As we address failure modes during a RCM analysis I often pose the question why did this component fail? 

One of the most common answers is “stuff happens”…… If I have heard this phrase once, I have heard it 10,000 times.  In fact if I could convince someone to give me a silver dollar each time the phrase is uttered I would have a very healthy retirement account growing steadily as the price of precious metals continues to rise, so does the belief that equipment just fails.

While I believe it is very easy to show the value of RCM Blitz through improved reliability, increased throughput, lower maintenance costs, reduced energy consumption and lower unit cost of product, one of the most difficult things to place a value on in regard to RCM is the value that comes from people learning how your equipment fails.

The real power of Reliability Centered Maintenance comes in transforming your maintenance people from a group of component replacers to a proactive team that has the ability to identify and eliminate failure modes before they occur.  To instill in them the discipline it takes to resolve not only the failures we discuss in a RCM Blitz analysis but the failures and problems you see on a day to day basis as well.

How does one place a value on the ability to become a better operator, a better maintenance technician, a better troubleshooter and an employee who brings the skills learned in performing RCM to tools like Root Cause Analysis and equipment design reviews?

While the value in currency might be difficult to pin down, the value to your business is PRICELESS!