Streamlined RCM Process for Drilling Equipment
Authors: Armitage Chris J. 
Published: October 2008

Many challenges face the Off-Shore Industry when it comes to maintenance. How much to do? When? What parts to stock? With all these questions the basic goal still must be to provide timely and only necessary maintenance in order to maximize reliability/availability and minimize downtime.

The essential premises for the application of Streamlined RCM is that the Oil Drilling Industry in general does not do a thorough job of continuous improvement and thereby does not learn from day to day experience but relies on original equipment manufacturers recommendations for initial and long-term maintenance strategies. Once a starting point is achieved (OEM manuals) it is rarely reviewed and updated.

The process of streamlined RCM is a series of logical tests and questions that relies on operational/maintenance experience to determine what is failing, what is being done about it, and the effectiveness of the actions taken. Each one of these three points is an opportunity for change where warranted. If the equipment doesn't fail, don't fix it. If it fails, make sure the maintenance task improves the equipment and doesn't make it worse. Finally, if the task improves the equipment, make sure the task is worth doing. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

These three phases can be summed up as the following:Probability - The failure is likely to occur in the service life of the equipment.Applicability - The task specified does restore or maintain the inherent equipment reliability.Reasonable - The task pays for itself either in safety, operations, or economics.

In the Streamlined RCM process, each of these items has rules to ensure task validity or identify the need for change. Tasks that are considered valid or on-PAR should satisfy all three of these criteria.

The short-term result of the successful application of basic maintenance fundamentals in the Streamlined RCM process is typically a 25-35% reduction in workload for the affected systems and equipment. The long-term benefit is the beginning of a culture change in the way we look and react to this thing called maintenance.

The purpose of this tutorial is to provide the basic background and understanding of the development and application of the Streamlined RCM process to Oil Drilling systems and equipment in today's maintenance environment. The tutorial is not intended to be a full guide to the application of Streamlined RCM but rather an overview of the process and its advantages in improving maintenance tasks and identifying the Right Maintenance on the Right Equipment at the Right Time.

Streamlined RCM

Back in the 1960's United Airlines pioneered a process called Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM). This process was developed in an effort to better define the need to perform maintenance in order to preserve function of equipment and systems in a cost-effective manner. With the complex Boeing 747 coming on line and the increased demand for air travel, a real need was realized for performing the right maintenance on the right equipment at the right time.

UAL's philosophy had been, if it looks bad, make it look good. Unfortunately, this idea had little to do with function or reliability. UAL engineers came up with 3 hypotheses by which they could determine the reasons maintenance should be performed.

First, there had to be some degree of meaningful degradation to the equipment. If it was not going to wear significantly, then why do maintenance. Second, the maintenance task prescribed needed to be beneficial in restoring or maintaining inherent reliability. Third, the maintenance task pe