RCA AND SIX SIGMA

Many believe that RCA competes with Six Sigma but the truth is that RCA complements the tools of the Six Sigma black belt. We must understand that the objectives of the two approaches are quite different.

Six Sigma strives for precision by making good performance great. Six Sigma would strive to bring an organization from 99% availability to 99.9996%. However, Six Sigma was not originally developed to move an organization from 70% to 99%. The primary objective of Six Sigma is to minimize process variation. This means that we identify a signal of an impending failure earlier and minimize its consequences.

On the flip side, RCA strives to eliminate the variation. This means that we do not seek to minimize its consequences but to understand why there is any variation.

True RCA tools tend to have more breath and depth than the Six Sigma problem-solving tools. This is why they are a natural compliment.

Tip provided by the Reliability Center Inc.
http://www.reliability.com
Tel: 804-458-0645

More Root Cause Analysis resources

If your maintenance planners are doing anything but planning work, their time is being wasted. Get you planners out of the day-to-day break-down activities, chasing parts, supervising jobs, weekend duty and other distractions, and the payback is more than a 100% increase in craftsperson efficiency.

Tip provided by Dave Krings CMRP
Author 5 Pillars: Maintenance & Reliability Professional Review Self Guided Course

Get a 5 Pillar course preview

1. Before starting balancing, make sure that it is a real problem of balancing by analyzing its spectrum. Peak must match with one time rpm with small harmonics with at least 2 times, 3 times and 4 times of rpm.

2. If you are going to balance a rotor, first of all see how many balancing weights have already been fixed on the rotor. If quantity is more than three, then remove all or at least two of the weights and then start balancing.

Reader Tip provided by Malik Asad
Qassim Cement Company
Saudi Arabia

Thank you Asad, we are sending your Maintenance Tips hat right away!

More balancing resources

ROUGH ALIGNMENT

When performing shaft alignment, always ensure that the machines are rough aligned first. This ensures that coupling-induced strain is removed to improve the accuracy of the alignment. Shafts that have severe coupling strain may flex, which distorts the true misalignment condition.

Use a straightedge, feeler gauges or some other less precise method to position the two machines within some reasonable distance from their desired final aligned location. As a rough rule of thumb for close-coupled machines, rough align to ‘nearly eye ball clean’, such that the coupling can be made up easily, to avoid much of the above-mentioned ‘severe’ coupling strain.

Straightedge or feeler gauge alignments can be much more precise than this, but time is wasted. The idea is to relieve the shafts of excessive coupling-induced strain to improve the accuracy of alignment corrections.

Tip provided by LUDECA, INC.
ALIGNMENT * VIBRATION * BALANCING
http://www.ludeca.com
Tel: 305-591-8935

More alignment resources

Calculating the true cost of an infrared camera

The offers for inexpensive cameras is growing and for many users these low price offers are a great way to begin using this valuable technology.

However the true cost of an infrared camera is much more than the purchase price.

Lets begin by comparing the capitalized cost of cameras costing $10,000 and $20,000 over a typical 5-year depreciation period. (Without factoring finance costs)

The $10,000 camera costs $166/month
The $20,000 camera costs $333/month
Differential is $167/month

The fully burdened cost of an camera operator is $35/hour or $73,000/year.

The $20,000 camera will likely have functions that reduce labor costs (less training, automatic report generation, field data information collection, etc.)

Assuming a 20 hours/week of use and 3 hours of time-savings using the more expensive camera.

Weekly savings = $700/week or $2800/month

Conclusions

1. Cost of camera is a very small portion of the expense of
thermography program.
2. Always compare the productivity of cameras and their ability to convert field work into work orders
3. Compare the ease of use and costs for new operator training.
4. Labor costs are dominant in thermography PdM program

Tip provided Electrophysics
Tel: (973) 882-0211

Win a Harley and get a Flash HotShot Demo

March 8, 2006
Orleans Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas NV

Be Brilliant with the Basics: Making Maximo Work by Steve Richmond, Projetech Inc.

Note: This workshop is offered independent of and has no connection with MRO Software or its affiliate companies. Maximo is a registered trademark of MRO Software

MAXIMO® has been implemented at your site – now what?

Participants of this workshop will learn basic (but important) tips and tricks to get the most out of their investment.

We’ll discuss ways to enhance navigation and querying skills, better understand sites and locations, and correctly classify assets (equipment, rotables and inventory.) We’ll also cover the importance of keeping value lists simple, mapping business processes, and choosing the appropriate reporting tools (SQR, Actuate or Crystal.) If you are new to MAXIMO, or just eager to save time by making it more user friendly, you will find the “best practice” resources in this session very useful.

This one day course includes:

• Some tips and tricks to enhance your MAXIMO navigation skills
• Understanding sites and locations
• Equipment, rotables and inventory – Why correctly classifying your assets is important
• Keeping value lists simple – KISS
• Why you must map business processes and how to do so
• Queries – using, saving and writing them
• Reports – SQR, Actuate and Crystal – how to choose
• Seven Tips for System Administrators to make MAXIMO more User-Friendly
• Q&A
• References and Resources

Bring your questions and be ready for one the most productive Maximo learning days ever.

Space is limited - please call toll free (888) 575 1245 today or…

Learn more online

Use RPVOT to Safely Determine
Remaining Useful Life of Turbine Oils

Routinely testing turbine oils is an effective means for monitoring wear and contamination, but large sump capacities and shutdown implications in many turbine applications make oil changes expensive and difficult at best. Evaluating the oil’s oxidative stability is the only way to determine its remaining useful life and the safest, most cost effective way to know if it’s absolutely necessary to change it.

The RPVOT, Rotating Pressure Vessel Oxidation Test ASTM D-2272, is an excellent oxidative stability test for both new and in-service turbine oils. The oil sample, water and a copper catalyst coil are placed in a pressure vessel. The pressure vessel is then charged with oxygen, placed in a temperature-controlled bath and rotated. When a drop in pressure is achieved, the RPVOT result is the number of minutes it took to reach that drop.

An RPVOT result should always be compared to the lubricant manufacturer’s RPVOT specification. When the RPVOT is approximately 50% of the RPVOT of the oil when new, maintenance action should be initiated. Typically, the recommendation is to consult the lubricant supplier to determine how much to “sweeten” the sump – how much new oil to add. Recommendations for an RPVOT result of only 25% of that of the new oil would be to change the oil and to increase testing frequency to more closely monitor its oxidative stability. The lower the RPVOT result, the higher the oil’s potential is for developing sludge or varnish.

RPVOT should be performed a minimum of once a year and preferably every six months.

Tip provided by POLARIS Laboratories
Tel: (317) 808-3750

Click here to learn more about testing for all application types

Do you have great advice that will help other maintenance and reliability professionals do their jobs better? Enter your tip into the EAM/RCM Tip Challenge and you may be a lucky winner!

Prizes:

1 Grand Prize EAM/CMMS Tip: Free EAM-2006 3 Day Conference Pass, 3 nights at the Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Tip Featured at EAM-2006 and in Maintenance-Tips Email newsletter

1 Grand Prize RCM Tip: Free RCM-2006 3 Day Conference Pass, 3 nights at the Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Tip Featured at RCM-2006 and in Maintenance-Tips Email newsletter

1 Runner Up EAM/CMMS Tip : Free EAM-2006 3 Day Conference Pass, Tip Featured at EAM-2006 in Maintenance-Tips Email newsletter

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What is a Maintenance tip? A 1-3 paragraph bit of practical wisdom that can be put to immediate use without having to purchase something.

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