These days, reliability professionals are faced with diverse options related to technologies and methods to detect, troubleshoot and remediate problems. Figure 1 is a simple example of the available options to collect data and arrive at decisions regarding the health of machinery and machine components.

The logical starting point is always to carefully rank failure modes by both criticality and probability of occurrence. For more information on this topic, see my previous column titled “A New Look at Criticality Analysis for Machinery Lubrication.” This method is known as failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA), and has been extensively documented.

The failure mode ranking sets into motion the critical-path process in reaching optimized decisions related to condition monitoring followed by the prescribed response or remedy. This response should not simply be corrective but also incorporate proactive measures to prevent or restrict recurrence. The emphasis is on optimized decisions and actions.

It’s easy to go cheap (penny wise, pound foolish), but there also can be temptation at the other extreme (a state of reliability excess), often driven by fear of the unknown. The optimum reference state is an activity of seeking balanced decisions. After all, you are not trying to maximize reliability. There is no greater source to find this balance than knowledge and education.

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Oil analysis is about surfacing problems that were otherwise hidden from view. We’ve all heard the phrase “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” but an important corollary is “if it is broke, fix it fast.” The basic problem with this strategy is not knowing when something is actually broken.

For many organizations, oil analysis offers an effective solution, but it works only if users are literate in its language and apply it effectively. While oil analysis is not a panacea for all machine reliability problems, it does offer many special opportunities. For one, the oil is typically the carrier of both the root cause and symptoms of impending failures.

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