Abstract:  In a world of complexities, we are sometimes so immersed in the daily grind that we cannot see the big picture.  This becomes prophetic when this generalized concept applies to every aspect of our being.  Whether we are stuck in a daily routine at home, or just trying to keep the plant running at our jobs, the systems at work are the same.  Only when we understand how these systems affect our ability to function in life, can we make progress.

 Imagine a world without problems, failures or undesirable events.  Everything went along as intended and the outcomes were always as expected.  The progress made in this world would be unfathomable, as we would experience no setbacks.  Is this world possible? It depends on how you perceive your role in the world.

Do we think that maintenance workers believe that failure is inevitable?  Absolutely, if they maintain any sense of job security!  If we take the stance that failure is inevitable, then we relegate ourselves to the fact that the best we can do is predict such occurrences earlier.  This means that we can use our predictive technologies to pick up on signals (i.e.- excessive vibration, temperature swings, eddy currents, etc.) of impending failure.  If that is what we imagine, then that is the way that it will be.

We do this in every aspect of our life.  Think about when we design equipment and processes.  We inevitably build in tolerances.  Tolerances provide a margin of safety, or insurance, and compensate for a lack of precision in the work environment.  A tolerance is what we are willing to tolerate.  It is a willingness to accept less than precision.  A tolerance is compensation for a built-in failure rate. 

We are not diminishing the need for tolerances in today?s environment.  We are showing how our view of the world, affects our decision-making in everyday life.  We accept that we can manufacture precision equipment, but when we install, operate and maintain this precision equipment, the flawed human being will take actions that will diminish the ability of the equipment to operate within a precision environment. 

Oftentimes manufacturing will go to the extent of commissioning spare equipment to ensure that if the primary fails, the secondary is there to back it up.  As we all know, this is another form of insurance with a much costlier price tag.  If we maintain two pieces of equipment for the same task, the priority on one is lessened because of the safety net the second provides.  How many of us have a ?spare? car just in case the primary one fails?  That would be ridiculously expensive.  We choose to take good care of the one that we have.  All of our priority is in keeping our only car in good running condition.

After all, how often do any of our components ever reach design life?  Our numbers indicate less than 10%.  That means that 90% of the premature failures are the result of ?personnel avoidable events?. Personnel avoidable events are actions that the human being takes to reduce the risk of reaching design life.

Theoretically, how long should a roller bearing last?  Given that it was manufactured to precision, lubricated properly and installed in a perfect environment, how long should it last?  Forever!  How often do bearings ever reach even their L10 lives?  Why is it so difficult to make bearings last substantially longer than they do?  Bearings are rather simple components when you look at their manufacture and structure.

Bearings are precision components that are subjected to imperfect environments.  What are the primary causes of bearing failure today?  Typically we see that they are installed improperly, the equipment is mis-aligned, lubrication practices are less than adequate and/or the seals fail in some fashion.  Were these causes any different than 40 years ago?  If we reflect on these causes, you can see the influence that the human being has on reducing equipment life.  Precision is not just a practice for the manufacture of equipment; it is a practice for tasks that people conduct in their everyday life.

If we can agree that any failure is typically the result of an error of omission or commission by a human being, then we should be able to apply precision concepts to this decision-making process.  Human decision errors are usually a result of poor information to make a good decision.  

For instance, if bearings are failing due to misalignment, does the problem go away if we get an outside contractor to come in and align this one time.  Absolutely not!  We must find out why the maintenance person that aligned the equipment originally did not align it correctly.  Normally we find flawed management systems such as no alignment procedures existed or the person was not trained in how to align properly.  After all, decision-making is a matter of intent.  Most of us intend on a positive outcome as a result of our decisions.  Those who do not are labeled as people who sabotage the operation. 

How would precision practices apply here?  We could write the specifications to align in precision terms.  Take out the tolerances and align to the component level.  We could develop training programs that include skill-based training.  Skill-based training includes lecture, workshops and demonstration of the skill in the field.  We could ensure that the alignment equipment we possess is capable and within accurate specifications.  We could certify each alignment by taking vibration signatures upon start-up and comparing them to a baseline for proper performance.  There are innumerable things that we can do to increase the precision of how our people perform their tasks.

If we cannot meet or exceed our goals, then we can deduce that things did not go the way we intended them to go.  Only two things can be wrong, either the plan to attain the goals was not realistic or we failed to comply with the correct plans.  In either case, there was a failure to meet our objective.  In both cases, the failures were a result of human decision-errors.  

The purpose of this article was to take a step backwards and look at our world from the big picture perspective, rather than the microscope that we are often forced to look through.  When doing this we realize that virtually every problem that we face has its roots embedded in poor decision making resulting from less than precise organizational systems (i.e. ? procedures, policies, specifications, etc.).  Furthermore, solving such issues is usually not difficult from the solution standpoint the difficulty is in the implementation end.  This is because these Human and Latent Root Causes are generally accepted practices.  They have always been that way, so why do we need to change them!  The acceptance of change within the culture will be the barrier, not coming up with the correct solution.

Precision is a way of life.  It is not a program doomed to be in the Hall of Shame of the ?Flavor-of-the-Month? club.  It is a way of looking at our environment and how we operate within that environment.  If we view the world through the microscope and see failure as inevitable, then the best we can do is sharpen our response.  However, if we look at the big picture, if we do NOT accept failure as the cost of doing business then we will seek the truth.  We will explore to find the real root causes of why problems surface.  When such causes are identified we will then add precision solutions to our culture and eliminate the risk of recurrence of the event, rather than merely sharpening our response.  

Remember, we cannot do what we cannot imagine!!  What can you imagine?

Robert J. Latino is Senior Vice-president of Strategic Development and a Senior Consultant for Reliability Center, Inc. Mr. Latino is a practitioner of root cause analysis in the field with his clientele as well as an educator. Mr. Latino is an author of RCI's Root Cause Analysis Methods^© training and co-author of Problem Solving Methods^© training. Mr. Latino has been published in numerous trade magazines on the topic of root cause analysis as well as a frequent speaker on the topic at trade shows and conferences. His most recent publication is titled "Root Cause Analysis - Improving Performance for Bottom Line Results" He can be contacted at 804/458-0645 or blatino@reliability.com.