Phone: +61 (0) 402 731 563

Fax: +61 (8) 9457 8642

Email: [email protected]
Website: www.lifetime-reliability.com

How Plant Wellness Reduces Failure Rates and Maintenance Costs

The focus of maintenance should be upon maintaining the ‘wellbeing’ of the plant—when the
task is to ‘fix the machine’ maintenance has failed in its basic mission.

Many current maintenance strategies involve significant wasted effort; scheduled intrusive actions
on „healthy‟ equipment, and condition based activities based upon “How might my machine fail?”

blockage pipe failure coupling electrical

impeller seal Control Bearings

System

When the question is asked, “What failures is my machine/system actually experiencing, the
answer will be...

pipe failure coupling

seal Bearings

...fewer than those that MIGHT happen!!

The maintenance undertaken to care for operating equipment arises from:

1. Core maintenance activities as defined by the equipment design.

2. Core maintenance activities as defined by the operational process the equipment is used in.

3. Additional maintenance activity resulting from premature equipment failure.

 Phone: +61 (0) 402 731 563
Fax: +61 (8) 9457 8642
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.lifetime-reliability.com

Unexpected failures incur other costs or losses—such as lost production, diversion of planned
maintenance resources, loss of reputation, penalties for late delivery, etc. The defect and failure
true costs are usually very much greater than the actual repair costs of the failure.

Maintenance is a Risk Control Activity

Risk as applied to maintenance is seen by some as a maintenance methodology in its own right.
However, within any other methodology risk and criticality is an essential element and must be
considered with regard to the management of safety and commercial risk.

 Risk = Probability x Consequence

The requirement to consider risk/criticality cannot be left undone because the cost of a failure event
should it occur may put life and the business in great danger. The expenditure of maintenance
dollars on risk management (e.g. condition monitoring, process control, etc) should be directly
related to the probability and consequences of failure. This is a very significant decision point in
the management of maintenance expenditure!

Risk assessment follows a well understood methodology that can be applied to all risk based
situations.

Hazard Identification
identifies failure modes

Risk Assessment
establishes the probability and
consequence of failure

Risk Evaluation
determines the acceptability of failure to
safety, process etc

Risk Control
reduces risk through effective
maintenance practices

Monitoring
Verifies initial assumptions and
maintenance effectiveness

The Application of Risk Based Principles to Maintenance

Often reasonable judgements based on experience can be made without the rigour and expense of
exhaustive failure modes analysis. Sometimes, however, a formal risk assessment must be made
and decisions made based on those outcomes.
 Phone: +61 (0) 402 731 563
Fax: +61 (8) 9457 8642
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.lifetime-reliability.com

The risk review approach commonly taken is to identify the possible ways in which an item of
equipment may fail. Then depending on the equipment criticality consider if it is possible to detect
and measure the failure process developing (from which the condition monitoring arises), or
consider the previous failure history and use „hindsight‟ to identify if age or use leads to failure
(from which the preventive maintenance arises). Those failures that have no operating, safety or
environmental consequences are allowed to run-to-failure and repaired.

Detect Equipment Failure?

Criticality Criticality
or Risk
No Yes or Risk

Apply Breakdown Apply Apply Condition or

Maintenance Preventative Performance Based
Maintenance Maintenance

Time Vibration
Age Thermography
Usage Oil Wear Debris
Performance

The decision tree above is typical of the maintenance activity selection processes generally used
across industry. If the answer is NO then depending upon the Criticality or Risk either Planned
Preventative or Breakdown Maintenance will be applied.

If the answer is YES and the Criticality justifies it then Condition Based Maintenance will be
applied. If the answer is YES but Criticality does not justify it then Planned Preventative or
Breakdown Maintenance will be applied.

The approach thus far requires that every item of plant (system, machine, component) be reviewed,
criticality considered, and a decision made on the maintenance it will get—Repair-on-Failure, by
Scheduled Replacement, or Condition Based failure detection.

In most operations the maintenance actually performed is aimed at failure detection (condition
monitoring) and failure correction (repair before failure). This produces maintenance activities that
are focused on the equipment‟s current condition but these activities are not effective in preventing
the maintenance arising in the first place.

The Failure Prevention Focus of Plant Wellness

The Plant Wellness Way takes a different perspective to protecting plant and equipment—it asks
what needs to be done with the equipment so that there are no operational risks in the first place?
Now the risk assessment is used to identify the necessary risk management that must be introduced
throughout the life cycle to ensure the least operational risk when the equipment is in use.

By taking a life cycle risk elimination philosophy we end up doing the right maintenance and
operational activities that truly match the risk management required to get outstanding operation
plant performance.
 Phone: +61 (0) 402 731 563
Fax: +61 (8) 9457 8642
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.lifetime-reliability.com

Because maintenance strategy developed from the normal approach used in plant and equipment
risk analysis primarily focuses on failure correction, the maintenance that is eventually performed
and the maintenance activities actually required to prevent risks arising are mismatched.
Unknown Risk
Unplanned
Failures
Maintenance Required
Correctly
Targeted Tasks

Actual Maintenance Performed Wasted Effort

But by targeting on the risks to operating plant and equipment wellbeing...

We can reduce wasted effort.

Unknown Risk
Unplanned Failures
Reduced
Actual Maintenance Required
Correctly
Targeted Tasks
Maintenance Performed Increased

Wasted Effort
Reduced

Then going a stage further and focusing on defect elimination across the life cycle...

We use maintenance to prevent the real operational risks.

All Risk Identified

Unplanned Failures
Eliminated
Actual Maintenance Required
Maintenance Performed All Tasks
Correctly
Targeted

Wasted Effort
Eliminated

My best regards to you,

Mike Sondalini
www.lifetime-reliability.com
Thanks to Peter Brown for the use of his concepts.