Maintenance Technology May 2015 - 12

DON'T PROCRASTINATE...INNOVATE

Ken Bannister, CMRP
Contributing Editor

Maintaining to the
Weakest Link, Part 1:
Weakness as a Desired State

efforts by recognizing, exposing,

undesirable state. With synonyms such as fragile,
frail, brittle and others, it's easy for a maintainer to
have a negative view of the term. Yet in the world
of machine design, weak links can be desirable,
purposely exploited and made an integral part of a
machine's design to 1) protect the more valuable or
precise aspects of the machine design; 2) make the
machine design more universal and adaptable for
the end-user; and 3) reduce costs.
Rarely will a maintenance organization have
had input into the design of the machines in their
charge. Instead, most have to develop a maintenance approach based on the often inadequate
and subjectively worded maintenance manual (if
one exists) and the sum experience of the planner
or maintainer writing the machine maintenance
plan. In this first part of our examination of weak
links, we will look at the various aspects of machine
design and learn how to recognize and take
advantage of those that are built-in.

understanding and exploiting

Using weak links to achieve reliability

emember the television game show
Weakest Link? Its authoritarian host Anne
Robinson specialized in shaming failing
contestants with the words, "You are the
weakest link, goodbye!" Unlike the TV show, which
is designed to provoke disharmony among team
members and negatively exploit the knowledge
gaps of its contestants, the asset-management world
cannot afford to be so dismissive. It can however,
take an innovative approach toward improvement
by recognizing, exposing, understanding and
exploiting weak links in a positive manner.

Those of us in the asset-management
world can improve our reliability

weak links in a positive manner.

When weakness is desired
Innovation springs to the forefront when we are
open and able to reframe our viewpoint. For
example, by not accepting such adages as "we
have always done it this way," and scrutinizing a
perceived problem that might otherwise have been
ignored is an opportunity to be seized upon! When
looking to increase a maintenance organization's
effectiveness, it's important to identify and address
weak links in the organization's culture and team
dynamics, as well as in the maintenance system and
approach to performing asset management.
Most readers will naturally consider "weak" an

12 |

MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY

Reliability of any machine is primarily achieved
by performing the simplest of maintenance
observations and tasks based on its weakest links.
Often thought of as "nuisance" or "pain" points,
weak links are instantly identifiable as the parts
on the machine that always need to be replaced
or adjusted or opened and closed. Identifying and
focusing your proactive maintenance approach on
these items is a fast and effective way to assure asset
reliability with minimum cost, maximum uptime/
throughput and minimum energy use.
Weak links primarily present themselves in two
formats: consumables and adjustables.
Consumables are the machine items designed to
wear out over time and be replaced with like-forlike items. Consumables are relatively inexpensive
sacrificial products designed to provide machine
functions and protect vital machine systems or

MAY 2015

Maintenance Technology May 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Maintenance Technology May 2015