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This topic provides a brief overview of the major analysis, data management and reporting capabilities provided by RCM++.
You can also review an introduction to the Synthesis Platform.
As described in the Project Properties Window topic, RCM++ provides predefined profiles for all major reporting standards, which makes it easy to configure the analysis workspace to fit any of the supported standards. In addition, the software offers flexible capabilities to customize any of the sample profiles or create your own profiles to meet the specific needs of your organization. Some of the configuration options include the ability to:
Define the data fields you want to capture and display.
Set the classifications, categories and other drop-down lists throughout the software.
Define the logic that will be used for RCM equipment selection, failure effect categorization and maintenance task selection.
Determine the rating scales and other criteria that will be used for risk assessment.
RCM++’s unparalleled capabilities for finding and using data from existing analyses, templates or phrase libraries can help to speed up and improve the quality of your analyses. These flexible ways to utilize existing data can save time on data entry and help to ensure consistency among analyses. They also provide a powerful brainstorming tool. Some of RCM++’s most useful features for data entry and management include:
Cut/Copy/Paste or Drag and Drop: RCM++ makes it easy to copy or move data within and between analyses.
Import/Export via Excel: You can define your own custom templates for importing and exporting data via Microsoft Excel® files.
Import from Database or Template: You can browse for data from an existing analysis or predefined template and then automatically import selected records.
Import Existing: You can use up to three search terms to query for data from existing analyses or predefined templates and then automatically import selected records. For example, the utility can provide a list of failure modes that have been associated with a functional failure that contains the word "leak."
Select Existing: For any text field within the software, RCM++ provides easy access to a list of existing descriptions from specified data sources. Each list can be sorted automatically or filtered to match specific search criteria. For example, the utility can provide a list of failure modes that contain the word "fatigue."
Find and Replace: The flexible Find and Replace utility provides a quick and easy way to find and update specific text, dates, numbers or selections from drop-down lists.
Links and Attachments: The ability to link or attach independent files to any record in your analysis makes it easy to keep related information (such as flowcharts, design drawings, reliability analysis files, procedure instructions, etc.) together with the rest of the analysis.
RCM++’s flexible system hierarchy interface allows you to manage large, multi-level system configurations with as many levels as you need (and any number of items per level). You can fully define the properties for each item (e.g., supplier, part number, expected operating environment, etc.) and perform RCM, FMEA and related analyses at any level within the system configuration (e.g., system, subsystem and/or component).
You have the option to import system configuration data from an outside file (e.g., Bill of Materials) or use built-in features to build the configuration "from scratch" within the software.
RCM++’s new DFR planner allows you to track and manage the stages in the Design for Reliability (DFR) process for a particular system, assembly or component. You can configure the plan templates to fit particular processes and needs. You can also utilize RCM++’s powerful action management capabilities to keep track of the DFR activities that need to be performed by different members of the team.
The risk discovery feature provides a choice of two configurable methods for the preliminary analysis that will help you choose which items should receive more detailed consideration via FMEA (e.g., a change point analysis or preliminary risk assessment). The first option allows you to answer a series of yes/no questions and the second option allows you to assign ratings for a variety of different factors and then calculate an overall criticality value for each item.
The Analysis Plan utility allows you to keep track of team members, ground rules, estimated completion dates, scheduled work sessions and other details that will help you to plan and manage your analysis projects. The software makes it easy to generate a high-level overview of all pending analysis projects and also to generate a report for each individual project plan.
An FMEA Block diagram (or Boundary Diagram) can help to define the scope of a particular analysis project and also may provide additional information that will be useful to the analysis team when they attempt to identify potential failure modes. If you don't have existing diagram files that you wish to attach to the project, RCM++ provides a utility that allows you to build these diagrams and store them together with your RCM and FMEA analyses.
As described in RCM Analysis, RCM++ provides flexible support for each aspect of your RCM analysis project, from selecting the equipment to creating the final maintenance plan.
Equipment Selection: In order to focus resources where they can provide the greatest benefit, RCM++ supports two configurable methods for selecting the equipment that will be analyzed with RCM techniques. The first option allows you to answer a series of yes/no questions and the second option allows you to assign ratings for a variety of different factors and then calculate an overall criticality value for each item.
Functional Failure Analysis: The Analysis panel offers three complementary views of the information in your functional failure analyses. It is easy to switch back and forth between the views so you can choose the display that is best suited for each specific task.
The hierarchy view, which displays the analysis records in a hierarchical tree, tends to be good for viewing a lot of information in a small amount of space. It can be especially useful when copying and pasting data or when scanning the analysis to find a particular section.
The worksheet view, which follows the traditional tabular reporting format that most RCM and FMEA practitioners are familiar with, allows you to type directly into the worksheet cells and tab through the analysis as you would in a spreadsheet application, such as Microsoft Excel.
The filtered view presents a sortable list of all records of a particular type. For example, you may wish to see all task records sorted by type. This view allows you to generate these lists on-the-fly as you work on the analysis.
Failure Effect Categorization and Maintenance Task Selection: RCM++ supports the failure effect categorization (FEC) and maintenance task selection logic charts in the major industry RCM standards and also provides the ability to customize the questions, categories and task types to fit your own specific analysis procedures.
Scheduled Task Packaging: RCM++ makes it easy to group individual tasks into packages based on factors such as interval or labor crew. You can manually assign a task to the appropriate maintenance package or allow the software to automatically group tasks based on the criteria that you have specified for each package. Greatly expanded and enhanced in the Synthesis version, this tool now makes it easier to experiment with different intervals and provides a graphical chart to help you visualize the packages that are under consideration.
RCM++ also provides a complete set of features for FMEA and related analyses, which can be used independently (e.g., use RCM for some equipment and FMEA for other equipment) or integrated with any RCM analysis (e.g., incorporate the RPN method as an additional tool for evaluating risk).
Risk Priority Numbers (RPNs): RCM++ automatically calculates RPNs and also supports related metrics, including SxO (Severity x Occurrence), SOD (Severity, Occurrence, Detection) and SD (Severity, Detection). In addition, the flexible Priority Highlights feature can be configured to categorize issues based on criteria established by your organization and then highlight issues based on this prioritization. RCM++ is shipped with an extensive array of predefined rating scales for Severity, Occurrence and Detection and also allows you to create and manage your own rating scales.
Criticality Analysis: RCM++ provides full support for quantitative criticality analysis or qualitative criticality analysis patterned after MIL-STD-1629A.
Tracking the Completion of Recommended Actions: One of the most costly mistakes among FMEA practitioners is the failure to properly follow up and track the completion of recommended actions. As described in the FMEAs topic, RCM++ provides multiple features that will help to ensure that your organization implements the actions identified during the FMEA project so that you can achieve the benefits that come from improving the design and reducing the risk. This includes the ability to send notification e-mails to the person who is responsible for completing an action and others who may need to stay informed about the progress. In addition, the My Portal window also displays a list of actions that may be of interest to the user and makes it easy to open and edit these records with a simple double-click.
Design Verification Plan and Report (DVP&R): The DVP&R tab in the Analysis panel provides a configurable worksheet for design verification plans and reports (DVP&Rs). You can create each plan from scratch or transfer data from the FMEA that has been defined for the same item. For example, you may wish to transfer the controls (and perhaps some recommended actions) from the design FMEA (DFMEA) to be the starting point for the new DVP&R.
Transfer Design FMEA to Process FMEA: You can leverage existing knowledge by automatically transferring relevant data from the design FMEA (DFMEA) to provide the starting point for a new process FMEA (PFMEA). For example, the causes of failure that have been identified for your design can be transferred as failure modes to consider when analyzing the manufacturing process. RCM++’s flexible Transfer Projects utility allows you to specify what information will be transferred and how it will be "mapped" to the new analysis.
Process Flow Diagram (PFD) Worksheet: A process flow diagram (PFD) provides a logical, visual depiction of the process that is being analyzed. As described in the PFD Worksheets topic, the Synthesis version now allows you to integrate the diagram into a worksheet that captures more specific details about each step in the process. This worksheet records the specific operations that are performed and also starts to identify the key product/process characteristics that need to be kept under control during manufacturing. RCM++ makes it easy to automatically transfer relevant data to the process FMEA (PFMEA) and process control plan (PCP).
Process Control Plan (PCP): The Control Plan tab in the Analysis panel provides a configurable worksheet for process control plans (PCPs). You can create each plan from scratch or transfer data from the FMEA that has been defined for the same item. For example, you may wish to transfer the process steps (i.e., items or functions) and current controls from the process FMEA (PFMEA) to be the starting point for the new process control plan.
Design Review Based on Failure Mode (DRBFM): The DRBFM tab in the Analysis panel provides a configurable worksheet for design reviews based on failure mode (DRBFMs). Developed within Toyota Motor Corporation, this methodology uses a modified version of the FMEA worksheet to evaluate proposed changes to an existing design. RCM++’s DRBFM worksheet provides two views of the analysis, one for the design engineer to prepare the initial draft of the analysis and one for the entire review team to expand on the initial draft and identify appropriate corrective actions. The software also provides the option to import selected functions from the FMEA that has been defined for the same item and also allows you to transfer selected data from the DRBFM to append to the existing FMEA.
When an authorized user activates the change log for a particular RCM analysis, FMEA or DVP&R analysis, the software records a history of the specific changes that were made in each tracked revision to the analysis since the log was activated. Depending on your selections, the log can record the date/time of the change, the user who made the change, the property that was changed, the value before, the value after and the reason (or justification) that the user provided at the time of the change. If desired, this utility also can be used to store an electronic record of the users who have reviewed and approved each version of the analysis.
You can use the failure modes and reliability analysis (FMRA) to integrate statistical reliability analysis calculations into your RCM and FMEA activities. Specifically, this view can be used to:
Display all of the FMEA records that could have an impact on system reliability/maintainability in a single hierarchical tree, and use this view to define the relevant reliability characteristics.
Calculate the probabilities of failure required for a quantitative criticality analysis.
Use the occurrence ratings that have been defined in the FMEA to generate a preliminary baseline reliability estimate for the system that can be improved later when actual failure data becomes available.
Integrate with BlockSim’s reliability block diagrams (RBDs) or fault trees, which facilitate more realistic system modeling (e.g., consider redundancy, common cause failures, etc.).
Even when you choose to use the predefined decision logic diagrams employed by traditional RCM methods, those guidelines still require the analysis team to utilize their knowledge of the equipment's failure behavior when making decisions about the appropriate maintenance strategy. RCM++ provides built-in simulation and calculation engines to help with these assessments.
Choose from a Variety of Statistical Distributions to Describe the Failure Behavior
When you use an MTBF or failure rate to describe the equipment's failure behavior, you are assuming that failures occur at a constant rate regardless of the age of the equipment (i.e., an exponential distribution). Other statistical distributions are more appropriate for situations where the failure behavior varies with time, as in the case of infant morality or wearout. RCM++ allows you to more accurately describe the probability of failure by providing a choice of ten distributions (including, but not limited to, the lognormal, exponential and all forms of the Weibull distribution). Integration with ReliaSoft's Weibull++, ALTA and BlockSim software tools makes it possible to obtain the failure time distribution and parameters from an existing data analysis or RBD/fault tree. The software also provides the Quick Parameter Estimation (QPE) utility to help you estimate the distribution parameters based on limited information.
Comparing Maintenance Strategies Based on Cost and Availability
When a failure mode does not involve hazardous consequences that require a conservative prevention strategy, the analysis team may wish to choose the maintenance approach that will provide adequate availability with the lowest operational costs. RCM++ makes it possible to simulate the operation of the equipment with different potential maintenance strategies in order to estimate the expected failures for each scenario and calculate the Average Availability, Cost per Uptime and Total Operating Cost.
There are two requirements that must be met for preventive replacement of an item to be worthwhile: The reliability must get worse with time and the cost of the planned preventive replacement must be less than the cost of unplanned corrective maintenance. When both of these requirements are met, RCM++ provides a utility to automatically calculate the optimum replacement interval that will minimize the corrective and preventive maintenance costs. You now have the option to calculate the optimum time for an individual item, or to calculate a time that will be optimum for a specified group of items.
Of course, RCM++ makes it easy to generate report output in the tabular worksheet format that is commonly used for RCMs, FMEAs and related analyses. However, since all of the analysis information is stored in a relational database, RCM++ is able to go beyond these basic worksheets to provide a complete range of options for presenting the data in ways that will effectively communicate results and facilitate decision-making.
The Reports window provides a set of predefined report forms and also allows you to build and manage your own report templates. You can use this flexible tool to build a complete report document that will be generated in Microsoft Word or Excel.
The Query Utility allows you to search the project or database for the records that meet your specific search criteria. Since you also have the option to specify which data fields will be included in the tabular results and the order of the columns, this utility also functions as another flexible custom reporting tool. Query results can be exported directly to Microsoft Excel and you can also integrate saved queries into the documents that you create via the Reports window.
The Plot Viewer provides an array of flexible options for you to create attractive graphical charts based on analysis data. These charts can be saved or copied as graphic files (*.wmf, *.jpg, *.gif or *.png) that can be inserted into other document files.
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