Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability (RAM) Analysis

This course provides participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to conduct and interpret Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability (RAM) studies for industrial facilities and critical equipment. The course focuses on evaluating system performance, predicting failures, and quantifying downtime. It also supports maintenance and operational decisions to ensure facility and equipment performance meets or exceeds company standards. Participants will learn how RAM studies can identify performance-limiting assets, optimize maintenance strategies, improve system availability, and support lifecycle management and operational decision-making.

The RAM study process emphasizes a structured, six-step approach: data collection and review, scoping and functional analysis, RAM modeling, reliability and availability assessment, analysis and development of recommendations, and reporting. Process and design data, equipment lists, historical failure and maintenance data, and operational philosophies are used to develop high-level system models. Reliability Block Diagram (RBD) methodology is applied to represent system dependencies, redundant configurations, and load-sharing arrangements.  Monte Carlo simulation techniques are used to evaluate reliability, availability, maintainability, utilization, and lifecycle performance.

The RAM study provides a comprehensive analysis of critical systems and components. It allows participants to:

• Predict facility and terminal availability and quantify the contributions of individual assets to production losses
• Identify systems and equipment that limit operational performance
• Develop recommendations to achieve RAM performance targets
• Describe operational and maintenance constraints, spares strategy, and equipment utilization
• Provide a full picture of reliability and availability over the system lifecycle

The study also applies sensitivity analysis to evaluate optimization measures, such as changes to equipment type, operational or maintenance philosophy, and local configuration of critical equipment. The methodology aligns with international standards. These include ISO 20815 for production assurance and reliability management and IEC 61078 for reliability block diagrams, ensuring best practices for energy, process, and industrial operations.

Participants will gain practical insights from real-world RAM and asset integrity studies across multiple industries. These include hydrogen and natural gas pipelines, turbomachinery, pulp and cellulose plants, mining systems, rail infrastructure, and oil & gas facilities. The course equips participants to apply RAM principles effectively to optimize facility and equipment performance, support operational decisions, and identify actionable improvements.