Page 51 - RCM - A practical Guide_V1

RCM - A Practical Guide

Age Exploration (AE)
During the process of carrying out RCM there will be some information or data which is not available
at the time of the analysis; this is particularly prevalent during the design and procurement of new
equipment where reliability data may have been generated over a relatively short period of testing.
This lack of data will have resulted in either default and conservative choices being made or interim
tasks being recommended pending further information. AE is a formal process designed to gather
actual operational data or data obtained through focused testing in an effort to improve the overall
effectiveness of the RCM programme.
The function of AE is, therefore, the accumulation of data and re analysis using RCM. The results of
which are used to confirm the need for or frequency of a PM task.
The goal of an AE programme is, therefore, to provide information to support decisions that affect PM.
The priority of an AE programme depends upon the consequences of failure riding on the lack of data.
If, for instance, this affects safety or the environment then a focused and tightly controlled AE
programme will be introduced. There will be a finite time or amount of data which will need to be
gathered and once this has been achieved the previous RCM decisions will be revisited in light of the
new data and revisions to the maintenance programme will be implemented. So, it can be seen that
AE plays a proactive role focused on improvement rather than the reactive role played by monitoring
and gathering failure data. Figure 13 shows where AE fits into the process.

Figure 13 - Age Exploration cycle
Data gathered during an AE programme can also be used to justify product modifications, risk
assessments or even determination of failure causes, however it must be focused on gathering data
required for a specific purpose and not just general. This is so that the focus remains on the failure
mode being investigated and costs are kept under control.

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