Reliability-Centered Maintenance

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Introduction Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM) is the process of determining the most effective maintenance approach. The RCM philosophy employs Preventive Maintenance (PM), Predictive Maintenance (PdM), Real-time Monitoring (RTM1 ), Run-to-Failure (RTF- also called reactive maintenance) and Proactive Maintenance techniques in an integrated manner to increase the probability that a machine or component will function in the required manner over its design life cycle with a minimum of maintenance. The goal of the philosophy is to provide the stated function of the facility, with the required reliability and availability at the lowest cost. RCM requires that maintenance decisions be based on maintenance requirements supported by sound technical…show more content…
Accordingly, in 1960, a task force was formed consisting of representatives of both the airlines and the FAA to investigate the capabilities of preventive maintenance. The establishment of this task force subsequently led to the development of a series of guidelines for airlines and aircraft manufacturers to use, when establishing maintenance schedules for their aircraft. This led to the 747 Maintenance Steering Group (MSG) document MSG-1; Handbook: Maintenance Evaluation and Program Development from the Air Transport Association in 1968. MSG-1 was used to develop the maintenance program for the Boeing 747 aircraft, the first maintenance program to apply RCM concepts. MSG-2, the next revision, was used to develop the maintenance programs for the Lockheed L-1011 and the Douglas DC-10. The success of this program is demonstrated by comparing maintenance requirements of a DC-8 aircraft, maintained using standard maintenance techniques, and the DC-10 aircraft, maintained using MSG-2 guidelines. The DC-8 aircraft has 339 items that require an overhaul, verses only seven items on a DC-10. Using another example, the original Boeing 747 required 66,000 labour hours on major structural inspections before a major heavy inspection at 20,000 operating hours. In comparison, the DC-8 - a smaller and less…show more content…
RCM is Function Oriented – It seeks to preserve system or equipment function, not just operability for operability's sake. Redundancy of function, through multiple equipment, improves functional reliability, but increases life cycle cost in terms of procurement and operating costs. 2. RCM is System Focused – It is more concerned with maintaining system function than individual component

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