A Practical Guide to
Starting and Maintaining
a Successful RCM Program
by
Nancy Regan
Industrial Press Inc.
New York
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Regan, Nancy.
The RCM solution : reliability-centered maintenance / Nancy Regan.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8311-3424-2 (hard cover)
1. Maintainability (Engineering) 2. Reliability (Engineering) I. Title.
TS174.R443 2011
620'.0045--dc22
2011004061
Industrial Press, Inc.
989 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10018
Sponsoring Editor: John Carleo
Developmental Editor: Robert Weinstein
Interior Text and Cover Design: Janet Romano
Copyright © 2012 by Nancy Regan
Printed in the United States of America.
All rights reserved.
This book, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form
without the permission of the publisher.
To my mother
For all the walks on the beach that brought me closer to thisplace, especially the one twenty years ago that started it all.
To the late John Moubray
For teaching me to Tango when everyone elsewas doing the Waltz
Table of Contents
1.Introduction to Reliability Centered Maintenance
1.2Elements that Influence a System
1.3The Essence of RCM: Managing the Consequences of Failure
1.5The Evolution of RCM Principles
1.6The Development of RCM Principles
1.8Defining Performance in the Context of RCM
1.9Introduction to the RCM Process
2.A Facilitated Working Group Approach to RCM
2.1The Team Approach to Accomplishing Objectives
2.2Elements that Influence a System
2.3Failure Management Strategies
2.4Historical Data and the RCM Process
2.6Benefits of a Facilitated Working Group Approach
Summary
3.The RCM Operating Context
3.1What Is an Operating Context?
3.2When Should an Operating Context Be Drafted?
3.3What is Included in an Operating Context?
3.4The Operating Context as a Living Document
Summary
4.Functions
4.1Why Write Functions?
4.2Two Types of Functions
4.3Classifying Functions as Evident or Hidden
4.4Composing Evident and Hidden Functions