APPLICATION OF RELIABILITY CENTERED MAINTENANCE IN THE FOUNDRY SECTOR

Reliability Centred Maintenance was introduced in the USA during the sixties in the civil aviation industry, This framework is known under the acronym RCM, The use of RCM for more classical production plants is not yet well developed In order to obtain agenetic and efficient tool, 15 foundries which are very different in terms of type, size, level of technology and geographic location, were chosen to set up an adapted approach of RCM for this specific industry. The use of this ''RCM method for SMEs'' has proved to be a particularly well adapted approach for the organisation of maintenance in such organisations where the lack of resources is a major constraint In addition, RCM has permitted the analysis and use of trade knowledge concerning major types of machinery in this industrial sector.