The author treats business as management of risks and treats maintenance as a means for minimizing these risks. He presents the applicability of tools and techniques available to maintenance professionals alongwith cost effectiveness of these. He shows that maintenance contributions can increase significantly by using reliability engineering theory and systems approach. A prior knowledge of systems and reliability engineering is not necessary to follow the text. Author develops the concept from the first principle without going into mathematical derivations.
The way author has approached the problem and the fashion in which he has written this book not only make it easy to read but also easy to comprehend. The book has 12 chapters. Chapter 1 is devoted to production and distribution processes which includes process efficiency, work and its value, and the impact of efficiency on resources. Chapter 2 deals with process functioning including effective planning and prevention of failures. Chapter 3 presents reliability engineering for maintenance professionals. It includes failure histograms, probability density function, mortality, hazard rate, availability and Weibull distribution. These concepts have been developed using tables and charts without going into mathematical derivations. In chapter 4 failure, limits and application of condition monitoring, age related failure distributions, system and human failures are the topics discussed. In chapter 5 life cycle aspects of risks in process plants which include design quality, planning maintenance work, and maintenance costs are presented. In chapter 6 process plant shutdowns which includes risks related to planned shutdowns, planning, and safety and environmental hazards have been discussed. Facet of risk is the title of the chapter 7. This presents the understanding of risks and factors influencing decision making. The evaluation of events which includes event escalation model, failure of barriers, etc. is discussed in chapter 8. Chapter 9 addresses maintenance at the activity level, continuous improvement cycle and system effectiveness and maintenance. Risk reduction, which includes amongst other topics, fault tree analysis, root cause failure, total productive maintenance, reliability centered maintenance and reduction of perceived risks, is covered in chapter 10. Chapter 11 is devoted to decision making which includes data collection, data reduction, and transforming data into information, decision support and business process management. Improving system effectiveness is the topic of chapter 12. This includes managing hazards, some steps for reducing risks and maintenance as investment.
The author has prescribed the material in a very concise and effective manner. His long experience with industry is reflected, the way he has approached the topic. This book will be of significant help to maintenance managers, planners, and supervisors for understanding how best to minimize industrial risks.
