Machines Only Stop Working After Their Parts Fail

Email: info@lifetime-reliability.
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Website: www.lifetime-reliability.com
Machines only Stop Working after their Parts Fail

Abstract:
Machines only Stop Working after their Parts Fail. The level of care given to an equipment item
depends directly on the size of business risk if it fails. Reduce the chance of its failure and you
increase its reliability. It becomes vital to know the full range of risks each part within an
equipment item will suffer. The right asset management strategy starts by knowing which parts are
at risk and it is completed when the necessary actions to prevent all failures are in use. Asset
Management that does not identify all the risks to equipment parts when selecting equipment
maintenance and operating strategies will get you doing the wrong work.
Keywords: maintenance strategy selection, failure prevention, asset management strategy
How do you get high equipment reliability, low maintenance costs and world class production
uptime? We know those outcomes are the result of applying the right practices across the asset life
cycle and that you need to design your business systems to intentionally deliver them. If you want
world class operational performance you cannot have it by accident or luck. To have highly reliable
production plant, machines and equipment it is necessary to ensure that they do not fail, and are not
failed, from their operating circumstances.
Figure 1 shows a typical electric motor drive end bearing and housing assembly. From the drawing
we can construct the flow chart of how it works. The diagram for the drive end bearing and housing
is shown in Figure 1. The flow chart makes it clear that the motor is made of a chain of parts strung
together. All machines are designed and built in the same way—parts put together in long series.
This is an arrangement at high risk of ruin and it explains why high reliability is so difficult to get—
break a part, any part along the chain, and the whole machine fails.
Figure 1 – Every Machine is a Long Chain of Parts
C:\Users\Mike\Documents\Lifetime Reliability\LRS Maintenance Methodology\Machines_only_Stop_Working_after_their_Parts_Fail.docx Page 1

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Reliability engineering analysis tells us that the failure rate of machines is the sum of the failure rate
of the parts. Figure 2 represents a 3-part machine and shows how the machine failure rate is the
addition of its individual parts’ failure rate.
Figure 2 – A Machine’s Failure Fate is the Sum of Its Parts Failure Rates
Figure 3 shows the three parts failure history and the effect it has on the machine downtime. First a
part fails and then the machine stops. The secret to world class reliability success is in the last
sentence—prevent a machine’s parts from failing and you will create a highly reliable machine. The
machine failure rate has the naming convention ROCOF—Rate of Occurrence of Failure.
Figure 3 – A Machine Fails because its Parts First Fail

When the working parts are not failed the machine continues to operate. When the working parts
fail the machine is stopped. The message to take-away is simple and clear—if you want to create a
reliable machine then stop its working parts from failing. A working part is a component, including
lubricant, which must be present for the equipment to function properly and faithfully meet its duty.
Most reasons machine parts fail are indicated for the ‘bathtub’ curve of Figure 4. Every time the
‘chain’ of parts is broken (any part, anyhow, anytime) a machine dies. Mostly parts fail because
poor business processes do not prevent materials-of-construction over-stress and/or stop human
error. Plant and equipment failures are no accident; your machines are sent to their deaths 1.
Figure 4 – Parts are failed for only a Few Reasons, though each has Many Causes
Select Operating and Maintenance Strategy that Prevent the Risk of Parts Failure
A highly reliable machine needs strategies and practices across its life-cycle that reduces the chance
of its parts failing in operation. When you keep working parts in top condition you make machines
reliable. This makes the aim of your operating and maintenance strategy twofold:
1. First create the right conditions inside your machinery and equipment for their working parts to
naturally have long, reliable and productive lives by removing all risks of over-stress.
2. Secondly, proactively keep the conditions of working parts to within their ideal operating
envelope by putting in-place the right reliability practices and preventing human error.
Where these two requirements cannot be achieved failure and maintenance result.
Intentionally create the exact situations that make the working parts in your machines live for a very
long time. You will see a huge growth in production plant availability when you introduce the
causes of reliability. Figure 5 shows the very few activities to focus on to stop equipment failures.
You make machines highly reliable by using your business management systems, maintenance
strategies and operating practices to deliver sure, failure-free operation. Teach your people exactly
how to cause reliability, document it precisely and refresh that education regularly.
1
Bennett, Rod, ’Machines don’t die;… they’re murdered!’, SIRFRt Condition Monitoring National Forum, 8th – 11th August 2006, Practices Leader
Condition Monitoring, Silcar, Australia
Figure 5 – We Know Exactly How to Control and Prevent Equipment Failure
The effect will be like that shown in Figure 6 where machine failure rates fall as fewer and fewer
parts are put at risk of failure.
Figure 6 – Prevent Parts from Failing and You Create Equipment Reliability
Identifying Parts at Risk
To identify the parts at risk of failure in your equipment you only need the parts drawings and Bill
of Materials (BOM) like those shown in Figures 7 and 8.
Figure 7 – Exploded Parts Drawing
On the BOM parts list you identify the working parts that can fail and the types of failure causes
that they can suffer—error, induced stress, and wear-and-tear. Once you know the risks and where
they will come from you use your business management systems to prevent them from happening.
Figure 8 – Bill of Materials Identifying Failure Types for Working Parts

Focus on Prevention Instead of Cure
The end we want is to achieve a very particular outcome for our plant, machines and equipment—
long, failure-free operating lives. Using predictive strategies like reliability modelling, condition
monitoring and preventive maintenance are necessary but poor ways to care for machines and
equipment because they permit their failure. They are not failure prevention strategies. They are
maintenance and repair strategies that need failures to exist for them to be used and their use invites
countless outages to replace failing parts and to fix frequent breakdowns. You will achieve far
greater reliability more quickly by focusing your effort, time and money on preventing the risks that
cause equipment failure than by looking for failures starting and then correcting the problems.
Figure 9 shows the defect prevention strategy to adopt for long-lived, highly reliable equipment—
remove the causes of failure by providing the ideal conditions for outstanding parts reliability.
Figure 9 – Prevent Machine Failures by Preventing the Risk of Failures for Working Parts
Conclusion
Machines intentionally need be treated in the right ways that produce failure-free operation. It
requires designing life-cycle business processes that remove the risks of failure to the ‘chain-of-
parts’ in your machines by making sure every working components in your plant, machinery and
equipment are actively given the necessary conditions for low-stress, error-free operation. Identify
the design, operational and maintenance activities that produce high parts reliability and then build
business process to deliver them successfully to your operating plant and equipment. Work on
removing the risks to the ‘chain-of-parts’ in your machines so they cannot break.
My best regards to you,
Mike Sondalini
www.lifetime-reliability.com

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Email: info@lifetime-reliability.

Keywords: maintenance strategy selection, failure prevention, asset management strategy

Figure 1 – Every Machine is a Long Chain of Parts

C:\Users\Mike\Documents\Lifetime Reliability\LRS Maintenance Methodology\Machines_only_Stop_Working_after_their_Parts_Fail.docx Page 1

Figure 3 – A Machine Fails because its Parts First Fail

C:\Users\Mike\Documents\Lifetime Reliability\LRS Maintenance Methodology\Machines_only_Stop_Working_after_their_Parts_Fail.docx Page 2

Figure 5 – We Know Exactly How to Control and Prevent Equipment Failure

Identifying Parts at Risk

of Materials (BOM) like those shown in Figures 7 and 8.

Figure 7 – Exploded Parts Drawing

Figure 8 – Bill of Materials Identifying Failure Types for Working Parts

C:\Users\Mike\Documents\Lifetime Reliability\LRS Maintenance Methodology\Machines_only_Stop_Working_after_their_Parts_Fail.docx Page 5

Focus on Prevention Instead of Cure

My best regards to you,

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