Reliability-Centered Maintenance ("RCM")

Reliability-Centered Maintenance ("RCM") is a methodology for analysing the operation and performance of an item of equipment or system taking into consideration any defects. It is generally believed that the successful implementation of Reliability-Centered Maintenance will lead to reduced operating costs, improved lifetime reliability and improved understanding of the risk of failure related to the item of equipment or system.

There are four principles that are critical for a reliability centered maintenance program:

• The primary objective is to preserve system function
• Identify failure modes that can affect the system function
• Prioritize failure modes
• Select applicable and effective tasks to control the failure modes