Abstract

Reliability centered maintenance (RCM) is a maintenance strategy implemented so as to

optimize the maintenance plan of a company. This report is based upon implementing the
maintenance strategy plan of a pneumatic system of sealing bar at INNODIS LTD. The actual
maintenance plan carried at the company is namely the breakdown maintenance. The aim is to
implement a strategy so as to reduce the MTTF of the 4 components chosen and production lost.
The current maintenance plan is explained in detailed along with the cost analysis. This enables
to a better understanding how to proceed for the implementation of a new strategy to decrease
labor cost, production lost and increase efficiency. Also an Event Tree Analysis(ETA), a Fault
Tree Analysis (FTA) plus a Failure mode, effects and criticality analysis (FMECA) are adopted
to analyze the actual plan done by the company and the failure mode and causes actually present.
Table of tables
Table 1 Collected data for each component .................................................................................. 17
Table 2 MTBF for each component .............................................................................................. 18
Table 3 Failure and success rate for the events............................................................................. 22
Table 4 Occurrence frequency of the events ................................................................................. 23

Table of figures

Figure 1 main activities at Innodis .................................................................................................. 7

Figure 2 Pipes ................................................................................................................................. 9
Figure 3 Elbow ................................................................................................................................ 9
Figure 4 Y-joint............................................................................................................................. 10
Figure 5 Former for vertical sealing ............................................................................................. 14
Figure 6 Horizontal sealing and cutter .......................................................................................... 15
Figure 7 Circuit of the pneumatic system of sealer ...................................................................... 15
Figure 8 Block diagram for the system ......................................................................................... 20
Figure 9 ETA diagram .................................................................................................................. 22
Figure 10 FTA for failure of sealer ............................................................................................... 25
Figure 11 Occurence table ............................................................................................................ 27
Figure 12 Severity table ................................................................................................................ 28
Figure 13 Detection Table ............................................................................................................ 29
 1.0 Introduction
Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) is a method to examine several factors contributing to
the failure of a system and bring forward an appropriate effective maintenance strategy to
maintain the inherent design reliability of systems and equipment at minimum cost (Kammerer,
Cathenne, 2009).

The RCM process analysis is a wise careful thought in determining:

the exact system or equipment function,

the functional failures that are likely to occur,
the likely consequences of these functional failures, and
the actions that can be taken to prevent these functional failure (Kammerer, Cathenne,
2009).

According to those points mentioned above, particular type of maintenance strategies are
adopted in order to have maximum benefit of their respective strengths. As results, the
operability and efficiency of the hardware and equipment are maximized within given constraints
(Kammerer, Cathenne, 2009).

The important advantages of an RCM program are the following:

Reliability- Achieving the in-born reliability of the equipment. This is mainly done by
going through the feedback of maintenance experience and equipment condition data.

Cost- Even if at the beginning there are investments in technological tools, training and
base lining of equipment condition, the increases in maintenance costs are for a short
period of time. This is because, with time, the reactive maintenance costs along with the
total maintenance costs will decrease as failures are prevented.

Scheduling- Maintenance can be predicted trough a condition-monitoring program. By

doing this, sufficient time is allocated for planning and purchasing of replacement parts,
arranging environmental and operational conditions. Unnecessary maintenance are
reduced.
 Efficiency/Productivity- RCM has multiple proposition that increases the efficiency use
of resources. The equipment is maintained as accordingly based on its functional
characteristics and the consequences of its failure (Kammerer, Cathenne, 2009).

There are four types of maintenance strategies if referring to the traditional approach of RCM
namely, condition-based maintenance, preventive maintenance, failure-finding maintenance and
breakdown maintenance. The four acknowledge maintenance strategies are defined as follows:

1. Condition-based maintenance
Maintenance tasks that are performed to detect impending failures by using non-intrusive
testing techniques, visual inspection, and performance data to assess equipment
condition.
2. Preventive maintenance
Maintenance tasks that are performed to minimize the probability and severity of lost or
degraded functions. These tasks are performed on a recurring basis related to calendar
time, equipment age, or operating time without regard to equipment condition.
3. Failure-finding
Maintenance tasks that determine if a piece of equipment has failed when it would not be
evident to the operator during normal operations. Failure-finding tasks are performed on
a time and/or cycle basis to determine if a hidden functional failure has already occurred
so the equipment can be repaired and is available to perform its function.
4. Breakdown maintenance
Maintenance tasks that are performed after a failure has occurred to restore an item to a
specific level of performance (Kammerer, Cathenne, 2009).

The RCM methodology first identifies the optimum applicable and effective maintenance tasks
needed to conserve the inherent reliability of the systems and equipment at minimum possible
cost. Then, RCM comes up with the support for providing objective proof in selecting the
appropriate maintenance strategy for a specific system or equipment (Kammerer, Cathenne,
2009).
 2.0 Literature review

Background of the company

INNODIS LTD is a company founded in 1973 and is listed as a public company. Their annual
turnover is up to MUR 4 billion and they are currently one of the largest groups in food and non-
food production and distribution in Mauritius. The company has a work experience of 40 years
and is presently operating with a work force of 1400 employers. They distribute their products to
about 3500 outlets such as hypermarkets, supermarkets, corner shops, food chains and hotels
across the island. Below is Figure 1 showing the different production and outlets ( Innodis, 2016)

Figure 1 Main activities at Innodis Ltd

Their main activities described in the Figure 1 above are as follows:

1. Agro-industry,
2. Manufacturing,
3. Imports and distributive trade,
4. Retailing,
5. Franchising,
6. Consultancy; poultry production (Innodis, 2016).

The company was mainly involved in the production of chicken meat which was halal-certified
and packed for distribution. However, since the last 5 years, the Innodis company has expanded
its business in the warehouse of Mer-rouge where it started the filling, packing and box-sealing
of powdered milk imported with the help of a filling and packing machine.

Photo1.

. This mini-project emphasizes more on the packing process of the machine. A study on a
pneumatic system of a milk packing machine is conducted. The machine operates with 1 sealers,
one is vertical and the other is horizontal and each sealer is operated by an individual pneumatic
line. One of the line has been our main study with the corresponding sealer as our system. The
fittings and pipes involved in the system are analyzed as our components.

Pneumatic fittings
Pneumatic fittings are parts used to connect sections of pipes, tubes and hose in a pneumatic
system. Pneumatic fittings are basically categorized by tighter seals or lower pressure
requirements. Also it is important to know what type of vessels, tubes, hoses and pipes, are to be
connected so as so select the appropriate fittings. The vessel and fittings which are analyzed in
this report are the pipes, an elbow and a y-joint (HIS Engineering 360, 2016).
Functions
Pipes

Rigid vessels made of one solid material. Generally, pipes are defined by their inner diameter
dimension (HIS Engineering 360, 2016).

Figure 2 Pipes

Elbow

Fitting made to change direction of flow in various angles. The most used are the 90,45, but
22.5 elbows also are made (HIS Engineering 360, 2016).

Figure 3 Elbow
 Y-joint

In line connection of 3 tubes of equal or different diameters (HIS Engineering 360, 2016).

Figure 4 Y-joint

Sizing
The most important feature of pneumatic fittings is proper sizing. Appropriate sizing is
fundamental towards a successful fitting selection. Using oversized or undersized parts will lead
to incompatibility between the pipe and fitting. There will be inadequate sealing or connection
causing various problems during operation.

Measurements are in Metric (mm) or English ("). In order to have proper sizing, an appropriate
measurement system for the compatibility between vessels and fittings.

The size of the vessels to be connected to a fitting determine the sizing of the pneumatic fitting.
The vessels are sized according to their inner diameter and outer diameter. A fitting designed to
connect to a tube with a 2" OD is rated as a 2" OD fitting. Inside diameter measures the diameter
of the empty portion of the cylinder, while outside diameter includes the thickness of the tubing
wall (HIS Engineering 360, 2016).
Operation
Based on what the pneumatic fittings are designed to handle, they are often rated for a certain
temperature and pressure ranges.

Ideal pressure condition: 6Pa

Normally measured in pounds per square inch (psi). If the operating pressure is below or above
that range, the fittings or vessels will undergo failure like breaking, leakage and so on.

Operating temperature range: a maximum working temperature of 80 C.

It is the working range of temperature at which the pneumatic fittings were designed to operate.
Measurement is in degree Fahrenheit (F) or degrees Celsius (C). If the operating temperature is
below or above that range, the fittings or vessels will fail (HIS Engineering 360, 2016).

Materials
Fitting material is important for determining various physical properties of the part as well as gas
compatibility. Material choices include metals, plastics, and composites (HIS Engineering 360,
2016).

Metals

Aluminum

Lightweight and corrosion resistant. By itself, aluminum has low tensile strength and is used for
its corrosion resistance and low density in low pressure applications. It is alloyed with zinc,
copper, silicon, manganese, and/or other metals to improve its strength and hardness (HIS
Engineering 360, 2016).

Brass

Strong, durable, and corrosion resistant, with high temperature ductility and good conductivity.
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. It is the most common metal for smaller compression and
threaded fitting typical of pneumatic systems because of its machinability and its excellent
performance properties (HIS Engineering 360, 2016).

Steel

Durable and strong, with a high resistance to heat. Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon; it is
typically alloyed with other metals to improve its corrosion resistance. Galvanized steel is coated
with zinc for added rust protection and chemical resistance (HIS Engineering 360, 2016).

Stainless steel

Strong with excellent chemical and corrosion resistance. Stainless steel is an alloy of steel that
contains over 10.5% chromium. It has the strength and durability of steel while also providing
excellent corrosion resistance, albeit typically at a higher cost (HIS Engineering 360, 2016).

Plastics

Fluororesins such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)

are fluorocarbon-based polymers typically used for temperature requirements above
500F (250C). They exhibit very good chemical resistance and dielectric properties.

Polypropylene is a thermoplastic material used widely for pneumatic fittings because of

its price, broad material compatibility, and durability. It exhibits excellent cold flow, bi-
axial strength, and yield elongation properties and can be used in exposed applications
because of its resistance to UV, weathering, and ozone (HIS Engineering 360, 2016).

Composites

Composite fittings include those made from combinations of materials, such as carbon,
fiberglass, and graphite. These materials have high melting points and are used as fittings for
applications that require high temperature durability and chemical resistance. They also exhibit
low electrical and thermal conductivity (HIS Engineering 360, 2016).
 3.0 Problem statement
The packing machine consists of two mains sealers, the vertical sealer (former) and the
horizontal sealer. The sealer consists of in fact 2 plates. The vertical sealer is used to seal the
plastic sideways and the horizontal sealer has primary task of sealing the packaging at the end
and also to cut and detach the packed package as secondary task.

Initially, a roll of plastic, onto which the design layout of the packaging is already printed, is
placed. The operator adjusts the end of the plastic into a clamped pair of support. The flat sheet is
formed into tubes and they are sealed vertically.

The bottom part is sealed horizontally and the pouch is then filled with powdered milk. A blade
then separates the bag which is then guided by a chute to a conveyor. The packing is at the
instance, a 3 sided sealed plastic, into which the required mass of powdered milk is filled.

The packing machine operates every day during a week but has an annual shutdown from the
24th of December till the 3rd of January. Considering a daily duty of work, the packing machine
operates with the manual help of 3 workers; the operator and 2 helpers. They sign in at 7 45 am
every day and the time of production is expected to start exactly at 8 00 am and stops at 4 00 pm,
where a lunch break is allocated at 11 50 to 12 30 and a tea break at 02 00 pm to 02 20 pm. The
time of daily production is therefore 7 hours. After signing in, the workers get 15 minutes to
equip themselves with the safety and hygienic equipments and the operator has to as well
perform a test packing to verify if the sealer is operating. In case the sealer is not functioning at
all, it implies that no pressure is being supplied to the sealer. However, it should be noted that in
case of a low pressure being supplied to the sealer, the latter will still operate and seal the pouch.
However due to a low pressurized force applied, the pouch will not be properly sealed. This
problem cannot be visually detected by the operator. During production, the sealed pouch of milk
travels on the conveyor belt and reaches the 2 helpers who pick each pouch and place them in a
plastic container. Consequently, if the pouch is found to be leaking, the helpers will immediately
alert the operator who will stop production. The time period in between has already led to the
production of 5 defective packaging. In this particular case, the pouch will be torn and the milk
will be refilled in the system. However, the roll of the plastic film ink-printed on one side and
metalized on the side, has a cost of rs200 per meter and a length of 75 cm is approximately
required for the production of one package. The number of packets of powdered milk produced
in one hour is 300 and each packet is sold at rs150. When, the production is stopped, the operator
immediately informs a technician from the maintenance department. The total time for
troubleshooting, verifying the pneumatic line and reparation is defined as the mean downtime
(MDT). After reparation, production is immediately re started. The ideal operating pressure for
the sealer is 6 Pa. However it can seal the plastic film from 4 Pa to 6Pa. The temperature
subjected to the sealing plates is 197C and the average temperature in the cabin due to
convection is approximately 100C.

The actual maintenance plan carried out is breakdown, whereby after analyzing the maintenance
sheet data for the past 3 years, it was noted that for each pneumatic line, 3 main components, a
pipe-6mm, a pipe-8 mm, an elbow and a Y-joint fitting were found to have failed most of the
time.

Figure 5 Former for vertical sealing

 Figure 6 Horizontal sealing and cutter

After consulting the manual book of operation for the packing machine, it was analyzed that the
following figure below can illustrate the pneumatic circuit of for one line till the horizontal
former. For our study, this line is our main study due to the accessibility to its previous
maintenance records of data and also due to the unavailability of the maintenance data for the
pneumatic line leading to the vertical sealer.
As illustrated below, the air supplied by the compressor is 10Pa. the compressed air moves in an
air pipe of 10 mm diameter until the pressure is parted into first the main line of pipe 8 mm
diameter at a pressure of 8Pa and into another pipe of diameter 8mm as well leading to a tank.
The main pipe line is followed by a connector, after which the pipe enters a cabin with first an
elbow. The pressure gets parted into two 6mm diameter pipe with a pressure of 6 Pa in each pipe,
one leads towards the sealer, and the other converges towards the tank. After investigation based
on remarks from the technician, it was noted that the elbow, the Y-joint, the pipe-8mm and the
pipe 6-mm inside the cabin all fail frequently.

Figure 7 Circuit of the pneumatic system of sealer

 4.0 Data collection
The Data collected for the pneumatic line of the horizontal sealer has been tabulated in table 1
below and the various remarks have been noted. Since the components have all been replaced
after failing, the time to failure has been noted and therefore the Mean Time To Failure (MTTF)
will be used. The downtime has also been noted and the mean downtime (MDT) will also be
noted.
Date Time to Remarks from Downtime/minutes
Failure/days technician
Pneumatic 19.08.13 - Leak 32
pipeline (6mm)
23.01.14 157 White leak 34
08.06.14 136 White leak 26
14.11.14 160 White leak 27
02.04.15 140 White leak 30
11.07.15 100 Leak 31
28.09.15 80 Head torn 40

Pneumatic 20.07.13 - White leak 45

pipeline (8mm)
24.01.14 188 White Leak 39
01.07.14 158 Leak 25
18.12.14 121 Head torn 29
13.06.15 177 White leak 32
28.11.15 168 Leak 33

Elbow 10.08.13 - Push plug fail 39

20.11.13 104 Push plug fail 44
28.04.13 102 Grip fail 43
14.03.14 114 Push plug fail 26
20.07.14 128 Push plug fail 45
13.11.14 116 Push plug fail 28
15.03.15 122 Grip fail 35
25.06.15 102 Push plug fail 32
 04.10.15 101 Grip fail 31

Y-joint 15.01.14 - Grip fail 29

21.04.14 95 Push plug fail 41
12.06.14 52 Grip fail 26
01.09.14 81 Push plug fail 44
10.11.14 101 Push plug fail 45
12.02.15 94 Push plug fail 30
14.04.15 61 Grip fail 29
17.06.15 64 Grip fail 41
02.10.15 107 Push plug fail 34
Table 1 Collected data for each component

5.0 MTBF and Reliability function.

Reliability function
Since the different values obtained for the time between failures lead to an approximately
constant value of failure rate, it can be interpreted that for each component, the time period for a
constant rate as visualized on a bath tub curve has been used. To be more explicit, each failure
mode for each component has failure rates value of approximately the same. This can be
explained by some calculations. The MTTF, should have been calculated for each failure mode,
and a Gaussian distribution for each failure mode and its range of time between the failures
would have better represented the conditions of failure and a better analysis would have been
obtained in the sense that implementations during later stage or further recommendations to
mitigate or increase the life span of a specific failure mode, would have helped to analyze new
MTTF and new range. Nevertheless calculating the overall MTTF and plotting a Gaussian
distribution for each component will not falsify any ranges, but in fact a new MTTF would be
obtained with a bigger range. Therefore, the adoption of a preventive maintenance strategy later
on can be based on this distribution itself.

The MTTF of each of the component are calculated by first determining the number of hours in
between 2 maintenance dates and a mean of all the values are done.

The MTBF for the pipe-6mm, the pipe-8 mm, the elbow and the Y-joint are tabulated below.
Components Pipe-6mm Pipe-8mm Elbow Y-joint

MTTF/days 128.8 162.4 111.1 81.9

MTTF/hours 3091 3897 2666 1965

Lowest Value/hrs 1920 2904 2424 1248

Highest value/hrs 3768 4512 3072 2568

Table 2 MTTF for each component

Based on table 2, where the MTTF has been noted as well as the lowest and highest value, the
Gaussian distribution of the span can better interpret the following data. A reference date ( 3rd
January) has been essentially taken into consideration whereby on this at t=0, the reliability of
each component is 1 for better analysis.

Gaussian Representation for each component

 Referring to the Gaussian distribution, considering that the shape will repeat itself for
each component with time, the different possible reliabilities of the system has been
worked out before the first maintenance intervention is carried out. Since the Y-joint has
the lowest life-span, 4 possible cases have been worked out.
Case1. The Y-joint fails just at its lowest boundary( t=52 days).
Case2. The pipeline 6-mm fails just at it lowest boundary( t=80 days)
Case3. The elbow fails at its lowest boundary( t=101 days) while the other components
are still operating.
Case4. The Y-joint fails at its upper boundary( t=107 days)
The different reliabilities possible of the system has been worked out and the results have been
noted along with the block diagrams. Since all the components are in series, the reliability of the
system will be a product of the reliability of each component.

Reliability of system

Time, T = 52 days

R = 0.726 R = 0.530 R = 0.6678

Pneumatic pipeline Pneumatic pipeline

Elbow Y-joint Sealer
(8mm) (6mm)

Reliability of the system

above = 0.160
Time, T = 80 days

R = 0.611 R = 0.377 R = 0.537

Pneumatic pipeline Pneumatic pipeline

Elbow Y-joint Sealer
(8mm) (6mm)

Reliability of the system above

= 0.06

Time T = 101 days

R = 0.622 R = 0.291 R = 0.784

Pneumatic pipeline Pneumatic pipeline

Elbow Y-joint Sealer
(8mm) (6mm)

Reliability of the system

above = 0.057

Time T = 107 days

R = 0.659 R = 0.271 R = 0.831

Pneumatic pipeline Pneumatic pipeline

Elbow Y-joint Sealer
(8mm) (6mm)

Reliability of the system

above = 0.0567

Figure 8 Block diagram for the system

As can be deduced, the system have a higher possible reliability in case4 where the maintenance
is carried out at the lowest boundary of the life-span of the Y-joint. It has a value of 0.160.
Therefore, further implementations at later stage will try to make the system more reliable before
the first intervention is made.
 6.0 ETA

Figure 9 ETA diagram

Below is the event tree analysis with the initiated event being the normal pressure supply. It is
important to point out that the initiating event will be first influenced by the success rate of the
compressor, the Y-joint (10 to 8mm) and a connector. The compressor is likely to fail once every
7 years, and the Y-joint and the connector have failed only once during the last 3 years after
investigating from the maintenance department. Therefore, the success rate X has been initially
worked out. It was also noted that if atleast two components were found to be faulty, the sealer
will not operate at all and can be termed as the shutdown. Otherwise, the sealer will operate and
faulty pouches will be produced.
Events Failure rate Success rate
X 1.87710-3 0.9981
A 6.15810-3 0.9938
B 9.0010-3 0.991
C 0.0122 0.9878
D 7.76410-3 0.9922
E 3.91410-4 0.9996

Table 3 Failure and success rate for the events

Success Rate for A= SA

Success Rate for B= SB
Success Rate for C= SC
Success Rate for D= SD
Success Rate for E= SE
Failure Rate for A= FA
Failure Rate for B= FB
Failure Rate for C= FC
Failure Rate for D= FD
Failure Rate for E= FE

Events Calculations Occurrence frequency

X SA SB SC SD SE 0.9649
XE SA SB SC SD FE 3.77810-4
XD SA SB SC FD 7.55310 -3
XC SA SB SD SE FC 0.0120
XCE SA SB SD FC FE 4.666 10-6
XCD SA SB FC FD 9.329 10-5
XB SA FB SC SD SE 8.763 10-3
XBE SA FB SC SD FE 3.431 10-6
XBD SA FB SC FD 6.860 10-5
XBC SA FB FC 1.091 10-4
 XA FA SC SD SE 5.979 10-3
XAE FA SC SD FE 2.341 10-6
XAD FA SC FD 4.680 10-5
XAC FA FC 7.445 10-5
XAB FA FB 5.542 10-5
Table 4 Occurrence frequency of the events

Mean time between shutdowns

1
=

1
=
(5 + 6 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 12 + 13 + 14 + 15)
1
=
4.666 10 6 + 9.329 10 5 . +5.542 10 5
= 2183
Mean time between faulty products
1
=

1
=
(1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 7 + 11)
1
=
0.9649 + 3.778 10 4 . +5.979 10 3
= 9 days

The mean time between Shutdown (MTBS) has been found to be approximately 2183 days
whereas the mean time between Faulty Pouch ( MTBFP) has been to be 9 days, which is a
more occurring failure mode. At this instance, the 2 main failure modes, can be noted as the
leakage of the pouch and the non-operation of the sealer.
 7.0 FTA

The figure below shows the fault-tree diagram corresponding to the top event which is the sealer
being unable to operate properly. The main reasons considered are either the pressure being
delivered is below the minimum requirement for the sealer to function properly or there is no
pressure present in the system at all.

Reasons for low pressure delivery are mostly due the elbow, y-joint and pneumatic pipelines of
diameter 8mm and 6mm respectively being faulty causing leakage of compressed air. A faulty
compressor or no electric power will result to cause the failure of the sealer. First of all, the fault
of the sealer may be due to its non-operation or due to non-proper sealing of the pouch. 4 main
sub components can directly cause these problems.

A fault in the pipe, elbow, Y-joint and the compressor itself can result to the sealer being faulty.
For the pipes to be faulty, the wrong size of pipes could have been used causing burst-out of the
pipe. The burst out of the pipe could also be due to stagnation of pressure in the pressure line
leading to the tank. Leakage can also occur in the pipe due to deformation of the pipe surface due
to high temperature and also due to the high pressure resulting to the vibrations of pipe
molecules which result in wear.

The Y-joint and the elbow can be faulty if the collet expands due to high temperature and
actuates automatically the tubing out. Also, due to vibrational movement of the molecules in
contact and a contributive low abrasive wear( contact between two surfaces of low hardness
value) between the tubing and the O-ring inside the fitting both resulting from high pressure,
leakage can occur inside the fitting due to small gap in between.
 Sealer Faulty

Pipe Faulty Fittings Compressor

faulty Faulty

Small size Pressure No

used Loose switch electrical
Wearing connections faulty power
between tubing
and fitting
Deformations
Switch
not
Collet
O-ring making
faulty
faulty contact
Vibrations
and high
pressure

High Wearing Power

temperature supply
Expansio faulty
n due to Wrong
heat manufacturing
of collet itself Power
failure
Small size Power supply
of tubing switch not
used Figure 10. FTA for failure of sealer
making
contact
 8.0 FMECA

The FMECA stands for the failure mode, effects and critically analysis and it is used, based on
the different failure modes for each component, the critically of the mode is identified by
considering its occurrence, severity and detection. The product of the 3 factors will give the risk
priority number (RPN). The failure mode corresponding to the higher RPN value will normally
need higher consideration. Implementation will have to be made to mitigate those failure causes
and the life span of the specific component will be lengthened. However, a failure mode of low
RPN value might still need consideration if its occurrence or severity is very high.In order to
proceed with the FMECA, the different failure modes which are possible are noted. The fault
tree analysis also serves of great help in order to identify the different causes of failure.
Furthermore, based on the maintenance sheet provided during investigation at the industry, the
critical components which are more likely to fail have been noted as the pipe-6, pipe-8, the
elbow and the Y-joint. The remarks by the technician for each maintenance date, as noted in the
data collection table, helped us to analyse the failure mode and causes. For the pipe of 6 mm and
8 mm, remarks were noted as white leaks, leak and burst-out. The white leaks in fact indicate
leaking with the pipe having turned white. This is due to the high temperature, and blue and
yellow pipes are purposely used for better detection. Otherwise, leak is just stated and this can be
explained by wearing and fatigue failure of the pipes. Fatigue failure typically have beach marks
which are centered around a common point corresponding to the fatigue-crack origin. An idea
about both types of leak were given to us after contacting the technician and it was noted that the
white leaks were slightly larger than the normal leaks. The burst-out implies that the pipe blew
away from the fitting due to perhaps stagnation of pressure in the line or in the tank line, which
propelled a higher pressure in the main pneumatic line. No pressure is therefore being supplied to
the sealer in this case. The modes of failure associated with the 2 fittings were firstly because of
the inability for the fitting to grip the pipe inside. This may be due to fretting wear of the O-rings
inside the fitting. This occurs between the pipe and the O-ring, and the vibrational movement due
to high pressure tend to wear out the O-ring and therefore, gaps tend to be created in between the
pipe and the ring causing leakage of pressure.

Another failure cause is the expansion of the collet of the push to connect plug of the fitting. It is
normally made of polyimide and has a working temperature of 80 degrees. However since the
temperature of the cabin inside is approximately 100 degrees centigrade, this will cause the
expansion of the polyimide and the collet will tend to automatically activate, therefore releasing
the pipe. No pressure is consequently supplied to the sealer in this case

Occurrence Rating Scale

Score Occurrence Guidelines

Description Number of failures every 3
years
10 Very high: persistent failures 10
9 Very high: persistent failures 9

8 High :Frequent failures 8

7 High :Frequent failures 7

6 Moderate: Occasional failures 6

5 Moderate: Occasional failures 5

4 Moderate: Occasional failures 4

3 Low :relatively few failures 3

2 Low :relatively few failures 2

1 Remote: failure is unlikely 1

Figure 11 Occurence table

 Severity Rating Scale

Score Severity Guidelines

Description
10 Hazardous with injury
9 Hazardous with major
production loss
8 Very high
7 High
6 Moderate
5 Low
4 Very low
3 Minor
2 Very Minor
1 None
Effect
Sealer does not operate and noise
disturbance is created
Sealer does not operate at all
Sealer operates but barely seals the
film
Causes large leak at more than 1
location
Causes large leak at 1 location
Causes medium leak at more than 1
location
Causes medium leak at 1 location
Causes small leak at more than 1
location
Causes small leak at 1 location
Does not affect the sealing of the
packet

Figure 12 Severity table

Note: Due to inadequate pressure for proper sealing, the packing will be done but
localized leak will be detected due to the loss in pressure and also due to the
microstructure of the plastic which will tend to creep with and seal with not enough
pressure. Therefore, the lack of pressure will directly influence the type of leak which
will to a small leak in case the lacking pressure is quite small and it will results into a
large leak if the lacking pressure is quite large. It should be noted that the pressure range
for the sealer to operate, is 4 to 6 Pa, with 6 Pa being the optimal pressure for perfect
packing.
 Detection Rating Scale
Score Description
10 Almost impossible
9 Very remote
8 Remote
7 Very low
6 Low
5 Moderate
4 Moderately high
3 High
2 Very high
1 Extremely high
Figure 13 Detection Table
Definition
Can be detected after faulty
component is sent to lab for
inspection
Can be manually detected after a
thorough inspection
Can be visually detected after a
thorough inspection
Can be detected by manual
inspection
Can be visually detected after
opening the front window
Can be visually detected without
opening the front window
Components Failure Failure cause Occurrence Severity Detection RPN
mode
Pipe-6 Leakage High 4 5 2 40
temperature
Burst-out of Stagnation 1 9 1 9
pipe pressure
Leakage Wear in pipe 1 3 3 9
due to high
pressure and
vibration
Elbow Leakage Gap between 3 2 5 30
pipe and O-
ring due to
wearing of
grips due to
vibrations
and contact
with pipe
Burst-out of Expansion 6 9 4 216
pipe collet due to
temperature
which
actuates the
tubing out
Pipe-8 Leakage High 3 5 2 30
temperature
Burst-out Stagnation 1 9 1 9
pipe pressure
Leakage Wear In pipe 2 3 3 18
due to high
pressure and
vibration
Y-joint Leakage Gap between 4 2 5 80
pipe and O-
ring due to
 wearing of
grips due to
vibrations
and contact
with pipe .
Burst out Expansion 6 9 4 216
Of pipe collet due to
temperature
which
actuates the
tubing out

From the FMECA, it can be noted that the push to connect had the highest RPN value of 216 due
to the burst out mode and a RPN value of 80 due to leakage mode. However the burst out of the
pipe itself due to stagnation pressure had a low RPN of 9 but a severity of 9. And therefore, this
can not be totally neglected.

9.0 Cost analysis

The company has to meet a demand of 2000 packets of powdered milk a day. The 2000 packets
will be transported the very next day for sale. So, it is important that the packing machine does
meet the expected demand. After investigation, it was found that 300 packets are produced every
hour with a production time of 7 hours daily, with the machine operating 6 days a week. A
packet of powdered milk is sold at rs150. Therefore, the production cost for one hour is rs45,000
. The plastic films had an overall manufacturing cost of rs200 per meter, and a length of 75 cm is
approximately required for the production of 1 packet. When the production is stopped, the
operator immediately informs a technician from the maintenance department. The mean time for
troubleshooting, verifying the pneumatic line and reparation or in short the mean down time is 35
minutes varying from 25 minutes to 45 minutes. Considering the minimum downtime of 25
minutes, this will result into a loss of production of 125 packets, whereby at the end of the day,
1950 packets will be produced. The daily demand will not be met and therefore the production
loss is rs18,750 . As per the actual maintenance plan, the minimum cost has been worked out on
a day whereby the production is stopped. It should be noted that the cost can be much higher
considering the possibility that more than 1 intervention of the technician can occur, in case
another fault is detected on the same day an intervention occurred earlier. However, the
minimum cost has been kept as the main analysis in order to develop a maintenance plan of
lower cost. After analyzing the different remarks on the various maintenance dates, it is to be
noted that no 2 components were replaced at one particular intervention. Therefore, it implies
that no 2 components were faulty and repaired at the same time. The cost for the pipe-6mm,
pipe-8mm, Y-joint and elbow is rs100 per metre, rs125 per metre, rs250 and rs200 respectively.
The length of pipe-6mm used is 30 cm and the length of pipe-8mm used is 60 cm. It was also
noted that at Mer Rouge, a maintenance department is located near the warehouses, and any case
of intervention at any of the company located there, is reported and the cost for intervention by a
technician for inspection or reparation costs rs500.

As an engineer, though the main aim is to increase the reliability of the system, the cost involved
also plays an essential role. Based on several cost factors obtained after investigation and on the
actual maintenance plan adopted by the company, the total cost during maintenance depends on
the 2 independent events and each cost analysis has been noted on a daily basis.

Event A is the non-functioning of the sealer. When the sealer is not operating and is
normally detected during the test packing, the minimum production loss is rs 18,750. The
labor cost is rs500 and considering again the failure of the lowest costly component, the
cost of component is rs30. So the minimal total cost is r19, 280 during an intervention
day. Considering the year of 2014, 7 interventions were totally made considering the
failure mode of sealer non-operating, the y-joint was changed 3 times and the the pipe-
6cm and the pipe-8mm were respectively changed twice, was rs 58, 310.
Event B is the leakage of the packet. Considering the leakage of the packet, an additional
cost for the damage of 5 packets need to included. The cost of packing film for one
packet is rs150 and 5 packets result to rs750. Therefore, considering the other 7
 interventions based on the leakage as the failure mode, and the cost of packing films for 5
packets as rs8250 per intervention, the total cost results to rs192, 500.

Therefore, the total loss for that specific year is rs250, 810 and based on same analysis developed
for the year 2015, it can be noticed that it is approximately also equal to this value.

10.0 Improvements
In order to develop a strategy plan, the four main factors for the RCM has been studied and
analyzed. First of all, based on the cost analysis, it was found that the annual cost for
maintenance is approximately rs250,810 keeping in mind that approximately 11 interventions are
annually made. This proves to be a huge loss for the company in terms of its annual turnover.
Therefore, implementations must be made to reduce or totally eliminate this loss. The number of
interventions per year is very high, and since the actual maintenance is breakdown and the mean
downtime is approximately 35 minutes, huge hour production loss is made. During investigation,
it was noted that upon advanced notice, the technician can fix the faulty component/s in a lapse
of 10 minutes. Therefore, a preventive maintenance strategy can be adopted to reduce the
production loss. It should be also noted that since the 4 components have life-spans less than 1
year and due to the unavailability of the technicians on Sunday, the maintenance cannot be
scheduled during the annual shutdown or on Sunday. This implies that the production loss cannot
be totally mitigated, but however the downtime can be reduced. Also, a downtime of 10 minutes
will imply a production loss of 50 packets, and on the specific maintenance day, 2050 packets
will be totally produced which will meet the demand of 2000 packets a day. Scheduling the
maintenance during production may therefore not be a major issue but still the scheduling time
must be well chosen to have an appropriate reliability of the whole system. Based on the actual
maintenance, the highest reliability of the system is 0.160 and the new preventive strategy to be
adopted needs to provide a more reliable system with better reliable components before the
maintenance is done. The earlier the maintenance is carried out for each component, the better
reliable it will be. However, the number of times maintenance will need to be carried out will be
higher increasing the cost.

The first strategy plan which can be adopted is as follows;

Strategy Plan 1
The first strategy plan is a preventive maintenance strategy. It will carried out with reference to
the lowest boundary of the life span of the Y-joint which is 52 days. Therefore, considering
intervention after 45 days from the reference start day which is the 1st of January, the first
maintenance will be carried out during the 15th of March and the next intervention on the 1st of
April. The maintenance of the pipe-6mm could have been done for a first time on the 1st of April
as well but due to a lower boundary of its life cycle which is not more than 3 months, its first
maintenance will be scheduled on the 15th of March as well. The maintenance of the pipe-8 mm
and of the elbow will also be carried on the 1st of April as their failure ranges are quite close.
Therefore, this will imply that the maintenance for the Y-joint and of the pipe-6 mm will be done
every 45 days whereas the maintenance of the pipe-8 mm and of the elbow will be done every 3
months. In total, as illustrated from the diagram below, 7 interventions are totally needed on a
yearly basis. The cost for one intervention comprises of the production loss above all. Since, the
technician will already be given advance notice, the downtime will be equal to the time to repair.
Therefore, a time of 10 minute will result to a production loss of rs7500. The labor cost for each
intervention is rs500. A total loss of rs8000 is constant for each maintenance scheduled and
considering that the pipe-6mm, the pipe-8 mm, the elbow and the Y-joint have to be changed 7
times, 3 times, 3 times and 7 times respectively, the total cost on a yearly basis will result to
rs58, 740. The new reliability of the system will also have its lowest value as 0.0148 with the
pipe-6mm, pipe 8-mm, the elbow and the Y-joint having new reliabilities of 0.3957,
0.4784,0.3403,0.2317 respectively for t= 45 days.
Schedule Plan
Strategy Plan 2
A second strategy plan can be adopted by increasing the life spans of the component or
components of lower MTBF with lower boundary as well. If the maintenance can be scheduled
every 3 months, this will reduce considerably, the number of interventions to 3 on an annual
basis. The production loss will inevitably reduce as well as the labor cost. In order to achieve this
strategy, for the pipe-6mm, it can be seen that the failure due to temperature of wear causes, have
times between failures much more than 3 months. Therefore, the failure caused by the tearing of
the head of the pipe can be mitigated or reduced in order to increase its span. The stagnation of
the pressure in the line leading to the tank from the Y-joint can be the main cause for this failure
mode, and this could have occurred due to twisting of the pipe since the pipes leading to the
tanks were found to be not well maintained. A proper fixing system could be used to avoid
twisting of the pipe. The life span of the Y-joint needs to be increased till a greater value of the
MTBF and a lower boundary after 3 months. Based on the FMECA table, it was found that the
main 2 failure causes which led to very high RPN value of 80 and 216 respectively are the
wearing of the O-rings inside the fitting which cause leakage of pressure, and the expansion of
the collet which automatically actuates the tubing out. The Y-joint can be placed just beneath the
elbow and since MTBF for the failure mode due to high temperature of the elbow is much
higher, we may consider the fact that the region the elbow is fixed is exposed to a cooler region
compared to the initial region of the Y-joint. This new system of fixing would require a longer
wire of pipe-6mm which can result till a length of 1 metre. The failure rate respective to the
mode of failure due to high temperature of the pipe-6mm is lower compared to the Y-joint. This
can be explained by the fact that air pipe of approximately 3mm thickness of insulating case has
a working temperature range of 140-200 degrees.( )

Therefore, the total cost for this maintenance plan on a daily basis is rs8000 including the
production loss and the labor cost leading to a sum of rs24, 000 after 3 interventions. The
number of fittings to be replaced are 1 meter of pipe-6mm, 6 cm of pipe-8mm (length kept as
before), the elbow and the Y-joint have to be all changed thrice leading to a total price of rs1830.
Therefore, the total cost on a yearly basis is rs25, 830.
Schedule Plan
 11.0 Conclusion

To conclude, the preventive maintenance strategy is a better strategy compared to the breakdown
maintenance strategy which is actually carried out by the company. The first strategy proposed
consists of 7 interventions during a year and the time of maintenance has been scheduled in order
to minimize downtime, as well as increasing the availability of the system. The reliability of the
system has also ameliorated from a 0.106 to 0.2057. However, the cost factor is till high and
according to the second strategy proposed, the cost factor has decreased considerably from
rs58,740 to rs25, 830, requiring only 3 maintenance interventions during a year. The downtime
also is minimized. In both strategies proposed which are both preventive, the Mean Downtime
has been reduced from 35 minutes to 10 minutes which is equal to just an approximately Mean
Time To Repair( MTTR). Therefore, the daily demand of 2000 pouches of milk will be met on
any day of the year. The strategy 2 will have however a lowest reliability of 0.0006878 with the
reliability of the pipe6, pipe8, elbow and Y-joint being 0.2007, 0.2799, 0.1548, 0.07957
respectively. Therefore, to increase this reliability of the system, the maintenance can be
scheduled much earlier on but after 45 days to decrease the number of annual maintenance and to
increase the availability as well.
12.0 References

1. IHS Engineering, 2016, Pneumatic Fitting information. Available at:

http://www.globalspec.com/learnmore/flow_control_fluid_transfer/pipe_tubing_hose_acc
essories/pneumatic_fittings. [14 February 2016].

2. INNODIS, 2016, Company structure. Available at:

http://www.innodisgroup.com/en/our-company/company-structure.aspx. [14 February
2016].

3. Kammerer, Cathenne, 2009, Reliability Centered Maintenance Methodologies.

Available at: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20130012596.pdf. [14
February 2016].