OperatorCareAbnormalityReporting

TOOLBOXTRAINING
Abnormalitiesarerepresentedbythedefectsthatenter ourassets(pointPonthePFcurve)andwilleventually leadtoalossoffunctionfromanassetifleft unresolvedandwillresultinafunctionalfailure(pointF onthePFcurve). PointP PointF

FormalReportingvs.InformalReporting Thequestionhereisthenatureofthereportingofthe abnormalitywithsomemethodsbeingmoreeffective thanothers.Moreoftenthanwecaretoadmit,small problemsgrowintocatastrophicproblemsduetothe organizationsfailuretorespondproperly.Emails, telephonecalls,andverbaldiscussionsontheshopfloor orinthelunchroomareallexamplesofinformal methodsofreportingabnormalities. Inordertoensurethattheorganizationcanrespondina timelymanner,itiscriticalthatabnormalitiesare reportedinaformalmanneronethatisuniversally recognizedandreactedtobytheorganization. WorkRequestsTheprimarymethodofreporting abnormalitiesinmanyorganizationsistheworkrequest generallymaintainedinadatabaseknownastheEAM orCMMS.Thisdatabaseallowsallmemberof organizationtoviewandfocusonthesamelistof reportedabnormalities.Theworkrequestmustbethe firstchoiceleveragedwhenreportingabnormalities. AbnormalityTagsInmanyorganizations,asegmentof thepersonnellackthetrainingordatabaseaccess necessarytoformallyreportproblems.Whenthis situationoccurs,thosepersonnelmustreverttooneof theinformalmethodsofreportingabnormalities leadingtolostopportunitiesandunnecessaryfailures. Asthepersonnelinthiscategoryaregenerallyoperators, theabnormalitytagsusedaspartoftheOperatorCare programprovideaformalmethodtoformallyreportan abnormality.Inaddition,thebrightcoloredtagsusedin theprocessprovideavisualcluetotheexistenceand locationoftheabnormalityintheworkplace.

ThePFCurve

Thepurposeofregularlyscheduledproactiveinspection activities,suchasthoseperformedbyoperators,isto discoverandreporttheseabnormalitiesasearlyas possible(tothelefthandsideofPFcurve)suchthatthe organizationcanreactwiththemaximumpossiblelead time. Ifwedonotreporttheabnormalitiesassoonastheyare detected,wearerobbingtheorganizationofthetime theyneedtoreactappropriatelytotheabnormality.

Elements to Improve Operator Inspections:

Itisofsignificantimportancetonotethatwiththetypes ofinspectionsperformedbyoperators(generallyusing the5senses)abnormalitiesaregenerallydetectedwell totherighthandsideofthePFcurve(verycloseto failurepoint),makingtheformalreportingandresponse processevenmorecritical.

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OperatorCareAbnormalityReporting
TOOLBOXTRAINING
TheTaggingProcessThetagswegenerallyrecommend foruseconsistsofatwoparttag;afrontsectionprinted onbrightcoloredpaper,abacksectionprintedonanoil andwaterresistantmaterialsuchasTyvek,withcarbon paperinbetween. Whentheoperatornoticesanabnormality,theywillfill outthetopsectionofthetag,withtheinformationbeing transferredtothebackofthetagviathecarbonpaper. Theelementresistantsectionofthetag(backhalf)is attachedtotheequipmentnearthelocationofthe abnormality,andthetophalfplacedinacentrally locatedlocationthatisaccessibletoalloperations, maintenance,andsupervisorypersonnel. Inthosesituationswheretheoperatorsdonothave accesstothedatabase,werecommendthatthe supervisordirectlyresponsibleforsupportingthe OperatorCareprocessineachareabetaskedwithtaking thenewabnormalitytagsandcreatingacorresponding workrequestinthecomputerdatabase.Thistaskmust beperformedonashiftbyshiftbasis. Withthebrightcolorofthetagsbeingused,thevisual managementaspectoftheabnormalityreporting processisaccentuated.Maintenancepersonnelare deployedtorespondtoproblemsviatheestablished workmanagementprocess,whileoperatorscanoversee andmonitortheresponsetotheabnormalitiesreported bymonitoringthetagstheyhavecreatedontheir operatorcareboard.

AbnormalityTags Conclusion: Mostoftheequipmentfailuresthatwesufferthrough everydaycouldbeavoidediftheorganizationwasable toreactappropriately. Moreoftenthannot,ourinadequateresponseisnotdue totechnicalissues,butratherrelatestocommunication issuesandourinabilitytoformallyreportandrespondto thewarnings(abnormalities)thattheequipmentis sendingtous.

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GPAllied 4200FaberPlace Charleston,SC29405 Office(843)4145760 Fax(843)4145779

Copyright2011

www.gpallied.com