Reliability Centered Maintenance SAP® Interface

The New Availability Workbench RCM SAP Interface

Availability Workbench now allows you to download and analyze SAP work notifications providing real failure data for use in your RCM optimization.

Once you've optimized your maintenance plans you can upload these straight to SAP.

AWB also lets you configure your SAP master data directly from the data contained within an existing project.

Uploading Master Data to SAP

The Upload Master Data to SAP tab of the SAP Portal enables users to view functional location and equipment data originating from the RCM module of AWB and upload all or part of that data to SAP.

Downloading Master Data to AWB

The Download Master Data to AWB tab of the SAP Portal enables users to view functional location and equipment data originating from your SAP system and download all or part of that data to the RCM module in AWB. You may also download effects, spares and bill of material (BOM) data.

Updating Maintenance Plans in SAP

SAP maintenance plans directly correspond to AWB task groups. The Maintenance Plans tab of the SAP Portal enables users to view Reliability Centered Maintenance plans (task groups) originating from AWB and upload all or a selection of these plans to SAP. This facility may be used to create new maintenance plans or modify existing plans.

Analyzing SAP Failure Data

The Analytics tab of the SAP Portal enables users to analyze work notifications in the connected SAP system and download historical failure data into AWB Weibull sets.

The Dynamic Link Library in AWB

What is the Dynamic Link Library?

The Availability Workbench Dynamic-Link Library (DLL) enables users to seamlessly link their databases or external applications to Availability Workbench projects. For example, the DLL may be used to create a custom link between a CMMS database for importing RCM data into an Availability Workbench project. The custom link may then be used to transfer data from the project back to the CMMS database after the RCM analysis has been completed using Availability Workbench.

In summary, the DLL allows programmers to directly access project data without using the Availability Workbench application interface.

The Availability Workbench DLL is a .NET assembly that runs under the Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0. No separate installation is necessary to access the DLL. The DLL is part of the AvailabilityWorkbench.exe file. You will, however, require a DLL license to access the main functionality of the DLL.

In addition to the Availability Workbench DLL you will also require a .NET assembly development tool such as Microsoft’s Visual Studio.

How the Dynamic Link Library Works

The Availability Workbench DLL provides a DataSet class that may be used to hold project data in memory. A DataSet contains tables, columns and rows. The DataSet constructor automatically constructs all the tables and columns representing the Availability Workbench project schema. However, no rows are added when a DataSet object is created, i.e. a DataSet object contains no data on construction.

A DataSet object may be initially populated with the very minimum of default data for a project by calling the DataSet New method. This method would be called if you are intending to populate a project with data from scratch.

A DataSet object may also be initially populated with data using the DataSet Read method. In this case data is extracted from an existing Availability Workbench project file.

The DataSet class provides methods for writing and reading data to and from the DataSet. Tables and columns in the DataSet are identified by unique string identifiers. These identifiers are listed in the document Availability Workbench DLL Reference Manual.

If you wish to write modified project data to a new or existing Availability Workbench project file then simply call the DataSet Write method. If you wish to validate the data first then call the DataSet Verify method.

The Weibull Analysis Modul

Weibull Analysis is used to analyze historical failure data and produce failure distributions that will be used during a system simulation.

How do I Analyze Historical Failure Data?

The Weibull Analysis module of Availability Workbench analyses historical failure and repair data by assigning probability distributions which represent the failure or repair characteristics of a given failure mode.

The failure distribution assigned to a given set of times to failure (known as a Weibull set) may be assigned to locations in the RCMCost location hierarchy or failure models in the AvSim module.

The Weibull Analysis Module analyses times-to-failure and time-to-repair data using the following distributions:

• Exponential Distribution
• 1-Parameter Weibull Distribution
• 2-Parameter Weibull Distribution
• 3-Parameter Weibull Distribution
• Bi-Weibull
• Tri-Weibull
• Lognormal Distribution
• Normal Distribution
• Weibayes
• Phased Bi-Weibull
• Phased Tri-Weibull

Displaying Data in Graphs and Reports

The Weibull module automatically fits the selected distribution to the data provided and displays the results graphically in the form of cumulative probability plots, unconditional probability density plots and conditional probability density plots. The plots may be viewed on the screen or printed to a report.

Data may be entered manually by the user or imported from other packages or transferred via the Windows clipboard using copy and paste. The Weibull Analysis module of AvSim+ has been designed to be extremely easy to use. For example new data can be analyzed in 4 simple steps:

• Enter or import the data
• Select a distribution type
• Instruct the Weibull module to analyze the data
• Print a report

The Life Cycle Cost Analysis Module

What is Life Cycle Costing?

Life cycle costing is a methodology for calculating the whole cost of a system from inception to disposal. The system will vary from industry to industry and could for instance be a building, a ship, a weapon system or a power station.

Whatever the system, the life cycle cost analysis technique will be the same, the major items of cost will be defined through its life. The items may be further subdivided until the cost of each element can be defined as a mathematical equation. At a simple level this may be the number of man-hours multiplied by a cost rate.

The elements of cost will then be added together to give the total cost for each item and a grand total for the system through its full life.

Using the LCC Module in Availability Workbench

The Life Cycle Cost (LCC) module of Availability Workbench allows users to build a hierarchical cost breakdown structure (CBS) through an unlimited number of indenture levels. The CBS may be directly linked to cost predictions produced by the RCMCost or AvSim modules. Other costs may be defined as time-dependent cost equations or simple numerical values. Global variables may be defined and utilized in the cost equations.

High level costs are determined either by summating the cost values for child nodes in the CBS or by applying a user-defined cost equation. The syntax of cost equations is easy to understand and the construction of cost equations is assisted by an intelligent code-recognition utility that automatically reveals global variable lists as the user types in an equation.

Phase-dependent cost equations may also be defined. Phases are shared between the LCC and AvSim modules.

In summary the LCC module allows users to define life cycle costs other than those predicted by the RCMCost and AvSim modules. These costs may be integrated with predicted costs in the LCC cost breakdown structure to provide a time-dependent analysis of a system’s whole life cycle cost process.

AvSim Module Feature Summary

• Simulation Watch facility for checking your system and spares echelon models
• Multiple-system spares tracking for fleet modeling
• Sub-system blocks allowing automatic Reliability Block Diagram pagination
• Blocks can incorporate bitmap pictures for convenient identification
• Pagination facilities for large fault trees
• Append projects created by different users
• User control of scaling, shifting and font selection
• Data verification for consistency checks
• Simulation of production capacity levels with target cost penalties
• Standby sub-systems modeled
• Modeling of spares dependencies and stock levels
• Models recycling of spares via a repair shop
• Spares optimization facilities provided
• Batch ordering of spares with discounting
• Modeling of maintenance queuing
• Switching Delays Modeled
• Opportunistic maintenance and 'hold for repair' modeling
• Exponential, lognormal, normal and Weibull distributions for failure
• Lognormal, normal, Weibull and exponential distributions for repair
• Directly analyze historical data with the Weibull Analysis facility
• Models ageing and effectiveness of planned maintenance
• Scheduled maintenance interval optimization
• Define financial, safety, operational and environmental consequences
• Models changing network and fault tree configurations during different phases
• Phased time profiles
• Comprehensive reports interfacing with Microsoft Office products
• Graphs, plots, pie charts and time profile histograms
• Import and export facilities
• Models the effects of condition alarms
• P-f curves for inspections and condition alarms
• Tracks equipment usage and costs
• Extended outage penalty costs modeled
• Individual labor task time factors
• Importance rankings for spares
• Spare volume calculations

AvSim Module Simulation Watch

Why would I need a Simulation Watch?

The simulation watch facility is designed to allow the user to check the logic of the system availability model.

For example, the user may have included a parallel arrangement in the network diagram with warm standby components and switching delays. The user may want to check that the standby components begin to operate when they would expect them to and that the switching delays are implemented at the correct time.

Performing a Simulation Watch

During a ‘simulation watch’ the program proceeds with the simulation on a ‘step by step’ basis and lets the user view the status of the system at each step.

The simulation process moves forward in time but halts when there is a change of event. Information regarding the event change is displayed in a dialog.

In addition the reliability block diagram or fault tree diagram is modified to reflect the change of component and system status. A chart in the left hand window shows changes in system status or spare levels through the echelon hierarchy. Once the simulation watch process has been initiated, the user may step to the next event by selecting the ‘Next’ toolbar button.

The screen shot below shows the simulation watch monitoring a simple sub-system:

AvSim Spares and Maintenance Optimization

Performing Spares Optimization

The AvSim module may be used to simulate the effects of different spares holding levels on lifetime costs. The user sets site and depot minimum and maximum values for all selected spares. When performing a spares optimization run AvSim will try spares holding values within the specified range only.

The program performs simulation runs for each combination of spare part holdings (between range values) for each selected spare part. Once all the simulation runs have been completed AvSim will display the optimum spare holdings from a cost viewpoint at site and depot.

Performing Maintenance Optimization

The AvSim module may be used to determine whether it is worthwhile performing planned maintenance or inspections on components, and if so, what the optimum maintenance interval should be.

If a component exhibits ageing characteristics then planned maintenance may be effective in reducing the probability of a system outage and hence reduce outage costs. However, the planned maintenance task may have labor, spares and other costs associated with it. Planned maintenance costs must be balanced against reduced outage costs.

Similarly, performing inspections for hidden or potential failures will often reduce costs due to unscheduled outages. However, the benefits of reducing the costs of unscheduled maintenance need to be weighed against the additional costs of performing more frequent inspections.

The AvSim module locates the optimum interval for planned maintenance and inspection tasks by varying the maintenance interval and repeatedly simulating the lifetime costs.

The screen shot below shows the interval optimization dialog with the results of an optimization of the planned maintenance intervals for various components:

Using the AvSim Module

How do I build an Availability Simulation Model?

The AvSim module allows you to quickly construct fault tree or reliability block diagrams using drag and drop facilities. Simply choose the preferred method to represent the failure logic of your system from the menu at the top of the AvSim window and place the fault tree or block symbols in your diagram.

If you are using fault trees then AvSim will automatically organize the diagram for you – you simply tell it the logical connections.

If you are using reliability block diagrams simply place the blocks on the screen, make the logical connections, and the program will automatically deduce the failure logic of the system.

Whichever method you choose there is a powerful pagination facility that allows you to organize large and complex projects.

The screen shot below shows a typical reliability block diagram:

How do I define Failure and Maintenance Models?

Once you have defined the logical fault tree or network structure of your project you can define comprehensive failure and maintenance models to represent the performance of components within your system.

These models could be simple failure and repair models or they could represent complex dependencies including ageing, spares requirements, labor availability, operational phases, standby arrangements, etc. For new users the Failure Model Wizard will allow you to build new failure models by answering a few simple questions.

Best Regards

Robby.ME

AvSim Module Introduction

The AvSim module is a powerful system reliability and availability simulator. It is capable of analyzing complex and dependent systems, enabling you to optimize your reliability and maintenance strategy

What can Availability Simulation do?

The AvSim module can help you optimize system availability and life-cycle costs by modeling:

• System availability and throughput
• Spares tracking and stock-outs
• Planned and predictive maintenance policies
• Switching delays and buffers
• Phased operations
• Standby systems

How does AvSim Work?

In AvSim the logical interaction of failures, and how they affect system performance, are modeled using a reliability block diagram or fault tree. These diagrams may be used to model failure and success or levels of throughput in the system.

Consequences are then assigned to any level of the logical diagram to indicate the effects of failures (financial, operational, safety and environmental). Labor, spares and failure data may be imported or directly entered into the program together with any operational phase information and task group assignments.

The AvSim module will then analyze your system using efficient Monte Carlo simulation algorithms to provide availability and reliability parameters, life cycle costs, importance rankings etc. You may also optimize spare holdings and planned maintenance intervals.

All this information may be reported in standard (or custom) graphs and text reports or exported to your database or spreadsheet application.

Best Regards

Terbitkan Entri

Robby. ME

RCMCost Module Feature Summar

• Graphically constructed system hierarchy diagram
• Failure Mode Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA)
• Identification of critical failure modes
• Advice for decision making based on performance simulation
• Redundancy modeling
• Weibull analysis of field data
• Optimization plots for alternative maintenance strategies
• Group maintenance modeling
• Flexible reporting providing customized worksheets
• Copy and paste facilities for data transfer
• Import/Export to databases and spreadsheets

Standards Support and Decision Diagrams

What Standards are Included in the RCMCost Module?

RCMCost supports Reliability Centered Maintenance standards such as SAE JA1011, MSG-3 and MIL-STD-2173(AS) by providing a structured method for entering FMECA data and simulating the effects of different maintenance strategies on cost, safety the environment and operational issues.

The RCM decision making process is therefore substantially enhanced by the ability to quickly simulate the effects of preventive tasks, inspection tasks and condition monitoring taken into account ageing, hidden failures, maintenance crew costs, spares costs and availability etc.

Standards and Decision Diagrams

Reliability Centered Maintenance decision diagrams are utilized in SAE JA1011, MSG-3 and MIL-STD-2173(AS) to provide a logical process for workgroups to determine what type of maintenance strategy to adopt for a given failure cause. The diagrams ask questions which often require analysis before a conclusion may be reached.

In addition these diagrams follow a sequential process which may not be appropriate in identifying the optimal task or combinations of tasks for a given failure cause. However, RCMCost provides the full flexibility required to allow users to quickly compare the effects of different practical maintenance strategies and condition monitoring using well-known scientific methods.

The RCMCost module may be used to produce reports similar to those in the SAE JA1011, MSG-3 and MIL-STD-2173(AS) standards. Reports may contain FMECA data, maintainability data, RCM decision data etc.

Best Regards
Robby. ME

Using the RCMCost Module

The RCMCost module in Availability Workbench provides the full framework for building the Reliability Centered Maintenance model to represent your plant.

How does RCMCost Help?

RCMCost in Availability Workbench provides facilities for storing RCM data and analyzing maintenance alternatives. It provides simulation algorithms to predict lifetime maintenance costs, spares costs and usage, maintenance crew manning requirements, safety and environmental risks and operational performance. In addition RCMCost identifies critical failure modes and compares the cost, safety and operational benefits of different maintenance intervals.

The program is designed to combine well-established reliability prediction techniques with engineering experience. The program does not decide on which maintenance policy or combination of policies to adopt. Instead it advises the individual user or workgroup based on the operational data provided. The program may be used to filter the most critical item (component) failures before detailed maintenance decisions are made.

Constructing a Hierarchy Diagram

RCMCost provides interactive graphical facilities for constructing a hierarchical diagram representing the logical connection between the sub-systems and items constituting the overall plant or system. This diagram may be extended to represent critical functions, their functional failures and their causes (engineering failure modes).

System effects are identified which contribute to outage and operational costs as well as safety and environmental risks. The relative severity of different effects is identified by the user. This structured method for identifying failure modes and linking them with their effects on the system is known as Failure Mode Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) and is a powerful analysis process in its own right.

The RCMCost module allows flexible user-defined reports to be produced highlighting the most important contributors to operational costs and safety and environmental risks.

Other Features of RCMCost

RCMCost provides a database facility for storing failure data, maintenance parameters, spares information and maintenance crew details. This data is used to provide advisory information based on simulation models incorporated in the program. For example, different maintenance intervals may be compared for their effect on maintenance and operational costs. The user may then record the decision on which maintenance policy (if any) to adopt. This decision may include combinations of:

• Scheduled Preventive Maintenance Tasks (Lubrication or Replacement)
• Condition Monitoring Alarms
• On-Condition Inspections
• Inspections for Hidden Failures
• Re-Design

RCMCost in Availability Workbench will automatically advise the user on the overall cost, safety and environmental benefits of adopting a particular maintenance policy based on the data provided by the user. The program’s flexible report facility allows RCM worksheets to be produced identifying the user’s decisions.

Once the maintenance policy has been decided for all the critical system components RCMCost will provide predicted spares requirements, maintenance crew manning levels, system costs and operational performance data.

As new data is gathered during the plant lifetime or system design changes are made RCM related data may be easily modified and maintenance procedures may be adjusted to reflect the living status of the plant.

Best Regards

Robby. ME

Introduction to the RCMCost Modul

What is Reliability Centered Maintenance?

Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) is a procedure for determining maintenance strategies based on reliability techniques and encompasses well-known analysis methods such as Failure Mode Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA). RCM procedures take into account the prime objectives of a maintenance program:

• Minimizing Costs
• Meeting Safety and Environmental Goals
• Meeting Operational Goals

How can Reliability Centered Maintenance Help?

The RCM process begins with a failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) that identifies the critical plant failure modes in a systematic and structured manner. The process then requires the examination of each critical failure mode to determine the optimum maintenance policy to reduce the severity of each failure.

The chosen maintenance strategy must take into account cost, safety, environmental and operational consequences. The effects of redundancy, spares costs, maintenance crew costs, equipment ageing and repair times must be taken into account along with many other parameters.

Once optimal maintenance policies have been recorded the Reliability Centered Maintenance process provides system performance predictions and costs, expected spares requirements and maintenance crew manning levels. The RCM process may be used to develop a living strategy with the plant model being updated when new data is available or design changes take place.

Best Regards

Robby. ME

Introduction to Availability Workbench

What's in Availability Workbench?

Availability Workbench (AWB) is the latest in a line of Isograph products to serve the Reliability and Maintenance community.

AWB integrates updated versions of the AvSim+ (Availability Simulation Software) and RCMCost (Reliability Centered Maintenance) products. These products have been used in industry since 1988. It also includes a brand-new life cycle cost analysis module.

Availability Workbench provides a fully integrated environment for:

• Reliability Centered Maintenance. Developing and maintaining a Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) program to optimize your reliability and maintenance strategy.
• Availability Simulation. Performing full system availability predictions taking into account complex dependencies on spares and other resources.
• Life Cycle Cost Analysis. Performing a Life Cycle Cost Analysis to calculate the expected costs of your system during its lifetime.
• Weibull Analysis. Analyzing historical failure data to model the failure characteristics of equipment.
• SAP Interface. The AWB SAP Interface allows you to transfer data between AWB and SAP.

How can Availability Workbench Help Me?

Availability Workbench can help answer questions such as:

• Is planned maintenance cost effective? How often should it be performed?
• What design improvements are cost and safety effective?
• What is the optimum level of spares to be held on site and at a depot?
• How can labor and equipment usage be improved?
• How can buffers best be employed to maintain capacity?
• How can risk be reduced?
• What are the likely life cycle costs?
• What is the best frequency for performing major overhauls?
• Is predictive maintenance worth doing?
• How do ageing assets affect life cycle costs?

Best Regards
Robby. ME

Inventory control

Inventory control

The process of managing the timing and the quantities of goods to be ordered and stocked, so that demands can be met satisfactorily and economically. Inventories are accumulated commodities waiting to be used to meet anticipated demands. Inventory control policies are decision rules that focus on the trade-off between the costs and benefits of alternative solutions to questions of when and how much to order for each different type of item.

The possible reasons for carrying inventories are: uncertainty about the size of future demands; uncertainty about the duration of lead time for deliveries; provision for greater assurance of continuing production, using work-in-process inventories as a hedge against the failure of some of the machines feeding other machines; and speculation on future prices of commodities. Some of the other important benefits of carrying inventories are: reduction of ordering costs and production setup costs (these costs are less frequently incurred as the size of the orders are made larger which in turn creates higher inventories); price discounts for ordering large quantities; shipping economies; and maintenance of stable production rates and work-force levels which otherwise could fluctuate excessively due to variations in seasonal demand.

The benefits of carrying inventories have to be compared with the costs of holding them. Holding costs include the following elements: cost of capital for money tied up in the inventories; cost of owning or renting the warehouse or other storage spaces; materials handling equipment and labor costs; costs of potential obsolescence, pilferage, and deterioration; property taxes levied on inventories; and cost of installing and operating an inventory control policy. Inventories, when listed with respect to their annual costs, tend to exhibit a similarity to Pareto's law and distribution. A small percentage of the product lines may account for a very large share of the total inventory budget (they are called class A items).

Continuous-review and fixed-interval are two different modes of operation of inventory control systems. The former means the records are updated every time items are withdrawn from stock. When the inventory level drops to a critical level called reorder point, a replenishment order is issued. Under fixed-interval policies, the status of the inventory at each point in time does not have to be known. The review is done periodically.

Uncertainties of future demand play a major role in the cost of inventories. That is why the ability to better-forecast future demand can substantially reduce the inventory expenditures of a firm. Conversely, using ineffective forecasting methods can lead to excessive shortages of needed items and to high levels of unnecessary ones.

Material requirements planning (MRP) systems (which are production-inventory scheduling softwares that make use of computerized files and data-processing equipment) are receiving widespread application. MRP systems have not yet made use of mathematical inventory theory. They recognize the implications of dependent demands in multiechelon manufacturing (which includes lumpy production requirements). Integrating the bills of materials, the given production requirements of end products, and the inventory records file, MRP systems generate a complete list of a production-inventory schedule for parts, subassemblies, and end products, taking into account the lead-time requirements. MRP has proved to be a useful tool for manufacturers, especially in assembly operations.

Best Regards

Robby. ME

B.O.M (Bill Of Material)

Bill of materials (BOM) is a list of the raw materials, sub-assemblies, intermediate assemblies, sub-components, components, parts and the quantities of each needed to manufacture an end item (final product) .

It may be used for communication between manufacturing partners, or confined to a single manufacturing plant.

A BOM can define products as they are designed (engineering bill of materials), as they are ordered (sales bill of materials), as they are built (manufacturing bill of materials), or as they are maintained (service bill of materials). The different types of BOMs depend on the business need and use for which they are intended. In process industries, the BOM is also known as the formula, recipe, or ingredients list. In electronics, the BOM represents the list of components used on the printed wiring board or printed circuit board. Once the design of the circuit is completed, the BOM list is passed on to the PCB layout engineer as well as component engineer who will procure the components required for the design.

BOMs are hierarchical in nature with the top level representing the finished product which may be a sub-assembly or a completed item. BOMs that describe the sub-assemblies are referred to as modular BOMs. An example of this is the NAAMS BOM that is used in the automative industry to list all the components in an assembly line. The structure of the NAAMS BOM is System, Line, Tool, Unit and Detail.

The first hierarchical databases were developed for automating bills of materials for manufacturing organizations in the early 1960s.

A bill of materials "implosion" links component pieces to a major assembly, while a bill of materials "explosion" breaks apart each assembly or sub-assembly into its component parts.

A BOM can be displayed in the following formats:

• A single-level BOM that displays the assembly or sub-assembly with only one level of children. Thus it displays the components directly needed to make the assembly or sub-assembly.
• An indented BOM that displays the highest-level item closest to the left margin and the components used in that item indented more to the right.
• Modular (planning) BOM

A BOM can also be visually represented by a product structure tree, although they are rarely used in the workplace.

Best Regards

Robby.ME