Knowledge: Cornerstone of Human Capital

Managing assets to make them deliver the products and services we need now and in the future is the essential purpose of Asset Management. However, Asset Management is more about obtaining value from assets than what you do to the assets. It is about utilizing assets to deliver value to your organization while attaining corporate goals. Human capital is an essential element of the whole asset management process from strategy to operation.

Human capital entails knowledge, habits, social and personality attributes, including creativity, embodied in the ability to perform labor that produces economic value. Thus, sharing result delivering knowledge is one of the most gratifying and valuable endeavors to undertake within the Asset Management environment. Fortunately, there is plenty of guiding information on the subject that has been developed by global organizations such as the Institute of Asset Management (IAM) and the Global Forum on Maintenance and Asset Management (GFMAM). Human capital is an essential element within the whole asset management process from strategy to operation.

The Value of Knowledge

Experience and education let us acquire facts, information, and skills which can collectively be regarded as knowledge. Is knowledge really power, as some people say? The fact is that it is not until useful knowledge is applied for a purpose that we can experience its real impact.

Workers at all levels are expected to possess a certain level of knowledge enabling them to successfully carry out their responsibilities. Most of them undergo an induction process for understanding company policies and processes before they can perform on their own. The so-called “learning curve” takes places as soon as a new hired commence working and organizations expect the process to end in the shorter possible time.

Knowledge is the cornerstone of any successful project and could deliver optimum results to an organization when accompanied with creativity, a great deal of passion and the right working habits. Let’s think about a company trying to get their organization aligned with corporate values thru Asset Management. Let’s say we are referring to a manufacturing organization with well-established economic, safety and environmental related goals.

Undoubtedly, the organization plan will be discussed and systematically implemented throughout the company. An initial gap analysis will reveal areas for improvement creating opportunities for bridging the breaches encountered. Areas for improvement will arise on processes, practices, methods, tools, materials, etc. A journey of excellence has begun, and it will not be walked successfully unless people learn and apply knowledge appropriately. Successful enterprises train their people at all levels to pursue their goals. In these organizations people know not only how to do things, but also why they must be done and when is the most convenient time to do them.

This “knowledge” subject reminds me of two enterprises with a similar issue and how their approach to it differed based on their maturity regarding asset and maintenance management. Company A consulted me on helping them decide if some main production assets could continue running some extra campaigns deferring their 5-year factory-recommended bearing and seal overhaul PM. This savvy maintenance manager monitored the unit’s rotating components with predictive maintenance technology and trusted their PdM program results showing flat vibration, oil particle counts, and ultrasound reading trends. Certainly, their well trained and certified PdM technicians and engineers had the necessary knowledge to perform such diagnostics. Obviously, the knowledgeable maintenance manager put in place a plan to defer a major planned overhaul based on facts with the analysis made by educated pdm technicians and engineers. The business benefited from his assertive decision letting the organization to accommodate some 10% extra production for the year. Unfortunately, I got a call from Company B which decided to perform a rush overhaul during a weekend in a similar asset under parallel conditions. But, this time the emergency call was about fixing a vibration problem an unnecessary overhaul provoked. A wrong rotor assembly caused in part by time pressure on the repair team caused the asset to halt due to high vibration levels. It took the maintenance team 3 extra days to resolve the problem caused by the PM of a healthy machine. Evidently, maintenance leaders were applying condition monitoring showing flat trends and time-based restoration tasks to rotating components failure modes at the same time and they trusted PM better than PdM. A maintenance management gap analysis later revealed that Company B lacked basic Maintenance and Reliability Engineering concepts knowledge causing 3 days of production downtime due to an unnecessary and costly asset overhaul performed at the wrong time.

We Help You to Obtain Value from Applied Knowledge

I am proud to co-found and be part of an organization dedicated to employing experience, expertise, and excellence to helping organizations on the journey of excellence we know as Asset Management. We recognize that effective AM implementation requires getting our people not just to acquiring theoretical knowledge, but to performing in a way that expected results are met. This is, the organization’s people are the main engine driving the company to achieve corporate goals and they need to have the necessary set of skills for it.

Conscious Reliability® is a specialist training service provider focused on the reliability of physical assets. Our training materials are based on our publications, papers, and manuals designed by thought leaders. Training programs conforming to international and best practices standards are instructed by experienced professionals with many years of hands-on industry exposure. Our staff of respected instructors also lead asset and maintenance management, predictive maintenance services, reliability and, lean manufacturing consulting firms covering most industry sectors in many countries around the globe.

Call for Instructors and Consultants

Conscious Reliability is glad to undergo a steady growth in our training and consulting activities and opportunities around the globe. We deliver a variety of Asset Management, Maintenance Management, Reliability Engineering, Predictive and Precision Maintenance certification training in both public in-house delivery modes.
We offer a broad range of topics that cater to operational, tactical and strategic levels. Training Partner Instructors must meet our standards for knowledge, skills, experience, and ability to deliver training competently to become certified in their specialties.

Our current offer includes the following courses separated into two main bundles:
1- Asset Management
2- Uptime – Strategies for Excellence in Maintenance Management
3- RCM-R® Basic – Reliability Centered Maintenance Reengineered
4- RCM-R® Advanced
5- RCM-R® Facilitators
6- RCM-R® Instructors
7- REAM Basic – Reliability Engineering Applied to Maintenance
8- REAM Advanced
9- TPM
10- Planning & Scheduling

11- Vibration Analysis ISO Cat I, ISO Cat II, ISO Cat III
12- Infrared Thermography ISO Cat I, ISO Cat II, ISO Cat III
13- Predictive Maintenance Technologies
14- Oil Analysis & Lubrication
15- Shaft Alignment & Rotor Balance

Conscious Reliability® provides RCM-R Consultants and Certified Instructors one of the highest quality training products in the market. We do this by packaging our expertise in a user-friendly product that makes it easy to deliver the training programs.
Conscious Reliability® seeks associations with individuals who are known and respected in their field as well as promising junior talent.

We will work with our RCM-R Consultants and Certified Instructors with the goal of fostering long-term learning and growth success.

RCM-R® Instructors are Consultant Licensees with demonstrated project facilitation teaching experience. Black and Master Black Belts must be certified to deliver training.

Please contact us at info@consciousreliability.com should you need information on how you or your organization can become a CR certified instructor in any of our training classes or an RCM-R® consultant.

Call for Training Sales Partners

Conscious Reliability® provides knowledge and experience-based training programs in a practical approach to help your clients improve asset reliability and maintenance management practices through a global network of Reseller Licensee Partners, Certified Consultants and Instructors.
By becoming a Reseller Licensee, you will be offering products developed by the authors of the background materials. We guarantee the training is at an Elite level – stat of the art, thorough and practical. Reseller Licensee companies sell training services.
Conscious Reliability embraces our alliances where we can complement each other’s services and add value to your training reputation and sales productivity. We also embrace potential Reseller Licensees that are new to the market yet demonstrate energetic sales and marketing capabilities.
Please contact us should you need information on how your organization can become a CR certified instructor in any of our training classes or an RCM-R® consultant.

Jesús R. Sifonte, BSME, MMRE, CMRP, PE