Related Topics:

Introduction

RCM++ Features Overview

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.

Extensive Customization Options

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:

Flexible Tools to Facilitate Data Entry and Management

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:

Support for Large Multi-Level System Configurations

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.

Design for Reliability (DFR) Planner

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.

Risk Discovery Analysis

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.

Analysis Plans

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.

FMEA Block Diagrams (Boundary Diagrams)

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.

Flexible Capabilities for RCM Analysis

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.

Support for FMEA and Related Analyses

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).

Change Log

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.

Failure Modes and Reliability Analysis (FMRA)

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:

Comparing Maintenance Strategies Based on Cost and Availability

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.

Calculate the Optimum Replacement Interval

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.

Queries, Reports and Charts

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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