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Over the last few weeks, I have been spending some time watching the hearings being conducted by the Coast Guard in Kenner Louisiana concerning the BP explosion and fire. Apart from the content of the discussion, the sparring by the participants makes for an interesting show.
Over the last few weeks, I have been spending some time watching the hearings being conducted by the Coast Guard in Kenner Louisiana concerning the BP explosion and fire. Apart from the content of the discussion, the sparring by the participants makes for an interesting show.
Occasionally the term “elegant” is used to describe a technical solution that is both effective and simple. While there is no single definition for the term when used in this context, I would expect that it is the exact opposite of many solutions we see that achieve a result by adding complexity.
Reliability of complex systems seems to be one area that defies the development of an elegant solution. Current technologies seem to be growing in three areas:
• Design For Reliability
• Operate and Maintain for Reliability
A useful thing to review on some regular basis is the number of repair requests in your maintenance system that is being closed out as “No Defects Found”. While the number of NDFs might be low in some situations, other cases may run as high as 25% or 30% of all repair requests.
If your NDF rate is 25% or 30% you probably have gotten used to spending at least some portion of every week reviewing them. In that situation, you have probably already asked yourself: “What does that level of NDF’s really mean?”
An individual NDF can mean any of the following:
It seems that every so often a problem surfaces that is the result of losing control of the composition of metal used to create an important component. When this occurs, it often leads to a long discussion over who should be responsible for testing the metal composition to insure it is correct.
In the sport of whitewater rafting, there is something called a “mystery move” in which the kayaker intentionally tips his boat over at one point in the stream, remains underwater for some interval then reappears at another point downstream. The objective of the mystery move is to avoid an area of surface turbulence by passing under it.
While most rational people would view this step as being one that is illogical and risky, it seems to work. This approach begs the question: Why endure any more trouble in going from point A to point B than is absolutely necessary?