Handling duplication in RCM Systems

It is possible to unintentionally create multiple Functions and/or Functional Failures via the RCM Analysis import.

The underlying issue

The RCM Analysis import feature allows the creation of Functions and Functional Failures. Depending on how the export file was created, you may end up entering Function and/or Functional Failure names that are slightly different from those already existing in IMS.

These slight differences may result in duplicated (similar in name) Functions and/or Functional Failures to be created, along with all the Analyses under them.

Issues may arise from incorrectly typing the Function/Failure name or by adding some spaces at the end, or by copying the name from the front end as shown below. Depending on the selection, it very well may be possible that extra whitespace characters will be copied from the webpage.

When this selection is pasted into the import template, the names will not match and you will not get the expected outcome after performing the RCM Analysis import.

Workflow when working with RCM Systems and Analyses

We propose two separate steps:

1. Setting up a System with all Functions and Functional Failures through the front end or via the System and System Equipment import templates.

   

2. Performing RCM Analyses through the front end or via the RCM Analysis import template.

Take Note

We recommend generating the initial template by creating some of the Analyses through the front end and then proceeding to export all the Analyses in the given scope (i.e. related to the particular System that is being worked on). Doing so allows to have a good starting point with a correctly aligned template. An already populated template is also a good example of the data that is expected to be entered.

Take Note

When importing RCM Analyses, ensure that any Functions or Functional Failures being created are intentional. To verify this, review the validation messages in step 4 of the import process. If the messages indicate that a Function or Functional Failure will be created, double-check the import file to confirm that the correct names have been provided.

Working with duplicated data - Support Example

After Cenosco support assessed the situation, we found multiple duplicated Function and Failure names. These duplicates were likely created unintentionally due to slight variations in naming.

To help manage this issue, we have marked all suspected duplicate Function and Failure names with a “[D]” suffix. This allows each Function or Failure to be uniquely identified by its name, making it easier to spot potential issues. For example, in the scenario below, there are two Functional Failures with very similar names for a selected Function. We have identified the one with fewer associated analyses as a duplicate by adding the “[D]” suffix.

We recommend that the site investigate these instances to determine the appropriate action. This may involve expiring or renaming the duplicated Functional Failure to make it more distinct from the other.