Asset Reliability Practitioner Engineer (ARP E)

Course outline

The Asset Reliability Practitioner Engineer (ARP-E) course is intended for industrial reliability engineers charged with helping the organization improve reliability and performance, and for anyone else in the organization who desires to have an in-depth knowledge of the reliability and performance improvement process.

The reliability engineer has a critically important but challenging role. In most organizations there are almost infinite opportunities for improvement, but understanding what to change and how to change it is difficult. Analysis is not enough. Action must be taken or nothing will change. But a part of the challenge is that the reliability engineer may not have the authority to make changes; just recommend them. That issue is also addressed in this course.

The course covers the A-Z of reliability improvement. While it is not possible for you to be an expert planner/scheduler, or condition monitoring analyst, or lubrication engineer, you will gain a very solid knowledge in all these areas. You will know how to justify and prioritize your activities and take all the necessary steps to engineer a successful reliability and performance improvement initiative; and avoid the obstacles that have derailed so many programs in the past.

Your challenge will be made easier with the renowned Mobius Institute animations and animated simulations. Complex topics are so much easier to understand. And to ensure your time is put to best use, you can watch any part of the course, or the entire course, online before you attend the live event. And you can take it again soon afterwards to refresh your memory and improve your understanding.

Engineer-x & Leader-x

A Unique Opportunity for Reliability & Performance Improvement Professionals

Under normal reliability certification circumstances, you can take some training and have some experience, and you will take an exam and rightfully so, you are recognized for the knowledge that you have. But that doesn’t prove anything to do with your Competence. A person can be Category I, II or III because they understand what to do, but that doesn’t mean that they have ‘done it’. So we have created x for eXperience. So Engineer-x is the ‘Proven Reliability Engineer’ and the Leader-x is the ‘Proven Reliability Program Leader’. So we will go through an audit process, an interview process, and a verification and validation process to find those individuals who have done it; they don’t just know about it, but they have done it.

We believe that this is a unique opportunity for people who have different levels of knowledge, and they should be recognized for that, but also the actual experience, they should be recognized for that. Recognition that you can do it and have done it.

Online Course – Introduction

The Asset Reliability Practitioner Engineer (ARP-E) course is intended for industrial reliability engineers charged with helping the organization improve reliability and performance, and for anyone else in the organization who desires to have an in-depth knowledge of the reliability and performance improvement process.

This course covers a lot of topics, including a brief overview of people issues and culture change issues (those will be covered in more detail in the ARP-L course.) It goes into reliability engineering, defect elimination and reducing the total cost of ownership, and developing an asset strategy.

The course looks at work and spares management, precision and proactive maintenance, condition monitoring and continuous improvement. All these larger subjects also cover other topics. The aim is to have a good, solid knowledge of each area so that you can assess for yourself where you may need additional training and where you feel competent.

This course is primarily for you – to help you become (or continue to be) a successful reliability engineer. You should be proud to be an Asset Reliability Practitioner-Engineer.

The goals of this course are for you to:

1. Understand how to detect the onset of failure, and the onset of the root causes of failure

2. Understand how to prevent failures from occurring

• Defect elimination
• Proactive maintenance
• Proactive operation
• Determine the root causes
• Understand how to justify and prioritize your activities
• Understand how to measure your progress

How is the online course structured?

Introduction, Strategy and People Management (4h)

People can be roadblocks to the program. If workers are not on board, they will ignore any new tools you buy and new procedures you establish. People are used to doing things a certain way, and it’s hard to get them to change if they don’t understand why they need to. If you engage with them, involve them, and give them ownership and proper training, you will have a better chance of making a change.

Reliability Engineering and Analysis (9hrs 30)

• What are the bad things you’re trying to avoid in your plant? Many people worry about breakdowns, safety issues, environmental issues, financial impact, and other issues. You need to know what you fear happening in your plant.
• How likely is it that an asset will begin to fail? And how likely is it that we will detect the onset of failure?
• You need to understand the importance of collecting good data now so that you will have it later when you are ready to analyze it. Start recording accurate information about what’s failing, when it’s failing, and ideally why it’s failing.
• Data analytics leads to predictive analytics, which we use to predict when the equipment will fail or the performance will drop below standard. From there, we can go further to prescriptive analytics, where the system itself starts making decisions and changes based on the data.
• When talking about consequences and likelihood of failure and reliability analysis, criticality ranking must be considered. It is a useful tool for prioritizing and justifying what you are doing.
• Pareto analysis, like asset criticality ranking, is a powerful tool to help you prioritize your work and find out where you’re spending most of your time and money.

Defect Elimination (2hrs 30)

Are we always dealing with the defects and just managing failure. This has a positive impact. But wouldn’t it be better to have fewer failures?

Defect elimination is a philosophy, a state of mind. It shows the company wants to get ahead and be proactive.

Defect elimination is challenging because you may be dealing with problems you don’t think you have, rather than just dealing with the problems you can see.

Our goals in defect elimination are to increase the plant’s production and to minimize life cycle costs.

Developing the Asset Strategy (12hrs)

We need to perform the right monitoring tasks and decide when to perform them, which technology to use, and why they should be done. We also must plan on proactively eliminating failures and decide how to do it, when we should do it, why we should do it, who should do it, and the methodology that should be used.

Generally speaking, most people either use FMECA or RCM. FMECA can be used as a root cause failure analysis tool or as a design tool, but in this context we will use it as an analytical process to decide which maintenance and condition monitoring tasks to perform on an asset.

With RCM, we are interested in preserving the function of that system in the most cost-effective manner we can, and in managing our risks.

We will discuss root cause analysis, root cause failure analysis, problem solving and project management, human error and human psychology, continuous improvement, DMAIC and Six Sigma, and FRACAS. To perform root cause failure analysis (RCFA) correctly, you need to involve all these different aspects.

Work and Spares Management (3hrs 30)

The goal we have with work management is to create a streamlined process for managing all maintenance work that reduces costs (and waste) and ensures that jobs are performed efficiently in harmony with operations. We want everything to run smoothly, safely, and in a cost-effective manner.

With spares management the goal is to reduce maintenance costs, reduce the planner’s and scheduler’s workload, and increase equipment reliability by minimizing the spares inventory, taking care of those spares, and ensuring we have quick access to the right parts when we need them.

Precision Maintenance (4hrs 30)

• There is probably no other single action that improves reliability in the plant more than ensuring that machines are lubricated correctly. The lubricant must be the right kind of lubricant and free of contaminants.
• Shaft alignment is one of the keys to achieving high reliability in rotating machines. Your machines will run more smoothly, and your plant will operate more profitably.
• A well-balanced machine will last much longer than a machine that is out of balance. When a machine is very out of balance, perhaps due to buildup, there will be high vibration. We should balance the machine early and eliminate the root causes of unbalance so that the bearings don’t take as much force.
• Precision fastening is an area we need to take a closer look at. We need to make sure that we’re not introducing failures in the way we secure our mechanical and electrical connections, whether we’re tightening the hold-down bolts when installing a piece of equipment, fitting keys to the shaft, or doing electrical connections.
• To many people, 5S and the visual workplace is not a traditional area of reliability improvement, but it helps us improve efficiency, improve reliability, reduce costs, get organized, and improve safety.

Condition Monitoring (5hrs 30)

• Vibration analysis is a powerful technology we can use on rotating machinery to find all kinds of problems. It has been successfully used for many years to detect the nature and severity of faults.
• Airborne and structure-borne ultrasound provide an insight into the condition of mechanical and electrical faults, and it is often used to detect leaks. It can be used for lubrication, to detect problems in steam traps, and many other applications.
• Bearings and gears cannot reach their maximum design life unless the lubricant has the correct viscosity, has the correct additives, and is clean of contaminants. Wear will increase if there is insufficient lubricant, or if the viscosity is incorrect.
• Infrared analysis allows the condition monitoring technician to determine whether fault conditions exist in mechanical, electrical, and a wide variety of plant process applications.
• We should also use our eyes, nose, hands, and ears to detect problems. This can be incorporated into PMs and condition monitoring tasks, and operators can use their senses when operating and taking care of the machines.
• Condition monitoring of electrical equipment includes ultrasound and infrared, power quality, dissolved gas analysis, transformers, partial discharge, and electric motors.

Continuous Improvement (1hr)

When does reliability improvement end? The answer is, it is never finished. We need to continually look for ways to make improvements, make sure we’re not slipping backward anywhere, look at our changing business practices and environment, and change our program in accordance with all of that.

ARP E – Course manual

The detailed ARP-E training manual is presented here chapter by chapter.

The manual can be read online only. Printed versions can also be ordered.

Conditions and Requirements

Candidates must provide evidence of a minimum of 24 months’ practical work experience in the field of Reliability condition monitoring and diagnostics.

Candidates must complete the training course, experience requirements, and passed the certification exam with a score of 70% or more to be certified for ARP-E Asset Reliability Practitioner by MIBoC *

* Certification Exam is provided by Mobius Institute Board of Certification (MIBoC) which is ISO/IEC 17024 accredited in accordance with ISO 18436

Remarks

• The course and exam will be delivered in English.
• In-house training is also possible for a class size of minimum 6 attendees.
• Registration of candidates requires processing by Mobius, so you are requested to confirm your booking.

Who should attend?

The Asset Reliability Practitioner Engineer (ARP-E) course is intended for industrial reliability engineers charged with helping the organization improve reliability and performance, and for anyone else in the organization who desires to have an in-depth knowledge of the reliability and performance improvement process.

The reliability engineer has a critically important but challenging role. In most organizations there are almost infinite opportunities for improvement, but understanding what to change and how to change it is difficult. Analysis is not enough. Action must be taken or nothing will change. But a part of the challenge is that the reliability engineer may not have the authority to make changes; just recommend them. That issue is also addressed in this course.

What is unique about this course?

RMS makes it unique. We use 3D animations, Flash simulations, and numerous software simulators that completely demystify vibration analysis. While Reliability training courses have traditionally been very theoretical, difficult to understand, (and boring), you will be captivated by the Mobius Training methods, and you will enjoy our practical approach. You will take away skills that you can immediately apply to your job, and you will truly understand what you are doing. When senior Reliability analysts attend our classes they often say “if only I could have learned this way when I got started” – well, now you can!

Additional benefits unique to RMS / Mobius Institute courses

Classroom activities

• Sitting and watching an instructor can be boring… When the instructor is using modern slides, 3D animations, and incredible simulators, there is no way that you will be bored, however there is nothing like hands-on participation.

Hands-on participation accelerates learning and enjoyment (depends on venue)

• In the Mobius Institute courses you can use the simulators, and you can collect readings and study real vibration patterns. There is no doubt that the simulators make it easier to understand the topics we cover – but when you can use them yourself, the learning is further accelerated.

Workbooks provide feedback – do you really understand?

• We also provide quiz questions that help you check if you really did understand the topics, and that you will be able to make the right decisions in the field (and in the exam). Every morning we have a lively discussion as we go through the questions.

Take away more than just knowledge

• We don’t just deliver an excellent course. We provide you with resources that you can use before, during and after the course.

Get started before the course even starts

• Before you even start the course you can visit our Learning Zone Web site to take the self-paced lessons (and read through the manual). These lessons will help prepare you for the course – you will learn so much more if you go into the course with this knowledge.

Excellent materials that you will treasure forever

• During the course you receive a bearing analysis chart, an Reliability reference guide, (a very handy booklet); a mouse pad that is covered with classic spectra representing common fault conditions; access to quiz styled questions and answers, and our ARP-E manual. This new manual is easy to read, is filled with illustrations, follows the course slides exactly, contains an excellent “Equipment Knowledge” appendix, and can be used as a reference in the future.

Don’t stop learning just because the course ends

• For six months after the course (or longer for a small fee), you can continue to access the self-paced material on the Web site. If you forget something that you were taught, or you just want a refresher, then just jump on to the site and go through the fully narrated lessons.