On the other hand, if pump C fails while pump B is still
working (for instance if someone cannibalises a part from
C), it is likely that the operators will not even know that
C has failed unless or until B also fails. To guard against
this possibility, a sensible maintenance strategy might be
to run C from time to time to find out whether it has failed.
This example shows how three identical assets can
have three totally different maintenance policies, because
the failure consequences are different in each case.
• maintenance tasks: different organisations – or even different parts of the same organisation – seldom employ
people with identical skillsets. This means that people
working on one asset may prefer to use one type of proactive technology (say high-tech condition monitoring) to
anticipate failure, while another group working on an identical asset may be more comfortable using another
(say a combination of performance monitoring and the
human senses). It is surprising how often this does not
matter, as long as the techniques chosen are cost-effective.
In fact, many maintenance organisations are starting to
realize that there is often more to be gained from ensuring
that the people doing the work are comfortable with what
they are doing than it is to compel everyone to do the same
thing. (The validity of different tasks is also affected by the
operating context of each asset. For instance, think how
background noise levels affect checks for noise.)
All of this means that special care must be taken to ensure
that the operating context, functions and desired standards
of performance are all virtually identical before applying
a maintenance policy designed for one asset to another