ROOT CAUSE FAILURE ANALYSIS
As in any proactive maintenance organization, you must perform root cause failure analysis in order to eliminate future component failures. Most maintenance problems or failures will repeat themselves unless someone identifies the cause of the failure and proactively eliminates it. A preferred method is to inspect and analyze all compo nent failures. Identify the following:
• Component name and model number
• Location of component at the time of failure
• Sequence or activity the system was performing when the failure occurred
• Cause of the failure
• Method of preventing the failure from happening again
Failures are not caused by an unknown factor such as “bad luck” or “it just happened” or “the manufacturer made a bad part.” We have found that most failures can be analyzed and preventive means taken to prevent their reoccurrence. Establishing teams to review each failure can pay off in major ways.
To summarize, maintenance of a hydraulic system is the first line of defense to pre vent component failure and thus improve equipment reliability. As we said earlier, discipline is the key to the success of any proactive maintenance program.