Reliability Centered Maintenance

Ivara RCM2™ is the leading RCM methodology used to determine the maintenance requirements of any physical asset in its operating context. It is used to decide what must be done to ensure that any physical asset, system or process continues to do whatever its users want it to do.

What users expect from their assets is defined in terms of primary performance parameters such as output, throughput, speed, range and carrying capacity. Where relevant, the RCM2 process defines what users want in terms of risk (safety and environmental integrity), quality (precision, accuracy, consistency and stability), control, comfort, containment, economy, customer service and so on.

The RCM2 process identifies the ways in which the system can fail to live up to these expectations (failed states), followed by an FMEA (failure modes and effects analysis), to identify all the events which are reasonably likely to cause each failed state.

Finally, the RCM2 process seeks to identify a suitable failure management policy for dealing with each failure mode in the light of its consequences and technical characteristics. Failure management policy options include:

  • predictive maintenance
  • preventive maintenance
  • failure-finding
  • change the design or configuration of the system
  • change the way the system is operated
  • run-to-failure

Ivara EXP Reliability Strategy Development Software Module

The Ivara EXP Reliability Strategy Development module will help you define your asset improvement strategy based on business prioritization, develop action plans using RCM2 while at the same time get quick results using MTA.  The RCM2 software supports a process to provide powerful rules for deciding whether any failure management policy is technically appropriate. It also provides precise criteria for deciding how often routine tasks should be done.

One of the features of RCM 2 that distinguishes it from other interpretations of the RCM philosophy is the cross-functional groups of users and maintainers that perform the analyses. After training, these analysis teams apply the process to their assets to produce the most cost-effective asset reliability programs.

RCM2 Review Groups

The application of RCM2 completely transforms the view that any organisation has of its physical assets. Not only does it revolutionise views about maintenance and how maintenance and operations work together but it also leads to a far broader and deeper understanding about how things work.

From the viewpoint of the business which operates the assets, these changes are both profound and profoundly important. They mean that assets not only become more reliable because they are better maintained, but they also mean that operators are less likely to do things which cause their assets to fail. A better understanding of how systems work also means that operators are far more likely to react quickly, confidently and correctly when things do go wrong – a capability which is quite literally priceless, especially in complex, hazardous, tightly coupled facilities.

In nearly every case, it also transpires that people who live with the asset on a day-to-day basis are an invaluable source of information – information that transforms what would otherwise be an occasionally valid collection of incomplete data into a solid, valid business tool.

This leads inevitably to the conclusion that from both viewpoints – technical validity and capability development – you need to involve the people who live with the assets directly in the application of the RCM2 process.The Aladon Network has developed a profound understanding of what must be done to ensure that RCM2 is correctly applied by multi-disciplinary review groups. However, before anyone can participate effectively in such a group, they need to learn how RCM works (“learn the language”) and, more importantly, they need to come to terms with the paradigm shifts embodied in the RCM2 philosophy.

RCM Standards

RCM2 complies with SAE Standard JA1011 “Evaluation Criteria for Reliability-Centered Maintenance RCM Processes.”

For a more comprehensive description of the RCM2 process, see John Moubray’s book “Reliability-Centered Maintenance”.

RCM2 Training

To gain a better understanding of how RCM2 works, consider attending one of the RCM2 Training courses offered by The Aladon Network. Our RCM2 Training programs are designed to enable you to understand the paradigm shifts embodied in the RCM2 philosophy. You will learn how RCM works, learning the RCM language.

Our RCM courses are continuously being refined and developed to incorporate the state-of-the-art in RCM thinking. They are led by Certified RCM2 Practitioners who have undergone the most intensive formal RCM capability development program on the planet.

To register for an RCM2 Public Training course in your area, contact The Aladon Network at 905-639-6513. For more information on the training courses offered, click here.