When a crucial asset like an costly piece of equipment or infrastructure breaks unexpectedly, it impacts clients and might price firms thousands and thousands. To achieve success, companies must have clear, real-time visibility into the situation of their belongings and a plan to maintain them operating easily and make repairs rapidly when issues break. Enterprises are always searching for new methods to optimize efficiency, improve reliability and prolong asset lifespans—all with out including pointless prices.
This is the reason asset reliability is such a crucial element of enterprise technique. Earlier than we dive into it, let’s check out some related phrases.
What’s an asset?
The time period “asset” can check with each bodily and non-physical objects that firms personal and use to create worth. Examples of bodily belongings embody equipment, factories, workplace provides, manufacturing crops, meeting traces, car fleets, buildings and civil infrastructures. Examples of non-physical belongings embody software program, mental property, emblems and patents.
What’s asset reliability?
Asset reliability is the power of an asset to carry out underneath sure circumstances over a specified interval with out breaking down. To be thought-about “dependable,” an asset asset should carry out at a sure degree and adjust to all regulatory necessities surrounding its operation.
The distinction between asset reliability and asset availability
The phrases asset reliability and asset availability are simple to confuse, however there are a number of key variations price noting. First, availability measures the operational capability of an asset over time. In different phrases, how lengthy can a bit of apparatus carry out the duties related to its operation efficiently. Reliability, however, refers to an asset’s capability to operate with out downtime or disruption underneath sure circumstances. An asset is barely deemed “dependable” when it operates with out sudden shutdowns so as to carry out obligatory repairs.
Whereas reliability and availability are each measured in percentages, it’s doable—even seemingly—that these percentages will differ even when referring to the identical piece of apparatus. For instance, a bit of apparatus working at 100% reliability may solely be 90% accessible if 10% of the time was used to carry out crucial, deliberate upkeep essential to maintain it operating.
How does asset reliability work?
As a way to take a proactive method to asset reliability, upkeep managers depend on two broadly used metrics: mean time between failure, (MTBF) and mean time to repair (MTTR). Each KPIs assist predict how belongings will carry out and help managers in planning preventive and predictive maintenance. First, let’s have a look at MTBF and MTTR.
Imply time between failure (MTBF) and imply time to restore (MTTR)
Each MTBF and MTBR might be calculated utilizing easy mathematical formulation. Right here’s the method technicians use to calculate MTBF:
MTBF = Complete working time / Variety of failures in a selected time interval
For instance, if a bit of apparatus is used for 20,000 hours and fails 5 occasions throughout that interval, its MTBF can be 20,000 hours / 5 failures = 4,000 hours. In different phrases, this tools might be anticipated to fail each 4,000 hours. Armed with this data, operators can plan upkeep actions to make sure tools doesn’t break down unexpectedly, leading to expensive downtime.
Whereas figuring out an asset’s MTBF is crucial to retaining it acting at peak ranges, it doesn’t assist operators decide how a lot time they might want to restore it. That is the place MTTR is available in. To calculate MTTR, operators first must understand how a lot time it takes to carry out the next duties on an asset:
- Notify asset upkeep groups
- Let the damaged tools cool earlier than it may be labored on
- Carry out repairs and reassemble any obligatory objects
- Check the tools completely earlier than restarting manufacturing
Right here’s the mathematical method operators use to calculate MTTR:
MTTR = Complete downtime / Complete variety of failures over a selected time
For instance, if over the course of a 12 months, a system failed 10 occasions, leading to 20 complete hours of downtime, its MTTR can be: 20 hours / 10 repairs = 2 hours. In different phrases, it takes, on common, 2 hours to restore this piece of apparatus every time it breaks.
Like MTBF, MTTR is used to find out asset reliability and, extra particularly, to permit operators to measure the effectivity of their upkeep packages and to make changes the place obligatory.
Preventive and predictive upkeep
Each preventive and predictive maintenance are upkeep methods utilized by enterprise leaders to extend asset reliability.
Preventive upkeep depends on situation monitoring to assist managers strategically plan for asset repairs and downtime in a means that minimizes the affect to the general enterprise. Predictive upkeep takes the upkeep capability of preventive upkeep one step additional. Sensors accumulate information in real-time that’s then fed into an enterprise asset administration (EAM) or computerized upkeep administration system (CMMS), the place AI-enhanced information evaluation instruments and processes like machine learning (ML) spot points and assist resolve them. This data is then used to construct predictive fashions of an asset’s efficiency over time and assist spot potential issues earlier than they come up.
One of many methods upkeep managers refine and enhance predictive analytics to extend asset reliability is thru the creation of a digital twin.
Digital twin know-how
Digital twin know-how permits for the creation of a digital illustration of an asset that spans the whole asset lifecycle and is topic to the identical circumstances as the actual asset. Digital twins use real-time information, simulations and machine studying to help decision-makers within the administration of their most important belongings.
Digital twins might be created for belongings as unique as manned-spacecraft or as frequent as a wind turbine. As in predictive analytics, sensors linked to the bodily object accumulate information from the actual world that’s then mapped onto a digital mannequin. By monitoring the asset’s digital twin, managers can spot essential insights into how the asset is reacting to its atmosphere and develop methods to enhance its reliability.
Asset efficiency administration
Enterprise leaders understand how vital it’s to have a deep understanding of when their belongings are more likely to fail to allow them to take fast motion to cut back danger to total enterprise operations. Asset efficiency administration, or APM, helps decision-makers improve asset administration insights with automation, analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.
By means of AI-powered distant monitoring, root-cause analysis, Failure Mode Evaluation (FMEA), laptop imaginative and prescient and predictive upkeep, APM permits the trendy enterprise to cut back unplanned restore work, handle danger, prolong asset lifecycles and improve profitability.
Enterprise asset administration (EAM) and CMMS
Enterprise asset management (EAM) is an asset administration system that mixes software program and companies to assist organizations preserve, management and optimize the standard of operational belongings all through their lifecycles. With the quantity of knowledge being generated by way of IoT, upkeep managers are relying increasingly on administration software program and AI-enhanced information evaluation to assist them make extra knowledgeable selections. The objective of EAM is at all times to enhance tools reliability, improve productive uptime and cut back operational prices.
Many EAM initiatives work in tandem with a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) to assist upkeep departments centralize important asset data. A CMMS tells upkeep managers the place an asset is, what sort of companies or repairs it requires and who ought to carry out them. A robust CMMS can improve upkeep planning by making the details about an asset instantly accessible and auditable.
What are the different types of asset management?
Why is asset reliability vital?
Asset reliability gives trendy enterprises peace of thoughts on the subject of their most respected assets. By deploying essentially the most cutting-edge applied sciences accessible, coupled with rigorous upkeep administration methods and adherence to key metrics like MTBF and MTTR, enterprises can cut back prices, improve asset dependability and maximize their return on funding (ROI) of their most respected belongings.
The advantages of sturdy asset reliability embody the next:
- Elevated uptime: Having good asset reliability means top-performing belongings run at peak ranges for longer with out rising their danger of failure. By performing preventive and predictive upkeep as a part of an total upkeep technique, companies can cut back the quantity and frequency of breakdowns.
- Diminished prices: When asset reliability improves, upkeep labor, stock, and dealing capital prices go down—it’s that easy. Reliability packages assist managers plan strategically for downtime and carry out repairs solely when the affect on enterprise continuity might be minimized.
- Improved employee security: One other good thing about asset reliability is the development of office circumstances for upkeep staff. By lowering the probability of apparatus failures, workplaces keep away from accidents and accidents related to sudden tools failures.
- Smarter asset administration: The continual monitoring of belongings by way of an EAM or APM method to enhancing asset reliability generates insights into present and future (anticipated) asset states that enhance the decision-making capabilities of upkeep managers.
Discover asset reliability options
Asset reliability will depend on a powerful, coordinated method to asset administration that includes the newest technological options accessible. The IBM Maximo Application Suite is a totally built-in platform that helps firms enhance asset reliability by way of higher upkeep operations.
IBM Maximo permits the evolution of timed scheduling upkeep to condition-based, predictive upkeep knowledgeable by real-time insights. It has a confirmed monitor document of serving to enterprises enhance asset efficiency, prolong asset lifespan and cut back prices and downtime.
Learn more about IBM Maximo Application Suite