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Posts Tagged ‘Understanding’

In most industries, maintenance and operations hold meetings everyday to discuss what had failed, and sometimes what is done to stop it from happening. In Proactive Maintenance, it is likely to identify all failure modes which are likely to affect the asset in order to determine what will happen when a failure occurs and what should be done to anticipate prevention, detection, prediction or redesigning the equipment.

Proactive Maintenance is about analyzing why failures occur so that recurrence is finally eliminated and thereby extending the life of the part or component of a machine. Proactive Maintenance is when maintenance team or a group of cross functional team analyzes the failure with analytical techniques such as Root Cause Failure Analysis, FMEA, Kepner Tregoe, Why-why Analysis, P-M Analysis, Fault tree Analysis, etc. are used to better understand why the failure occurred in the first place.

Remember that in Preventive Maintenance, we replace the part that we think is in the process of wearing out. In this type of maintenance task, we think that replacing the part will bring the equipment back to its original condition. But we have not taken into account the need to analyze further why a certain part keeps on failing.

In Proactive Maintenance, we need to understand the following concepts:

1. Redesign or modification. Includes changing the specification of the component, adding a new item, replacing an entire machine with a different type, relocating a machine or changing the process or procedure which affects the operation of the machine

2. Safety and Environmental Aspects. Reduce the probability of failure mode occurring to a level which is acceptable, replacing a component with stronger or more reliable replacement making the failure no longer a threat to safety and environment.

3. Operational and non-operation consequences. Reduce the number of times failure occurs, reduce or eliminate the consequences of a failure (example thru redundancy) and preventive tasks is cost effective hence alternate solution is to re-design.

Before a machine is to be re-designed, we must first understand several factors to be considered. First, the failure must have involved a major operational consequence. Second, the cost of the scheduled maintenance or breakdown maintenance must be high. Third, the specific cost which can be eliminated by the design change is notable. Forth, the design should have no harmful effects which can be generated afterwards. Fifth, there should be an economic trade off study on expected cost savings when re-design is made. And lastly, the asset to stay or to be used for a long time and not will be decommissioned.

Trouble shooting as in the case of Reactive Maintenance is no longer an effective strategy. In today’s competitive works, the “Analysis” finds the real solutions. And thus, Proactive Maintenance is a must!

Online computer troubleshooting is rapidly becoming the most demanded online service on the World Wide Web. Its popularity clearly shows that many people are suffering the annoyance and trouble of unresponsive computer programs, software or virus corrupted files. The convenience of online computer services made professional and technical computer problem diagnosis and troubleshooting accessible to all.Common computer problemsDo you hear strange noises and vibrations coming from your desktop computer or laptop? Chances are you have a hardware issue. Overheating can damage the wires and other sensitive components of your computer. Hearing whining and squealing sounds is never a good sign. With regard to computer operations, waiting too long for your folders or computer applications to open is a sign of software problems. This can result from a lack of maintenance, a corrupted registry, spyware, or too many programs running on your computer at the same time. Locked up and unresponsive windows are also commonly experienced. Of course, there is always the blue screen of death. At the first sign of computer problems, you should get online computer troubleshooting services to quickly restore smooth operations.How does online computer troubleshooting work?With online computer services, websites usually require clients and potential customers to complete a list of their computer problems.

This way, they can recommend the type of computer troubleshooting service as well as provide clients with the estimated cost of that service. In some cases, online service providers may even recommend alternatives to the troubleshooting job so as to recommend the best course of action. Based on the information provided, online technicians can provide clients with educated alternatives for a preferred solution to the clients computer problems. This is particularly helpful when considering repairs over replacement of computer parts, thus giving clients more control over their repair and service expenses.Regardless of the type of computer problem you have, online computer troubleshooting services providers will provide you with professional on-site technicians that can perform all the necessary fixes, adjustments and configurations in restoring smooth and normal computing operations.Advantages of online computer troubleshootingOnline computer services basically cater to a wider range of client base. They make necessary computer repairs and tweaks accessible regardless of your location. Using their website, they can easily organize and file relevant information considering your computer operating problems. When needed, the on-site computer troubleshooting provided by these services eliminates the hassles of packing and carrying the bulk your computer cables and hardware to their shop. This sure saves time, money, and gas. In addition, since you are provided with a professional computer technician, his expertise can help protect your computer and prevent future operating problems. Aside from providing the services you require, they raise your confidence that your computers will become more reliable and efficient and deliver better performance.With the professional services provided by online computer troubleshooting technicians, you enjoy the benefits or having convenient, faster, cheaper, and more practical computer repair solutions that can bring your computer back to its top working condition in no time.

Reactive Maintenance is done at a point when there is a repair or actual breakdown. It occurs when repair action is taken on a problem only when the problem results in machine’s failure. Unplanned downtime, in it’s simplest definition, breakdown maintenance simply means fixing when it fails. It is a strategy which tells us that when a machine fails, then it is time for maintenance to fix it. Limitations of breakdowns maintenance is that it is cause unplanned downtime and production delays which results in revenue losses and extending the maintenance of work overtime to fix the equipment. Repairing the equipment after it fails usually creates the possibility of secondary damage which increase the maintenance cost. Allowing failures to occur can be applied to the asset if the consequences of failure and the cost of repair is minimal and acceptable to both the user and maintenance.

The common mind set of maintenance personnel is that “if isn’t broke, don’t fix it. And when it breaks, will fix it”. When this is the sole type of maintenance practice, then the consequences involves the high percentage of unplanned activities, high replacement and parts inventories and high pressure to keep the equipment running. A pure reactive maintenance strategy ignores opportunities to influence equipment reliability and survivability. A justifiable instance includes if it does not produce critical delays, it does not sacrifice people’s safety and it does not significantly increase costs.

In Reactive Maintenance, we must consider the following:

1. “Run to fail” is valid if a failure is evident and does not affect safety or environment, or if it is hidden but does not affect safety or environment, then default decision is “not scheduled maintenance”. Run to fail maintenance is valid if suitable scheduled tasks cannot be found for hidden function. And a cost effective preventive task cannot be found for failures which have operational or non-operation consequences.

2. “Redundancy or standby”. Duplicating the system or component failures are allowed or being tolerated through redundant or duplicated functions.

3. “Alternative means”. The presence of redundancy or alternative means of production is a feature of the operating context which must be considered in detail when defining the functions of these assets in its present operating context. Often times termed as standby- unit, even with the same equipment type, standby-units have different degree of maintenance requirements as the duty unit and most failures for standby unit are hidden. To set an example, in civil aviation, a high number of items classified in the redundancy level allowing failure to happen. When the aircraft is in the air, back-ups are use just in case failure is experience when the plane is in motion. Since safety is the priority, failures are then allowed to happen.

In assessing a Reactive Maintenance task, the assessor should be guided accordingly; if the monitoring, scheduled maintenance or inspection required for safety or environmental compliance; if the breakdown will be more costly than the task or preventing the failure itself; if the equipment in the critical path in manufacturing or considered a bottleneck equipment or process; if the back-up equipment is not available; if the breakdown adversely affects delivery or customer service or provide any delays; and lastly, if the breakdown further damage the equipment or provide secondary damages. Then Reactive Maintenance is justified.

Predictive Maintenance aims in detecting potential failures in equipment with the aid of specialized instruments. Maintenance is based on the condition of the equipment which differentiates it from Preventive Maintenance.

To further illustrate the meaning of Predictive Maintenance, a person is gifted with five senses (touch, smell, taste, hear and sight). He can use these senses to detect problems on the equipment. Predictive Maintenance is also called Condition-based monitoring which checks the condition of equipment through the use of sophisticated measuring instruments with precision accuracy. Therefore Predictive Maintenance instruments are a higher form of human senses.

In Predective Maintenance, it takes into consideration the actual condition of the equipment when deciding whether maintenance is necessary. It requires a regular monitoring of critical equipment and predicts problems before they occur. Therefore, since all failures can be predicted, the user can establish a prognosis for the fault. The most important information here is to determine how rapidly the fault or failure is progressing, when it is likely to stop the machine from fulfilling its design function and what are the consequences of the failure itself.

According to Mirriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary, Predictive means to declare or indicate in advance, especially foretell on the basis of observation, experience or scientific reason. It is from Latin word pre (before) and dictionm also from Latin word dicare (to proclaim).

Predictive Maintenance is a maintenance activity geared to indicating where a piece of equipment is on the critical wear curve and predicting its useful life. This is done with the aid of specilized diagnostic instruments. Predictive Maintenance aids us in determining the potential failure or symptoms that an equipment is in the process of failing. Changes or increase in the following can denote a potential failure. Specialized diagnostic instruments can aid in detecting the following :

1. Changes in the heat or temperature of the equipment

2. Vibration of machines over time

3. For machine’s electrical system, we have changes in resistance, changes in conductivity and changes in dielectric strength

4. Increase in equipment’s noise

5. Change in the pressure input or output

6. Change in the machine’s flow rate

7. Lubricant contamination

8. Wall thickness decrement

9. Rate of corrosion

10. Leak detection

11. Crack detection

Our goal in maintenance is to keep our physical assets in an existing estate. Prediction is a declaration in advance that something is going to happen and from the dictionary, Predictive Maintenance is a proclamation or declaration in advance based on observation to preserve (something) from failure or sustain it against danger.

Management styles differ in the degree of dominance used in managerial decision making. There are managers, who are good listeners and facilitate the communication between management and employees being always ready to approve an alternative suggestion. On the other hand, there are managers, who slap their doors and disapprove in advance any idea, suggestion or inquiry from subordinates, especially if they feel it contradicts their own theories.

In economics, dominance is defined as “the degree of inequality in market share distribution”. In the social hierarchy of an organization, a dominant manager retains full control of the organization, as a result of individual charisma, his position within the system, and his influential personality. So, in a sense, a dominant manager denies any share of organizational success to his subordinates feeling that he should be the only one responsible for the strategic decision making.

To understand management styles, it is useful to investigate the continuum of managerial behavior. Unfolding an evolutionary scale of decreasing dominance, broke down in seven stages, the continuum of managerial behavior relates each action to a certain degree of authority provided by the manager to subordinates. From stage one to stage seven, the manager gradually allows the participation of subordinates to the strategic decision making by presenting ideas or tentative solutions and inviting questions and suggestions.

In particular:

1/ The Autocrat Manager

An autocrat manager defines the problem, considers possible solutions, chooses the most appropriate one and announces it to subordinates. Acting as a ruler having unlimited power, the autocrat manager denies any participation of the organizational members in the strategic decision making, while demanding all tasks and objectives to be performed exactly as requested. The communication pattern involved in this management style is mainly downward, from the manager to the subordinate, often resulting in employee demoralization and high dependence on managerial supervision. On the other hand, by causing fear and discipline to subordinates with his despotic style, the autocrat manager retains full control of the business processes ensuring that organizational goals are met.

2/ The Authoritarian Manager

Similarly to the autocrat manager, the authoritarian manager defines the problem, considers possible solutions, and chooses the most appropriate one. Yet, instead of announcing it to subordinates, the manager tries to persuade them to accept the decision while eliminating them from strategic decision making. The manager, diplomatically, yet authoritatively, tries to “sell” the decision to the organization. In any case though, authoritarian management diminishes the substance of people operating under the assumption that people have to be pushed and always told what to do to get the best possible results from them.

3/ The Bureaucratic manager

The Bureaucratic manager presents ideas and invites questions before decisions are made. Through the establishment of strong lines of authority and control, the bureaucratic manager   develops clearly defined and specialized functions and detailed standard operating procedures (SOPs) for all routine tasks. Using the minimum absolute power, he serves the firm and tries hard to meet organizational objectives through the use of legal authority and written rules and procedures. Employee performance on bureaucratic management is measured based on the rate of consistency to the survival and growth of the organization, while promotions are based on competence leading to clearly defined career paths.

4/ The Laissez Faire Manager

The Laissez Faire managerial style is placed at the midpoint of the dominance scale representing a zero balance between managerial domination and employee domination styles. Laissez Faire managers have been heavily criticized for avoiding too much interference in employee behavior.

All employees need guidance, and in addition, employees normally achieve a superior level of performance if they understand what the organization expects of them and why.

5/ The Democratic Manager

The Democratic manager gains his power from what determines to be the majority opinion. Democratic management seeks consensus with subordinates considering this to be the best way to portray the broadest range of resources and get the best results. Democratic managers believe that by addressing employee responsibility and showing confidence in their subordinates, they assist in employee and human development, which in the long run, might also mean less managing on the part of the manager. The democratic managerial style is the basic model of presenting problems and openly asks for suggestions, while a majority vote establishes the future of the firm.

6/ The Participative Manager

The Participative manager sets organizational limits, but he relies profoundly on groups and individuals within the firm for definitive decisions. Providing employees responsibility, accountability, and authority over their work, participative management improves employee performance and boosts organizational performance. To a degree, the Participative manager appears similar to the Democratic manager, but the two managerial styles are different. Participative management is based on incentive compensation system where employees have a stake in the business outcome. In addition, in participative management the group members are progressively gaining power over the requests of the group as an entity.

7/ The Humanist Manager

The Humanist manager sets individual happiness as the ultimate goal. In search of this goal, the organizational objectives are transferred to a subordinate position. In this stage, the manager both allows and requires organizational members to make decisions within prescribed limits, evoking a team scheme where the authority of the manager and the participation in the decision making is equal to the authority of the organizational members.

Regardless of fundamental or smaller differences between these seven managerial styles, managers are human beings, who cope with organizational complexity aiming to sustain a competitive advantage for the organization and to promote stability. In this context, their human nature certainly overpowers their managerial skills and aptitudes and sometimes even their MBA degrees. Reality is much more different than theory. Therefore, in the context of organizational reality and day-to-day routine tasks, apart from the theoretical parameters that define a managerial style, the cognitive aspects of each individual are those that finally define a manager as democratic, authoritarian or humanist. And for these aspects only Organizational Psychology is suitable to provide explanations and answers.