Machines can't go down at all...... Management wants statement

[LumaraC]

Hi all,

Wishing the best to all Elsmar’s

I’m working in Maintenance Department for Automotive Electronic parts,
With no background/exposure/guidance on how to handling the machine and maintenance…I still going this far (4 years in this position) by using all my luck and hard work.
(I had to literally working around 18~20 hours per day to ensure the machine always UP and reduce the downtime. And now all my luck have empty and I’m exhausted)

It’s true there is saying said: “It’s better to work smart not work hard”

Now the production asking me to give a statement:
Can I ensure the machines will running smoothly without any problem for next 3 weeks?
(because the orders are tight and there will have one week holiday which Office People don't want to working on the holiday)

And I don’t have any choice except to say ” Yes, all the machine will not have problem”
But for me, I know it’s impossible for machine running 24/7 without any breakdown.
Even with good PM, the probability for machine to down still unknown.

Is it right the way I think ? (I’m afraid the way I think limit my action and machine capacity)
Or anyone can share their experience/knowledge regarding similar situation?

Thank you for reading.

 

[somashekar]

Hi..
Give statement to management, as that is what they want.
Keep tightening the nuts daily.
Keep lubrication done daily.
Watch out for abnormal noise.
Keep telling your prayers, and put a smile on your face.
Operate it in less than its max capacity.
After 3 weeks take up the check to replace such parts and refurbish as necessary.
PS: I do not know what sort of machines you are referring to, nor its age and condition.

 

[Mike S.]

Your Management people asking this are, in my opinion, either terribly ignorant or idiots. You can no more promise that the machine will not "go down" in the next three weeks than I can.

What you could reasonably do perhaps is give them some probability data, based on history, if your machine is running in a predictable manner. In my opinion, that is where you should focus.

 

[Eredhel]

I don't know if you like writing things down but if you could start documenting every time a machine has gone down or needed work, plus every time it happens from now on, that might be something you can bring to management to show as data that is a history of how things actually work. That's a tough situation though.

 

[Edward Reesor]

As stated above, you should have complete documentation of servicing records and downtime. Then you can apply those values to your Quality Objectives of not having downtime of "X" minutes per quarter, etc., etc.

Every quarter you should have a goal of "X" minutes downtime (reasonable goals, not some "pie in the sky" value of zero. Any auditor worth their salt will recognize that zero is an impossibility (even a human heart, which works automatically outside the heart for a period of time will fail eventually even when properly maintained).

Even if the machines can be used continuously for "X" years with no downtime, there is still a risk of failure. Hopefully with your hard work, you can reduce those risks to zero, but you yourself cannot say zero unless you are certain that they were highly engineered with redundancies and are not used to 100% capacity.

 

[LumaraC]

Hi..
Give statement to management, as that is what they want.
Keep tightening the nuts daily.
Keep lubrication done daily.
Watch out for abnormal noise.
Keep telling your prayers, and put a smile on your face.
Operate it in less than its max capacity.
After 3 weeks take up the check to replace such parts and refurbish as necessary.
PS: I do not know what sort of machines you are referring to, nor its age and condition.

Thank you Sir for your advise,
to "Operate it in less than its max capacity" is one of my problem
as the machines we have were running 24/7
due to machine breakdown in the past and management asking the machine to run full capacity to cover back the backlogs.
But not to worries, for lubrication and tighten the screw activity
I had to bypass the security door and goes inside the machine during running to do the lubrication, cleaning and screw checking.

Will keeping my smiling face

 

[LumaraC]

Your Management people asking this are, in my opinion, either terribly ignorant or idiots. You can no more promise that the machine will not "go down" in the next three weeks than I can.

What you could reasonably do perhaps is give them some probability data, based on history, if your machine is running in a predictable manner. In my opinion, that is where you should focus.

I tried to understand why management do this
Yes, order come in is the source of our business.
(only at the beginning I quite upset with this decision, now I just accept it as it is)

Thank you for you too sir for reply

 

[LumaraC]

I don't know if you like writing things down but if you could start documenting every time a machine has gone down or needed work, plus every time it happens from now on, that might be something you can bring to management to show as data that is a history of how things actually work. That's a tough situation though.

Yes, I found this is really helpful for us.
I always keep it record whenever we repair/maintain the machine
but sometimes missing the rootcause of the problem
causing us more time on troubleshooting.

Thank you to you sir for reply

 

[LumaraC]

As stated above, you should have complete documentation of servicing records and downtime. Then you can apply those values to your Quality Objectives of not having downtime of "X" minutes per quarter, etc., etc.

Every quarter you should have a goal of "X" minutes downtime (reasonable goals, not some "pie in the sky" value of zero. Any auditor worth their salt will recognize that zero is an impossibility (even a human heart, which works automatically outside the heart for a period of time will fail eventually even when properly maintained).

Even if the machines can be used continuously for "X" years with no downtime, there is still a risk of failure. Hopefully with your hard work, you can reduce those risks to zero, but you yourself cannot say zero unless you are certain that they were highly engineered with redundancies and are not used to 100% capacity.

I admit, this is what I lack of..the data record, analysis & report of machines
I understood your meaning above
with this and I have start also to learn myself about:
MTBF vs MTTR
OEE
7 Quality Tools

and I admit, before this I'm just type a guy who know only to repair the machine when its down...after some point, I realize that will not work for long.
I think because the nature of maintenance also handle with machine/troubleshooting/repair, causing us to lack in acitivity such recording, make report and analysis.


Thank you to you all, I need something like you all share:
Lubricating, Tighten Screw
Record Downtime
Analysis the downtime

things that I miss out in order to improve and work smart.

 

[Mike S.]

But not to worries, for lubrication and tighten the screw activity
I had to bypass the security door and goes inside the machine during running to do the lubrication, cleaning and screw checking.

No, no, no. Do not do this. Sounds like a good way to lose your fingers or maybe your life.

Is Management aware you are doing this?

If Management is aware, and don't care, you need to find a new job, ASAP.