Glossary

Contents

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

U

V

W

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W

A

Acknowledge Alarm

Acknowledging an alarm is a way to tell APM that someone has seen the indicator alarm and is taking appropriate action. For example, in response to an indicator alarm, you might create a work order and a failure record.

Action Plan

An action plan in a strategy development analysis identifies an asset’s failure mode and recommends an action to prevent the failure or mitigate its consequences. For example, MTA2 and SIF action types are condition-based maintenance, failure-finding maintenance, scheduled restoration or discard, modification or redesign, and no scheduled maintenance (run to failure). RBI analyses support actions such as inspections, strategy, and modification or redesign.

See also Secondary Action Plan.

Action Scheduler

The Action Scheduler service runs on Windows in the background. At scheduled intervals, the Action Scheduler service logs on to APM, evaluates the list of scheduled actions, and turns the actions into Windows Task Scheduler tasks, which run independently of each other.

Activity Report

An activity report records the status of a work order task. Trades people can report completion status, asset status changes, labor charges, indicator readings, installed or removed components, downtime incidents, and more. Activity reports can also be used to track work delays. They can be opened from work orders or from scratch, for example, for emergency work.

 

Ad-hoc Reading

An ad-hoc reading is a single indicator reading that is not entered as part of a work order task or checksheet.

Alarm Types

An alarm type describes the severity of the state of an indicator and ranks it numerically relative to the other states.

Anomaly Risk Assessment

APM can be configured to integrate with an external Anomaly Assessment and Tracking (AA&T) system. With the help of AWEIS and other middleware, anomaly events are sent to the AA&T system, which then becomes the master system for the anomaly events. Information, including event statuses, is sent to the anomaly event in APM to keep the two systems synchronized.

When the integration has been set up, you can perform risk assessment when acknowledging indicator alarms or creating requests for work. The resulting criticality is added to the new anomaly event and used to determine if the anomaly is actionable. Actionable events are sent to the AA&T system for the creation of notifications, which are then sent on to the CMMS (SAP) to generate maintenance orders.

APM Configuration

Utility for setting up the server manager (broker), server instances, and thick clients. The tool can run tests to ensure that the settings are correct and that they can communicate with the database. Create shortcuts, install a server as a service, set up an ODBC data source, and access the Settings Editor from the APM Configuration window.

APM Logging Utility

Administrators use the APM Logging utility to modify the logging.config file, adjusting the processes that are logged, logging levels, and targets. They can also copy, save, export, and import configuration files. Access the utility on the Settings Editor’s Logging tab.

APM Mobile Count Sheets

APM Mobile Count Sheets is a mobile application for collecting inventory counts in plant settings. Inventory count sheets are downloaded to personal mobile devices like smartphones or tablets, which are then used to perform the counts. When the count sheet is completed, you can upload it to the APM database for processing.

 

APM Mobile Inspections

APM Mobile Inspections is a mobile application for collecting maintenance data in plant settings. Checksheets for indicator readings are downloaded to personal mobile devices like smartphones or tablets. The device is used to collect data about the assets on an inspection route. Inspection typically involves entering readings from gauges or picking asset conditions from a list. When checksheets are completed, you can upload them to the APM database for processing.

 

APM Server Manager

The APM Server Manager is an IIS-hosted service that provides access to APM application servers for the purpose of load balancing, server monitoring, and so on. It is designed to simplify deployment, monitoring, management, and scaling-out of an APM implementation.

APM Service Monitor

The APM Service Monitor is a utility that can be installed and configured on the same machine as the Server Manager to notify users of a stale server and then restart the server. It can also send a notification when it encounters a server with the status “shutdown”.

Application Module

An application module, such as Implementation and Performance Management (IPM), is a subset of an APM product that can be enabled (or disabled) on particular sites. For example, an organization might enable the IPM module on all sites but enable the Reliability Strategy Development module on just one site. The site window displays only the views and functionality for its enabled modules.

Assembly

An assembly is a component asset that also includes other component assets installed in component locations. For example, an oil rig has a generator set as a component. The generator set, in turn, has a motor and a pump as components.

Asset

An asset is a physical piece of equipment or a collection of equipment (system) that you need to maintain. You can create an asset record for each asset. The asset record is used to keep track of all the information related to that asset. You can also create asset records for organizational areas, such as plants or departments.

TOP

Asset Activity Report

An asset activity report allows users to report on various activities for an asset, such as planned and completed tasks during a specific period of time. The report can include current information about the asset, for example, operating parameters, barriers, asset status, and degradation information.

Asset Activity Report Status

Your organization can use report statuses to track the progress of asset activity reports in APM. The status can also determine the actions that can be performed on the reports to which it is applied. For example, in one typical implementation, when a report has the status “Draft,” you can change its properties. When the status changes “Completed,” the report becomes read-only. When the appropriate status setting is enabled, you can apply the status manually to a report.

Asset Age

An asset’s age can be determined by referencing the date of manufacture, the current asset’s life start date, or by comparing both dates and using the later of the two. Asset age and current expected remaining life are displayed on the asset record. Asset age is often useful in determining asset health.

Asset Category

Asset category is identified on assets, providing a mechanism to group similar assets. For example, categories can be created for piping, vessels, and heat exchangers. You can set up a value list of categories in asset settings.

Asset Circuit

Asset circuits are a means of identifying assets that are related through their roles in a common process, their physical proximity, their composition or degradation stresses, or anything else. Examples of circuits are corrosion loops, electrical circuits, and safety instrumented systems. In APM, an asset’s identification with – or as – a circuit means that you can view information and select objects based on asset circuit references.

Asset Class

Asset class is identified on assets, providing a mechanism to group similar assets. For example, asset classes can be created for piping, vessels, and heat exchangers. You can set up a value list of classes in asset settings.

Asset Classification

APM groups assets into five asset classifications: maintainable, component, component location, organization, and asset group. Selecting the correct classification is important as it affects how APM treats the asset.

Asset Condition Analysis

Asset condition analysis (ACA) allows you to assess the current state of assets, typically to determine at what intervals assets are to be repaired or replaced, based on your organization’s criteria. For example, criteria could include availability of parts and software, and frequency and effort of maintenance. The second part of the process is planning restoration spending using an asset restoration plan (ARP).

See also Asset Restoration Plan.

Asset Group

Asset groups are used to collect similar assets to make it easier to search for them or to compare data on similar assets. For example, you might want to group all 100 hp motors.

If your organization uses assemblies with components and component locations, you can set up an asset group for spare component assets. The “Spare” asset group will provide a parent asset for components that are not currently installed in a component location.

Asset Health Index

An asset health index is a numerical score assigned to an asset or a group of assets as a result of asset health calculations. An asset health index value generally ranges between zero and 100, in which higher index ratings denoting increased asset health. For example, a pump might have an asset health index of 37 (poor) based on the fact that it has received five maintenance work orders in the past year and is greater than seven years old.

Asset Health Monitoring

Asset health monitoring is a management process that focuses on identifying assets that are failing or due for replacement. Asset health indexes, which are numerical scores determined by asset health calculations, automate the process of identifying assets at risk. An asset health report displays the results of the calculations in the form of an online document. These reports can be generated manually or automatically according to a schedule.

Asset Hierarchy

The asset hierarchy is a representation of all the assets that contribute to the goals of your organization and how the assets relate to one another.

Asset Indicator

See Indicator.

Asset Life

The lifetime of a maintainable, system, sub system, or component asset starts when it is purchased and ends when it is scrapped. However, over the course of its lifetime, the asset can be rebuilt several times and restored to a “like new” condition. In APM, each of these restorations can mark the beginning of a new “asset life.” Each life is tracked with a number, a start date, and an end date. APM tracks costs and cumulative indicator information for each asset life, similar to the tracking for financial periods.

Asset Operating Condition

You can select asset operating conditions on standard tasks and on work order tasks to tell the people planning, scheduling, and performing the task what condition the asset must be in for the work to be started. For example, you might have an asset operating condition called “Shutdown.”

Asset Prioritization Analysis

Asset prioritization analysis (also known as equipment risk prioritization) is an organized and methodical procedure for assessing the importance of assets within your organization. A prioritization analysis identifies the business risks posed by an asset’s failure in terms of safety, environmental impact, and operational and non-operational consequences. It takes into account the asset’s probability or rate of failure.

See also Consequence of Failure and Consequence Priority Number.

Asset Program Profile

You can use asset program profiles to generate reliability and inspection programs for one or more assets at the same time. The profile specifies asset types and filters for selecting the specific assets to update, as well as the indicators, standard tasks, jobs, solution packages, and documents to assign to assets. If you are using the construction form feature, the profile also generates a checksheet for each of the assets’ standard tasks.

Asset Reliability Program

An asset reliability program is a set of pre-planned work (standard tasks and standard jobs) for an asset. You can also include triggering rules that define when this work is to be done. Standard tasks and standard jobs that are not triggered may also be included in an asset reliability program.

Asset Restoration Plan

An asset restoration plan (ARP) defines the steps and expected costs for improving assets that have reached, or will soon reach, an unacceptable condition. An ARP is typically based on an asset condition analysis (ACA) that identifies the assets requiring improvement.

See also Asset Condition Analysis.

Asset Status

Asset status represents the operational state of an asset and whether or not it is available for use. APM uses the status of an asset to determine whether or not work is triggered and whether or not components are available for installation. Sites can also use statuses, but these statuses are specific to sites and cannot be used for assets.

Status is particularly important for components because it reflects a component’s repair and availability status. For example, when a component is out of service, the status can also indicate whether the component is a spare and available for use, is in the shop for repair, is out for vendor repair, or has been scrapped.

When you change the status of a parent asset, the statuses of its children are also changed (provided the previous statuses of the assets were the same).

Asset Subtype and Specification

An asset subtype is a means of recording additional information about a type of asset. For example, the AC Motor subtype presents a tab in the Asset window where users can enter information such as voltage and insulation rating. Asset specifications have a similar purpose, but they are designed to record extensive information about an asset subcomponent, for example, a tank roof or shell, typically for use in RBI analysis.

Asset Type

Asset types are groups of settings that define the characteristics of your organization’s assets. For example, you might create asset types called “pumps” or “piping and valves.” The asset type contains basic information, policies, and permissions, such as whether or not standard jobs can be created for assets of the type. When you create an asset in APM, you must specify an asset type, which then determines the information and functionality available for the asset.

AssetWise Enterprise Interoperability

Bentley AssetWise Enterprise Interoperability Service (AWEIS) connects applications in a loosely coupled, services-oriented architecture. Bentley offers it as part of its cloud-based CONNECT services platform, providing Interoperability as a Service (IaaS) to facilitate exchanges between Bentley software products and between Bentley and third-party software solutions. Bentley’s interoperability offering addresses the needs of modern software deployment architectures, supporting cloud-hosted, standalone, and/or hybrid topologies.

Availability Workbench

Availability Workbench® from Isograph is a suite of products for the reliability and maintenance community. Availability Workbench contains the following products:

•

RCM Cost

•	Availability Simulation

•	Life Cycle Cost Analysis

•	Weibull Analysis

Using the APM integration plugin for Isograph, you can export failure modes from MTA2 and RCM2 analyses to Availability Workbench (AWB), where you can analyze and optimize the data. You can then import optimization results into the APM analysis, review the recommendations, and make appropriate changes to the action plans.

TOP

B

Banner

The banner appears in APM views above the tabs. The banner shows information about the open object, such as the object’s name, number, and status. On a Site window, the banner also displays the APM employee name with which you logged on.

TOP

C

Calculated Indicator

A calculated indicator is an indicator that has its readings calculated using a formula, rather than entered manually by a person or electronically by an on-line system.

You can set up a calculated indicator to record information about an asset condition that is not directly available from a measuring device on the asset. For example, you could set up a calculated indicator to measure the efficiency of a pump. Because this is difficult to measure directly, you can create a formula that uses other indicators on the pump that you can measure. You can set up numeric, cumulative, and descriptive indicators as calculated indicators. You can use data from other asset indicators or from APM objects as part of the calculation.

Calculation Condition

A calculation condition denotes the status of an object at the time a calculation was performed. Calculation states use these conditions when determining the status of an object. Examples of conditions include excellent, good, fair, and bad. Each condition can also be assigned colors for a visual cue in tables and charts.

Calculation Input

A calculation input is a variable used in a calculation that represents data from the system. This data can be from two types of sources:

•	Based on indicator reading(s): data from an asset indicator

•	Based on a filter: data derived from one or more APM objects (for example, the total number of work orders based on a selected work type)

The name of the calculation input is used as a placeholder in the formula entered for a calculated or performance indicator.

Cascaded Indicator

A cascaded indicator gets its readings from another asset indicator, instead of from a direct entry. Only cumulative indicators, such as indicators that track mileage, operating hours, production, etc., can be cascaded.

Checksheet

A checksheet is a form that allows you to enter a set (or sample) of indicator readings in APM. The checksheet form contains information about the origin of the indicators, the list of indicators to be read, and space to record readings, make notes, and add inspection photographs and documents. You can create checksheets from a standard task, standard job, PM route, or work order task. You can also create ad hoc checksheets from a Site or Asset window and add the indicators to read.

TOP

Child Asset

A child asset has another asset as its parent in the asset hierarchy. For example, a truck may have its engine as a child asset. Note that a child asset is not the same as a component asset that is installed in a component location.

Closed Status

“Closed” is a status on a work order or work order task. The Closed status indicates that the work has been completed. The work order or work order task cannot be modified unless it is reopened.

Collection Group

Collection group is one of the properties that can be assigned to a route asset on a standard task’s dynamic inspection route. Collection groups are typically used for large assets whose indicators are read at different points in the route. For example, indicators could be split into two groups: front and back indicators. The front and back of the asset might be visited at different times on the route or even on different routes (standard tasks).

Collection Set

Collection set is one of the matching criteria that can be used to select indicators for a standard task’s dynamic inspection route. You can create collection sets as required by your organization to identify indicators for different routes.

Comparative Analysis

Comparative analyses allow you to select multiple indicators in order to compare their readings over time. Analyses typically compare readings from similar indicators that can be numeric, calculated, cumulative, descriptive, or performance indicators. For example, a technician might want to compare pressure readings for a group of pumps over a six-month period. You can view the results in charts as well as tables, forms, and dashboards.

Component

A component is a type of asset, such as a pump or motor, that can be moved from location to location. Component assets are installed in component locations. They are typically removed from a location when they need to be repaired or rebuilt. When returned from repair to the storeroom, they can be installed in another location. This cycle can be repeated until, after so many “lives,” they are scrapped. For each life, you can track indicator reading trends.

Use component assets when you wish to track the installation history of both the component (the various locations in which it has been installed and the dates on which the installations took place) and the location (the components that have been installed and the dates on which they were installed).

Component Location

A component location is a placeholder for a component in the asset hierarchy. It represents the physical location or position for a component (for example, a frame or housing unit for a motor or the location of a pump on a pumping system).

In APM, you must identify the location as an asset in order to install and remove components. APM tracks the installation history of all components that have been installed in a location and vice versa. You can trigger work for a location (if you want the work to be done no matter what component is installed at the time the work is triggered), and you can also track work orders and indicator reading trends for the location.

Component Swapping

Component swapping is a process where you physically remove one component from a component location and replace it with another one. When you do this, you need to tell APM that the components have been swapped.

TOP

Condition-Based Maintenance

Condition-based maintenance is a task that entails checking for potential failures so that action can be taken to prevent the functional failure or to avoid consequences of the functional failure. Also referred to as an “on-condition task”.

Conditional Indicator Reading

A conditional indicator reading is added to a checksheet when an alarm reading has already been recorded and the indicator’s alarm state specifies a conditional indicator list. Readings are added for the conditional indicators so that additional checks or readings can be recorded on the checksheet.

Consequence of Failure

The term “failure consequence” is used in asset prioritization, reliability-centered maintenance (RCM2) analyses, and risk-based inspection analyses.

In asset prioritization analyses, failure consequence identifies the impact that a particular failure can have with respect to a specific prioritization criterion (for example, safety). Each of the failure consequences for a specific prioritization criterion is given a numeric value that is used to quantify the consequence.

For example, a safety consequence might be that multiple fatalities could occur in the event of a failure. Another consequence might be that there could be a minor injury such as a contusion or laceration. The multiple fatality consequence would be given the maximum score of 40, while the minor injury would be given a score of 20. If there would be no injury in the event of failure, the consequence would have a score of 0 (zero).

In RCM2 and RBI analyses, a failure consequence is the way or ways in which the effects of a failure mode or a multiple failure matter (evidence of failure, impact on safety, the environment, operational capability, direct and indirect repair costs).

See also Asset Prioritization Analysis.

Consequence Priority Number

A consequence priority number provides an indication of the relative priority of assets in the site. Priority numbers are calculated during an asset prioritization analysis. The priority number can be used to determine the order of work activities, and is used by the system to determine whether or not indicator alarms are shown on parent assets in the asset hierarchy. During the analysis, the priority number is determined by comparing the asset’s failure consequence scores to a set of rules. If the asset’s scores match a rule, the asset is assigned that rule’s priority number. The asset is always awarded the highest priority number that it matches.

See also Asset Prioritization Analysis and Consequence of Failure.

Construction Management

Construction management encompasses the APM features used to manage equipment installation activities performed by field crews at customer facilities. The Installer completes a construction form that identifies the originating work order, installation location, and the equipment to be installed. APM creates or updates the assets based on the form and generates inspection checksheets and documents that the installers use when setting up and testing equipment.

Containment

A containment action controls or neutralizes the effects of a failure. The containment is meant to be temporary until a final agreed-upon solution is implemented.

Corrective Maintenance Task

Corrective tasks are performed when a random failure takes place or when an inspection reveals a hidden failure.

Criticality

Criticalities describe the severity of failure consequences. They are assigned to risk matrix entries to provide text in the risk matrix. They can also be selected when you are using weighted severity and relative risk to assess risk for a failure mode.

Criticality Index

APM calculates a criticality index for asset failures to evaluate their suitability for root cause analysis. The index is calculated by multiplying the numbers assigned to the consequence priority, failure severity, and probability of recurrence. The larger the index number, the greater its criticality.

See also Root Cause Analysis.

Cumulative Indicator

A cumulative indicator is an indicator that tracks a value that increases over time. For example, an odometer is cumulative. Today’s reading will always be higher than yesterday’s reading. A cumulative indicator can be read as either an accumulated value (the value over the lifetime of the indicator) or as a consumed value (the difference from the last reading).

Currency

Currency is a system of money used in a country. In APM, the term enterprise currency means the currency in which the enterprise’s financial records are recorded. Each enterprise has one and only one enterprise currency.

The term site currency is used to identify the currency in which a site’s financial records are recorded. Each site within the enterprise can have its own currency.

Current Practice Review

Current Practice Review (CPR) is a strategy development methodology. It provides a way to quickly implement your existing reliability program in APM using available information such as paper-based inspections, manufacturers’ maintenance instructions, and predictive maintenance (PdM) routes.

TOP

D

Daily Average

The daily average is the average change of a cumulative indicator over a specified number of days. For example, if a truck is driven 6000 miles in a month, the mileage indicator would have a daily average of 200 miles per day. Only cumulative indicators can have daily averages.

Dashboard

A dashboard displays summarized information, often in chart form, for reference, analysis, and comparison. There are three types of dashboards: site, sidebar, and My desk.

Site dashboards are used to group and display performance indicators, comparative analyses, asset health indexes, and site information. For example, dashboards can show the current values for a group of key performance indicators or graphically trend indicator readings over a period of time. A site dashboard can have up to four sections, each displaying different information.

A sidebar dashboard consists of charts or gauges that appear at the side of a window to summarize the information in it. A sidebar dashboard contains one section that can show site panels (typically charts) or KPI gauge panels.

“My desk” dashboards provide employees with information that is relevant to them or to their roles. For example, employees with the role of Planner might be assigned a My desk definition that shows the work orders, work requests, and reliability programs assigned to them. My desk definitions can consist of 1-4 sections, and each section can display site or KPI panels.

All types of dashboards are assigned to APM users in their employee records. Site dashboards appear in the user’s Dashboard view. The user’s assigned sidebar dashboards can appear throughout the product, for example, on the Assets view, Listing tab. Standard sidebar dashboards can also appear on object windows, for example, in the Asset window’s Strategy Development view. My desk dashboards appear in the user’s My Desk view.

Data Source

See ODC Data Source.

Descriptive Indicator

A descriptive indicator is an indicator that has a distinct set of values that can be detected but not measured in numbers. For example, if you have an indicator that measures tire condition, a list of possible values for the condition of the tires would be “Good Condition,” “Slightly Worn,” or “Threadbare.”

Demand Rate

The demand rate is the frequency with which the demand scenario is likely to occur. Demand rates are typically defined in terms of 0-0.5 year, 0.5-1.0 year, and so on.

See also Demand Scenario.

Demand Scenario

A demand scenario is a situation that requires that an asset, such as a safety device, be put into operation. Examples of demand scenarios are fire, power failure, and blocked outlet.

Document Type

You can define your site’s standard document types. For example, your site might use Safety Instructions. You can use document types to group and sort documents in lists.

Download

Downloading describes the transfer of data from the APM database to the remote database. Normally, downloading involves transferring large amounts of data to the remote database, such as assets, indicators, and work order tasks.

See also Synchronization and Upload.

Download Package

A download package contains instructions that identify the data to download to a computer running APM Remote.

Downtime

Downtime is a period of time or a percentage of a timespan that an asset is not functioning, usually as the result of either a failure or routine maintenance.

Dynamic Indicator

A dynamic indicator is automatically added to a work order task or checksheet when the list of indicators to read is generated from the standard task. The indicator is included if its properties match the selection criteria defined in the standard task’s dynamic route, which can be any of trade, expected frequency, operating condition, maintenance group, PdM technology, and collection set.

Dynamic Route

A dynamic inspection route is defined on a standard task and comprises a list of assets (ordered in walk-around sequence) and a set of criteria for including the assets’ indicators. When a list of indicators to read is generated using the standard task, indicators with properties that match the criteria are included.

TOP

E

Early Warning Condition

An early warning is a warning flag on a standard job that tells a planner that the job will be triggered soon. Early warning conditions are triggered when the conditions in the early warning clauses in a triggering rule are true. For example, if the triggering rule states “Trigger every 5000 miles with early warning 500 miles in advance,” then APM will trigger an early warning at 4500 miles.

Enterprise

The enterprise is an administrative function and your starting point in setting up APM. It is the location within APM where you will set up sites and place them in a hierarchy.

The enterprise also contains global settings and tools, such as asset hierarchy settings, site types, security profiles, and scheduled actions. It also lists the installed APM products and their activation statuses.

Environmental Consequence

A failure mode or multiple failure has environmental consequences if it could breach any corporate, municipal, regional, national, or international environmental standard or regulation which applies to the physical asset or system under consideration.

Equipment State

An RCM term that is similar to APM's Asset Operating Condition.

See also Asset Operating Condition.

Evaluation Group

An evaluation group is an identifier that restricts consequence evaluation categories to specific asset types or damage mechanisms library entries. For example, a pop-up questionnaire that analysts use to evaluate the Health and Safety effects of a failure mode in an RBI analysis can display one set of questions for a Tank Roof asset and another set for a Tank Floor asset, depending on the evaluation groups assigned to the asset types and evaluation categories.

Evident Failure

An evident failure is a failure mode whose effects become apparent to the operating crew under normal circumstances if the failure mode occurs on its own.

Expected Frequency

See Frequency.

External Data Provider

An external data provider is an APM plugin that allows users to view and reference live, read-only data from other systems such as SAP® Plant Maintenance and eB®.

TOP

F

Failure

A failure is an event or state in which an asset cannot perform one or more of its required functions within the specified limits under specified conditions. A failure often requires that equipment be shut down and repaired.

Failure Classification

Failure classifications, along with failure types, allow failure modes and records to be grouped for easy identification. For example, useful failure types might be Electrical, Environmental, Mechanical, Operational, Safety, and so on. Examples of failure classifications are Lubrication, Operator Error, and Installation Defect.

Failure Consequence

The term “failure consequence” is used in asset prioritization, reliability-centered maintenance (RCM2) analyses, and risk-based inspection analyses.

In asset prioritization analyses, failure consequence identifies the impact that a particular failure can have with respect to a specific prioritization criterion (for example, safety). Each of the failure consequences for a specific prioritization criterion is given a numeric value that is used to quantify the consequence.

For example, a safety consequence might be that multiple fatalities could occur in the event of a failure. Another consequence might be that there could be a minor injury such as a contusion or laceration. The multiple fatality consequence would be given the maximum score of 40, while the minor injury would be given a score of 20. If there would be no injury in the event of failure, the consequence would have a score of 0 (zero).

In RCM2 and RBI analyses, a failure consequence is the way or ways in which the effects of a failure mode or a multiple failure matter (evidence of failure, impact on safety, the environment, operational capability, direct and indirect repair costs).

Failure Effect

A failure effect is the consequence of a failure mode. For example, when a pump’s impeller becomes worn (failure mode), the flow through the pump declines until it no longer delivers liquid at the required rate.

Failure-Finding Interval

A failure-finding interval (FFI) is the length of time that it is considered safe to wait before performing failure-finding maintenance. The interval is calculated or estimated based on the desired availability and the frequency of failure of the protective device or system.

Failure-Finding Task

A failure-finding task is a scheduled task used to determine whether a specific hidden failure has occurred.

Failure Mode

A failure mode is a single event that causes a functional failure. For example, if a pump’s impeller becomes worn, the pump cannot convey liquid at the required rate. Failure modes are analyzed in maintenance task analysis (MTA2), reliability-centered maintenance (RCM2), and failure modes, effects, and criticality (FMECA) analysis along with the action plans that prevent or mitigate failures.

Safety instrumented function (SIF) analyses examine the risk of failure in safety devices, the effects and consequences of failure, and ways to reduce risk by putting safety provisions in place.

For risk-based inspection (RBI) analyses, the failure of concern is loss of containment of pressurized equipment items. Examples of failure modes are small hole, crack, and rupture.

Failure Mode Consequence Priority

A failure’s or failure mode’s consequence priority provides an indication of the relative importance of the asset failure. The larger the number, the greater the severity of the failure. The priority can be used to recommend root cause analysis for a failure or to determine the order of action plan implementations.

Consequence priorities are assigned to failure modes during risk assessment. In failure evaluation, the consequence priority is used in the calculation that determines whether the failure is suitable for root cause analysis. APM assigns the consequence priority by comparing the information to a set of customer-defined rules. The consequence priority rules can be based on the failure severity, relative risk (risk analysis only), failure costs, downtime costs, downtime, or a combination. For example, the Extreme consequence priority could be assigned to failures or failure modes whose total severity is greater than 25 or failure costs are more than $25,000.

Failure Tracking

Failure tracking is the practice of recording information about equipment failures. Any event in which equipment cannot perform its function within the limits and under the conditions required of it is considered a failure. The severity of a failure can range from potential to full failure.

APM uses the failure record’s date information to calculate statistics (such as time between failures) that measure equipment reliability and maintainability. Failure tracking also provides a way to measure the savings gained by avoiding failures. Failure tracking allows you to make informed decisions when targeting assets for improvement.

Failure Type

Failure or anomaly types, along with classifications, allow failure modes and records to be grouped for easy identification. For example, useful types might be Electrical, Environmental, Mechanical, Operational, Safety, and so on. Examples of failure classifications are Lubrication, Operator Error, and Installation Defect.

Fault Diagnosis Guide

A Fault Diagnosis Guide lists symptoms and the failure modes that reference them. You can print a Fault Diagnosis Guide report for the site, an asset, or a strategy development analysis (MTA2, RCM2, RBI). The Analysis Summary view in every Strategy Development Analysis window contains the Fault Guide tab, which lists symptoms, failure modes, and assets.

See also Symptom.

Financial Period

A financial period is an enterprise setting used to group and summarize objects such as indicator readings for a period of time. You can create financial periods for each year, quarter, or month.

Forms Editor

The APM Forms Editor is the designer utility that is used when creating or customizing the user interface and reports. To access the Forms Editor, you must launch APM with the administrator privilege.

4D Indicator

APM incorporates functionality from AssetWise 4D Analytics to process large datasets, like the readings that come from Industrial Internet of Things devices: interconnected sensors, instruments, and other devices throughout the plant. 4D Analytics makes it possible to ingest and process large volumes of indicator readings in a small amount of time. Although the raw data is stored in a time series database (InfluxDB®), only readings that cross alarm state boundaries are sent to the APM database.

The APM Calculation engine reviews calculated indicators and, based on new input values, determines which need to be recalculated. The readings and calculation results are displayed in 4D charts and comparative analyses in APM for your review.

Frequency

The expected frequency on a standard task or job tells the people who plan and schedule the work how often the task should be performed. Expected and regulatory inspection frequencies on indicators specify how often readings should be collected, and this information can be used to filter lists of indicators when you are searching for suitable ones. Frequencies are also selected on action plans for strategy development analyses to indicate how often recommended actions need to be performed.

From Scratch

A way to create objects, such as work orders, indicators, or assets. When you create an object “from scratch,” you usually need to enter all of the required information. In contrast, much of the information is supplied when copying an object or creating an object from a template.

Function

A function is whatever the asset is required to do. For example, the function of a truck might be to transport up to one tonne of freight at a maximum highway speed not less than 90 km/h. Each asset can have several functions but just one primary function.

Function Group

A function group is a way of identifying assets that are responsible for performing a particular function. For example, the “Pump Assembly” function group could be used to indicate the relationship between a centrifugal pump, 20 HP motor, and valves.

Functional Failure

A functional failure is a state in which a physical asset or system is unable to perform a specific function to a desired level of performance. For example, a functional failure could occur if a truck cannot be started or cannot reach the minimum speed required of it.

TOP

G

Global Variable

Global variables are pre-assigned a value and are available for all sites. For example, a global variable named “Monthly service cost” with a value of 175.00 can be multiplied by the number of times each asset was sent for service. Global variables can be defined at the enterprise level by an administrator, or they can be created in an asset health calculation.

H

HAZOP Analysis

A hazard and operability (HAZOP) study is a structured and systematic examination of a planned or existing process or operation in order to identify and evaluate problems that might represent risks to personnel or equipment or that might prevent efficient operation.

HAZOP and SIF strategy development analysis in APM use the same system features. The difference between the two is one of timing and process. HAZOP analysis occurs earlier in the design process and is performed at a higher level. HAZOP analysis is likely to identify the need for a safety provision; SIF analysis ensures that it is in place.

Hidden Failure

A hidden failure is a failure mode whose effects do not become apparent to the operating crew under normal circumstances if the failure mode occurs on its own.

Hierarchy Code

A hierarchy code is a string of up to 10 letters and numbers that identifies an individual asset or site. APM uses the hierarchy code for the asset, its parent assets, and the site to create the hierarchy location.

Hierarchy Location

A hierarchy location is a string of letters and numbers that identifies where the asset is in the physical hierarchy.

APM constructs a full hierarchy location using the code that you enter in the Hierarchy code box joined with the hierarchy codes for its parent/ancestors. The codes are separated by a period (.). Hierarchy locations are updated whenever the asset or one of its ancestors is moved within the hierarchy (or if a hierarchy code changes).

TOP

I

In Planning Status

“In planning” is a status on a work order or work order task. The “In planning” status indicates that a planner is in the process of planning a work order or a work order task.

Indicator

An indicator is an APM object that lets you record data that you can measure on your equipment. Using indicators, you can monitor equipment performance or condition. For example, typical indicators on a car include the engine temperature gauge, the odometer, the brake system warning light, and tire condition.

Indicator Alarm

An indicator alarm is a flag on an indicator that shows that the indicator is in an alarm state. Alarm states occur when an indicator has a reading that is outside of the defined normal state for the indicator.

Indicator Collection Report

You can define and generate indicator collection reports that show the status of an asset’s indicators. The report can include indicators for the asset only or for the asset and its descendants.

Indicator Reading

An indicator reading is one data entry that describes the value or state of an asset indicator at a moment in time. For example, an indicator reading for a temperature indicator may be 25° on March 30, 2000, at 2:05 pm. An indicator reading for a descriptive indicator, such as tire condition, may say “slightly worn” on March 30, 2000, at 2:05 pm.

Indicator State

Indicators can be evaluated based on the actual indicator reading (e.g., 501 km), or based on pre-defined states (e.g., Normal or Warning). When you set up an indicator, you can define the possible states it can have and the range of indicator readings that falls into each state.

Indicator Subtype

An indicator subtype is a means of recording additional information about a type of APM indicator used in survey inspections. When a reading is taken for an indicator that supports subtypes and measurement points, you can record information about the subtype onto the reading. Examples of some measurement point subtypes included with APM include anode, berm, marine growth, and soil type. Examples of values for soil type could include bedrock, clay, pebbles, and sand.

Indicator Template

An indicator template is a reusable group of settings for an indicator. Indicator templates can be used to create indicators on many different assets. For example, you could create a template for an odometer indicator and use it to create odometer indicators on all of your truck assets.

Indicator Type

Indicator types define the basic settings for groups of indicators. There are four different indicator value types:

•	Cumulative: for example, operating hours, mileage.

•	Numeric: for example, pressure, flow. Calculated and performance indicators are also numeric-type indicators.

•	Descriptive: has a list of possible states (for example, New, Slightly worn, Worn).

•	Rule-based: a rule determines the state of the indicator.

You must select an indicator type when creating a new indicator or indicator template.

Indicator Value

Indicators can be evaluated based on the value of the actual indicator reading (for example, 501 km) or based on pre-defined states (for example, Normal or Warning). The value is the number that gets entered manually or automatically into the APM system.

Inspection Document

Inspectors can attach one or more inspection documents to an indicator checksheet. The documents typically include links to files or generated reports, as well as information about the checksheet source, asset, system asset, and subsystem asset.

Inspection Effectiveness

The inspection effectiveness of a site’s indicators provides a measurement of the thoroughness, sensitivity, and efficiency of the inspection strategy, which can then inform your assessments of confidence and probability of failure when performing risk analysis.

Inspection Report

An inspection report is an APM document that inspectors use to record their analyses of the equipment or system for which they are responsible. The report summarizes the findings from one or more checksheets and includes recommendations and a summary of actions taken, such as alarm acknowledgments, follow-up tasks, follow-up work requests, failures and anomalies, and failure mode review requests.

Inspection Task

Inspection tasks are typically performed at fixed intervals when the age of an asset reaches a given value or when an opportunity arises. Inspection tasks are performed to detect an imminent failure (and therefore allow a planned maintenance task to be scheduled to prevent the failure) or to detect a hidden failure.

Installed Component

An installed component is a component asset that is installed in a component location. Installed components share some features with the component location (such as an indicator reading), while other features on the asset may be unique.

Integrity Group

Integrity group is identified on asset types, providing an easy mechanism to group similar assets. For example, integrity groups can be created for piping systems, vessels, and heat exchangers.

In risk analyses, integrity groups are used in inspection factor matrices to help determine a failure mode’s Inspection Factor, Inspection Strategy, and Inspection Interval as a result of confidence evaluations.

TOP

J

Job Template

A job template is a reusable standard job plan that can be applied to more than one asset. For example, you might create a job template for the scheduled maintenance of a particular make and model of truck. If the same standard tasks are performed at the same intervals for each of the trucks, the job template simplifies the creation of the individual standard jobs.

TOP

K

Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

See Performance Indicator.

L

Likelihood of Failure

“Likelihood of failure” describes how often a safety device is expected to be required, based on past history or industry experience. An example of likelihood of failure is “Has happened at this location more than once in the last two years”.

Locality

Localities are site values that apply to your sites' or your suppliers' addresses. Localities are used for taxes that apply to regions or metropolitan cities, rather than to countries or states. You can select the taxes that apply to purchases based on locality.

TOP

M

Maintainable Asset

A maintainable asset is a piece of equipment or system for which you track work. For example, tanks and pumping systems are maintainable assets. You can repair maintainable assets, but they are not swapped in and out of a location and they are not disposable when they break (like spare parts).

Maintenance Action Plan

See Action Plan.

Maintenance Group

Employees who are maintenance workers are usually organized into maintenance groups. You can select the maintenance group for an employee on the employee’s APM employee record. Work planners will be able to specify which maintenance group will perform the work on each work order task.

Maintenance Task Analysis

Maintenance task analysis (MTA2) is APM’s unique strategy development methodology that enables the analysis team to quickly create and implement basic, technically-sound reliability programs. MTA2 is most effective when operational and maintenance knowledge about assets is well-documented and consistently used by employees. MTA2 provides an alternative to the resource-intensive RCM2 analysis, while still allowing you to identify the right work to improve performance across the plant.

MTA2 methodology and tools allow the analysis team to:

•	Identify the assets to be analyzed

•	Identify the causes of asset failure

•	Recommend actions to prevent or mitigate failures

Maintenance Task Analysis Template

A maintenance task analysis template (MTA2 template) is a group of settings that can be used as the basis for an analysis. An MTA2 template identifies failure modes for a type of asset, rather than for a specific asset. Similarly, it refers to indicator templates, task templates, and job templates, not to specific asset indicators, standard tasks, and standard jobs. It includes a maintenance strategy for each of its failure modes.

Mark As Planned

Mark as planned is a menu option that you can use to tell APM that planning is complete for a work order task.

See also New Status, In Planning Status, Planned Status, and Work Started.

Master Database

The APM master database is the database used by the APM desktop application. This is the database that contains the data for the enterprise and for all sites and assets.

See also Remote Database.

Mean Time Between Failures

Mean time between failure (MTBF) is the average time between occurrences of a failure. MTBF (Mtive) is the mean time between failure for a protective device or system.

Mean Time to Repair

Mean time to repair (MTTR) is the average time it takes to repair the asset and return it to service after a failure occurs.

Measurement Device

A measurement device is an instrument used to take indicator readings, for example, an ultrasonic probe or vibration analyzer. Measurement devices are defined as maintainable assets in APM so that testing, calibration, and repair activities can be tracked, as well as the indicator readings that use the devices.

Measurement Point

Measuring the condition of certain assets, such as piping, requires taking two or more measurements to arrive at a reliable reading for the indicator. For example, in the case of a numeric indicator that measures the wall thickness of a pipe, four to eight measurements are commonly needed at different locations around the circumference of the pipe. Descriptive indicators can also require two or more measurements, for example, an indicator that evaluates marine growth on subsea piping. The location on the asset at which measurements are taken is referred to as the “measurement location”, while the points around the asset where the individual readings are taken are called “measurement points”.

Mobile Activities

A mobile activity is a task that has been assigned to a mobile device to be carried out. Checksheet activities can be created from work order tasks, standard jobs, and standard tasks. You can view mobile activities created from all sources at the site level.

Modification and Repair Inspection Checksheet

Modification and repair inspection (MRI) checksheets are used to inspect an asset after a major construction project has reached a milestone or completion. Inspection activities ensure that the modifications or repairs are done according to the appropriate standards and codes.

The printed MRI form allows the manufacturer, inspection team, and regulatory inspector to sign off on the activities and add remarks. You can record information from the form in the checksheet, as well as enter the summary, analysis, recommendations. When the inspection is complete, mark the checksheet as closed.

Multiple Failure

A multiple failure occurs if a protected function fails while its protective device or protective system is in a failed state.

TOP

N

Network Log Viewer

Use the APM Network Log Viewer to review server information “live” as messages are logged. When you close the viewer, the log entries are cleared. However, while the viewer is open, you can save the log files in XML format or copy them to the clipboard. You can open the viewer from the Settings Editor’s Logging tab.

New Status

“New” is a status on a work order or work order task. The status of a work order or work order task is “New” until it has been planned or approved (if necessary).

No Scheduled Maintenance

No scheduled maintenance is a failure management policy that permits a specific failure mode to occur without any attempt to anticipate or prevent it. Also referred to as “Run-to-Failure”.

Non-Operational Consequence

A non-operational failure consequence does not adversely affect safety, the environment, or operations, but only requires repair or replacement of any item(s) affected by the failure.

Numeric Indicator

A numeric indicator is an indicator that records any value within a finite or infinite interval. For example, an indicator that measures temperature or pressure is numeric. Today’s reading may be either higher or lower than yesterday’s reading. Numeric values can go up and down over time. Numeric indicators can use calculations to collect readings.

TOP

O

ODC Data Source

An ODC data source is a representation of an external data source used to collect data. For example, a data source might be an OLE Process Control (OPC)-compliant process (OPC DA) that collects real-time data. A data source (which can be an OPC HDA-compliant process) can also be a data archiver or database that stores historical condition readings.

Data sources reference multiple data tags (data points) collected from an asset. In most cases, the target data source must be connected to your ethernet network so that you can configure a data source in APM and/or for data collection when the ODC service provider is running.

On-Condition Task

An on-condition task entails checking for potential failures so that action can be taken to prevent the functional failure or to avoid consequences of the functional failure.

Online Data Collection

The Online Data Collection (ODC) system provides an interface between APM indicator readings and online condition-monitoring devices, for example, Distributed Control Systems (DCSs) or programmable logic controllers (PLCs). The interface involves these elements:

•	APM application and database

•	APM server machine, server instance, and service providers

Data collected automatically using an online condition-monitoring device is stored in the APM database. The ODC service provider monitors data from the data source and records indicator readings in APM based on time and rule criteria.

Note: All service provider components, including ODC plugins, must reside on all server machines.

Operating Context or State

The operating context is the circumstances in which a physical asset or system is expected to operate.

Operational Consequence

An operational failure consequence adversely affects the operational capability of a physical asset or system (output, product quality, customer service, military capability, or operating costs in addition to the cost of repair).

Operator

An operator is a term that tells APM how to perform a mathematical or logical operation. For example, an indicator-based triggering rule clause may say “Trigger when greater than or equal to Warning.” The operator in this clause is “greater than or equal to.”

Organizational Asset

An organization asset represents an organizational unit within one site in APM. Typically, assets with this classification identify departments, areas, or buildings in an asset hierarchy. They have child assets, usually maintainable and component type assets, that represent the equipment for which the organization is responsible.

Override

An override occurs when you change a setting that has been inherited from a template. For example, if a task template has a requirement for an electrician for 5 hours, you can override this on the standard task and change it to 7 hours.

TOP

P

Parent Asset

A parent asset is an asset that has assets below it in the hierarchy. For example, a truck may be a parent asset to its engine.

PdM Technology

A predictive maintenance (PdM) technology, such as vibration analysis or oil analysis, is used to determine the condition of in-service equipment to predict when maintenance should be performed.

See also Technology.

Performance Indicator

A key performance indicator (KPI) is a type of indicator used to measure and communicate the performance of an organization, an individual, or an asset. For example, a KPI could be used to measure the percentage of work orders that are completed for a particular maintenance group or planner or for a particular asset.

APM comes with a comprehensive set of KPI templates that you can use to create performance indicators relevant to your organization. You can also create performance indicators from scratch.

Physical Hierarchy

The physical hierarchy is an asset hierarchy representing the physical or geographical relationships between assets.

See also Asset Hierarchy.

Planned Maintenance Task

Planned maintenance tasks are typically performed at fixed intervals when the age of an asset reaches a given value or when an opportunity arises. Planned maintenance can involve the replacement of aging equipment or minor tasks such as lubrication. Planned maintenance can also be performed when an inspection predicts that a failure is about to occur (predictive maintenance).

Planned Status

“Planned” is a status on a work order or work order task. A work order has this status when:

•	It has been approved

•	If approvals are not required, then the work order can be manually marked as “planned”

The planned status may determine whether or not various actions can be performed, such as entering time cards, or adding requirements to tasks.

PM Work Order

A preventive maintenance (PM) work order is a work order that contains tasks that you use to prevent assets from failing. Your asset reliability programs may have standard jobs that are set to trigger work orders at certain times, such as when APM receives certain indicator readings. Most of these jobs contain PM tasks for your assets. You can use APM to create PM work orders from these jobs before they are actually triggered to give you time to plan and schedule them.

Potential Failure

A potential failure is an identifiable condition indicating that a functional failure is either about to occur or is in the process of occurring.

Preventive Maintenance (PM) Route

A preventive maintenance (PM) route is a type of standard job that consists of a series of similar standard tasks performed on a number of similar assets. For example, you might create a PM route to perform vibration analysis on a number of assets.

Primary Function

The primary function is the main reason why a physical asset or system is acquired by its owner or user. A primary function is an asset’s most important task. For example, the primary function of a truck could be to transport freight. Although the truck might have other functions (for example, to meet emission control regulations), it has just one primary function.

TOP

Primary Indicator

A primary indicator is the cumulative indicator that APM uses to show statistical information about the asset where it isn’t possible to show the values for all of the asset’s cumulative indicators.

Priority Analysis Criteria

Prioritization analysis criteria are used to identify the business objectives you will be using to evaluate asset criticality. The following six criteria are usually used, but you can define your own criteria if necessary:

1.

Safety

2.	Environment

3.	Product Quality

4.	Throughput

5.	Customer Satisfaction

6.	Operating Cost

Probability of Failure

The probability of failure is used to quantify the likelihood of a failure occurring. Each probability can be assigned to one or more score sets. In each score set, the probability is given a score. The scores are used to rank the failures based on the probability that they will occur. The more likely a failure could occur, the higher the score.

Probability of Recurrence

Probability of recurrence is a user-defined value assigned to asset failure records. It consists of a description (for example, “Very probable”) and a number that is used to evaluate the failure’s suitability for root cause analysis.

See also Criticality Index.

Process Batch

A process batch contains one or more jobs. It can be set to automatically process imported data at regular intervals.

Process Job

A process job identifies a staging class and parameters that are used to match data in a staging table against data in the APM database. During processing, APM validates the data and generates error messages if required. Valid records are added to the target APM site. Process jobs can be revised and reprocessed.

Project Classification

Project classifications are used to further define your projects in conjunction with project types. This definition is similar to work types and work classifications. When you set up project types, you identify the project classification that is valid for each project type.

Project Status

A project status is a set of user-defined values that is used to track the progress of your projects in APM. Project statuses are used in pick lists when working with projects and displayed in project banners and in tables. Each status is tied to a set of project controls that determine what actions you can take with a project having this status.

Project Type

Project types are used to classify your projects into logical groups and to control the types of information that appear on project records.

Protective Device

A protective device or system is intended to avoid, eliminate, or minimize the consequences of failure on some other system.

Purging Rule

A purging rule consists of a set of instructions that is used to select instances of a particular type of object to be deleted as a group. For example, an APM administrator could create one purging rule for resource transactions, another for indicator readings, and so on.

TOP

R

RCA

See Root Cause Analysis.

RCM2

RCM2 is the reliability-centered maintenance process practiced by Bentley APM consultants. One of the features of RCM2 that distinguishes it from other interpretations of the RCM philosophy is that cross-functional groups of users and maintainers perform the analyses. After training, these analysis teams apply the process to their assets to produce robust and cost-effective asset reliability programs.

Regulated Gas Management

In APM, Regulated Gas Management encompasses objects used to control gases such as sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) at customer facilities. Implementors set up gas types, containers, vendors, transaction types, and other objects. Users record transactions such as receiving and weighing gas containers, performing initial and in-service fills of assets, as well as loss to atmosphere events. The data recorded, calculated, and stored in APM is used in reports to management and regulatory bodies.

Relative Risk

Relative risk is one of the outputs from an asset prioritization analysis. It is the product of the probability of failure of an asset and the consequences of failure.

Relative Risk = (Probability of Failure) x Sum (Consequence of Failure Scores)

Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM2)

Reliability-centered maintenance is “A process used to determine the maintenance requirements of any physical asset in its operating context” (John Moubray, Reliability-Centered Maintenance, second edition).

Reliability Program Implementation

APM’s reliability program implementation (RPI) analysis allows you to review assets’ indicators and deploy them to existing and new standard tasks. Implementing a reliability program is often the next logical step after you complete a strategy development analysis (RCM2, MTA2, or CPR) on an asset and its descendants. You can also review assets’ reliability programs independently of the strategy development process.

Reliability Strategy Selection

Reliability strategy selection (RSS) analysis applies a set of criteria to an asset to determine the most appropriate plan for improving its reliability. The analysis team uses the Reliability Strategy Selection questionnaire to perform, document, and review analyses of system-level assets. Possible strategies are to implement (or continue) basic care, perform maintenance task analysis, perform RCM2 analysis, or escalate the asset risk to stakeholders for further consideration and action.

Remote Computer

A Windows remote device is a mobile computer that is set up to run in a disconnected environment using the APM Remote application.

Remote Database

A remote database is used by the APM Remote application on a remote computer. This database must be periodically synchronized with the APM database.

See also Master Database.

Required Proximity

Required proximity is a setting that prevents APM from making a calculation or evaluating a rule when indicator readings used in the calculation or rule are out of date. For example, you can say that all of the indicator readings included in the rule must have been collected within 1 day of each other.

Requirement

A requirement is a trade that is needed in order to complete a work order task.

Risk-based Inspection

Risk-based inspection is a risk assessment and management process that focuses on loss of containment of pressurized equipment in processing facilities due to material deterioration. Risk analysis is essential to the RBI process and involves the systematic use of information to identify sources and to estimate the risk. Information can include historical data, theoretical analysis, and informed opinions. Analysis therefore requires a team of people from a range of technical disciplines.

Roll-over Value

The roll-over value is the highest number that can be entered for a cumulative indicator with accumulated readings. For example, on a vehicle the odometer will return to zero after 999,999.9 miles.

Root Cause Analysis

Root cause analysis is a methodology used to identify the causal factors for equipment failure. Its goal is to direct corrective measures at root causes to minimize the recurrence of problems. The RCA tools provided by APM incorporate both proactive and reactive approaches, allowing the analysis team to react to partial or full failures, as well as to investigate significant contributing causes to prevent failures.

Rule-Based Indicator

A rule-based indicator is an indicator where the current state is determined by a rule rather than by a direct reading. The rule is made up of clauses based on the current state of other indicators. The rule allows APM to warn you of the existence of a potential problem.

Run to Failure

Run-to-failure is a failure management policy that permits a specific failure mode to occur without any attempt to anticipate or prevent it. Also referred to as “No Scheduled Maintenance”.

TOP

S

Safety Consequence

A failure mode or multiple failure has safety consequences if it could injure or kill a human being.

Safety Instrumented Function Analysis

Safety instrumented function (SIF) analysis is one of the strategy development methodologies available in APM. The safety analysis team studies system-level and related assets to determine loss of containment scenarios, identify risk levels, and identify the safety provisions that protect against, or mitigate, loss of containment.

Safety Integrity Level

The design team assigns a safety integrity level (SIL) to each safety provision. This numeric value, usually on an ascending scale between 0 and 4, is a measure of the amount of risk inherent in the failure that the provision prevents or mitigates. The provision’s SIL is used in SIF analyses to calculate the impact of a possible failure.

Safety Override and Incident

A provision version’s safety override identifies the procedures that an operator or technician should follow when a safety device malfunctions in order to keep the facility operating safely while the device is being fixed or replaced.

When a safety device fails, an APM user (for example, an engineer, manager, or operator) creates an override incident in the system that records the details and recommendations.

Safety Provision

The safety design team identifies the safety processes, systems, and procedures that prevent or mitigate hazards. Safety provisions record the actions to be performed, the checklist of items, and instructions.

The provision version defines the safety override that identifies the procedures that an operator or technician should follow when a safety device malfunctions in order to keep the facility operating safely while the device is being fixed or replaced. It also defines a table of protected assets and the assets (for example, safety devices and control equipment) that protect them.

The team assigns a safety integrity level (SIL) to each safety provision version. This numeric value, usually on an ascending scale between 0 and 4, is a measure of the amount of risk inherent in the failure that the provision prevents or mitigates. The provision’s SIL is used in SIF analyses to calculate the impact of a possible failure.

Scheduled Actions

Scheduled actions are methods that can be set up to run automatically with a repeatable frequency. Each scheduled action defines:

•	The method to be run

•	The time the method should run

•	How often running the method should be repeated

You can schedule actions to run at hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly time periods and specify the interval within that time period. For example, you could create a scheduled action that recalculates calculated indicators every two hours on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Note: Only particular methods can be scheduled to run as actions. The selected methods are background processing actions within APM that do not generate any window or dialog user interaction.

Scheduled Discard

Scheduled discard is a task that entails discarding an item at or before a specified age limit, regardless of its condition at the time.

Scheduled Restoration

Scheduled restoration is a task that restores the capability of an item at or before a specified interval (age limit), regardless of its condition at the time, to a level that provides a tolerable probability of survival to the end of another specified interval.

Secondary Action Plan

Sometimes one action is not enough to deal with a failure mode in a strategy development analysis. For example, an asset’s failure mode might require a condition-based maintenance task to check for signs of wear, a physical modification to the asset, and a modification to procedures (for example, training for maintenance personnel). In cases like this, you can add secondary action plans to the failure mode, and you can have more than one task with the same action type. For example, you might need two modification/redesign tasks.

Security Profile

A security profile is a set of security settings that define which actions a group of users are allowed to perform and the information that they are allowed to view. A security profile consists of a default security level and overrides to that default level for selected objects (classes), information (attributes and relationships), actions (methods), views, pages, and reports.

Server Console

When setting up and testing the APM environment, you will find it useful to run the server in Console mode. The APM Server window opens on the desktop, making it easier to monitor the server’s operation and to stop it when required. When you are ready to move the system into production, you should install the server as a Windows service that runs in the background without a user interface.

Settings Editor

The Settings Editor for APM instances provides access to more advanced settings from a single location where you can define the server/service or thick-client settings, database account information, language, and other less common settings that apply. The diagnostic and runtime behavior of the instance is also defined in the Settings Editor. You can open the Settings Editor from APM Configuration or the Server window.

The Settings Editor can also be opened from the command prompt or a shortcut for default servers (IvaraServer.exe -s), smart clients (IvaraClient.exe -s), and thick clients (IvaraClient.exe -l -s).

Shutdown

A shutdown record communicates to planners the equipment and tasks involved in a specific shutdown period. You can associate a shutdown with start and end dates, shutdown type, assets, standard tasks and jobs, and work order tasks. When PM work is generated for a shutdown type, the generated work orders are assigned to the next shutdown associated with that shutdown type.

Shutdown Type

In APM, shutdown types are used to identify the different types of shutdown periods that occur within a plant or facility. The annual shutdown, spring shutdown, and an area shutdown are examples of shutdown types. Shutdown types do not have specific dates because they can occur multiple times within a year and over multiple years.

You can define and plan individual occurrences of a shutdown. For example, the 2015 annual shutdown can be planned as a separate occurrence of the annual shutdown type.

Sidebar Dashboard

A sidebar dashboard consists of charts or gauges that appear at the side of a window to summarize the information in it. A sidebar dashboard contains one section that can show site panels (typically charts) or KPI gauge panels.

Site

A site is the top asset in your physical asset hierarchy or a higher-level organizational structure used specifically to control how data is secured, viewed, and used between sites. For example, a site can be a plant, a division, or your company’s head office. You can have more than one site, and you can organize your sites into a hierarchy that matches your organization’s structural and reporting hierarchy. You can also control the functionality that is available for individual sites by deactivating licensed application modules in the site’s properties.

Site Hierarchy

The site hierarchy is a representation of all the sites in your organization and how they relate to one another. Your site hierarchy usually matches your organization's structural and reporting hierarchy. The site at the highest level covers the organization as a whole. At the lowest level of the hierarchy, site assets represent actual offices or plants.

TOP

Site Status

The site status represents the operational state of the site (indicated by the “in operation” or “not in operation” settings). For example, you might create a Data Entry status to indicate that the site is currently being set up and is not yet ready to be used.

Although site statuses are defined using the Asset Status dialog, they are specific to sites and cannot be used for assets. Entering site statuses is optional. If you enter a site status, this status will be visible in your physical asset hierarchy. Changing the status of a site does not affect the status of the site’s assets. A change in site status might affect the triggering of work orders from some standard tasks (if the site status setting is used on the task).

See also Asset Status.

Site Type

Site types define how objects, such as assets and task templates, are owned at each level in the site hierarchy. A site that cannot own an object might still be able to create objects (for example, task templates), but they will be owned (stored) at a higher site in the hierarchy. How objects are owned determines how data will be partitioned within APM.

Site types at higher levels of the organization own data that is shared by lower sites, such as value lists, resources, and standard documents. Data that higher-level sites wish to control (such as task templates) can be owned and secured at the higher site. This data can then be viewed and used by lower-level sites.

Lower-level site types own data that is unique and not shared between peer sites (that is, sites of the same type and at the same level in the site hierarchy). For example, data that is added and changed on a day-to-day basis, such as work orders, work requests, and assets, are usually owned by lower-level site types.

Standard Document

A standard document is a file that contains reference information (such as safety instructions, MSDSs, or a diagram) for assets, tasks, resources, or strategy development analyses.

Standard Job

A standard job is a collection of standard tasks for one or more assets. For example, you might create a standard job for a vehicle that includes standard tasks such as changing the oil, inspecting the brakes, and rotating the tires. A standard job can also include rules that determine when the tasks are converted to work order tasks.

Standard Task

A standard task is a plan for maintenance work that is performed repeatedly on a piece of equipment over the course of its lifetime. For example, a pump and motor assembly inspection might be performed at regular intervals. The work typically involves inspection, corrective, scheduled restoration, or scheduled discard tasks.

Status

The status of a strategy development or asset reliability program implementation (RPI) analysis indicates whether or not the analysis has been reviewed. Typical statuses are “New analysis”, “Analysis in progress”, “Analysis completed”, and “Closed”.

See also Asset Status or Site Status.

Strategy Development Analysis

Strategy development analyses are methodologies for evaluating asset priority, defining asset functions, determining how failures occur (failure modes), evaluating the risk of asset failure, and preventing or mitigating the effect of failures. The varieties of strategy development analysis include:

•	Asset Prioritization Analysis

•	Current Practice Review (CPR)

•	Design FMECA

•	Reliability Strategy Selection (RSS)

•	Maintenance Task Analysis (MTA2)

•	Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM2)

•	Risk-based Inspection (RBI)

•	Safety Instrumented Function (SIF) Analysis

•	Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) Analysis

Note: Also known as “Work Identification Analysis”.

Strategy Development Analysis Study

Strategy development analysis (SDA) studies are simple values used to group and filter analyses. The study can be referred to in MTA2, RCM2, RBI, SIF, and HAZOP analyses that share the same analysis type, as well as asset prioritization, reliability strategy selection (RSS), and root cause (RCA) analyses. As the analyses and failure modes are developed, you can open the study to review them.

Strategy Development Analysis Template

A strategy development analysis template is a group of settings that can be used as the basis for a strategy development analysis (MTA2, RCM2, SIF, or HAZOP). A template identifies failure modes for a type of asset, rather than for a specific asset. Similarly, it refers to indicator templates and task templates, not to specific asset indicators and standard tasks. It includes an operating context for assets and a maintenance strategy for each of its failure modes. In addition, an RCM2 template identifies functions and functional failures.

Strategy Development Analysis Type

An analysis type is a collection of preferred settings for strategy development analysis. The settings range from specifying how analysis titles are defaulted, to how avoidance savings are recorded on failure modes, to how risk analysis is performed (if at all), to whether analyses must be sent for approval. Selecting an analysis type on an analysis quickly ensures that its settings are correct and consistent with your organization’s standards.

When defining an analysis type, you can specify the kinds of analysis it can be used with: MTA2, RCM2, RBI, CPR, SIF, HAZOP, Design FMECA, or a combination. For example, you could create two types for MTA2, one with risk analysis and one without. Or you could create a type that applies to both MTA2 and RBI analyses.

Sub System Asset

A subsystem asset is part of a system and contains assets that make up the subsystem. Grouping assets into a subsystem allows you to make it easier to search them or to compare data on similar assets. For example, a gas treatment system can have heating, cooling, and dehydration subsystems. Another example is a water distribution system that consists of mixing and settling subsystems.

The subsystem asset classification is identical to the Maintainable Asset classification in that subsystem assets can have any number of asset lives. Indicatorand manufacturer information about the asset are tracked by asset life.

See also Maintainable Asset and System Asset.

Susceptibility to Failure Evaluation

Susceptibility to failure evaluation examines the asset’s non-age related degradation patterns. It can provide an alternative to probability of failure analysis for these failure modes. For example, susceptibility evaluation can be used to determine the vulnerability of atmospheric storage tanks to corrosion under insulation or stress cracking. The evaluation can result in recommended actions, susceptibility ratings, or both.

Survey

A survey is used in APM to collect information about the measurement point or its reading during an inspection. Survey designers can define which properties are collected on each survey, including the vehicle used to perform the inspection, easting and northing coordinates, elevation, temperature, time of inspection, and so on.

Symptom

A symptom is a keyword or phrase that summarizes the evidence that an operator, engineer, or technician would see when the failure occurs or is about to occur. For example, “trip-alarm sounds” could be defined as a symptom. Symptoms are assigned to MTA2, RCM2, and RBI failure modes to help maintenance personnel track asset faults to the failure modes that could cause them. Symptoms are listed in the Fault Diagnosis Guide, a report you can print for the site, an asset, or a strategy development analysis.

Synchronization

Synchronization is the process of uploading data from, and downloading data to, a remote computer. Typically, upload transactions are first transferred from the remote computer and processed in the desktop application. In this way, the changes that were made remotely are applied to the APM database before the data on the remote computer is refreshed. For example, if a user closes a task in APM Remote, this information should be uploaded and applied to the task in APM before the download begins.

See also Download, Remote Computer, Remote Database, and Upload.

System Asset

A system asset groups and identifies assets that are part of a system, making it easier to search for related assets or to compare data on similar assets. Gas treatment systems and water distribution systems are two examples of system assets. A system asset can contain subsystem assets.

The system asset classification is identical to the Maintainable Asset classification in that system assets can have any number of asset lives. Indicatorand manufacturer information about the asset are tracked by asset life.

See also Maintainable Asset and Sub System Asset.

TOP

T

Table

A table displays information about lists of objects, such as assets or standard tasks. Tables consist of rows and columns that show data for many items at once, so you can find items or specific pieces of data and track trends.

Table Configuration

A table configuration controls what information is listed in a table and how it is displayed. A table configuration is a combination of columns, filtering criteria, sorting criteria, and format choices that display specific data, such as all RCM2 analyses with a status of “New”.

Every table in the system includes one or more table configurations. Each configuration can display different data. You can define table configurations to show the data you want to see.

Task Template

A task template is a reusable standard task plan. You can use task templates to create similar standard tasks for more than one asset. For example, you could set up a task template for taking the vibration readings for pumps.

Technology

A technology is a method or tool, such as ultrasonic testing or infrared inspection, used to determine the condition of in-service equipment to measure degradation.

See also PdM Technology.

Template

A template is a group of settings for an object that can be used many times. For example, a task template contains settings that will be used on standard tasks. Having template objects makes the creation of many similar objects quick and easy.

Trade

A trade is a labor resource that is usually comprised of skilled employees who work for the enterprise, such as mechanics or electricians.

Triggering Cycle

Each time APM generates a work order from a standard job, one triggering cycle has occurred. You can set up standard jobs where one set of tasks is triggered on some cycles, and other sets are triggered on other cycles. For example, you may want tasks A and C to be triggered every week, and task B only every four weeks.

Triggering Rule

Triggering rules tell APM when to create work orders from a standard job or preventive maintenance (PM) route. For example, you might define a triggering rule for a standard job that says “trigger every 30 days OR every 2000 miles.” You can create a triggering rule for each standard job or PM route.

TOP

U

Unit of Measure

Standard terms to indicate quantities such as volume, length, temperature, dates, times, and currencies are called “units of measure”. APM comes with standard North American styles for displaying and entering units of measure. You can change and add units of measure as required by your organization.

Upload

Uploading describes the transfer of data from the remote database to the APM database. Uploading typically involves transferring small amounts of data to the APM database in the form of upload transactions. These transactions are created as the user works in the APM Remote application (for example, when creating a work request or reporting activity). Once uploaded, the transactions are used to replicate in the APM database actions or events which have already been performed on a remote computer. Consequently, the processing of these transactions can be quite involved and will generally be different for each type of transaction.

See also Download and Synchronization.

Useful Life

An asset’s useful life is the age at which there is a rapid increase in the conditional probability of the asset’s failure.

User ID

Each person who uses APM must have a user identification (ID) in the APM database. The APM user login name must match the user’s Windows or Bentley CONNECT login name. You can select one or more security profiles for each user ID and set the user’s privilege level, for example, end-user or administrator.

User Key

A user key is a unique name or number used to identify each instance of an object class. For example, the user key for a Purchase Order might be the Purchase Order Number.

TOP

V

Value List

Value lists contain information that can be used by other objects in the system (such as assets or work orders). Site types and asset statuses are examples of value lists. Users can open a value list object in its own dialog to view or edit the settings. Most value lists are entered during implementation, although you can add to them at any time. Like other site settings, value lists can be accessed through the site’s Administration menu or from the Settings tab on the appropriate view.

TOP

W

Web Monitor

Administrators use the APM Web Monitor to view the status of target servers and APM services, monitor user activity, send network messages to users, lock the server, view server log files, and perform other server administrative tasks. You can start the Web Monitor from the Server window or APM Server Manager.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

The work breakdown structure (WBS) is used to build the hierarchy location code of the work order tasks within your projects.

Work Classification

You can use work classifications to group work order tasks into categories relevant for your site. You can then filter and sort lists of tasks by work classification. When you select work classifications for tasks, the list is filtered to include only those classifications that have been defined as valid for the task’s work type. For example, for work order tasks that have a work type of “Corrective,” the list of work classifications would include only those relevant for corrective work.

Work Document Change Request

Change requests specify updates to be performed on work documents in the external CMMS (for example, SAP) that manages assets and work. AssetWise Enterprise Interoperability (AWEIS) conveys requests to the CMMS and returns updates for the interop documents in APM. APM supports work document change requests for work orders and work requests.

Work Order

Work orders are the main documents that you will use to manage your maintenance work. In APM, a work order summarizes one or more work order tasks.

Work Identification Analysis

See Strategy Development Analysis.

Work Order Group

You can create work order groups to view, sort, and filter lists of work orders by group. Each site can define different work order groups.

Work Order Task

A work order task is a single unit of work that can be performed on an asset. For example, you might create a work order task to inspect a piece of equipment or to collect indicator readings on an asset. A work order task must be part of a work order.

Work Priority

Work priority is a site setting that you can use to describe the urgency of work and the sequence in which it should be completed. For example, “Regular” and “Emergency” may be two priorities used in your organization.

Work Request

A work request is a document that allows people outside of the maintenance group to submit a request to repair an asset. For example, anyone in a plant could submit a work request if they see a safety guard missing from a piece of equipment. Work requests can be turned into work orders. They are automatically marked as “work completed” when the work order is closed.

Work Standards

Work standards is another term for standard tasks and standard jobs.

See also Standard Task and Standard Job.

Work Started

“Work Started” is a status on a work order or work order task. APM will automatically change the status of the work order or work order task to “Work Started” when you enter labor charges. You can also select this status manually.

Work Trigger

A work trigger is a rule that tells APM when to create a work order from a standard job. You can use triggering rules and triggering cycles to create your work triggers.

See also Triggering Rule and Triggering Cycle.

Work Type

A work type is a site setting that you can use to describe different kinds of work. For example, “Inspection” and “Corrective” might be two work types that you use in your organization.

TOP