How Complacence Hurts Equipment Reliability
Complacence is a state of self-satisfaction, accompanied by a sense of unawareness or lack of concern for any associated potential risks or dangers. This attitude may also arise out of past successes and failing to preempt future (and unknown) challenges with knowledge and objective reasoning. When complacency pervades the culture of an organization, it can lead to catastrophic results.
Many of us are aware of the sad demise of the space shuttle Columbia. After the accident, a comprehensive report was published by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board in August 2003. The report is easily accessible on the internet. A careful study of the report makes it amply clear that even an organization like NASA was not free from complacence. Concerns related to damage caused to the Thermal Protection System (TPS) due to foam strike during accent was flagged by some engineers. The compromised TPS apparently led to the loss of the orbiter. Unfortunately, the concern was not heeded to with much-needed sensitivity and attention. Past successes of the Space Shuttle Program possibly restrained the imagination of the key decision makers. The consequence was the loss of seven precious lives.
A recent example would be the failure of the MCAS system (Maneuverability Characteristics Augmentation System) in Boeing 737 MAX airplanes that resulted in the loss of 346 human lives in two crashes in 2018 and 2019. The newly developed MCAS system (software) was deployed in 737 MAX variants to help flight stability under certain conditions. Various technical reports (Ref: Summary of the FAA’s Review of the Boeing 737 MAX, Dated November 18, 2020) have suggested that the system had deficiencies which were not completely resolved by the manufacturer before the airplanes were deployed in commercial service. In this case also, a sense of complacence from past successes may have played a role. It should be noted that aeronautics and space companies are very sophisticated in their use of technologies and have very rigorous systems and processes in place. And yet they could not prevent these catastrophic consequences.
“It has not happened in the past” syndrome is a manifestation of complacence. “We are doing fine right now. Why should we waste our valuable time and energy harping on imaginary failures?” This is often heard in industries where responsible agencies blissfully ignore potential failures which have not occurred (yet). The impact of complacence on equipment reliability is also visible in other industries such as nuclear, oil & gas, mining, steel, cement etc. The processes involved in all these industries are hazardous where equipment and workers function in dangerous conditions. Any failure that impairs plant machinery, threatens human life, or causes extreme damage to the environment has significant and devastating consequences.
Declining resistance to failure
It is important to note that a physical system undergoes a phenomenon known as declining Resistance to Failure over its lifetime. This is true for the human body too. As the human body ages, it falls prey to a multitude of ailments as its immune system gets slower and weaker unlike when it is robust at a younger age.
In industrial machinery parlance, a newly designed and deployed equipment will have built-in features to resist failures for a certain period of time if operated under conditions that it was designed for. In reality, we have the propensity to extend the life of our investments and often unknowingly (and sometimes even knowingly) deviate from the designed operating conditions.
Avoiding the rigors of the theory of the Conditional Probability of Failure (Ref: Reliability-centered Maintenance by John Moubrey) we can safely say that the applied load and operating conditions gradually reduce an equipment’s Resistance to Failure. As a result, new failure modes become distinctly possible.
Staying complacent to potential (yet unknown) failure modes would most certainly give us rude surprises. In fact, most of the “surprise” failures we experience happen because we never thought about them. Instinctively people rush to fix the failure, incurring significant revenue losses and maintenance cost while going about doing their business as usual, waiting for another surprise.
Combating complacency
The industry as a whole should be conscious about such potentially damaging surprises and embrace proven preemptive strategies. It makes perfect business sense because it helps improve all the Reliability KPIs. Improved OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) directly contributes to higher profitability. Preventing unplanned equipment shutdowns improves the quantum of planned activities, which in turn helps keep maintenance costs low. However, companies cannot embark on it without acknowledging and addressing the underlying attitude of complacence that ignores the associated risks and dangers.
By adopting and methodically implementing the doctrines of Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM), the industry can effectively overcome complacency. RCM inculcates the need for thinking out of the box and promotes continuous improvements. Maintenance and reliability organizations should be empowered and encouraged to adopt RCM as a fundamental reliability policy to ensure that the company always stays ahead of the curve. This requires an unwavering culture of objective reasoning, an open mindset, and promotion of free technical deliberations. The change starts at the leadership level to provide active support, sponsorship, and meticulous monitoring.
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