Validate system design, achieve reliability and availability targets, while balancing capital and maintenance expense.
A RAM analysis is a proven approach and effective tool for predicting system Reliability, Availability and Maintainability in order to support decision-making during the design process and operational phase. The analysis enables identification of design elements which may cause loss of operational availability and so enables improvements to the design or maintenance program to enable stakeholder targets and requirements to be met.
Benefits of RAM analysis
- Auditable and flexible prediction of availability and/or capacity given the equipment selected and maintenance plans deployed
- Documented reliability strategy data for handover and to support continuous improvement
- Justification of maintenance plans, budget and resource needs
Taranto consultancy utilizes a variety of RAM analysis tools for each project phase to enable asset management plans to be created in a streamlined way and to be consistent with the operational objectives of the project.
Ideally, a RAM analysis, supported by a Failure Modes, Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA), would be conducted in the design stages of a project. As design moves through the various design stages from concept, pre-feasibility, feasibility, detailed design, commissioning and handover, the RAM model also matures from high-level assumptions to specific failure mode models.
Validation of design and reliability requirements
By identifying critical reliability issues early in the design, expensive changes after detailed design, procurement, construction and commissioning are avoided.
The most commonly used analysis method uses a reliability block diagram (RBD) to show the failure logic of a system. Inter-dependencies between equipment and resources and other events enables the simulation of likely system behaviour.
Bottlenecks can be identified, and equipment importance ranking provides focus on areas of design such as redundancy, intermediate storage and equipment sizing and various alternatives evaluated to optimise systems against stakeholder objectives.
Detailed system model
As a design matures, a detailed system model ensures all elements of the design are aligned to the stakeholder objectives: availability, maintenance strategy and plan definition, redundancy and resourcing.