System Level MTBF's Expected vs. Actual: Are you achieving your RCM ROI?

Today I came across an interesting article on calculating MTBF's for a primary function of a system. The article provides details about how to calculate an MTBF, however, the most interesting point was that you can use MTBF's to evaluate your RCM based expected MTBF vs. the actual MTBF you are experiencing from your CMMS data.

The author doesn't mention this point, but I believe that every time there is a Corrective Maintenance activity, particularly if it is unplanned and stops the Primary Function of a system, then the failure should trigger an investigation loop into:

1. ) Did the failure meet the desired MTBF
2.) If not, what was the root-cause of the failure and does the RCM assessment or the PM activites need to be modified to achieve the desired MTBF.

The mathematical tools provided in this short article, will help anyone who has a system hierarchy with primary functions (see video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEGE69ie5QE) to evaluate and set-up their desired vs. actual evaluations. Check out the article at: http://physical-assets.blogspot.com/2008/05/this-article-is-adapted-from-my-new.html