytwothingsthenaturaldisruptionofasystem
thatisoperatingnormallybyshuttingitdowncaninitiatesomefailure
mechanisms.Theothercauseismistakes.Whenwemaintainequipmentwe
areverypronetomakingerrorswrongparts,substandardparts,incorrect
assembly,leavingpartsout,leavingthingsloose,etc.Thosewillleadtofailure
rapidlyafterstartup.Thosemistakesareanotherformofentropy(itisnasty
stuff)anditleadstomoreentropy(prematurefailures.Onewaytoavoidthisis
tokeepthingsrunning(i.e.:dontshutdown)andifyoumustshutdown,to
minimizetheamountofintrusiveworkyoudo.
Proactivemaintenanceprogramsdesignedtraditionallyrelyheavilyon
preventivemaintenanceandoverhauls.Manufacturersmanualsarefullof
overhaulandpartreplacementrecommendations.Theyarealsowrongmuch
ofthetime.Thatsalessonthatwaslearnedintheaircraftindustryinthe1970s
throughanexhaustivestudyoffailuresthathadledtocrashes.Theyrevamped
theirmaintenanceprograms(whichmadeahugeimprovementinaircraft
safety)anddevelopedamethodthatcouldberepeatedinanysystem.That

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methodproducesamaintenanceprogramthatistailoredexactlytothedesign
andoperatingcapabilities.ItisknownasReliabilityCenteredMaintenance.
RCMcanbeusedinanyfacilityoroperatingenvironmentandwillproducea
properlytailoredmaintenanceprogram(andafewotherdesirableoutputsas
well).Itwasoriginallyintendedtobeusedatthedesignstagefornewaircraft
andcanbeusedatdesignofanything.Iveuseditonships,chemicalplants,
andcomplexelectronicavionicsystemsallatthedesignstage.Itcanalsobe
usedonanexistingsystemandagain,Iveuseditinallsortsofindustrial
environmentswithgreatsuccess.
TheresnoneedtogetintoRCMdetailshere.Itsimplyworks.Itishighly
appropriatewhereyouhavecriticalsystemsthoseproductionorservice
deliverysystemsthatyouwillrelyuponforsteadyrevenues.Itisalso
appropriateforsystemswheresafetyortheenvironmentmightbeatriskifyou
sufferfailures.RCMdoescomeatacostroughly23%ofthecapitalcostofa
newproject.Ofcourseyoudratherspendless,sowelimitittocriticalsystems.
However,youwillstillhaveaneedtotailoremaintenanceevenforthenon
criticalsytsems.
Elsewhere,wheretheconsequencesoffailurearemerelyrepaircostsand
maybesomeminorproduction/outputlosses,thenRCMisusuallyoverkill.
Fortunatelythereareothermethodsthatarelessrigorousthatwillalsohelpin
tailoringmaintenanceforthoselesscriticalapplications.Theyareillsuitedto
criticalsystemsusingthemoncriticalsystemsisriskyandsaveslittleofthe
analysiscost.Buttheyworkwellenoughwherethestakesarelower.
Withoutgettingintotechnicaldetails,sufficetosaythattherearemethodswe
canemployatdesignorevenduringtheoperationalphaseoftheassetslife
cycletotailorthemaintenanceprogramtothephysicalassetanditsvery
specificneeds.Spendingthatlittlebitofmoney(energy)onthoseanalyses,will
resultinaprogramthatifexecutedproperly(anotherspendofenergy)will
deliverareliable,longlastingstableoperation(minimalentropy).

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AskHowWeCanHelpUnlockHiddenValueInYourOperation

AboutJamesReyesPicknell:
JamesReyesPicknellisahighlyexperiencedRCMpractitioner
familiarwithvariousmethodsofexecutingRCM.Hehaswritten
numerousarticlesandabookonthetopicpublishedin2000.His
RCMexperienceincludesnaval,aviation,utility,naturalresource,
manufacturingandprocessingindustrialenvironments.Heistheauthorofthe
bestsellingbook,UptimeStrategiesforExcellenceinMaintenance
Managementnowinits3rdedition(2015)andwidelyusedasareferencein
certificationprogramsandpostgraduatecontinuingeducation.Uptimeswell
provenandsuccessfulPyramidofExcellenceusesRCMasacenterpiecefor
choosingexcellence.JamesisaregisteredProfessionalEngineer,Certified
ManagementConsultant,CertifiedMaintenanceandReliabilityProfessional
andaCertifiedAssetManagementAssessor.
Topics:Reliability

Stelios Christou 23/7/2016 15:08:48

ConditionPredectivemaintenanceisthekeyforeverything!
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