Tie condition monitoring into RCM and RCA.
Use the information to assess machine health.

In brief:

• Where does CM come into play in the RCM process?
• RCM draws clear and accurate boundaries around a physical asset.
• CM is not only easy to incorporate into both RCM and RCA but is essential in achieving RCM and RCA success.

A successful reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) program or root cause analysis (RCA) is difficult to imagine without condition monitoring (CM). RCM is a process that has been around for a number of years and has proven successful because of the sheer logic of the process.
Just what is RCM? We will forgo any formal definitions and answer the question by looking at how RCM works. Succinctly,  RCM draws clear and accurate boundaries around a physical asset. All things contained within these boundaries are then subjected to the RCM analysis. All of the functions of that asset are then identified. In other words,  what does the asset do? Then all of the ways that those functions can fail are identified and analyzed. Once this is done, tasks are developed to prevent or minimize the consequences of the failures that are likely to occur and would have a negative consequence. Simply stated, an analysis is performed and then something is done (tasks) to keep the asset functioning to a required level. It is difficult to envision a process more logical than RCM for maintaining physical assets (machinery).

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