Energy operations, from power generation and gas processing to refining, pipelines, and utilities, run expensive assets for decades under high consequences of failure. Quality methods that started in manufacturing, such as failure mode analysis, root cause analysis, standard work, and structured problem solving, apply here when they are tied to reliability, safety, and asset value.
This hub groups the site's energy-focused guides, tools, and templates with the general quality and maintenance material that fits best. Start with the learning path, or jump to the tool you need.
About This Hub
Suggested Learning Path
- Reliability-Centered Maintenance — decide what maintenance each asset really needs
- Reliability and Availability Calculator — quantify availability, downtime, and redundancy
- Total Productive Maintenance — involve operators and reduce losses
- Maintenance KPI Calculator — measure PM compliance, planned work, and backlog
- Process Safety and Management of Change — control change and track leading indicators
- Asset Management and ISO 55000 — rank criticality and compare life-cycle cost
- Outage and Turnaround Planning — plan the critical path of a planned outage
Quality in Energy Guides
Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM)
The seven RCM questions, failure patterns, task selection, and the P-F interval.
Process Safety and Management of Change
PSM elements, the MOC flow, and leading indicators.
Asset Management and ISO 55000
Criticality ranking, the asset life cycle, and total cost of ownership.
Outage and Turnaround Planning
Scope freeze, readiness, the critical path, and compression.
Total Productive Maintenance
Involve operators and eliminate the big losses.
OEE
Availability, performance, and quality for equipment.
SMED Quick Changeover
Shorten planned downtime by moving work outside the window.
FMEA
Analyze failure modes and prioritize action.
5 Whys Root Cause Analysis
Dig past the first cause after a failure.
Fishbone (Ishikawa) Analysis
Organize possible causes of a recurring problem.
CAPA Process Effectiveness
Make corrective and preventive actions work.
Standard Work
Document the best known method for routine tasks.
Tools and Calculators
Reliability and Availability Calculator
MTBF and MTTR to availability, downtime cost, and redundancy.
Maintenance KPI Calculator
PM compliance, planned work, schedule compliance, backlog, MTBF, and MTTR.
OEE Calculator and Loss Analyzer
See where equipment time and output are lost.
Product Lifecycle Reliability Analysis
Weibull-style failure analysis and reliability comparison.
FMEA RPN and Action Priority Tool
Prioritize failure modes for action.
Risk Matrix Builder
Plot risks by likelihood and impact.
SMED Changeover Calculator
Estimate the time saved by moving work outside downtime.
Project ROI Calculator
Compare improvement and replacement options financially.
Templates
RCM Worksheet Template
Criticality ranking and failure mode analysis with task selection.
Management of Change Register Template
A request form, register, and dashboard for tracking changes.
PFMEA Template
Failure mode and effect analysis for a process.
8D Problem Solving Report
A structured report for significant failures.
A3 Problem Solving Template
A one-page problem-solving report.
5S / 7S Audit Checklist
Audit work areas, workshops, and storerooms.
Lean Standard Work Template
Document a standard method step by step.
Pareto Analysis Data Template
Rank failure causes and downtime reasons.
Energy Reliability and Safety Terms You Will Meet
| Term or framework | What it means for improvement work |
|---|---|
| RCM | Reliability-Centered Maintenance: a process for choosing maintenance tasks by failure mode and consequence. |
| P-F interval | The time between a failure first being detectable and becoming a functional failure; it sets condition-monitoring intervals. |
| MTBF and MTTR | Mean time between failures and mean time to repair, the inputs to availability. |
| Availability | The fraction of time an asset is ready to perform, MTBF / (MTBF + MTTR) for a simple repairable item. |
| Hidden failure | A failure not evident to operators, typical of protective devices; found by failure-finding tasks. |
| PSM | Process safety management, including OSHA's 29 CFR 1910.119 in the United States for covered processes. |
| MOC | Management of change: review and approval of modifications before they are made. |
| HAZOP and PHA | Hazard and operability study and process hazard analysis: structured reviews of what could go wrong in a process. |
| Asset criticality | A ranking of how much an asset's failure matters, used to focus effort. |
| Turnaround | A planned shutdown for inspection, maintenance, and modification, also called an outage. |
Body of Knowledge Definitions
Quality in Energy Hub: Frequently Asked Questions
Do Lean and Six Sigma apply to energy operations?
Yes, when adapted. Reliability engineering, failure mode analysis, root cause analysis, standard work, and structured problem solving all apply, and Lean ideas such as reducing changeover time carry over to outages and turnarounds. The methods must respect the high consequences of failure and the regulatory context of energy operations.
Where should an energy team start?
Match the method to the problem. Use criticality ranking and RCM to decide what maintenance matters, the reliability calculator and KPI calculator to measure performance, management of change to control modifications, and critical-path planning for outages.
Is this content engineering or regulatory guidance?
No. It is educational material about quality and reliability methods, written from a quality and operations perspective. It does not replace your site's procedures, applicable regulations, or qualified professional judgment, and changes to live processes and safety systems should be reviewed by qualified staff.
Sources and Further Reading
- F. Stanley Nowlan and Howard F. Heap, Reliability-Centered Maintenance; John Moubray, Reliability-centred Maintenance; SAE JA1011.
- OSHA, Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals, 29 CFR 1910.119; CCPS, Guidelines for Risk Based Process Safety.
- ISO 55000:2014 and the ISO 55000 family of asset management standards.
- Campbell and Reyes-Picknell, Uptime: Strategies for Excellence in Maintenance Management.
- Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals (SMRP), maintenance and reliability metrics.