The RCM analysis method has been described in detail in Chapter 3. The relationship between the RCM analysis, a larger RCM programme and an RCM maintenance philosophy has been discussed in Chapter 2. This chapter considers those elements of an RCM programme that are necessary to evaluate and implement the RCM analysis results at the plant. Specifically, these elements are:
(1) RCM project organization and staffing;
(2) evaluation and implementation of RCM recommendations by plant staff;
(3) the RCM living programme.
Not explicitly included in this report is a discussion of the interface of the RCM analysis with other plant programmes, such as optimization of spare parts, plant life extension and ageing, root cause analysis programme, maintenance personnel training, plant information systems and others. These interfaces can be, on a project specific basis, desirable or necessary. They are, however, beyond the scope of this report.
4.2. PROJECT ORGANIZATION
The successful achievement and implementation of an RCM project requires the co-operative efforts from both the management and from a multidisciplinary team. The project organization differs depending upon the size of the utility, the resources available and the maintenance history. There are no fixed rules to define a project organization.
However, in all existing and living project organizations a multidisciplinary team includes the following staff:
maintenance experts;
operations experts;
system engineering experts;
reliability engineering experts;
I&C experts;
computer services expert.
Experienced personnel are required to perform accurate and complete RCM analysis. Having experienced personnel of each discipline will:
allow concurrence of analysis;
ensure completeness of analysis;
document the collective knowledge of plant staff;
increase the chance to implement changes by providing strong justification.
Co-ordination of the RCM has to be handled by a project manager with extensive experience with the maintenance programme, who is knowledgeable about the history and operation and who has authority within the plant. The project 32
manager will have to co-ordinate either the internal or external resources to be sure of the coherence of all individual tasks with the overall project. On average, the project manager will have to co-ordinate between ten and twenty people full time or part time.
The project manager during the RCM analysis will also have to draw on expertise from skilled personnel when expert judgement is necessary.
The project manager has to keep to the schedule and the allocated budget.
He will be assisted by support personnel for the documentation of the project. In many project organizations an RCM review group or steering committee has been set up. It generally includes the senior manager and all the managers concerned. The scope of activity and responsibility of the RCM review group is found in three areas:
technical, interface and implementation.
The purpose of the technical review is to provide guidance and perspective based on the diversity and depth of experience of group members.
The purpose of the interface review is to achieve and promote internal communication of the project's scope and objectives.
The implementation review acts as a facilitator to ensure that changes made as a result of the RCM project are implemented as intended within the organization.
It will issue recommendations for training for new PM technologies.
Figure 4-1 shows the RCM project organization for the San Onofre station and Fig. 4-2 shows the organization of the Ginna RCM project team.
4.3. TASK IMPLEMENTATION
The RCM analysis leads to implementation of new or deletion of existing PM and monitoring activities. The modifications of the existing maintenance programme may lead to various situations.
Duplication of existing PM to similar equipment
This would imply incorporation of this additional task into the plant's maintenance programme.
Change of design
This ultimate situation will lead to the qualification of the new design, to writing new operating or maintenance procedures and eventually to changing the technical specifications.
Implementation of new PM
The implementation of new PM such as predictive maintenance based on vibration analysis, infrared thermography, or lube oil analysis, for instance, will have several impacts for the plant.
First, monitoring systems must be acquired if they are not available at the plant, or contracts have to be signed at servicing companies.
RCM STEEHNQ COMMtTTEE vn aumMT aaracOk MAJWflER
MMCTBWMCe HANAOEK CTATCN1BGHNOAU UAKAQR
tMCAi. I QM MAMTEHANCC MatCMML UAHMBR PHFOMAHGi HQKTOIVM AMD MUMUTY
HOMEOFBCE nOJECTIMNMEKt 8TAn>l
r
Fig. 4-1. San Onofre RCM project organization.
GtNNARCM PROJECT MANAGER MAINTENANCE PLANNING
AND SCHEDULING MANAGER
GINNA TECHNICAL SUPPORT
• MAINTENANCE MANAGER -SECTION FOREMEN
RCM REVIEW GROUP
- CHAIRMAN • SUPT. OF SUPPORT SERVICES - OTHER CORP. MANAGERS
GINNA ANALYSTS - I&C PM ANALYST -MECHPM ANALYST -ELEC.PM ANALYST
Fig. 4-2. Ginna RCM project organization.
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Secondly, the maintenance personnel must be trained to be able to diagnose a degradation of the equipment condition by parameter trending.
Trending will permit a change in the current maintenance philosophy. The data trending requires a database which will integrate all the data available on each component, including the baseline date. When the current data indicate unacceptable trends or abnormal values, the condition reflected by the deviation will dictate the maintenance actions. This situation implies a change in plant culture.
Environment Qualification (ECO
This can be in conflict with the RCM recommendations and these conflicts will require additional review needing extra measures and time.
The key to a successful implementation of the RCM programme relies on the perfect knowledge of the final goals of the RCM, whatever the position of the plant personnel in the organizational chart.
Implementation of maintenance history database
In order to measure the effectiveness of RCM, data collection related to maintenance activities will be organized to fit with the RCM analysis. This implies a modification of the structure of the maintenance sheet, a dedicated computerized database to derive performance indicators and also a special training of maintenance personnel which will ease the integration and the acceptance of the new maintenance philosophy.
4.4. RCM LIVING PROGRAMME
The RCM living programme is the structured set of methods and
requirements for maintaining the PM programme and the RCM analysis current after the recommendations of the RCM process are implemented.
The objectives of the living programme are:
(1) to monitor indicators of RCM effectiveness;
(2) to ensure that design changes, operating procedure changes and other plant changes are reflected as appropriate in PM programme changes;
(3) to track corrective maintenance experience to confirm that the bases for the RCM recommendations remain valid;
(4) to evaluate the impact on PM activities of new maintenance technologies;
(5) to maintain the RCM documentation current.
Achieving living programme objectives is essential to a successful RCM application. Without them, the PM programme is static and its effectiveness has not been confirmed. Without information feedback and RCM programme updates, the plant staff will lack confidence in the appropriateness of the PM programme
activities, and the PM programme will eventually become obsolete.
Although no RCM living programme has yet been fully implemented and demonstrated to be effective, several programmes have been specified and are slated for implementation. Attributes of a potentially successful living programme are as follows:
RCM analysis documentation must be thorough and consistent among systems. Computerized databases and an analysis work station are highly desirable to facilitate updates and to ensure accuracy, consistency and completeness.
Responsibility and control of the programme must be clearly defined.
Reviews and updates must be timely and regularly scheduled.
Data on plant changes, procedure changes and operating experience must be easily retrievable and accessible to the persons responsible for the living programme.
Open items regarding RCM task implementation must be tracked and closed out through the living programme.
The task of monitoring and measuring RCM effectiveness presents a special challenge. Quantitative measures include trends or absolute values of such
parameters as:
(1) maintenance labour and material costs saved;
(2) change in total number of corrective maintenance tasks performed;
(3) change in forced outage rate due to maintenance;
(4) change in safety system unavailabilities.
These measures are not directly tied to RCM effectiveness, so considerable judgement is required to assess RCM effectiveness from these and any other
indicators.
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