Enabling the Reliability Centered Maintenance process with IBM Maximo Asset Management

Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) is an analytical process used to determine an optimum maintenance strategy for physical assets. It is an advanced maintenance strategy for increasing asset availability by minimizing downtime caused by failures, reducing an asset's total cost of ownership and increasing overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). This white paper describes the RCM process and shows how IBM Maximo® Asset Management supports each step in the RCM process.

RCM uses the concept of Failure Modes, Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) to determine what can go wrong with critical assets. It identifies only the maintenance required to defend against important failures with significant consequences, avoiding expensive, non-productive maintenance tasks that create high costs and consume resources, without raising equipment reliability, performance or safety.

RCM programs have achieved notable successes, first with commercial and military aircraft, and subsequently in many other industrial sectors where cost-effectively achieving high equipment reliability and safety is paramount. However, there have been many cases in which considerable expense and resources were deployed in pursuit of RCM programs with very few tangible benefits.