7 Steps to a Working Failure Reporting System - FRACAS
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The document outlines a seven-step process for implementing a Failure Reporting, Analysis, and Corrective Action System (FRACAS) to improve equipment reliability. It emphasizes the importance of setting clear goals, creating a data collection plan, defining roles and responsibilities, and developing a training program. The final steps involve implementing the FRACAS, analyzing collected data, and continuously monitoring and adjusting the system to ensure its effectiveness in eliminating failures.
7 Steps to a Working Failure Reporting System - FRACAS
- 1. Seven Steps to a Working FRACAS (FRACAS – Failure Reporting, Analysis, and Corrective Action System) Proactive Maintenance with FRACAS for Equipment Reliability Improvements You’ve gotten buy-in from the boss by showing him how much money the organization can make from a good Failure Reporting Plan (FRACAS). He said, “Great idea! Now go make it happen.” How many new ideas have you seen come and go in your organization? I have seen many through my career and I am sure you have as well. Failure Reporting (FRACAS) is something that must be sustainable because it is the continuous improvement process for your Maintenance Strategies for each piece of equipment. In this chapter, we are going to offer you a phased approach to success, one step at a time. FRACAS Step 1 – Determine your end goal. o Know where you are going. FRACAS Step 2 – Create your data collection plan. o What measures will be used? o What data must be collected to create the measures? o How will the data be collected? o How will the data be analyzed? FRACAS Step 3 – Determine organizational roles, goals, and responsibilities (RACI). o Who collects the data? o Who analyzes the data? o Who takes what action based on analysis results? FRACAS Step 4 – Create the FRACAS Policies and Procedures Manual. o Create a manual that clearly delineates the items determined in Steps 1, 2, and 3. FRACAS Step 5 – Develop and execute the FRACAS Training Plan. Create a Training Plan based on the organizational roles, goals, and responsibilities determined in Step 3 FRACAS Step 6 – Implement the FRACAS. o Hold required informational meetings. o Begin data collection on highest priority systems. o Analyze data and report results. o Create corrective actions based on results. FRACAS Step 7 – Monitor and adjust. o Monitor data quality and results. o Monitor corrective actions. o Adjust data collection plan and corrective action implementation plan based on results of monitoring.
- 2. FRACAS Step 1 – Determine Your End Goal “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat. “I don’t much care where—“said Alice. “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat. “—so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation. “Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.” Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 6 The beginning of every journey starts with a destination. The beginning of the journey to an effective FRACAS is the same as any other. You must have an end goal in mind. The goal of a FRACAS is not to gather data, but to eliminate failures from the organization. Knowing this helps ensure that every policy, procedure, and activity in the system is goal oriented. The roles, goals, and responsibilities of everyone involved with the system can be focused toward that goal. Having the goal in mind allows you to build the shared vision and values that will make the system work successfully for you. FRACAS Step 2 – Create the Data Collection Plan There are four steps to create the data collection plan: 1. Determine the measures you will use. There are a number of activities associated with the implementation of a good FRACAS. Measures need to be created that help you determine whether or not activities are being done, and whether or not the activities are being effective at eliminating failures. Some suggested measures are listed here, but this list should not be considered all inclusive. It is best to create a set of measures that fit the needs of your organization. Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) – MTBF is the arithmetic average of the individual times to failure. FRACAS activities should drive MTBF up. o ∑ Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) – MTTR is the arithmetic average of the individual times to repair. FRACAS activities should drive MTTR down. o ∑ Availability (A) – A is the percent of time that equipment is available to perform its required function. FRACAS activities should drive A up. o Cost per Failure Type of Failure (Wearout, Fatigue, Random, etc. based on the six patterns identified by Nowlan and Heap’s team) Number of RCAs Ordered based on System Triggers Percent of RCAs Completed – o ( ) Number of Corrective Actions Recommended Percent of Corrective Actions Approved (%PCA) o ( ) Percent of Corrective Actions Implemented (%PCI) o ( ) Corrective Action Effectiveness (CAE)
- 3. o ( ) 2. Determine what data needs to be collected to create the desired measures. The data that needs to be collected will be determined by the desired measures. The following table contains a list of some of the most basic data needed. Table 1: Data Needed for Established Measures Data Required Reason Required Failure Data Information Date and Time of Part Installation Used to determine Time to Failure for MTBF calculation Date and Time of Part Failure Used to determine Time to Failure for MTBF calculation Duration of Repair Used to determine MTTR Duration of Ramp Down and Ramp Up Time Used along with Duration of Repair to calculate the business impact of the failure List of non-failed parts that were replaced Used to reset the clock on TTF for the non- during the repair failed parts Number of personnel involved in the repair Used to help determine the business impact of the failure Hourly Cost of Downtime Used to determine the business impact of the failure Programmatic Information Number of RCAs Triggered Used to calculate RCA completion percentage Number of RCAs Completed Used to calculate RCA completion percentage Number of RCAs Overdue Used to calculate RCA backlog Number of Corrective Actions Recommended Used to calculate Corrective Action Approval Percentage Number of Corrective Actions Approved Used to calculate Corrective Action Approval Percentage Number of Corrective Actions Implemented Used to calculate Corrective Action Implementation Percentage Number of Repeat Failures for which Used to calculate Corrective Action Corrective Actions had been implemented Effectiveness Percentage 3. Determine how data will be collected. As you can see in Table 1, there are different types of data that need to be collected. Determining how the data will be collected is an important step that helps determine who will collect the various bits of data required. Failure data can be collected through the EAM/CMMS, automated process data systems, or by using checklists. Programmatic data may require the use of special forms or special software. End users must make these decisions for themselves. Organizations of different sizes have different capabilities which means what works in one organization may not work in another. The important thing is to make this decision up front and develop the necessary data gathering tools. 4. Determine how data will be analyzed. Pareto Analysis, Descriptive Statistical Analysis, Weibull Analysis, Root Cause Analysis, RCM Analysis, Simulation and Modeling – which do I choose? The answer is to choose the one or ones that make the most sense in your
- 4. situation. The best bet is probably to start with Pareto and let it drive where you use other types of analysis to generate corrective actions. Just make sure to remember that data analysis is a tool to help you determine where to apply methods such as RCA and RCM to generate corrective actions. Do not fall victim to analysis paralysis. Analytical reports are nice, but no statistic ever solved a problem. FRACAS Step 3 – Determine Organizational Roles, Goals, and Responsibilities (RACI) It is important that everyone in the organization understand their role in the FRACAS process. Some people play very passive roles, while others are very active in the process. Developing the RACI chart is an important step in helping people understand what they are supposed to do. Table 2: Sample RACI Ops Manager Maintenance Technicians Supervisors Supervisors Operators Reliability Manager Engineer Engineer Maint Maint Maint Ops Collect Initial Failure Data R R C C I I R A Verify Failure Data R R I I R A Analyze Failure Data C C C C I I C R,A Manage RCA Program C C C C C C C R,A Collect Programmatic Data C C C C I I C R,A Champion the Program C C C C C C C R,A Monitor Corrective Action Results R R R R I I R R,A Responsible (R) – Those who do the work to achieve the task. Accountable (A) – The one answerable for the correct and thorough completion of the task, and the one who delegates the work to the responsible person. Consulted (C) – Those who provide advice and support. Typically subject matter experts. Informed (I) – Those who are kept up to date on progress. Responsibility for completion of activities may be shared. Only one person should be accountable for a given activity. FRACAS Step 4 – Create the FRACAS Policies and Procedures Manual Once the data collection plan is completed and organizational roles goals and responsibilities have been defined, they should be incorporated into a Policies and Procedures Manual that will serve as the basis for managing and administering the FRACAS system. This is a tedious step, but should not be skipped. It will serve as the basis for developing the initial FRACAS Training Program and for ensuring that new employees receive the information they need to participate effectively in the FRACAS. It is probably best developed as a pocket size book that is easy for people to carry around and refer to as required. FRACAS Step 5 – Develop and Execute the FRACAS Training Plan Each person in the organization will need to be trained according to their level of participation in the FRACAS. The first step in developing the Training Plan is to determine which personnel will need what capabilities to successfully carry out their role. A matrix similar to a RACI can be used to perform this step. The roles defined in the RACI are used to determine what capabilities are required.
- 5. Table 3: Sample Training Matrix Basic Statistical Analysis CMMS Data Extraction Advanced Statistical CMMS Data Entry RCM Participant RCA Participant RCM Facilitator RCA Facilitator Trained? Trained? Trained? Trained? Trained? Trained? Trained? Trained? Analysis Operators X X X Maintenance Technicians X X X Operations Supervisors X Y X X Maintenance Supervisors X Y X X Operations Manager X X X Maintenance Engineer X X X Y X X X X Reliability Engineer X X Y X Y X Y X X Y X X Once you have determined the training requirements, each person should be trained according to the gaps identified in the table. This table will also be used to ensure that newly hired personnel receive the training they need in order to fill their role in the FRACAS process. Make sure you remember to train the Plant Manager. FRACAS Step 6 – Implement the FRACAS You have met with management, gained their buy-in, determined the direction you want to go, determined what data you need and how to collect it, and have trained all the right people on what their roles, goals, and responsibilities are. Your next big step is to turn on the FRACAS. 1. Hold required informational meetings. It is now time to hold brief informational meetings with everyone to let them know you are ready to begin collecting data and where you intend to start. These meetings should just provide basic information as an introduction and then should be Q&A sessions to help people understand what their roles are. These meetings should not require much time if you have already done a good job of developing and implementing your Training Plan. Most people with key roles will have shared some information with their peers by now. 2. Begin data collection on highest priority systems. It is very important to begin collecting data where it will do the most good. Hopefully you have already done criticality analysis and know which systems are creating the majority of facility losses. Start collecting detailed data on those systems so you can best determine the parts that are failing. Remember that it is not systems that fail, but parts that fail. Eliminate the part failures and the system will perform well. 3. Analyze data and report results. In a month or so, you will have enough data to start doing some analysis and reporting. You can start looking for common cause failures and common threads in your failures using Pareto Analysis to determine the big hitters. Make sure to analyze data quality as well. Your findings can be reported in the form of graphs and charts on bulletin boards, on your intranet, and through a monthly newsletter/report to key people. Early on, you will be reporting on findings. Within a very short while, you will be able to generate corrective actions based on the Root Cause Analyses that have been done. DO NOT OVERLOOK THE IMPORTANCE OF REPORTING RESULTS. No reporting will soon mean no data gathering by the people responsible for doing it.
- 6. 4. Create corrective actions based on results. Remember, your goal is to eliminate failures. A corrective action is a documented change to either equipment or procedures that has been implemented and verified to be effective. The FRACAS is not just a data collection tool, but rather a system designed to help you create effective corrective actions that eliminate system failures. It is important that this step be done or you will have wasted a lot of time and money only to understand what is causing failures. Focus on results. FRACAS Step 7 – Monitor and Adjust 1. Monitor data quality and results. Good data is the backbone of good decision making. It is important to monitor data quality and make adjustments to either the data collection plan or the training program so that data is consistent and informative. Many organizations believe they have good data only to find out that that can’t turn their data into useful information because data collection is inconsistent. 2. Monitor corrective actions. It is extremely important to monitor the results of corrective actions to verify their effectiveness. If you hear things like “We have fixed that problem several times in the past few (weeks, months, years),” then your corrective actions have not been very effective. 3. Adjust the data collection plan and the corrective action implementation plan based on results. Monitoring the program is important, but only to the extent that it gives you the information you need to generate corrective actions to eliminate FRACAS failures. Remember to document program changes, implement them, and verify that your FRACAS program changes have been effective. Happy Failure Eliminating!!