Our asset management services
Reliability-centred maintenance
A powerful tool used by Verebus is the reliability-centred maintenance (RCM) analysis. Originating from the aviation industry, this methodology has been developed to enhance the reliability of assets within maintenance management. The primary goal of RCM is to prevent failures in critical systems that could lead to consequential damage by establishing effective maintenance plans.
For successful RCM implementation, it is crucial to have a team of specialists with extensive knowledge and expertise about the asset in question. This team typically includes operators, maintenance technicians, and engineers.
A Verebus RCM facilitator will guide you through a seven-step process to develop a reliability strategy tailored to your specific product type.
The steps are as follows:
- Functions
- Mapping functional failures
- Types of failures/causes
- Failure effects
- Failure consequences
- Task type selection
- Nesting/merging maintenance tasks
This RCM analysis – including a failure mode, effects & criticality analysis (FMECA) – leads to a strategic maintenance plan in which the different types of maintenance are coordinated.
FMECA
A system or installation can fail due to various faults, halting production when that happens. Through a failure mode, effects, and criticality analysis we can provide insight into how these faults might occur.
By dividing the system into subsystems or components, we determine the functions of each part. When a component can no longer fulfil its function, it is referred to as a functional failure. These failures stem from failure modes that arise due to the use of the component or other variables such as ageing or fatigue.
When a failure occurs, it also has an effect. For example, there may be damage, someone could be injured, or the entire installation may need to be shut down, causing production to come to a halt.
We categorise the effects using a risk matrix, which allows us to determine criticality through a simple product of likelihood and impact. The greater the criticality, the more essential the mitigating measure becomes.
Through an FMECA, we can develop risk-based maintenance concepts.
Optimisation of maintenance processes
When optimising maintenance processes, we start by identifying low-hanging fruit. Through the central maintenance management system (CMMS) of the client it, is possible to investigate trends in maintenance practices and identify any interesting costs or other notable aspects. Additionally, interviews on the shop floor provide supplementary insights that cannot be obtained from the CMMS alone. We establish maintenance definitions to ensure there is no confusion over terminology.
The maintenance process itself is investigated: when an order is created, how it is processed, when the order is actually completed, and who is responsible at each stage. Once the entire maintenance process and various trends have been analysed, we can establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor and adjust work orders, hours, priorities, and notifications as necessary. By monitoring the entire process, it becomes possible to improve parts of this process in line with the client's maintenance policy.
