Asset Reliability and Maintenance Management Strategies

Asset Reliability

Asset Reliability and Maintenance Management Strategies

29 Oct. 2023
11 min read

Asset management reliability and maintenance are crucial domains for any organization that owns or operates physical assets. They help to optimize the performance, availability, and lifespan of the assets, as well as to reduce the risks and costs associated with failures, breakdowns, and repairs. In this blog post, we will explore some of the advanced topics that middle-level positions in these domains should be familiar with. These topics are:

Reliability-centered maintenance (RCM): This is a systematic approach to determine the optimal maintenance strategy for each asset based on its function, failure modes, consequences, and criticality. RCM helps to prioritize the most important assets and allocate resources accordingly. For example, a power plant may use RCM to decide which components need preventive maintenance, which need condition-based maintenance, and which can be run to failure.

Asset performance management (APM): This is a set of tools and techniques to monitor, analyze, and optimize the performance of assets in real-time. APM helps to detect and diagnose issues, predict failures, prevent downtime, and improve efficiency. For example, a manufacturing plant may use APM to collect data from sensors, machines, and operators, and use advanced analytics to identify bottlenecks, anomalies, and opportunities for improvement.

Root cause analysis (RCA): This is a method to identify the underlying causes of a problem or failure and prevent its recurrence. RCA helps to find out what happened, why it happened, and how to prevent it from happening again. For example, an airline may use RCA to investigate the cause of a flight delay, such as weather, mechanical issues, human error, or external factors.

Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA): This is a technique to identify and evaluate the potential failure modes of a system or process and their effects on the system or process performance. FMEA helps to assess the severity, occurrence, and detection of each failure mode and prioritize the actions to mitigate them. For example, a medical device manufacturer may use FMEA to identify the potential risks of a new product design, such as electrical faults, software bugs, or user errors.

Risk-based inspection (RBI): This is a strategy to optimize the inspection frequency and scope of assets based on their risk profile. RBI helps to balance the benefits and costs of inspection and reduce the likelihood and impact of failures. For example, an oil refinery may use RBI to determine which pipelines need more frequent or extensive inspection based on their corrosion rate, pressure level, and environmental impact.

Asset life cycle management (ALCM): This is a process to manage the entire life cycle of an asset from planning, design, procurement, installation, operation, maintenance, decommissioning, to disposal. ALCM helps to maximize the value and return on investment of an asset over its useful life. For example, a railway company may use ALCM to plan the optimal replacement time for its locomotives based on their age, condition, performance, and market demand.

Asset health index (AHI): This is a metric to measure the overall condition and performance of an asset based on various indicators such as reliability, availability, maintainability, safety, quality, and efficiency. AHI helps to compare and benchmark different assets or asset groups and track their improvement or deterioration over time. For example, a water utility may use AHI to evaluate the health of its water distribution network based on factors such as leakage rate, water pressure, water quality, and customer satisfaction.

Reliability growth analysis (RGA): This is a technique to monitor and improve the reliability of a system or product during its development or testing phase. RGA helps to identify and eliminate the sources of failures and verify the reliability targets or requirements. For example, a software developer may use RGA to track the number and severity of bugs found during testing and measure the progress of bug fixing.

Maintenance optimization (MO): This is a method to find the optimal maintenance policy for a system or asset that minimizes the total cost of ownership while meeting the desired level of performance or reliability. MO helps to determine the optimal maintenance interval, duration, scope, and resources for each asset or asset group. For example, a wind farm operator may use MO to optimize the maintenance schedule for its wind turbines based on their failure rate, energy production, and weather conditions.

Asset management maturity assessment (AMMA): This is a framework to assess the current state and capability of an organization's asset management practices and processes and identify the gaps and opportunities for improvement AMMA helps to benchmark the organization's performance against best practices and standards and develop a roadmap for continuous improvement. For example, a telecom company may use AMMA to evaluate its asset management maturity level based on criteria such as strategy, governance, data, people, processes and tools.