4) Reliability-Centred Maintenance

Reliability-centred maintenance is an analytical approach to help prioritise maintenance tasks. The intention is to concentrate effort where it is needed and so make the most effective use of resources. RCM draws on information provided by experienced operators, craftsmen, and maintenance staff, and involves techniques such as Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA).

RCM asks a number of important questions such as:

• "What do we expect from this item of equipment?"
  
  
• "How can it fail?"
  
  
• "What causes it to fail?"
  
  
• "What happens when it fails?"
  
  
• "What is the cost of failure?"
  
  
• "Can we prevent failure?"