10 C

ritic

al E

lem

ents

for

Success

ful P

dM

| 1

10

C

ritic

al

E

lem

ents

fo

r S

uccess

ful P

dM

Co

mm

on p

itfa

lls o

f p

red

ictive

main

tenance

pro

gra

ms

and

ho

w t

o a

void

them

10 C

ritic

al E

lem

ents

for

Success

ful P

dM

| 2

Lik

e any c

om

ple

x t

ask

involv

ing m

any

peo

ple

of

dif

feri

ng d

isci

plines

, it

req

uir

es a

com

pre

hen

sive,

coord

inate

d e

ffort

to im

ple

men

t

PdM

and s

ust

ain

it

over

tim

e. T

hro

ugh r

esea

rch,

exper

ience

, and inte

ract

ions

wit

h P

dM

exper

ts

and c

onsu

ltants

, pla

nt

managem

ent,

and

main

tenance

per

sonnel

, w

e have

iden

ti!ed

what

we

see

as

the

10 m

ost

pre

vale

nt

pit

falls:

1. V

isio

n: W

hat

will w

e ach

ieve?

2. C

om

mit

men

t: M

anagem

ent

expec

tati

ons,

pla

nt-

#oor

buy-i

n

3. T

echnolo

gie

s: I

den

tify

ing t

he

appro

pri

ate

pre

dic

tive

tech

nolo

gie

s fo

r th

e jo

b

4. T

rain

ing: In

itia

l and o

ngoin

g

5. T

ools

: T

he

right

hard

ware

and s

oft

ware

6. Pro

cedure

s: E

stablish

ed, co

mm

unic

ate

d,

follow

ed

7. M

ethodolo

gy: C

onsi

sten

cy a

mong p

eople

and loca

tions,

over

tim

e

8. Per

sonnel

: E

nough q

uali!ed

per

sonnel

wit

h

enough t

ime

available

9. Ju

sti!

cati

on: T

rack

ing r

esult

s, m

akin

g t

hem

public,

pro

vin

g e

ffec

tiven

ess

10. P

artn

erin

g: W

hen

nee

ded

for

all of

the

above

Vis

ion

an

d C

om

mit

men

tA

ny m

ajo

r ch

ange

start

s w

ith a

vis

ion a

nd r

elie

s

on c

om

mit

men

t. T

he

support

ing d

ocu

men

t,

“W

hy D

o P

redic

tive

Main

tenance

Pro

gra

ms

Fail?”

des

crib

es t

he

role

of

vis

ion a

nd h

ow

to

obta

in c

om

mit

men

t. D

one

corr

ectl

y, a

pre

dic

tive

main

tenance

pro

gra

m s

hould

change

the

cult

ure

,

philoso

phy a

nd w

ork

#ow

of

the

main

tenance

dep

art

men

t. I

t is

not

just

the

addit

ion o

f a n

ew

tech

nolo

gy o

r to

ol, b

ut

a d

iffe

rent

appro

ach

or

stra

tegy t

ow

ard

s m

ain

tain

ing o

ne’

s ass

ets.

This

appro

ach is

bei

ng

under

taken

in o

rder

to g

ain s

pec

i!c

ben

e!ts

that

can

and s

hould

be

mea

sure

d. T

hes

e ben

e!ts

incl

ude:

incr

ease

d

upti

me,

red

uce

d f

ailu

res,

short

er p

lanned

outa

ges,

few

er p

reve

nti

ve m

ainte

nan

ce a

ctio

ns

and u

ltim

atel

y a

grea

ter

ef!ci

ency

of

the

faci

lity

.

Fai

lure

to a

dap

t th

e cu

lture

to t

his

new

philoso

phy

and b

ench

mar

k t

he

gain

s w

ill ev

entu

ally

lea

d

to t

he

pro

gram

’s d

isso

luti

on. A

dopti

ng

new

tech

nolo

gies

wit

hout

chan

ging

mai

nte

nan

ce

stra

tegi

es w

ill not

resu

lt in t

he

des

ired

ben

e!ts

.

Tech

no

log

ies, Tra

inin

g, an

d T

oo

lsSucc

essf

ul

PdM

pro

gra

ms

alm

ost

alw

ays

rely

on

usi

ng c

ondit

ion m

onit

ori

ng t

echnolo

gie

s (s

uch

as

vib

rati

on a

naly

sis,

#uid

analy

sis,

ult

raso

und

readin

gs,

tem

per

atu

re m

easu

rem

ents

, cu

rren

t

signatu

re a

naly

sis,

etc

.) i

n c

om

bin

ati

on t

o f

ull

y

chara

cter

ize

the

condit

ion o

f cr

itic

al

com

ponen

ts

and s

upport

acc

ura

te d

iagnose

s of

impen

din

g

pro

ble

ms.

The

appro

pri

ate

com

bin

ati

on o

f

met

hods

must

be

com

bin

ed a

nd c

oord

inate

d t

o

obta

in r

elia

ble

res

ult

s. B

ut

many f

aci

liti

es s

imply

purc

hase

a n

ew t

echnolo

gy,

such

as

a v

ibra

tion

data

coll

ecto

r or

ali

gnm

ent

tool, s

pen

d t

ime

and

money

lea

rnin

g h

ow

to u

se t

he

tool, a

nd n

ever

full

y u

nder

stand w

hy i

t is

bei

ng u

sed. F

or

det

ail

s

about

tech

nolo

gie

s, s

ee t

he

support

ing d

ocu

men

t

“M

isuse

of

Tec

hnolo

gy”.

“O

ne

faci

lity

had

the

capac

ity

and a

bilit

y to

det

ect

inci

pie

nt

bea

ring

wea

r in

a p

um

p u

sing

The p

rinci

ple

s and b

ene!

ts o

f pre

dic

tive

main

tenance

(PdM

) are

wid

ely k

now

n

and g

ener

ally a

ccep

ted, but

many p

lants

sti

ll f

ail

to i

mple

men

t and e

xplo

it

a s

ucc

essf

ul pro

gra

m. “

Many f

aci

liti

es a

nd e

nte

rpri

ses

have

fail

ed t

o a

chie

ve

the

10, 20

or

even

30:1

RO

I pro

mis

ed b

y t

he

adapta

tion o

f a P

dM

pro

gra

m,”

says

Ala

n F

ried

man,

Sen

ior

Tec

hnic

al A

dvis

or, A

zim

a D

LI

(ww

w.A

zim

aD

LI.

com

). “

Inves

tmen

ts h

ave

bee

n m

ade

in m

onit

ori

ng e

quip

men

t and t

rain

ing b

ut,

in m

any i

nst

ance

s, d

ata

coll

ecto

rs a

re c

oll

ecti

ng

dust

on a

shel

f in

som

e st

ore

room

wait

ing f

or

som

eone

to r

edis

cover

them

and w

onder

what

thes

e art

ifact

s m

ay h

ave

bee

n u

sed f

or. O

n t

he

fact

ory

#oor, i

t is

back

to b

usi

nes

s as

usu

al w

ith u

npla

nned

outa

ges

as

the

norm

and e

ver

yone

too b

usy

!ghti

ng !

res

to g

et a

handle

on t

he

situ

ati

on. A

t le

ast

it’s

an e

xci

ting p

lace

to w

ork

!”

10 C

ritic

al E

lem

ents

for

Success

ful P

dM

| 3

a vi

bra

tion a

nal

ysis

sys

tem

,” F

ried

man

say

s.

“Alt

hough

the

pum

p s

how

ed n

o s

igns

of

wea

r, t

he

faci

lity

wen

t ah

ead a

nd c

han

ged o

ut

the

bea

rings

acco

rdin

g to

thei

r pre

venti

ve m

ainte

nan

ce

sched

ule

. At

anoth

er p

lant, a

vib

rati

on a

nal

yst

was

adep

t at

det

ecti

ng

mec

han

ical

fau

lts

in h

is

pla

nt’s

mac

hin

ery

but

he

was

afr

aid t

o t

ell his

super

viso

r ab

out

all of

the

pro

ble

ms

he

found

bec

ause

his

super

viso

r m

ight

get

angr

y at

hav

ing

to r

epai

r al

l of

thes

e m

achin

es!

Both

of

thes

e ca

ses

dem

onst

rate

the

use

of

the

tech

nolo

gy a

s an

end in

itse

lf w

ith n

o g

reat

er v

isio

n o

f w

hy

the

tech

nolo

gy

is b

eing

emplo

yed.”

Azi

ma

DL

I’s

rece

nt

inau

gura

l “St

ate

of

the

Condit

ion M

onit

ori

ng

Indust

ry”

report

, bas

ed

on a

surv

ey c

onduct

ed a

mong

engi

nee

rs a

nd

pla

nt

man

ager

s, f

ound t

hat

65%

hav

e a

mac

hin

e

condit

ion m

onit

ori

ng/

pre

dic

tive

mai

nte

nan

ce

pro

gram

in p

lace

. O

f th

ose

, m

ore

than

hal

f

indic

ated

that

it’s

dif

!cu

lt t

o k

now

exac

tly

what

solu

tions

and t

ools

are

nee

ded

to m

ainta

in a

succ

essf

ul pro

gram

. This

, al

ong

wit

h insu

f!ci

ent

staf

f, lim

ited

in-h

ouse

exper

tise

, an

d p

oor

trai

nin

g,

wer

e th

e to

p f

acto

rs r

esponden

ts p

erce

ived

as

neg

ativ

ely

impac

ting

the

resu

lts

of

thei

r pro

gram

s.

Tra

inin

g is

a n

ever

-endin

g co

nce

rn, s

tart

ing

wit

h

PdM

pri

nci

ple

s, e

xte

ndin

g th

rough

im

ple

men

tati

on

and f

ollow

ing

up a

s te

chnolo

gies

evo

lve,

equip

men

t

is u

pdat

ed, t

he

faci

lity

pro

gres

ses

to m

ore

sophis

tica

ted a

pplica

tions,

and p

erso

nnel

chan

ge.

Tra

inin

g m

ust

tak

e pla

ce o

n m

ult

iple

fro

nts

, as

des

crib

ed in t

he

support

ing

docu

men

ts “

Why

Do P

redic

tive

Mai

nte

nan

ce P

rogr

ams

Fai

l?” a

nd

“C

hoose

Your

Par

tner

s W

isel

y”.

Tec

hnolo

gy r

equir

emen

ts m

ust

be

under

stood

so t

ools

can b

e se

lect

ed a

ccord

ing t

o t

he

nee

ds

of

the

faci

lity

and s

taff

, ra

ther

than a

ven

dor’

s sa

les

pit

ch. M

atc

hin

g t

he

right

tools

to t

he

job c

an

min

imiz

e ef

fort

and e

f!ci

entl

y d

eliv

er t

he

right

info

rmati

on i

n a

ctio

nable

form

.

Pro

ced

ure

s a

nd

Meth

od

olo

gy

A s

ucc

essf

ul

PdM

pro

gra

m i

s th

e re

sult

of

foll

ow

ing a

sta

ndard

set

of

pro

cedure

s and

rem

ain

ing c

onsi

sten

t yea

r aft

er y

ear, “

Not

in

bei

ng a

n e

xper

t at

lookin

g a

t gra

phs,

” F

ried

man

says,

“and y

et i

n t

he

indust

ry w

e oft

en s

ee p

eople

takin

g c

erti

!ca

tion c

ours

es t

hat

teach

a l

ot

about

lookin

g a

t gra

phs

and l

ittl

e or

noth

ing a

bout

managin

g a

PdM

pro

gra

m.”

Each

ass

et m

ust

be

base

lined

and t

este

d i

n t

he

sam

e w

ay,

at

consi

sten

t in

terv

als

, to

acc

ura

tely

track

its

condit

ion. O

nly

then

can y

ou s

et

mea

nin

gfu

l ala

rm l

imit

s and k

now

when

a

change

is s

igni!

cant.

Pers

on

nel

Though n

um

ber

eig

ht

on o

ur

list

of

10 p

itfa

lls,

per

sonnel

iss

ues

are

the

num

ber

one

pro

ble

m f

or

PdM

pro

gra

ms.

“H

ow

many t

imes

have

we

had

to p

rete

nd t

hat

we

had n

o p

rogra

m a

nd n

ow

we

are

sta

rtin

g f

rom

scr

atc

h a

ll o

ver

again

- m

aybe

wit

h n

ew e

quip

men

t th

is t

ime

aro

und -

bec

ause

the

guy w

ho u

sed t

o r

un t

he

pro

gra

m r

etir

ed

or

left

for

gre

ener

past

ure

s and t

ook e

ver

yth

ing

Techno

log

y re

quirem

ents

must

be u

nd

ers

too

d s

o t

oo

ls c

an b

e s

ele

cte

d a

cco

rdin

g

to t

he n

eed

s o

f th

e f

acili

ty a

nd

sta

ff, no

t acco

rdin

g t

o a

vend

or’s

sale

s p

itch.

10 C

ritic

al E

lem

ents

for

Success

ful P

dM

| 4

wit

h h

im e

xce

pt

for

a s

quari

sh-l

ookin

g e

lect

ronic

dev

ice

wit

h s

om

e ca

ble

s and a

sen

sor

hangin

g

off

of

it?”

Fri

edm

an a

sks.

“R

eten

tion o

f hig

hly

train

ed p

erso

nnel

is

a b

ig p

roble

m.”

It’s

esp

ecia

lly d

evast

ati

ng w

hen

indiv

iduals

do n

ot

form

alize

thei

r w

ork

into

pro

cess

es a

nd

pro

cedure

s th

at

oth

er p

eople

can b

e tr

ain

ed t

o

follow

when

they

lea

ve.

Unfo

rtunate

ly, m

any

work

ers

like

to b

e “ex

per

ts”

and p

rote

ct t

hei

r

posi

tion b

y s

hro

udin

g t

hei

r w

ork

in m

yst

ery

and h

old

ing o

nto

the

secr

ets

of

thei

r ex

per

tise

to

ensu

re t

hat

the

com

pany r

emain

s dep

enden

t on

them

. O

ther

s m

ay b

e le

ss d

evio

us

or

inse

cure

but

sim

ply

don’t

thin

k a

hea

d a

nd p

lan t

hin

gs

to k

eep

the

pro

gra

m r

unnin

g in t

hei

r ev

entu

al abse

nce

.

“In

eit

her

case

,” F

ried

man a

dds,

“W

e ca

n s

ay f

or

cert

ain

that

the

loss

of

the

resi

den

t ex

per

t is

oft

en

enough t

o d

oom

a P

dM

pro

gra

m a

nd b

anis

h its

hig

h t

ech e

quip

men

t to

the

unre

ach

able

part

s of

the

hig

hes

t sh

elves

.”

If a

quali!ed

rep

lace

men

t is

not

available

, it

may t

ake

a y

ear

or

more

to t

rain

a n

ew r

esid

ent

exper

t, o

r ex

per

ts, to

the

poin

t w

her

e th

ey h

ave

a h

andle

on t

he

tech

nolo

gy a

nd c

an e

ffec

tivel

y

manage

a P

dM

pro

gra

m.

In t

he

mea

nti

me,

many f

aci

liti

es v

iew

PdM

resp

onsi

bilit

ies

as

som

ethin

g e

xtr

a t

hat

has

to b

e done

aft

er t

he

real w

ork

. As

the

pla

nt

oper

ate

s w

ithout

an e

ffec

tive

PdM

pro

gra

m,

unpla

nned

failure

s in

crea

se, and k

now

ledge

about

the

condit

ion o

f th

e pla

nts

’ ass

ets

dec

lines

. “M

ain

tenance

peo

ple

sta

rt o

per

ati

ng

in ‘h

yst

eric

al’ m

ode

to !

x t

he

nex

t em

ergin

g

pro

ble

m,”

Fri

edm

an s

ays.

“In

this

sit

uati

on, it

is

dif

!cu

lt t

o s

tep b

ack

and p

ut

toget

her

a s

trate

gy

to m

ove

up t

he

main

tenance

evolu

tionary

ladder

to t

he

rung o

f PdM

.” T

he

new

PdM

exper

t-

in-t

rain

ing m

ust

be

giv

en t

he

tim

e, s

pace

, and

support

to m

ake

the

transi

tion h

appen

.

The

sam

e si

tuat

ion c

an o

ccur

when

com

mit

men

t

is lost

due

to a

n a

bru

pt

chan

ge in s

trat

egic

dir

ecti

on. “

I hav

e se

en s

ucc

essf

ul

pro

gram

s upro

ote

d b

y m

anag

ers

who a

ppea

r on t

he

scen

e w

ith n

o

know

ledge

of

PdM

and e

ither

!re

the

staf

f or

don’t g

ive

them

the

tim

e

or

per

mis

sion t

o c

onti

nue

work

ing

on t

hei

r pro

gram

s,”

Fri

edm

an s

ays.

“T

his

pro

ble

m is

more

com

mon

wher

e th

e peo

ple

res

ponsi

ble

for

the

PdM

pro

gram

hav

e not

adeq

uat

ely

docu

men

ted its

ef!

cacy

. They

do n

ot

hav

e

the

evid

ence

han

dy

to just

ify

why

the

pla

nt

should

kee

p t

hes

e pro

gram

s in

pla

ce.”

Ju

sti

ficati

on

The

majo

rity

of

resp

onden

ts i

n t

he

Azi

ma

DL

I su

rvey

agre

e th

at

pre

dic

tive

main

tenance

pro

gra

ms

dir

ectl

y i

mpact

the

bott

om

lin

e, b

ut

when

quer

ied a

bout

barr

iers

to s

ucc

ess,

dif

!cu

lty

dem

onst

rati

ng R

OI

was

one

of

the

top f

act

ors

.

Pla

nts

must

adopt

the

right

tech

nolo

gy a

nd

part

ner

ser

vic

es t

o e

nable

manager

s to

bet

ter

captu

re a

nd r

eport

the

ben

e!ts

of

condit

ion

monit

ori

ng p

rogra

ms,

focu

sing o

n m

etri

cs s

uch

as

dec

rease

d d

ow

nti

me,

im

pro

ved

pro

duct

ivit

y,

and c

ost

savin

gs

rela

ted t

o i

mpro

ved

equip

men

t

hea

lth a

nd r

elia

bil

ity.

When q

ueried

ab

out

barr

iers

to

success

, d

if"culty

dem

onst

rating

R

OI w

as

one o

f th

e t

op

facto

rs.

10 C

ritic

al E

lem

ents

for

Success

ful P

dM

| 5

A f

aci

lity

can c

hange

thei

r philoso

phy t

o a

pre

dic

tive

mode,

corr

ectl

y e

mplo

y t

echnolo

gy

to r

educe

pre

ven

tive

main

tenance

act

ions,

and m

inim

ize

cata

stro

phic

failure

s, b

ut

fail t

o

adeq

uate

ly d

ocu

men

t th

e ef

!ci

enci

es a

nd s

avin

gs

ass

oci

ate

d w

ith t

hes

e act

ions.

“In

those

faci

liti

es

wher

e th

e te

chnolo

gy is

bei

ng u

sed c

orr

ectl

y a

nd

in t

he

right

conte

xt,

I h

ave

oft

en s

een a

pro

gra

m

fail b

ecause

its

succ

esse

s w

ere

not

adeq

uate

ly

docu

men

ted,”

Fri

edm

an s

ays.

“E

mplo

yee

s w

ithin

the

main

tenance

dep

art

men

t ack

now

ledged

that

thei

r w

ork

was

use

ful, b

ut

they

had n

o d

ata

to

pro

ve

this

to t

hose

outs

ide

of

thei

r gro

up a

nd

saw

thei

r pro

gra

m g

et c

ut

when

manager

s had t

o

tighte

n t

hei

r budget

s.”

Part

neri

ng

Conse

quen

ces

of

the

pit

falls

outl

ined

above

can b

e re

duce

d o

r el

imin

ate

d b

y o

uts

ourc

ing

PdM

act

ivit

ies

to a

part

ner

. M

ore

than h

alf

of

the

resp

onden

ts t

o t

he

Azi

ma D

LI

surv

ey w

ho

have

PdM

pro

gra

ms

use

a c

om

bin

ati

on o

f in

-

house

and o

uts

ourc

ed s

olu

tions.

While

only

8%

curr

entl

y o

uts

ourc

e data

collec

tion a

nd a

naly

sis,

of

those

handling p

rogra

ms

in-h

ouse

, 53%

resp

onded

that

they

bel

ieve

ther

e are

ben

e!ts

to

outs

ourc

ing t

he

pro

gra

m.

In c

onsi

der

ing a

part

ner

for

thir

d-p

art

y

support

, th

e fo

llow

ing f

act

ors

wer

e ra

nked

,

in o

rder

of

import

ance

, as

most

in#uen

tial in

makin

g t

hat

dec

isio

n:

• A

naly

tica

l so

ftw

are

and s

ervic

es

• A

bilit

y t

o s

pea

k w

ith a

cust

om

er s

ervic

e

repre

senta

tive

24/7

• A

dvance

d r

eport

ing c

apabilit

ies

• W

eb-b

ase

d o

r on-d

emand a

cces

s to

data

analy

sis

“W

hil

e th

e ben

e!ts

of

an e

ffec

tive

condit

ion

monit

ori

ng a

nd p

redic

tive

main

tenance

pro

gra

m

are

cle

ar

to p

lant

per

sonnel

and m

anagem

ent,

many p

rogra

ms

have

bee

n l

eft

on a

uto

-pil

ot

duri

ng t

ight

econom

ic t

imes

,” s

ays

Burt

Hurl

ock

,

CE

O, A

zim

a D

LI.

“W

e bel

ieve

one

of

the

key

s

to l

ong-t

erm

succ

ess

is g

reate

r vis

ibil

ity a

mong

the

C-s

uit

e re

gard

ing t

he

quanti

!able

im

pact

thes

e pro

gra

ms

can h

ave

on p

roduct

ivit

y a

nd

pla

nts

’ abil

ity t

o c

om

ply

wit

h i

mport

ant

indust

ry

standard

s fo

r re

liabil

ity.

F

or

exam

ple

, by

inves

ting i

n c

ost

-eff

ecti

ve

data

coll

ecti

on a

nd

analy

sis

capabil

itie

s, p

lants

can m

ake

info

rmed

main

tenance

dec

isio

ns

and g

ener

ate

res

ult

s in

term

s of

cost

-avoid

ance

rel

ate

d t

o u

nsc

hed

ule

d

dow

nti

me

and u

nnec

essa

ry r

epair

s.”

Ram

i!ca

tions

of

PdM

part

ner

ship

s are

explo

red m

ore

thoro

ughly

in t

he

support

ing

docu

men

t, “

Choose

Your

Part

ner

s W

isel

y”.

“C

ho

osi

ng t

he

righ

t p

art

ner

may m

ak

e th

e

dif

fere

nce

bet

wee

n a

co

nsi

sten

t an

d e

ffec

tive

pro

gra

m t

hat

run

s sm

oo

thly

over

th

e n

ext

10

or

20

yea

rs a

nd

an

en

dle

ss s

erie

s o

f fa

lse

start

s an

d i

nves

tmen

ts i

n m

isu

sed

eq

uip

men

t,”

Fri

edm

an

co

ncl

ud

es. “

On

e th

ing i

s fo

r su

re,

succ

essf

ul

pro

gra

ms

mo

re o

ften

th

an

no

t

req

uir

e go

od

part

ner

s.”

The r

ight

part

ner

may

make t

he d

iffe

rence b

etw

een a

co

nsi

stent

and

effective

pro

gra

m, and

an e

nd

less

series

of fa

lse s

tart

s.

© 2

01

0 –

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ma D

LI

– A

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gh

ts r

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ed

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on

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by

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by

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ma D

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eC

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rn, M

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