Updating PLEs in RCM

The PLE (Production Loss Equation), in RCM represents the financial loss of lost production and is found in the ‘no maintenance situation’ - in the Economics consequences (PONC) and – in the ‘do maintenance situation’ - in the cost of maintenance tasks (POC).
Changes in production margins or throughput over time may lead to the necessity of updating the PLEs used in RCM Analyses. Another issue involves copying RCM Analyses, which may cause that a PLE from another Unit is used, potentially causing incorrect results.

PLEs that are in use, cannot be modified, they can only be replaced with a newly created PLE.
Also, PLEs cannot be deleted when they are in use, which could also be the case with ‘soft deletes’, where an Analyses is not really removed but only flagged as ‘deleted’.

Export for Import

Replacement of PLEs in RCM is relatively easy, since the export for import functionality for Analyses can be used. This way, after export, the PLEs can be replaced in the excel-sheet, and then uploaded again.

Many Units and PLEs? First analyze!

However, when there are many Units in a database and many PLEs per unit, say up to 20, it is recommended to analyze the situation in terms of:

• Which PLEs are defined in the unit and what are the values?
• Which PLEs are assigned to the functional failures in the systems?
• Which PLE’s are used in the Analyses?
• What are the MEI’s, criticalities and residual risks before the PLEs are updated?
• What are the MEI’s, criticalities and residual risks after the PLEs are updated?

As PLEs are basically specified per Functional Failure of a System, updates of PLEs can best be approached through scoping by Systems, updating the PLEs System by System. Here it should be noted that Flocs and Equipment from other Units can reside in a System of another Unit.

List PLEs Defined

As starting point the Query - PLEs Defined (with Rates and Timing) is recommended to show the "PLEs Defined" in the data base. Based on the PLEs defined, one should review if and what PLEs need to be updated. To update a PLE first a new PLE should be created and then the PLE to-be-updated should be ‘found and replaced’.

List PLEs Used

Next the Query - PLEs Used (with MEI) can show the PLEs actually used in Analyses. This Query use the Base view "vwRCMData" and reports the PLE, Floc, Equipment, System, Criticality and MEI.

Decide which PLEs to replace

When new PLEs are created, the Query - PLEs Used (with MEI) can be used to decide which PLEs to replace, and this should be registered in a plan. 

Check Functional Failures Links

For the PLEs to be replaced, the PLEs linked to the various Functional Failures of the Systems should be checked, which theoretically can all differ. The Query - PLEs Assigned to Functional Failures can be used for this.

Verify effect on Criticalities and MEIs

To verify the possible effects of PLE replacement on the Criticalities and MEIs this data should be registered before and after the PLE update, the Query - PLEs Used (with MEI) can be used.

Actual Updated Process

The actual PLE update process starts in the Systems grid, where the Systems ‘to-be-updated’ are ‘pinned’.
The pin action will show [in green] the number of Floc/Equipment and Analyses involved in these Systems:

Pinning the Systems to be updated. The Systems grid data provides useful insight in the number of Equipment and Analyses.

With the pin action activated, switching to the Analysis grid shows the PLEs (used in the Criticality Economic field of the Analysis) in the last column:

With the pin activated, switch to the Analysis grid. 

Through export-for-import of the Analyses, the PLEs used are shown in the downloaded Excel sheet:

• Column R (release 3.12) or S (release 3.13) shows the PLEs in Criticality detailed Economics/Asset screen (Price of Non- Conformance).
• Column AP (release 3.12) or AQ (release 3.13) shows the PLEs in task Price Of Conformance screen.
  From the Analysis grid, do an Exporting for Import. 

The following steps are recommended to replace the PLEs in the exported Excel sheet:
Note: During import we do not want to create any new objects, only to change entries.

• ‘Save-as’ the excel sheet (the ‘upload’ version) to ensure you have the original export stored for reference and recovery – if needed later.
• Select all rows that have empty PLE fields in both column R/S AND column AP/AQ, and delete these rows. There is no need to import Analyses where no PLE data is present. Note: No PLE data means the Economics/Asset screens are empty.
• Check for empty fields of Unique Task Number (in column AG). When there are empty Task Numbers, while there are Task Names, new tasks will be created (!) as a result of the import.
• For both column R/S and column AP/AQ: do not fill empty fields with a new PLE, leave these fields empty.
• Save the ‘upload version’ of the excel sheet for updating the PLEs in the Systems.
• Before importing the excel sheet: make sure the Query - PLEs Used (with MEI) results with current PLEs, MEIs and Criticalities are safely stored.

We should not create new objects. If warnings show, quite import and review. 

• If the import validation shows that new objects will be created (Equipment, Tasks, or Criticalities): quit the import and verify the import file.
• When successfully imported, run the Query - PLEs Used (with MEI) again, to verify the result and compare the Criticalities and MEIs to verify if follow-up work on the Analyses is needed.
• Move to the next System to update the PLEs.

Change Logs

To verify and review data imports done, under Settings \Data Transfer a tab Import History is found where all imports are listed. Here the individual changes of entities are provided and the imported file can be regained.

Although this change log is applicable for all imports, it is specifically of interest for PLE updates as larger updates are anticipated for these.