RELIABILITY CENTRED MAINTENANCE (RCM)
After being created by the commercial aviation industry, RCM was adopted by the U.S. military (beginning in the mid-1970s) and by the U.S. commercial nuclear power industry (in the 1980s). It began to enter other commercial industries and fields in the early 1990s.
Reliability-Centred Maintenance, often known as RCM, is an industrial improvement approach focused on identifying and establishing the operational, maintenance, and capital improvement policies that will manage the risks of equipment failure most effectively. It is defined by the technical standard SAE JA1011, Evaluation Criteria for RCM Processes.
Reliability centred maintenance is an engineering framework that enables the definition of a complete maintenance regime. It regards maintenance as the means to maintain the functions a user may require of machinery in a defined operating context.
As a discipline it enables machinery stakeholders to monitor, assess, predict and generally understand the working of their physical assets. This is embodied in the initial part of the RCM process which is to identify the operating context of the machinery, and write a Failure Mode Effects and Criticality Analysis, or FMECA. The second part of the analysis is to apply the "RCM logic", which helps determine the appropriate maintenance tasks for the identified failure modes in the FMECA. Once the logic is complete for all elements in the FMECA, the resulting list of maintenance is "packaged", so that the periodicities of the tasks are rationalised to be called up in work packages; it is important not to destroy the applicability of maintenance in this phase. Lastly, RCM is kept live throughout the 'in-service' life of machinery, where the effectiveness of the maintenance is kept under constant review and adjusted in light of the experience gained.
Reliability Centred Maintenance can be used to create a cost-effective maintenance strategy to address dominant causes of equipment failure. It is a systematic approach to defining a routine maintenance program composed of costeffective tasks that preserve important functions.
The important functions (of a piece of equipment) to preserve with routine maintenance are identified, their dominant failure modes and causes determined and the consequences of failure ascertained. Levels of criticality are assigned to the consequences of failure. Some functions are not critical and are left to "run to failure" while other functions must be preserved at all cost. Maintenance tasks are selected that address the dominant failure causes. This process can only address maintenance preventable failures, i.e. it cannot defend against unlikely events, non-predictable acts of nature, etc.
The result is a maintenance program that focuses scarce economic resources on those items that would cause the most disruption if they were to fail. RCM emphasizes the use of Predictive maintenance (PdM) techniques in addition to traditional preventive measures.
This is a method which can be used to determine the most effective approach to use of resources for medical devices maintenance. RCM involves identifying actions that, when taken, will reduce the probability of failure and that are the most cost effective. It seeks the optimal mix of Condition-Based actions, other Time- or Cycle-Based actions, or a Run-to-Failure approach. RCM is an ongoing process that gathers data on performance and uses this data to improve planning for future maintenance. These maintenance strategies, rather than being applied independently, are integrated to take advantage of their respective strengths to optimise departmental / equipment operation and efficiency within the given resource constraints.
The RCM method employs Planned Preventive Maintenance (PPM), Predictive Testing and Inspection (PT&I), repair (also called reactive maintenance) and Proactive Maintenance techniques in an integrated manner to increase the
probability that a medical device or component will function in the required manner over its design life-cycle. The goal of the method is to provide the required reliability and availability at the lowest cost. RCM requires that maintenance decisions be based on maintenance requirements supported by sound technical and economic justification. As with any method, there are many paths, or processes, which lead to a final goal. This is especially true for RCM where the consequences of failure can vary dramatically.
EBME has adopted a simplified approach to the traditional RCM processes practiced in some NHS Hospitals. Underlying EBME's RCM approach is the concept that maintenance actions should result in real benefits in terms of improved safety, required operational capability, and reduced life-cycle cost. It recognizes that unnecessary maintenance is counterproductive and costly and can lead to an increased chance of failure.
RCM PRINCIPLES The primary principles upon which RCM is based are the following:
Function oriented. It seeks to preserve system or equipment function. Device group focused. It is concerned with maintaining the overall functionality of a group of devices rather than an individual device Reliability centred. It uses failure statistics in an actuarial manner to look at the relationship between operating age and the failures. RCM is not overly concerned with simple failure rate; it seeks to know the probability of failure at specific ages. Acknowledges design limitations. Its objective is to maintain the inherent reliability of the equipment design, recognizing that changes in reliability are the province of design rather than maintenance. Maintenance can only achieve and maintain the level provided for by design. Driven by safety and economics. Safety must be ensured at any cost; thereafter, cost-effectiveness becomes the criterion. Defines failure as any unsatisfactory condition. Therefore, failure may be either a loss of function (operation ceases) or a loss of acceptable quality (operation continues). Uses a logic tree to screen maintenance tasks. This provides a consistent approach to the maintenance of all kinds of equipment.
Tasks must be applicable. The tasks must address the failure mode and consider the failure mode characteristics. Tasks must be effective. The tasks must reduce the probability of failure and be cost effective. Acknowledges two types of Maintenance tasks and Run-to- failure. The tasks are Interval (Time- or Cycle-)-Based and Condition-Based. In RCM, Run-to-Failure is a conscious decision and is acceptable for some equipment. A living system. It gathers data from the results achieved and feeds this data back to improve future maintenance. This feedback is an important part of the Proactive Maintenance element of the RCM program.
RCM analysis determines the type of maintenance appropriate for a given equipment item. It results in a decision of whether a particular piece of equipment should be reactively maintained ("Accept Risk" and "Install Redundant Units"), PM'ed ("Define PM Task and Schedule") or predicatively maintained ("Define PT&I Task and Schedule").
1. IDENTIFY THE FUNCTIONS. This step involves examining the capability or purpose of the device/system. Some items, such as a dyalysis pump, perform an on-line function (constantly circulating a fluid); their operational state can be determined immediately. Other items, such as a compressor sump pump, perform an off-line function (intermittently evacuating a fluid when its level rises); their condition can be ascertained only through an operational test or check. Functions may be active, such as pumping a fluid, or passive, such as containing a fluid. Also, functions may be hidden, in which case there is no immediate indication of a failure. This typically applies to an emergency or protective component such as a circuit breaker that operates only in case of a short circuit.
2. IDENTIFY FAILURES. The proactive approach to maintenance analysis identifies potential system failures and ways to prevent them. It, along with human observations during normal operations or maintenance tasks, also identifies pre-failure conditions that indicate
when a failure is imminent. (The latter is a basis for selecting PT&I applications.). The Database Maintenance Management System and work order form should include fields for failure codes in order to maintain historical data.
3. IDENTIFY THE CONSEQUENCES OF FAILURE. The most important consequence of failure is a threat to safety. Next is a threat to the environment or operating capability. The RCM analysis should pay close attention to the consequences of the failure of infrequently used, off-line equipment and hidden function failures (e.g. over-pressure sensors, over-temperature sensors). Also, it should consider the benefit (reduced consequences of a failure) of redundant systems.
4. IDENTIFY THE FAILURE PROCESS. Determining the methods and root causes of failures provides insight into ways to detect or avoid failures. The examination, which investigates the cause of the problem and not just its effect, should consider factors such as wear, overload, fatigue, or other processes.
VERIFY THE DEVICE GROUP/SYSTEM. Before efforts are expended on a system, it is important to verify that the system was installed or is being used correctly as originally intended by the design. This review of the Maintenance Support Information (MSI) may reveal the root cause of a past or anticipated problem. Although the existing design may have been correct, the installation, while functional, may have been improper or there may have been latent manufacturing defects. These deficiencies should be discovered and corrected during the acceptance process, before the equipment is given to the user. Changes in the intended use of equipment can also create problems leading to excessive wear and premature failure.
ACCEPT THE RISK. It may be that further safety or environmental precautions are not possible or that the economic or operational cost of a failure is insignificant or substantially less
than the cost of any effective maintenance procedure. In the former case, the accepted risk should be identified and quantified, and all parties concerned should be made aware of the risk and appropriate recovery procedures.
High risk devices: Life support, key resuscitation, critical monitoring and other devices whose failure or misuse is reasonably likely to seriously injure patients or staff. (Ventilators, defibs, anaesthetic machines) Medium risk devices: Device, including diagnostic instruments, whose misuse, failure or absence (e.g. out of service with no replacement available) would have a significant impact on patient care, but would not be likely to cause direct serious injury. (Clinical lab equip, Ultrasound scanners, ECG) Low risk: Devices whose failure or misuse in unlikely to result in serious consequences. (opthalmoscopes, Electronic thermometers, cast cutters).
In the latter situation, it does not make business sense to implement a PM or PGM task. This method is known as "run-to-failure."
RCM PROGRAM BENEFITS. EBME Policy should be to avoid loss of life, personal injury or illness, property loss or damage, or environmental harm from any of its activities and ensure safe conditions for patients and staff alike. By its very features, including analysis, monitoring, taking decisive action on systems or devices before they become problematic, and thorough documentation, RCM is highly supportive of and an integral maintenance process.
RELIABILITY. RCM places great emphasis on improving equipment reliability, principally through the feedback of maintenance experience and equipment condition data to maintenance managers, technicians, and manufacturers. This information is instrumental in continually upgrading the specifications for equipment to provide increased reliability. The increased reliability that comes from RCM leads to fewer equipment failures and, therefore, greater availability for patients and lower maintenance costs.
COST. Due to the initial investment required in obtaining the technological tools, training and equipment condition baselines, a new RCM program typically results in a short-term increase in maintenance costs. This increase is relatively short lived. The cost of repair decreases as failures are prevented and preventive maintenance tasks are replaced by condition monitoring. The net effect is a reduction of both repair and a reduction in total maintenance cost.
SCHEDULING. The ability of a condition-monitoring program to forecast maintenance provides management time for planning, obtaining replacement parts and arranging environmental and operating conditions before the maintenance is done. PTI eliminates unnecessary maintenance performed by a time-scheduled maintenance program which tends to be driven by the minimum "safe" intervals between maintenance tasks. Additionally, a principal advantage of RCM is that it obtains the maximum use from equipment. With RCM, equipment replacement is based on equipment condition - not on the calendar. This condition-based approach to maintenance thereby extends the operating life of the properly maintained facility and its equipment.
EFFICIENCY/PRODUCTIVITY. Safety is the primary concern of RCM. The second most important concern is costeffectiveness. Cost-effectiveness takes into consideration the priority or care service necessity and then matches a level of cost appropriate to that priority. The flexibility of the RCM approach to maintenance ensures that the proper type of maintenance is performed on equipment when it is needed. Maintenance that is not cost effective or not required is identified and not performed.
IMPACT OF RCM ON THE LIFE CYCLE. The life cycle is often divided into two broad stages, acquisition and operation. RCM affects all phases of the acquisition and operations stages to some degree. Decisions made early in the acquisition cycle profoundly affect the life-cycle cost.
(e.g. consumable costs over the life of a device can sometimes make the purchase price of the device seem insignificant). Even though expenditure for equipment may occur later during the acquisition process, their cost is committed at an early stage. Planning affects the overall life-cycle costs.
The decision to include a device group in the RCM program, including PTI, is best made during the planning phase. As RCM decisions are made later in the lifecycle, it becomes more difficult to achieve the maximum possible benefit from the RCM program.
Even though maintenance is a relatively small portion of the overall life-cycle cost, 3 to 5 percent of operating cost, RCM is still capable of introducing significant savings during the Operations and Maintenance (OM) phase. Savings of 30 to 50 percent in the annual maintenance budget are often obtained overtime through the implementation of a balanced RCM program. RCM is a common sense evidence based approach to maintenance. This system is becoming the industry standard and has been adopted by many large organisations.
