AT: Yeah, we have a whole episode way back about all the different ways people can fake their KPIs. So go check it out. All right, scenario number three: Whenever we have a significant failure, we conduct a root cause analysis. Joe, myth or reality: A root cause analysis can solve all reliability problems.

JK: Well, that's a myth. I love root cause analysis, but they can run amok. People say: any downtime over an hour, we're going to do a root cause. Well, then you're doing a root cause twice a day, and you're just piling up data, piling up actions, and nobody does anything with them.

Actions. Actions change the reliability of the equipment, not just doing the root cause. And, so you’ve got to be cautious. I've seen root cause investigations with over 100 action items. Well, they're not going to do 100 things different, and then, the first one is buy a new piece of equipment.

So root cause investigations are great, but you’ve got to narrow it down to, ‘hey, what three actions could we take that'll prevent this from happening, or how could we have known about this earlier? That's why I love predictive technologies. Hey, this equipment's in the process of failing. We got a little time, but how do we, fix it and then put in a small design change to have that never happen again?

But so many organizations, they find out about root cause. They go to some training, and they just overwhelmingly, everything's root cause. But actions are what prevents failures, not root cause investigations.

AT: Yeah, RCA tells you why, but you have to fix the actual problem in your process or practice, or you have the failure again. I’ve heard a lot of people talking about excessive RCAs in their organization and trying to fight about that, but also the idea that some people just accept failures. Well, you know, this pump goes every eight months. We're used to that. That's how it is. Well, should it be failing every eight months? Again, RCA is the answer, not the action that you need to take.

JK: Yeah, absolutely.

AT: So, scenario number four: We're trying to implement some major reliability improvements, but maintenance seem reluctant to embrace the changes. Joe, myth or reality?

JK: That's reality. You look at maintenance and they're resisting, and you’ve got to say, "Well, why are they resisting?" You're going to get resistance anytime you want to change culture. Everybody resists, okay? Because they understand current state.

But maintenance, a couple things. No, it's probably not going to be the first time you tried to improve the culture, and they've been down this road before. There's a trust issue. There are some people, and it's hard to put all maintenance people think this one way. I can't say that, but some people have gotten used to the overtime that maybe unreliability puts in.

You may be going towards root cause analysis, or maybe condition monitoring, where they're using some problem-solving skills, or they're using some new equipment. That means I need to learn something new. I'm not sure I want to learn something new. I’ve been doing this job for 30 years, so there's all kinds of personal impact to changing a reliability culture.

The number one, I would say, is trust that you are going to stick with it, because most of the time, the maintenance people are quickly excited about better planned jobs, better kitted jobs, being able to do precision work. These people went into the crafts because they like equipment to run well. They like to fix it, and they—they want to feel proud of their work.

And I've heard this story four or five times before. And management's always let me down. Why is this time different? So everybody's going to have some resistance to change, and that's why quick wins are so important. Get some quick wins, get some momentum, and you're in sales. You're in sales.

What action did you guys take last week? What is the result? What action did you take six months ago? What has been the result? Hey, this pump that used to fail every six weeks, it's been in place for six months because we RCA'd it and we took these actions. We changed how we rebuild it, and there you go.

AT: And culture always comes back.

JK: Culture, culture, culture, culture is everything.

AT: Scenario number five: When a major breakdown happens, everyone knows who the heroes are—the technicians who stay up late to get the plant running again. Joe, myth or reality? Celebrating emergency heroes improves morale.

JK: It does not improve morale. I still think celebrating the heroes that come in and save the day creatively, you should recognize them, but it should be at least at equal. You’ve got to celebrate the pump that didn't fail. The lady or gentleman that is in the pump rebuild program, and, hey, we normally have 100 pump failures a year, and we've had three.

You've got to celebrate the people that go out on there with their infrared gun and find an anomaly before the failure. You've got to celebrate the people that did the PM with precision and—and balanced the shaft. So whenever you're giving out a compliment to the heroes, make sure you follow that up at the same time. Maybe even two to one with the real heroes.

The real heroes are the ones that fix the problem before you even knew you had a problem. They found the anomaly. They did the work with precision, and it's a thankless job. You’ve got to celebrate those. The mechanics and electricians—they know that. Hey, I prevented this failure, and just point it out. Point it out.

There's a lot of emotion and drama around an unplanned downtime, and this is going to be two days, and it ends up being one day, and everybody's like, great, but there's little emotion around the failure that you didn't have. So management needs to create it. 

AT: Yeah, I have to point back to another old episode of ours that we have about that lure of emergency culture, only because it has one of my favorite titles ever, which is, "Why is everyone on the plant floor drawn to a dumpster fire?" I think it's the perfect metaphor for that reactive emergency maintenance culture and the danger that lies there. So check it out.

JK: Everything stems from culture, Anna. I mean, you've hit on it. It's culture is what you're looking for, and that starts with management actions. This took me a lot of years. Took me a couple decades to get here. I thought it was about tools. I thought it was about expectations. It's culture, and that starts with me.

AT: Yeah, and I think one of the other themes I hear, running throughout all of these five scenarios, is that people can mistake activity for progress, and, collecting data isn't the same as using it, or green metrics aren't the same as healthy metrics, whatever your topic may be. And, celebrating heroic recoveries, isn't always the same thing as building that reliability culture. And back to my favorite metaphor, it's just putting a party hat on a dumpster fire. Well, thanks, Joe, for playing along. I really appreciate it.

About the Podcast
Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast offers news and information for the people who make, store and move things and those who manage and maintain the facilities where that work gets done. Manufacturers from chemical producers to automakers to machine shops can listen for critical insights into the technologies, economic conditions and best practices that can influence how to best run facilities to reach operational excellence.

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