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`Intormation For The Detense Commutnly
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`CiM Ex. 1040 Page 1
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`

`
`Reliability-Based Maintenance as a Breakthrough Strategy in
`Maintenance Improvement
`by
`Grahame Fogel and Dave Petersen
`
`Introduction
`Industrial plant maintenance is gaining attention as the next great opportunity for manu-
`facturing productivity improvement. As companies invest in more high-tech and expensive
`equipment, they become more reliant on the need to reduce equipment redundancy without
`sacrificing reliability and availability, accomplishing this within an ever decreasing availability
`of operating capital.
`E I Dupont has said that maintenance was once its "single largest
`controllable cost opportunity, representing $100-$300 million per year corporate wide". It is
`estimated that U.S. Industry needlessly squanders in excess of $200 billion each year on inad-
`equate or unnecessary maintenance procedures. Within the last ten years a wide range of
`advanced maintenance technologies have been developed which can help manufacturers re-
`duce their maintenance costs while simultaneously increasing plant reliability.
`
`Reliability-Based Maintenance (RBM) has emerged as perhaps the preferred advanced
`maintenance philosophy in North America. RBM was initially conceived as a soluti r advocat-
`ing the logical balance between the four technical strategies of traditional maintenance: reactive,
`preventive, predictive, and proactive maintenance. Since the Reliability-Based Maintenance
`"recipe" has evolved to additionally include the appropriate technical strengths of Reliability
`Centered Maintenance (the RCM Process) and the people/work concept of Japanese-based
`Total Productive Maintenance (TPM). This broadened formula for Reliability-Based Mainte-
`nance has been driven by users and implementers in an effort to incorporate the tangible benefits
`of all advanced maintenance strategies and philosophies into a single deliverable solution. A
`historical perspective of the development of the various maintenance strategies follows.
`
`Historical Discussion of Maintenance
`In surveying the last sixty years there has been an enormous evolution in the sophistica-
`tion of machinery used in production processes, mainly driven by the demand for increasing
`productivity as a competi" ive issue. This has led thr equipment evolution from purely mechani-
`cal systems to precision electro mechanical systems with sophisticated computerized controls.
`
`Pre-1930 machinery was robust, overdesigned, ar, long lasting. The maj",- 4'ailure modes
`were wear or metallurgical. The maintenance plan was simple, machinery was rebuilt after
`failure by skilled craftsmen. In the 1950's productivity was becomming more of an issue. The
`prevailing maintenance philosophy was the belief that "machinery failure" was an accepted and
`unavoidable part of manufacturing life. This led to designing processes which had significant
`standby capacity and large spares inventory, with a strategy of ever increasing scheduled inter-
`vention (addictive maintenance). It was also a time of evolving relations between the workforce
`and management where Unions played a defining role, creating strict job definitions within the
`maintenance organization.
`
`I,
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`'Ct
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`CiM Ex. 1040 Page 2
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`Until the early 1970's, most plants worldwide performed maintenance in a reactive, or
`breakdown, mode. Reactive maintenance is expensive because of extensive unplanned downtime
`and damage to machinery. With the availability of mainframe computers in the 70's, many compa-
`nies implemented periodic preventive maintenance strategies to encourage planned maintenance
`inspection and repair in preference to reactive maintenance. This still dominant maintenance
`approach typically utilizes maintenance scheduling software to track and schedule calendar-based
`maintenance activities, and to automatically trigger required work orders. As the adoption of
`preventive maintenance grew, original equipment manufacturers habitually began to oversub-
`scribe PM recommendations in an attempt to reduce their warranty exposure, thereby increasing
`overall maintenance costs with needless open-and-inspects.
`
`As maintenance costs ballooned, a maintenance optimization procedure called Reliability-
`Centered Maintenance (RCM) was developed in the late 70's to help reduce the ever increasing
`vc(,'mes c. work orders resulting, :om the implementation of computerized scheduling. The
`early RCM procedures were heavily influenced by safety issues because RCM has its origins in
`the airline industry. About the same time a maintenance philosophy called Total Productive
`Maintenance (TPM) was gaining momentum, particularly among Japanese manufacturers. TPM
`advocates a partnership between maintenance and operations departments such that basic main-
`tenance activities (cleaning and inspections) are performed by operators. TPM has been adopted
`successfully in Asia and some parts of Europe, but it has suffered in North America due to union
`opposition.
`
`In the mid 1980's, advances in instrument technology coupled with widening adoption of
`the personal computer provided the capability of "predicting" machinery problems by measuring
`machinery condition, using vibration, thermal, and ultrasonic sensors. This technology is com-
`monly referred to as Predictive Maintenance (PDM), or condition monitoring. Another more
`advanced maintenance strategy called Proactive Maintenance (PAM) assists in further extending
`the failure cycles of plant machinery through the systematic removal of failure sources. Finally, in
`1992, Reliability-Based Maintenance was introduced which effectively combines the strengths of
`all of the qforementioned strategies and philosophies into a single deliverable maintenar -e solu-
`tion.
`
`As we review the history of maintenance it is interesting to observe that prior to the early
`1970's, the maintenance function was little changed since the beginning the industrial age. There
`were no improvement strategies developed, no re-engineering attempts, little investment and
`attention. The perceived purpose was to, first, repair things when they failed, and second, paint
`the parking lot and mow the grounds for visitors. Until recently, maintenance has always been
`perceived as a "necessary evil", beyond optimization and improvement.
`
`Today, machinery is a complex hybrid of semiconductor controlled electro mechanical de-
`vices designed to operate with a much more demanding duty cycle. The maintenance manager in
`every manufacturing environment must now ask himself where he and his team stand in terms of
`whether they are sufficiently equipped, trained and organized to be effectuve abd competitive.
`Modem maintenance has to be in step with the demands of a much more sophisticated manufac-
`
`,2_
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`CiM Ex. 1040 Page 3
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`turing environment. In order to succeed the basic philosophy of maintenance must continue to
`evolve in step with the changing demands of manufacturing and competition. An owner, in
`order to be competitive, requires maximum uptime from the machine operating at near its design
`capacity. And of increasing concern is the environmental aspects of the effect of plant operation.
`
`Progressive companies are perceiving that maintenance is a worthy investment area, and as
`such the investment has to be carefully managed and measured for it's returns. From this, the
`ideas and practices of our breakthrough process have evolved. One difficulty has been the estab-
`lishment of well accepted metrics of maintenance performance in order to apply tangible criteria
`against alternative competing investments.
`
`Financial 1Imoacts of Maintenance
`iLet us explore some of he more significant issues which the maintenance f~unction impacts
`on a day-to-day basis. First, and most obvious, is production availability. Without 100%
`process and machinery uptime, we have less than 100% production availability, resulting in
`lower than planned sales. But can't lost production be made up on weekends? It certainly can
`if eroding margins are acceptable. Of course, one might consider shipping out of built up
`inventory so long as this doesn't conflict with company Just-In-Time manufacturing plans.
`
`A second impact of maintenance is product quality. It stands to reason that well-balanced
`and well-aligned machinery and processes will produce a consistent, higher-quality product.
`But can't off-quality product be re-worked? It certainly can if eroding margins are of no con-
`cern. Of course, one might consider shipping the off-quality product anyway, so long as Quality
`isn't an issue with the company's customers.
`
`Insurance premiums are another consideration. Many manufacturing facilities purchase
`"downtime insurance" in case of catastrophic failure. Some major insurance companies provide
`advanced high-tech maintenance services, the cost of which if utilized by the customer, is offset
`with low, - insurance premiums. NRC regulations require "efforts to predict and prevent ma-
`chinery failure" in broad terms, punishable by hefty fines. Energy consumption is still another
`consideration. Manufacturing facilities typically waste significant excess energy in operating
`poorly aligned and lubricated power transmission systems. How about safety and loss-time
`injury? Over 50% of loss-time injury accidents occur within maintenance, the majority of which
`result from the panic pressures of getting equipment back on-line after failure.
`
`An important additional requirement for consideration today is minimal environmental im-
`pact from associated production processes. Within this new assignment, maintenance has enormous
`responsibilities. The consequences for failure cannot only be safety critical but can have enor-
`mous negative reputation implications for the corporation. One only has to recall Union Carbide's
`Bhopal, India disaster as a reminder.
`The significant point made is that the implications of an advanced maintenance strategy (or
`the lack of one) are far-reaching within the corporation. The measured budget line item costs of
`maintenance typically range between 5-and 15% of total costs depending upon the process, but
`at what place in the company's income statement are the implications of reactive-type mainte-
`
`CiM Ex. 1040 Page 4
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`nance on production availability, injury avoidance, power consumption, environmental regula-
`tions, and insurance premiums represented? Typically not in maintenance. As we begin to
`recognize the far reaching economic and fiscal impacts of maintenance, we must also recognize
`that we will need to define new ways to measure maintenance performance.
`
`A Business Perspective of Maintenance
`Businesslike demands are often made of the maintenance function, but seldom is the perfor-
`mance of maintenance measured from a business viewpoint. Most operations managers suggest
`that the maintenance function should be measured by the uptime parameter. Maintenance tech-
`nicians, however, voice that they have little real control over uptime, and that "downtime" is
`more a result of excessive machinery abuse related to production demands rather than improper
`maintenance proctdures. In fact, maintenance is more commonly measured by the "speed in
`which machines are back-up-and-running after catastrophic failure".
`
`Another po"'1 ar measure of maintenance performance is labor overtime. Logic should tell
`us that labor overtime is not a valid measure of performance. It is more a measure of nonperfor-
`mance. Put simply, if we demand reduced overtime, we are not seeking improved performance,
`but instead are simply seeking a reduction in nonperformance.
`
`Maintenance as it is typically measured is a "zero-sum-gain", and in a zero-sum world, all
`one can do is hope to break-even. Even if maintenance aggressively manages their expenses and
`comes in under budget,
`the question has to be asked "What was sacrificed? .....
`Availability,...Quality,... Capacity? To reiterate, if these parameters are not measured in relation
`with each other, how can one truly quantify positive gains in a zero sum world ?
`
`World-class manufacturers monitor their performance by the parametric measures of qual-
`ity (ergo Deming's influence), cost ("value" is the politically correct term), and delivery
`(just-in-time). Maintenance should be measured similarly. Maintenance manufactures capacity,
`so world-class maintenance organizations should be measured against their capacity quality,
`capacity costs, and capacity delivery.
`
`No company can be a world class competitor if it's factories are not up to the task. It is
`therefore an issue of t:,C highest strategic importance to c; eate a maintenance function
`,hich
`provides nmaximum capacity and availability at optimum costs. The concepts 6'1 ReUliaubty
`Based Maintenance provide a framework to achieve "Breakthrough" within the maintenance
`function, measured by a set of metrics consistent with other critical business performance
`measures within the organization. This marks the beginning of the recognition that maintenance
`provides a significant opportunity for manufacturing productivity improvement.
`
`Reliability-Based Maintenance
`An effective Reliability-Based Maintenance operation is not just a well run refined predic-
`tive maintenance effort, but a new philosophy which forces fundamental shifts in the way
`maintenance is managed and measured. A first step towards breakthrough is to understand the
`function of maintenance. The function of maintenance in a world-class operating environment is
`
`CiM Ex. 1040 Page 5
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`not to simply maintain, but to provide reliable production capacity and to extend the life of plant
`assets at optimum cost. The consequences of unreliable capacity are interrupted production
`schedules, lesser quality, and, most importantly, diminished profits. With reliable production
`capacity in mind, the most progressive manufacturers are restructuring their maintenance de-
`partments from specializing in reacting to breakdowns to organizing for the systematic elimination
`of machine failure, thereby increasing availability while minimizing maintenance costs.
`
`Reliability-Based Maintenance is an advanced maintenance philosophy which prioritizes
`plant systems in terms of their impacts on capacity and availability, and forces the appropriate
`balance of reactive, preventive, predictive, and proactive maintenance strategies to insure maxi-
`mum capacity and availability while minimizing costs. The seven primary breakthrough concepts
`advocated by Reliability-Based Maintenance include:
`
`(1) Prioritization of plant systems and failure modes in terms of their impact on capacity and
`availability,
`(2) A business decision of where to invest maintenance resources,
`(3) An infLsion of available maintenance technologies including preventive oredictive, and
`proactive technologies,
`(4) An increase in the core competency of the maintenance function,
`(5) A redefinition of the maintenance function whose mission is to pursue productivity and
`capacity improvement solutions, through "Breakthrough" practices,
`(6) An increased awareness throughout the plant of the implications of maintenance deci-
`sions, and,
`(7) An establishment and acceptance of suitable business performance metrics for mainte-
`nance.
`
`Predictive Maintenance technologies combined with a state-of-the-art computerized main-
`tenance management system are the catalyst of change in enabling a breakthrough change in
`maintenance practices. The implementation of Reliability-Based Maintenance requires a bal-
`ance of reactive, preventive, predictive and proactive maintenance strategies. These reliability
`improvement strategies are not independent; they frequently draw upon each other's strengths
`in achieving reliable plant capacity.
`
`Restructuring of the Plant Reliability Department
`The adoption of RBM concepts over traditional maintenance concepts requires a signifi-
`cant redefinition of employee roles and responsibilities, combined with a restructuring of
`accountability with and between other plant departments.
`
`First, RBM encourages a slow, but deliberate, migration to the work methods promoted by
`Total Productive Maintenance. This encourages the elimination of traditional organization lines
`between production and maintenance, lines which many times prevent operators and mechanics
`from taking immediate action to correct a simple problem. Operators should begin to assume
`responsibility for the performance of basic house'keeping activities including cleaning, routine
`inspection, and certain other tasks suggested by maintenance. This strategy further employs a
`
`.5
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`CiM Ex. 1040 Page 6
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`

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`team approach to continuous improvement wherein production and maintenance systematically
`maintain and improve equipment effectiveness.
`
`The five "pillars" of TPM as described by its founding father, Seiichi Nakajima, include:
`
`1. Maximizing Equipment Effectiveness
`2.
`Involving Operators in Daily Maintenance
`3.
`Improving Maintenance Efficiency
`4.
`Training to Improve Skill Levels
`5.
`Emphasis on Maintenance Prevention.
`
`A look at how RBM enhances these five pillars follows.
`
`Maximizing Equipment Effectiveness
`Improved equipment effectiveness can be achieved through "elimination of the five big losses",
`the largest contributor being machine failure. RBM strategies include predictive technologies
`which not only predict machine failure, but also proactive techniques which eliminate machine
`failure and extend life cycles. Additionally, RBM promotes extending machine operating condi-
`tions beyond design levels.
`
`Involving Operators in Maintenance
`One of the most valuable "predictive" indicators is derived from visual observations. Op-
`erations personnel are the closest to equipment, and the persons most likely to be aware of changes
`in machine or process condition. The RBM strategy emphasizes a close working relationship
`between maintenance and operations. Operator feedback to the RBM department provides vital
`information for the root-cause-failure-analysis cycle.
`
`Improving Maintenance Efficiency
`The RBM philosophy is based on the use of advanced maintenance technologies to eliminate
`unneeded p wentive activitie :, and to refine the PM cycle. Predictive technologies dramatically
`improve efficiency. Additionally, RBM philosophies promote the concept of benchmarking and
`continuous improvement planning.
`
`Training to Improve Skill Levels
`RBM philosophies stress the elevation of skill levels. RBM forces an understanding of pre-
`ventive strategies, predictive technologies, and proactive work methods. Additionally, predictive
`technologies often uncover the need for training in other areas such as downtime and change-out
`practices.
`
`Emphasis on Maintenance Prevention
`A strong benefit of RBM is that it forces the accumulation of machinery information and
`equipment histories. Chronic problems are identified and eliminated. Design deficiencies are
`identified, and the resulting information is used in future purchases of equipment. Proactive
`practices embody many maintenance prevention activities including improved purchase specifica-
`
`CiM Ex. 1040 Page 7
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`tions, installation commissioning, and precision alignment, balancing, and lubrication methods.
`
`TPM work methods are essential to Reliability-Based Maintenance. As operations assumes
`more and more housekeeping activities, valuable free time is created for the maintenance func-
`tion so as to persurve reliability improvement activities. RBM promotes the development of a
`more highly-skilled, flexible workforce, and in doing so, optimizes the size and cost of the
`workforce.
`
`Implementing Reliability-Based Maintenance
`
`PHASE ONE - DISCOVERY
`During the initial phase of discovery, the maintenance function must perform some
`-khma -:ng activities allowing issessment of current practices, performance measures, objec-
`tive, and prevailing attitudes. Many have assumed that they can skip this phase and move directly
`to stabilization, but success rates drop dramatically. The significant point is that one cannot
`develop a plan of where to go without the knowledge of where one is. There are perhaps two
`dozen major indices which need to be analyzed during the discovery phase, the results of which
`produce a viable and workable continuous improvement plan for the difficult period ahead.
`
`Philosophical Elements
`
`* Organization Structure
`* Prevailing Attitudes
`* Work Methods
`* Quality Measures
`* Mission Effectiveness
`* Performance Objectives and Measures
`
`* Work Control Procedures
`* Document Control Procedures
`* Maintenance Prevention Procedures
`* Training Plans
`* Major Projects Procedures
`* Spares Control Procedur-s
`
`* CMMS Program
`+ Predictive Technologies Program
`+ Proactive Maintenance Program
`* Reactive Maintenance Program
`# Preventive Maintenance Program
`* Technical Training
`* Balance of Maintenance Strategies
`
`Procedural Elements
`
`Technical Elements
`
`A new mission is defined for maintenance with bottom-up and top-down buy-in; coupled
`with a new set of business-based performance measures.
`
`7
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`CiM Ex. 1040 Page 8
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`

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`PHASE TWO - STABILIZATION
`The first step of stabilization is to create two key dedicated core functions; 1) Mainte-
`nance Planning Group, and 2) Reliability Improvement Group.
`These two groups are the hubs for the Reliability-Based Maintenance strategy. The Main-
`tenance Planning Group may exist as a preventive maintenance group already; however its
`focus needs to be changed from work order generation and tracking to full scope maintenance
`planning.
`
`Responsibilities of Preventive Planning Group
`* Coordination of all preventive maintenance,
`+ Coordination of minor housekeeping activities performed by operators.
`* Coordination of maintenance activities withproduction to obtain the least impact on availability.
`* Maintenance work planning, including procedures, tools, parts, inspections, and calibration.
`* Work order tracking and cost tracking.
`• Machine history file.
`* Evaluation of life cycle trends for possible machinery improvement nec Is.
`* Spare parts management.
`
`The Reliability Improvement Group is initially focused on the implementation of predic-
`tive tec'hnologies in the plant, but also moves toward proactive strategies as the group matures.
`This group is usually made up of experienced machinery mechanics or technicians, chosen for
`their machinery maintenance ability as well as their capacity to learn new, advanced mainte-
`nance techniques. The typical Reliability Improvement Group at a large plant starts with one or
`two vibration technicians, one thermography technician, one lubricant engineer and one main-
`tenance engineer. The group should be chosen from existing plant staff and trained to become
`experts in their area of specialty. At this stage the importance of training cannot be overempha-
`sized.
`
`',
`
`The Responsibilities of the Reliability Improvement Group
`+ Operating a self-directed predictive maintenance team integrating all predictive maintenance technologies.
`* Providing timely component condition evaluations to Maintenance Planning, with the goal of eliminating
`all unplanned downtime.
`* Performing ongoin- SERP analysis.
`Implementing proactive maintenance technologies and rmethc _s, including identification uI recuU(cid:127) .. prob
`lems.
`* Tracking performance measures e.g. savings from single event analysis, uptime/downtime, maintenance
`costs, quality, etc.
`*
`Identification and elimination of unnecessary preventive maintenance activities.
`*
`Identification of equipment design changes to improve reliability.
`* Management of the plant's computerized maintenance management system.
`
`More predictive maintenance technologies are added during the second and third year of
`stabilization. During this stage, machinery condition information is thoroughly integrated with
`preventive maintenance and proactive technologies, including precision alignment, balancing,
`and root cause failure analysis. The Reliability Improvement Group will grow to several dozen
`
`S
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`S:i
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`: iiI.
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`.
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`.. . .
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`.. . .. .. .. .
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`.. . . . .. . . .
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`CiM Ex. 1040 Page 9
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`people for a large industrial facility, while the preventive planning group may shrink by 30% or
`more. Also during this stage, the plant attitude toward maintenance begins to change. Manage-
`ment promotes the elimination of breakdowns and employee attitudes change significantly toward
`predicting and eliminating problem sources.
`
`The performance measurement of the Reliability Improvements Group begins to shift from
`single event analysis to global improvement indicators.
`
`PHASE THREE - BREAKTHROUGH
`This stage is most noteworthy for the attitude change which has occurred within the main-
`tenance department.
`
`Benchmark plants stand out strongly against industrial norms in terms of management and
`employee eimphasis oii Reliability-P aseu Maintenance philosophies. In this stae of aggressive
`implementation of the strategy, the plant is entirely focused on eliminating breakdowns, perma-
`nently eliminating machinery and quality problems, and achieving nameplate (theoretical)
`productivity or better. The perfc.mance measurements for the success of the strategy focuses on
`shift bottom line measurements consistent with the plant's business - maximizing operating and
`maintenance costs, and striving for greater profitability and working capital.
`
`Procedures for all aspects of the maintenance business are developed and documented in-
`cluding: document control procedures; major project procedures; and a dynamic flexible master
`work control procedure.
`
`The work methods within the plant have evolved to a point of full partnership between
`maintenance and operations in terms of maximizing reliability and controling costs. The Reliabilty
`Group is now the Reliability-Based Maintenance Department operating with full responsibility
`
`CiM Ex. 1040 Page 10