TABLE OF CONTENTS Studies developed by the EPRI and others in the early 1990s, sought to gain acceptance and support for SRCM. They cited minor differences in outcomes between the classical and streamlined RCM approaches. Proponents of traditional RCM have questioned their validity and conclusions. The challenge is to make simpler processes do more. No doubt the market will decide which processes offer the greatest value. They will be the processes that capture the benefits of classical RCM in abbreviated performance. While they may not follow the exact format of EPRI-approved or vendor-specified RCM (or SRCM), they will capture elements of traditional RCM in elegant, brief packages.
By knowing the expected equipment service periods, an RCM (or SRCM) plan tries to discover on-condition monitoring and service prediction methods that extend intervals out to the known lifetime. This requires knowing equipment nominal life based upon the life-limiting characteristic and finding a suitable on-condition predictive technique that offers a PF-F interval that will allow servicing prior to failure. RCM or SRCM offer comparable results.
Streamlining requires profound process understanding, identifying the most time-consuming process steps, and focusing improvements on reducing step time contributors. Time-intensive steps must be evaluated for these opportunities: accelerated performance, trimmed requirements, replacement, or even outright elimination. Using a template approach, the most time-sensitive RCM processes activities are the following:
system study to identify function statements, classify, and justify rough equipment risk exposure classification
equipment review for further critical SOC risk exposure...
