Writing is a chore for some and a creative outlet for others. Writing columns and articles for The RAM Review is an important task for those of us who do it. In my opinion, though, writing about what we know, what we have learned, what we have experienced (good, bad, and ugly included) serves a much higher purpose for readers today, tomorrow, and well into the future. As I see it, we’re making a contribution to the future of reliability. And for good reason.

Wherever there are people and machines, equipment and technologies, processes and systems, there’s an inherent need for reliable operation. Much of reliability’s body of knowledge is based on fundamentals of physics, math, materials science, engineering, human behavior, and problem solving. But, sustainable performance, affordability, and the continuous improvement of reliability depend on so many more moving pieces, far beyond the fundamentals of reliability.

We who write these columns and articles have a passion for sharing what we’ve learned during our lengthy careers in areas of engineering, reliability, maintenance, and operations. And what we write about frequently is NOT taught in schools.

High schools don’t include what we know in their already-packed academic curricula. Some colleges and universities stick to the fundamentals of reliability, whether designated as such or not. Sure, a few post-secondary programs have begun taking the fundamentals to a much higher level in preparing graduates for a new, pragmatic world of work beyond reliability, maintenance, and engineering. That’s clearly a good a thing. But, what about individuals, i.e., the practitioners, who have already been working in jobs or careers that depend on reliable machines, facilities, factories, and utilities?

What we write about in our columns and articles for The RAM Review, what we teach in seminars and workshops, and the insights we offer in the field are all based on real-world experience: hands-on, in-plant, and multi-dimensional. The issues we tackle and content we deliver are well suited for current and future practitioners alike.

The stories we tell, the anecdotal examples we provide, and the case studies we share are all the real deal, i.e., been there, done that, measured the results, positive, negative, or indifferent. We offer these experiences as a way to pass the baton to the next generation of operations, reliability, and maintenance professionals, the next generation of engineers, the next generation of leaders in capital-intensive industries.

Imagine, if you will, what I’ve seen, experienced, tinkered with, and learned in more than four decades as a mechanical technician, a machine and tool designer, and a teacher and consultant to tens of thousands of people around the world, including mechanics, electricians, machine operators, engineers, supervisors, team leaders, managers, C-level executives, labor-union leaders, company owners, and boards of directors of equipment-intensive businesses, both public and private. Now try to wrap your head around all the practical knowledge that comes from the long careers, extensive industry reach, and real-world experiences of Heinz Bloch, Drew Troyer, Ken Bannister, Randy Noon, Howard Penrose, Jim Seffrin, and others who contribute to The RAM Review. It’s a treasure trove.

As for me personally, my work in 500 plants and facilities, across nearly 50 industrial sectors allows me to write and teach in ways that go beyond the academics, theories, and standards and focus on how reliability-related work gets done in new and old plants (with legacy technologies and machines, as well as state-of-the-art, serial-number-one marvels of modern engineering). That said, keep in mind that there are no silver bullets for reliability. Cookie-cutter programs don’t last. The secret to measurable reliability is how its proven principles are deployed.

Every site, every facility, every location of an enterprise must plan for reliability a bit differently. Their business needs and priorities, their work cultures and people, and their markets and stakeholders must be factored into their respective, i.e., unique, plans for achieving reliable performance from their physical assets. Unfortunately, this is not a simple plug-and-play deployment.

That’s why we write these columns and articles.

bwilliamson@theramreview.com

By Heinz Bloch, P.E., Editor
Plant professionals are familiar with plenty of acronyms. In the author’s opinion, the letter representing “availability” in “RAM” stands for yet another important term around best-in-class companies.