Reliability Centered Maintenance

Microelectron. Reliab., Vol. 28, No. 2, p. 18 I, 1988.

Pergamon Press plc

Printed in Great Britain.

EDITORIAL

RELIABILITY CENTERED MAINTENANCE

Reliability made

use

of

Centered

this

is a systematic

concept

Maintenance - today

consideration

was

born

late

in

1960.

Initially aviation

it is part of many of the defence

of the functions

systems.

RCM

of a system in terms of how such fun-

tions fail and how this identifies applicable and effective maintenance tasks. Functional Maintenance potentials

modes

tasks and

of

are

if

failures

and

established

such

tasks

are

by

their

respective

priorities

worth

the

which

effort

in

priorities reduce

terms

are

failures of cost,

identified. and

failure

safety,

etc.

Identifying functions by priorities controls the final decision in terms of applicability and effectiveness. Regardless of how complex a system may be, an RCM method applies without altering the most

basic by

method.

RCM

is

The

important.

actions

are prime

ion

maintenance

of

effect

a system

a system

failure

selection

targets

and

cost both

analysis

Items for RCM. can

be

must

of

sub-systems

with

large

Both

addressed.

but a functional

equipments

corrective

By optimization

achieved. be

or

or

preventive

of maintenance

active

Care must

analysis.

and

can

benefit

maintenance

tasks a reduct-

passive

functions

may

be taken not to carry out

Dominant

contribute to the functional failures must be identified.

H. REICHE.

181

which

failure modes which