(55ce) Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability (RAM). What Does It Provide?What Should You be Aware of before You Conduct a RAM Study?

Reliability, Availability and Maintainability (RAM) studies can significantly add value to your Process Safety Management (PSM) activities, especially with regards to Mechanical Integrity (MI). RAM studies are an excellent way to determine which equipment limits you from achieving optimum availability and throughput. Using industry failure rate data or even site-specific data can help you identify areas for improvement and determine how best to maintain your equipment. But RAM studies can go beyond purely theoretical studies by using the experience and knowledge gained from operating and maintaining similar facilities to develop a pragmatic approach to solving mechanical integrity-related issues. This paper will cover the pros and cons of site versus industry data and will present a case example of utilizing experience to better define the proposed problems and solutions. If done correctly, RAM studies can be more than statistics; they can be roadmaps to process reliability improvements.