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Asset Maintenance
Engineering Methodologies
Asset Maintenance
Engineering Methodologies

José Manuel Torres Farinha


CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
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Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742

© 2018 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC


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Contents

Preface...............................................................................................................................................xi
Author............................................................................................................................................ xiii

1. Introduction..............................................................................................................................1
1.1 Background..................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Book Structure................................................................................................................ 7

2. Terology Activity................................................................................................................... 11
2.1 Background................................................................................................................... 11
2.2 Concept of Terology vs. Maintenance....................................................................... 12
2.3 Terology as a Multidisciplinary Issue....................................................................... 13
2.4 Terology and the Environment.................................................................................. 14
2.5 Related Concepts.......................................................................................................... 17
2.5.1 Maintenance.................................................................................................... 17
2.5.2 Total Productive Maintenance...................................................................... 19
2.5.3 Reliability-Centered Maintenance............................................................... 21
2.5.4 Risk-Based Maintenance................................................................................22
2.5.5 Other Concepts................................................................................................ 23

3. Physical Asset Acquisition and Withdrawal................................................................... 25


3.1 Background................................................................................................................... 25
3.2 Purchase of Physical Assets....................................................................................... 25
3.2.1 Terms of Reference.......................................................................................... 28
3.2.2 Terms of Reference for Physical Asset Acquisition.................................... 28
3.2.3 Reception and Installation of Equipment................................................... 31
3.2.4 Commissioning............................................................................................... 31
3.2.5 Terms of Reference for Acquisition of Maintenance Services.................. 31
3.3 Maintenance of Physical Assets................................................................................. 35
3.4 Resources and Budgeting........................................................................................... 36
3.5 Econometric Models.................................................................................................... 37
3.6 Life Cycle Costing........................................................................................................ 40
3.7 Withdrawal................................................................................................................... 41
3.8 Methods for Replacing Assets.................................................................................... 41
3.8.1 Determination of the Economic Life for Replacement..............................42
3.8.2 Determination of the Lifespan Replacement.............................................. 50
3.9 Case Study..................................................................................................................... 50

4. Diagnosis of Maintenance State......................................................................................... 53


4.1 Background................................................................................................................... 53
4.2 Holistic Diagnosis Model............................................................................................ 53
4.3 Questionnaires............................................................................................................. 56
4.4 The Explanation Sheets............................................................................................... 58
4.5 Organization and Analysis of Information Collected............................................ 59
4.6 Elimination Criteria..................................................................................................... 60

v
vi Contents

4.7 Elimination Grid.......................................................................................................... 60


4.8 Establishment of an Improvement Action Plan.......................................................63
4.9 Case Study.....................................................................................................................63

5. Maintenance Management.................................................................................................. 69
5.1 Background................................................................................................................... 69
5.2 Maintenance Planning................................................................................................ 69
5.2.1 Scheduled Maintenance................................................................................. 69
5.2.2 Planned Maintenance through Control Variables..................................... 70
5.2.3 Condition Monitoring.................................................................................... 71
5.3 Maintenance Control................................................................................................... 72
5.4 Maintenance Resources............................................................................................... 75
5.5 Maintenance Budget.................................................................................................... 75
5.6 The Strategic Asset Management Plan..................................................................... 76
5.6.1 The Asset Development Plan........................................................................ 76
5.6.2 The Strategic Asset Management Plan and ISO 5500X.............................77
5.6.3 Implementing a Strategic Asset Management Plan................................... 78
5.7 Case Study..................................................................................................................... 78

6. Maintenance Resources........................................................................................................83
6.1 Background...................................................................................................................83
6.2 Human Resources........................................................................................................83
6.3 Spare Parts.................................................................................................................... 87
6.3.1 Other Approaches........................................................................................... 91
6.3.2 Pareto Analysis............................................................................................... 92
6.4 Tools............................................................................................................................... 93
6.5 Case Study..................................................................................................................... 93

7. Integrated Systems for Maintenance Management....................................................... 97


7.1 Background................................................................................................................... 97
7.2 Software and Hardware Options.............................................................................. 97
7.3 Structure of Information Systems for Maintenance............................................... 98
7.3.1 Maintenance Objects/Physical Assets....................................................... 100
7.3.2 Suppliers......................................................................................................... 102
7.3.3 Technicians.................................................................................................... 103
7.3.4 Tools................................................................................................................ 104
7.3.5 Spare Parts..................................................................................................... 105
7.3.6 Work Orders.................................................................................................. 107
7.3.7 Intervention Requests Module.................................................................... 109
7.3.8 Fault Diagnosis Module............................................................................... 110
7.3.9 Planning......................................................................................................... 112
7.3.10 Customers Module........................................................................................ 113
7.3.11 Condition Monitoring.................................................................................. 114
7.3.11.1 Sensor Reading.............................................................................. 115
7.3.11.2 Technological Options.................................................................. 115
7.4 A Computerized Maintenance Management System/Enterprise Asset
Management Example............................................................................................... 116
Contents vii

8. Expert Systems for Fault Diagnosis................................................................................. 123


8.1 Background................................................................................................................. 123
8.2 Profile of an Expert System for Fault Diagnosis.................................................... 123
8.3 Rule-Based Expert Systems...................................................................................... 125
8.4 Case-Based Reasoning.............................................................................................. 127
8.5 Bayesian Models......................................................................................................... 128
8.6 Data Mining................................................................................................................ 129
8.7 Performance Measures.............................................................................................. 131
8.8 Usability and System Interfaces............................................................................... 132
8.9 Expert System Example............................................................................................. 133

9. Maintenance 4.0................................................................................................................... 135


9.1 Background................................................................................................................. 135
9.2 Big Data....................................................................................................................... 136
9.3 Internet of Things...................................................................................................... 137
9.4 Sensorization and Data Communications.............................................................. 138
9.5 Hardware and Software Options............................................................................ 142

10. Forecasting............................................................................................................................ 145


10.1 Background................................................................................................................. 145
10.2 Time Series Forecasting............................................................................................ 145
10.2.1 Moving Average Method............................................................................. 146
10.2.2 Exponential Smoothing Method................................................................ 146
10.2.3 Second-Order Exponential Smoothing Method....................................... 148
10.2.4 Nonperiodic Exponential Smoothing Method......................................... 150
10.3 Neural Networks........................................................................................................ 155
10.4 Discrete System Simulation...................................................................................... 156
10.5 Support Vector Machines.......................................................................................... 157
10.6 Other Prediction Techniques.................................................................................... 157
10.7 A Case Study.............................................................................................................. 158

11. Maintenance Logistics........................................................................................................ 161


11.1 Background................................................................................................................. 161
11.2 Warehouse Management Systems and Inventories.............................................. 161
11.3 Basic Identification Tools........................................................................................... 162
11.4 Transport Systems...................................................................................................... 163
11.5 Route Planning........................................................................................................... 163
11.6 Tools to Aid Logistics................................................................................................ 164
11.6.1 Linear Programming.................................................................................... 165
11.6.2 Integer Programming................................................................................... 166
11.6.3 Dynamic Programming............................................................................... 167
11.6.4 Stochastic Programming............................................................................. 167
11.6.5 Nonlinear Programming............................................................................. 168
11.6.6 Queue Management..................................................................................... 169
11.6.7 Ant Algorithm............................................................................................... 169
11.6.8 Dijkstra’s Algorithm..................................................................................... 170
11.7 A Case Study.............................................................................................................. 170
viii Contents

12. Condition Monitoring........................................................................................................ 175


12.1 Background................................................................................................................. 175
12.2 Techniques for Condition Monitoring.................................................................... 175
12.2.1 Vibration Analysis........................................................................................ 176
12.2.2 Oil Analysis................................................................................................... 179
12.2.3 Other Techniques.......................................................................................... 181
12.3 Types of Sensors......................................................................................................... 182
12.4 Data Acquisition......................................................................................................... 183
12.5 On-Condition Online................................................................................................ 183
12.6 On-Condition with Delay......................................................................................... 184
12.7 Technology for Online Condition Monitoring...................................................... 184
12.8 Technology for Offline Condition Monitoring...................................................... 185
12.9 Augmented Reality to Aid Condition Maintenance............................................. 188
12.10 Holography................................................................................................................. 189
12.11 A Case Study.............................................................................................................. 189

13. Dynamic Modeling............................................................................................................. 195


13.1 Background................................................................................................................. 195
13.2 Fault Trees................................................................................................................... 195
13.2.1 Main Description of the Method................................................................ 195
13.2.2 Logic Symbols Used in the Method........................................................... 197
13.2.3 Types of Faults Analyzed............................................................................ 198
13.2.4 Method Application...................................................................................... 198
13.3 Markov Chains........................................................................................................... 201
13.3.1 Main Description of the Method................................................................ 201
13.4 Hidden Markov Models............................................................................................ 206
13.5 Petri Networks............................................................................................................ 207
13.5.1 Main Description of the Method................................................................ 208
13.5.2 Elementary Petri Networks......................................................................... 211
13.6 A Case Study.............................................................................................................. 214

14. Three-Dimensional Systems............................................................................................. 217


14.1 Background................................................................................................................. 217
14.2 Three-Dimensional Models for Maintenance........................................................ 217
14.3 Three-Dimensional Models and Maintenance Planning..................................... 218
14.4 Three-Dimensional Models and Fault Diagnosis................................................. 219
14.5 Three-Dimensional Models and Robots................................................................. 221
14.6 Software Tools............................................................................................................ 221
14.7 A Case Study..............................................................................................................222

15. Reliability..............................................................................................................................225
15.1 Background.................................................................................................................225
15.2 Reliability Concept.....................................................................................................225
15.3 Reliability Analysis.................................................................................................... 228
15.3.1 Statistical Methods Applied to Reliability................................................ 230
15.3.1.1 Exponential Distribution............................................................. 230
15.3.1.2 Normal Logarithmic Distribution.............................................. 231
15.3.1.3 Weibull’s Law................................................................................. 233
15.3.1.4 Serial and Parallel Systems..........................................................234
Contents ix

15.4 Failure Modes and Effects Analysis/Failure Modes, Effects,


and Criticality Analysis............................................................................................ 235
15.4.1 Background.................................................................................................... 235
15.4.2 Failure Modes and Effects Analysis........................................................... 236
15.4.3 Failure Modes, Effects, and Criticality Analysis...................................... 239
15.5 Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, Safety.................................................... 242
15.6 A Case Study.............................................................................................................. 243

16. Management Methodologies............................................................................................. 247


16.1 Background................................................................................................................. 247
16.2 5S.................................................................................................................................. 247
16.2.1 First S—Seiri—Sense of Use....................................................................... 248
16.2.2 Second S—Seiton—Sense of Order............................................................ 249
16.2.3 Third S—Seiso—Sense of Cleaning........................................................... 249
16.2.4 Fourth S—Seiketsu—Sense of Health....................................................... 250
16.2.5 Fifth S—Shitsuke—Sense of Self-Discipline............................................. 251
16.3 Lean Maintenance...................................................................................................... 252
16.4 A3 Method.................................................................................................................. 256
16.5 Gravity, Urgency, Tendency Matrix......................................................................... 257
16.6 Six Sigma..................................................................................................................... 258
16.7 Plan, Do, Check, Act.................................................................................................. 259
16.8 Ishikawa Diagram...................................................................................................... 261
16.9 Brainstorming............................................................................................................. 262
16.10 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats Analysis........................... 264
16.11 Hoshin Kanri.............................................................................................................. 269
16.12 A Case Study.............................................................................................................. 270

17. Maintenance Standards..................................................................................................... 273


17.1 Background................................................................................................................. 273
17.2 Portuguese Norm 4492 Maintenance Services Series........................................... 273
17.3 International Electrotechnical Commission 60300 Dependability Series......... 276
17.4 International Electrotechnical Commission 60812 Failure Mode
and Effect Analysis.................................................................................................... 277
17.5 International Electrotechnical Commission 62278/European Norm 50126
Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, Safety.................................................... 278
17.6 Other Standards......................................................................................................... 279

18. Maintenance Project Management.................................................................................. 281


18.1 Background................................................................................................................. 281
18.2 Program Evaluation and Review Technique......................................................... 281
18.3 Critical Path Method.................................................................................................. 282
18.4 Program Evaluation and Review Technique-Critical Path
Method Networks...................................................................................................... 282
18.5 Other Methodologies................................................................................................. 287
18.6 Case Study................................................................................................................... 288

19. Maintenance Training........................................................................................................ 293


19.1 Background................................................................................................................. 293
19.2 E/B-Learning.............................................................................................................. 293
x Contents

19.3 Intelligent Learning Systems.................................................................................... 295


19.4 Learning through Three-Dimensional Models..................................................... 296
19.5 Learning through the Use of Sensors..................................................................... 297
19.6 Learning through Virtual Reality........................................................................... 298
19.7 Learning through Augmented Reality................................................................... 299

20. Terology beyond Tomorrow.............................................................................................. 301

References.................................................................................................................................... 303

Index..............................................................................................................................................309
Preface

Asset Maintenance Engineering Methodologies, corresponds to the author’s global vision of the
industrial engineering tools applicable to the management of physical assets corresponding
to the state-of-the-art technologies, econometric models, and organizational diagnosis
involved in new and future challenges, including the new ISO 5500X standards.
The main chapters correspond to some of the author’s research and development, as
well as many projects managed by him and implemented in manufacturing industries,
transport companies, and hospitals.
The book is a basis to support professionals and researchers in these areas and, obviously,
ought to be complemented by the references listed, as well as by academic and professional
libraries.
Unlike the author’s PhD thesis where he has focused on the equipment life cycle, in other
words, on the physical assets life cycle in a whole and integrated way. His approach rather
emphasizes on acquisition time to withdrawal, not from the project, as traditionally known
as Terology.
It is because of this the book emphasizes the acquisition time, namely from its terms
of reference and some standards that can help managers to acquire their physical assets
knowing with rigor what is expected of them in terms of availability, maintenance costs,
return on investment, and withdrawal time.
Maintenance management is another important area because it is strategic to guarantee
the physical asset’s life cycle corresponding to that predicted at acquisition time. This
approach is used not only at the management level but also with the current technologies,
which are fundamental to maximizing equipment availability and, usually, to reducing
costs. The author suggests that this last concept ought to be dramatically changed to the
variable investment, because the physical assets have to be seen not as a cost but as an initial
investment at acquisition time and a variable investment during their life cycles.
The present day-to-day technologies, including the Internet of Things and of Internet of
Services, sensors, and condition monitoring with predictions based on these technologies,
are some other topics that reinforce the main subject.
Organization and management methodologies are very important tools that help one
manage assets in a better way. Japanese methods, as well as many others that are used in
the most competitive organizations, are also presented in this book.
Finally, some current as well as future technological tools that will dramatically change
the way today’s physical assets are maintained and managed are presented.

xi
Author

José Manuel Torres Farinha, born in Lisbon, Portugal, graduated in electrical engineering
and computers as aggregate. He earned a PhD in mechanical engineering and is a licentiate
in electrotechnical engineering (long course with an option—Energy).
Torres Farinha is an auditor of National Defence, Institute of National Defence, employed
by NATO and the Common Security and Defence Policy, the Portuguese Atlantic
Commission. He is the full professor of mechanical engineering area and a coordinator
of MSc in industrial engineering and management at Instituto Superior de Engenharia,
Coimbra Polytechnic, Portugal.
He is the president of Scientific Commission of Industrial and Management Engineering,
Instituto Superior de Engenharia, Coimbra Polytechnic, Portugal and an integrated member
at the Centre for Mechanical Engineering, Materials and Processes (CEMMPRE), Coimbra
University, Portugal.
Torres Farinha has been the principal investigator of five PhD theses. He has also
supervised 15 MSc theses and 13 are in progress. He has published two books in Portuguese
on maintenance management and seven published books to his credit. He also has more
than 150 national and international publications.
Torres Farinha regularly participates as plenary speaker at national and international
conferences and as reviewer in several international and national scientific and professional
journals and also a member of their scientific committees.
Before his academic achievements, he was involved in professional activities such as the
following:

• Responsible for general maintenance of hospital facilities in the central region of


Portugal, namely lifts, generator sets (emergency), cooking equipment, and cooling
and laundry equipment.
• Responsible for electrical networks, including transformer stations.
• Leadership of various maintenance teams for the implementation of planned
maintenance in hospitals.
• Design of electrical installations and their specifications, as well as supervision of
their execution for the buildings of Regional Health Administration.
• Design of the electrical/electronic projects of lifts for transport of kitchen food in
hospitals.
• Design of electronic command systems for glove-washing machines.
• Design of a temperature alarm system (minimum and maximum) for refrigerated
medication case.
• Design of a commutation system for diesel–electrical generators.

Torres Farinha was president of one of the biggest higher education institutions in
Portugal, having achieved an increase in the size of the institution of more than 50% in
terms of number of schools and students, among other equally significant success ratios.
Torres Farinha has to his credit several patents, international and national, namely one
related to saving water and another related to rapid cooking.
He has received awards for higher-grade theses and for technological innovations.
xiii
1
Introduction

1.1 Background
This book aims to contribute to a new vision of physical asset management and emphasizes
several tools to manage the entire life cycle of physical assets. However, because this last
concept is not well consolidated yet in professional language, throughout this book, I will
use similar concepts, as is the case for the equipment/facilities/machines concepts and the
more general concept of maintenance objects.
The objective of this book is to propose real approaches for all phases of a physical asset’s
life cycle that may be summarized in the followings times and steps:

• t1—Decision about acquisition


• t2—Terms of reference
• t3—Market consultation
• t4—Acquisition
• t5—Commissioning
• t6 —Starting production/maintenance
• t7—Economic/lifespan issues
• t8—Renewal/withdrawal

The next figure (Figure 1.1) shows the synthesis of all the preceding steps that will be
described in this chapter as the global framework of this book.
The cycle starts at time t1, with the decision about acquisition. This time has much more
importance than it has traditionally been given. At this point, aspects like the following
are analyzed carefully:

• The physical asset’s functions.


• The production levels expected from the asset.
• The estimated budget that may be allocated for its acquisition.
• The geographical location and conditions of asset implantation, which include
aspects like the temperature, humidity, and environmental conditions.
• Others may be applicable according to the nature of the activity of the organization.

1
2 Asset Maintenance Engineering Methodologies

Service/Production

t1 t2 t3 t4 t5 t6 t7 t8 t
Maintenance

ISO 55000/55001/55002

FIGURE 1.1
Stages of a physical asset life cycle.

At time t1, the decision about acquisition relates directly to the planning requirement of
ISO 55001, because it may attend to:

• The asset management objectives and planning to achieve them.


• The strategic asset management plan (SAMP) is the guide to setting asset
management objectives.

Time t2, the terms of reference, is carefully defined. This step must be one of the most
relevant for the rest of the asset life cycle. At this point, aspects like the following must be
taken into consideration:

• Detailed definition of the asset’s functional specifications, namely the following:


• What are the roles of the asset?
• How long is the daily operation?
• What is the risk associated with the use of the asset?
• What is the risk associated with third parties?
• Others applicable for each specific situation.
• Detailed service and technical specifications, namely the following:
• Technical specifications
• Reliability ratios:
– Mean time between failures (MTBF)
– Mean time to repair (MTTR)
– Mean waiting time (MWT)
– Others
• Maintenance specifications
• Setting of spare parts
• Detailed definition of the documents underlying asset acquisition, like the following:
• Technical data
• Operating manual (entry into operation)
Introduction 3

• Deployment guide
• List of components and recommended spare parts
• Assembly plan
• Detail plan
• Lubrication plan
• Line diagram
• Logical diagram
• Circuit diagram
• Pipe diagram and instruments
• Drawing of implementation
• Assembly drawing
• Report of the test program
• Certificates
• Detailed definition of the asset’s conditions of reception and installation, like the
following:
• In the reception phase, it must be verified whether the delivery complies with
the terms of reference specifications and the supplier’s proposal.
• All manuals should be examined and must be complete and match the version
of the asset provided.
• The installation must be coordinated and supervised by a specialist or team of
specialists to which the equipment belongs.
• Before the asset’s entry into operation, all licenses and required legal regulatory
approvals should be obtained.
• Detailed definition of commissioning conditions:
• At this stage, it is essential to carry out a set of tests, experiments, and checks
to demonstrate and prove that the asset complies with the standards and
regulations specified in the terms of reference.
• Other aspects that must be considered are the following:
• Availability of new technologies
• Compliance with safety standards or other mandatory regulations
• Availability of spare parts and the number of years that they are available
• Obsolescence that can limit the asset’s competitive use
• Guarantees, training, maintenance contracts, and costs associated with the
maintenance contract

Time t3 is for market consultation and has three main steps: (1) invitation of suppliers
to make proposals, based on (2) terms of reference, and, finally, (3) reception of proposals
from suppliers.
During this phase, suppliers are invited to present proposals that completely respect
the terms of reference document, and you should say clearly that only those proposals
that correspond to those requisites will be considered. This strategy permits the creation
of a consistent framework of analysis to make decisions based on consistent and coherent
comparative data.
4 Asset Maintenance Engineering Methodologies

The next time is t4, acquisition, in which the followings steps are considered:

• Analysis of proposals from suppliers.


• Analysis of the correspondence between the terms of reference and the
proposals.
• Theoretical evaluation, based on econometric models, of the several assets proposed
in the suppliers’ proposals, taking into considerations aspects like the following:
• Production capabilities
• Maintenance costs
• Return on investment time
• Others as applicable
• After the previous steps, it is time for the decision about acquisition.

About this point, t4, ISO 55001 specifies the requirements for the establishment,
implementation, maintenance, and improvement of a system for asset management,
referred to as an “asset management system.”
The time that follows acquisition is t5, commissioning, which implies the implementation
of the next steps:

• Tests and checks to prove the asset complies with standards and regulations as
specified in the terms of reference.
• The equipment considered necessary for these tests and measurements must have
its calibration certificates updated.
• Tests to show that all equipment, working simultaneously, meets the standards
and applicable legal requirements, whether environmental, electrical, security, or
other aspects.

Time t6 is when the production and maintenance procedures start, namely planning,
management, and control. Some of the main aspects to be taken into consideration are the
following:

• Production planning and management must be considered, like those items


referred to in the next bullet points—however, this subject will not be developed
at this point or in this book because it is outside of its scope:
• Enterprise resource planning (ERP) II:
– Supply chain management (SCM)
– Customer relationship management (CRM)
– Business intelligence (BI)
• Integrated collaboration environment (ICE)
• Lean management
• Single-minute exchange of die (SMED)
• Kanban
• Supply chain
Introduction 5

• Maintenance management is one of the most relevant subjects considered in this


book, because the guarantee of the fulfillment of the asset life cycle depends on it.
To synthesize this relevance, the following aspects can be considered:
• Some maintenance management policies:
– Classification of assets: Class A, B, or C?
– Total productive maintenance: conventional or other?
– Scheduled reliability-centered maintenance, risk-based maintenance, no
planned maintenance, or other?
– Condition-based maintenance: predictive?
– Internet of Things (IoT), Internet of People (IoP), or a mix?
– Computerized maintenance management system, enterprise asset
management, or other?
• The maintenance organization is a complementary aspect that is intrinsically
connected to the previous aspects and in which aspects like the next ones must
be considered:
– 5S/Kaizen/Lean?
– Hoshin kanri/strategic asset management plan?
• Other relevant aspects that must be taken into account are the following:
– Which general maintenance standards are necessary?
– Which specific maintenance standards are necessary?
– Which maintenance tools must the team know? For example:
– FMECA (failure mode, effects, and criticality analysis)
– Fault trees
• Stochastic
• Fuzzy
– Petri networks
– Markov models
– Others
• Another important aspect that must be considered is if the maintenance
services are totally or partially conducted externally. In this case, there must
be a good terms of reference for outsourcing that must take into account, among
others, EN 13269:2007 Maintenance—Instructions for the preparation of maintenance
contracts, and NP 4492:2010—Requirements for the provision of maintenance services.
Some aspects that must be considered are the following:
– Title of the maintenance service
– Objective of the contract
– Scope of work required
– Technical requirements necessary to fulfill service
– Commercial conditions, like price and conditions of payment
– Organizational conditions the supplier must accomplish
– Legal requirements to respect
6 Asset Maintenance Engineering Methodologies

– Organization of the service


– Service offers that must correspond to those required
– Human resources and respective competences
– Material resources necessary to fulfill the contract
– Management contracts of maintenance services and management control
– Quality program and quality control procedures
– Preparation, planning, and control of the provider
– Engineering studies and requisites of their competences
– Management of materials and parts, including conditions of storage,
temperature, humidity, and others
– Safety, health, and environment

The next time that follows is t7, which corresponds to the evaluation of the economic
and/or lifespan life cycle. To evaluate this phase, econometric models may be used that
require the values of some variables to evaluate the economic asset life cycle at each time.
This analysis must be done for the entire life cycle of the asset because from this analysis,
the deviations of the results can be evaluated when compared with the quantitative
expectations. Some necessary variables involved are the following:

• Asset acquisition cost


• Cession value
• Operating costs:
• Maintenance costs—historical costs from working orders
• Functioning costs—historical costs from energy reports and others
• Inflation rate, according to official sources
• Capitalization rate, according to official sources and monetary conditions of the
company

Finally, time t8 corresponds to the renewal/withdrawal time. If the company follows


the asset’s life cycle continuously, this is only one more annual exercise. If not, this is an
important stage that must be done on time, that is, before the asset reaches the end of its life
cycle. As noted in the preceding point, the econometric models may be the same. However,
at this point, they emphasize two aspects about the end of the life cycle:

• Economic life
• Lifespan

The variables involved are the same as discussed above:

• Acquisition cost
• Cession value
• Operating costs:
• Maintenance costs
• Functioning costs
Introduction 7

• Inflation rate
• Capitalization rate

As synthesized above, the life cycle of an asset runs from time t1 until t8 with the contents
described in this chapter. Transverse to all these times is the ISO 55000/1/2:2014 Standard—
Asset management, which has aspects that accompany all asset life cycles.
In fact, according to ISO 55000:2014, “Asset management enables an organization to
examine the need for, and performance of, assets and asset systems at different levels.
Additionally, it enables the application of analytical approaches towards managing an asset
over the different stages of its life cycle (which can start with the conception of the need for
the asset, through to its disposal, and includes the managing of any potential post disposal
liabilities).”
In this book, the ISO 55001 standard will be referred to. The main requirements that an
organization must fulfill are the following:

• Context of the organization


• Leadership
• Planning
• Support
• Operation
• Performance evaluation
• Improvement

These requirements will be referred to in several chapters of the book in order to mesh
the engineering methodologies with the physical asset requisites of the norm and several
tools that will be introduced throughout the book.

1.2 Book Structure


Multiple aspects described in the previous points are developed in several chapters of this
book, as explained next:

• Chapter 2—Terology Activity: This chapter explains the terology concept versus the
terotechnology concept to frame the importance of the physical asset life cycle
from its project to its withdrawal. Nowadays, the new physical asset management
requirements and the increased competitiveness of organizations give a higher
relevance to the concepts the book author supports in his research and development
and also his professional activity since many years ago.
• Chapter 3—Physical Asset Acquisition and Withdrawal: The two most symbolic and
relevant points of a physical asset are its acquisition and withdrawal times, because
they involve the evaluation of several variables, like the acquisition, maintenance,
and functioning cost, as well as the inflation and market money cost, among others.
Other important aspects to be managed are related to the elaboration of the terms
of reference, which is the most important document that determines all asset life
cycles, from acquisition until withdrawal.
8 Asset Maintenance Engineering Methodologies

• Chapter 4—Diagnosis of Maintenance State: One of the most important aspects in


the asset life cycle is its maintenance that must be done according to the best
methodologies that maximize its availability. However, to make it possible to
achieve this, it is necessary to have an adequate maintenance organization and
management. One way to evaluate whether this happens is to make a periodic
diagnosis of the state of the maintenance organization or, if it is the beginning
of the process, to make an initial diagnosis to make it possible to restructure the
maintenance organization and implement the procedures, starting work with a
good level of organization and management.
• Chapter 5—Maintenance Management: Maintenance management usually represents
the largest time activity in an asset life cycle. There are several approaches that can
be used according to the specificity of each asset. However, there are transversal
aspects of management, as is the case for maintenance planning, control, work order
management, outsourcing management, reports, and key performance indicators
(KPIs), among others, that are strategic for good maintenance management. These
are some of the main aspects that are presented in this chapter.
• Chapter 6—Maintenance Resources: Maintenance activity is possible only if it
uses adequate resources, namely human resources, materials/spare parts, and
tools. Obviously, financial resources are subjacent to all resources. The internal
dimensioning of the necessary resources depends on the balance between internal
maintenance and outsourcing.
• Chapter 7—Integrated Systems for Maintenance Management: Nowadays, all
management support must be paperless. The concepts based on “e-” are historical,
because all administrative procedures are based on digital documents, the
technicians receive work orders and equipment manuals on their tablets and
smartphones, and so on. It is based on these principles that this chapter presents
the main modules of computerized maintenance management systems (CMMSs)
and, in a more general way, enterprise asset management (EAM) systems that
manage all physical asset life cycles.
• Chapter 8—Expert Systems for Fault Diagnosis: One of the weakest points of
maintenance activity of equipment is when a fault occurs. Service manuals and the
history retrieved from working orders are good sources of information. However,
this process can be much improved through the use of expert systems (ESs) for
fault diagnosis. There are historic case studies that show its importance and current
solutions. But, in many cases, the specificity and cost of these systems implies that
most organizations do not use them. Regardless of this, and with the advent of
the newest software tools and their integration within the CMMS, ESs have an
important role to play in the day-to-day support of maintenance management.
• Chapter 9—Maintenance 4.0: Nowadays, the concept of Industry 4.0 is in vogue.
However, this concept does not add any intrinsic value, having merit because
it emphasizes the integration of all technologies that, in the present day, can
contribute together to help adequately manage assets. The Internet of Things,
sensing, condition monitoring, predicting through adequate software tools, and
many others technologies like these are presented and discussed in this chapter
from the perspective of Maintenance 4.0.
• Chapter 10—Forecasting: Maintenance planning must correspond to the most
relevant part of maintenance interventions, being scheduled or conditioned. This
Introduction 9

chapter presents some time series algorithms that are very important to help in
managing maintenance planning, both periodic and aperiodic, including condition
monitoring with or without prediction.
• Chapter 11—Maintenance Logistics: One aspect that is often ignored is maintenance
logistics. This problem is evident in many situations, like the following: paths
between the workshop and the warehouse, travel between the organization and
commercial warehouses, and travel among several locations of the assets when
they are dispersed geographically. When these problems happen, the associated
costs must be carefully considered, and logistic optimization can achieve important
cost reduction and asset availability improvements.
• Chapter 12—Condition Monitoring: Condition monitoring is more and more
important for many assets, since this approach increases availability with reduced
costs and has been improved by monitoring through the IoT. There are many
variables that can reduce equipment “health,” and it is necessary to identify each
one that affects its condition. However, there are many variables and solutions that
are well consolidated in the practices of organizations, like vibrations, oil analysis,
temperatures, electrical voltage and currents, and effluents, among many others.
These are the main subjects that are explored in this chapter, which opens the
discussion for a more general approach to condition monitoring according to each
real asset.
• Chapter 13—Dynamic Modeling: In many situations, it is necessary to understand
details of asset functioning in the case of fault diagnosis, reliability analysis, or
equipment improvement, among others. To reach these objectives, there are some
important tools that can be used, like Petri networks, Markov and hidden Markov
chains, and fault trees, both stochastic or fuzzy. These are the main aspects that
are described in this chapter in order to enlarge the reader’s knowledge of the tools
that can help in asset life cycle management.
• Chapter 14—3D Systems: When a technician performs a maintenance intervention,
many times he or she needs to access manuals and schema. Even when the
information is in digital format, it is usually static, especially the recent ones, as well
as technical drawings. If these are 3D and dynamic, and it is possible to manipulate
them, then interventions, namely the most complex ones, can be improved in
quality, minimizing errors and reducing intervention time and, obviously, costs.
These are the main aspects discussed in this chapter, as well as the connection to
the future through augmented reality markerless systems.
• Chapter 15—Reliability: Asset management implies good maintenance management,
which implies a good reliability approach, and this is more or less emphasized.
This chapter describes the most relevant statistical distributions applied to
reliability with exercises to more clearly show its potential in day-to-day use to
aid maintenance activities from the perspective of reliability-centered maintenance
(RCM) or any other model.
• Chapter 16—Management Methodologies: Management methodologies are
fundamental to make possible a good/excellent level of maintenance management
and, obviously, asset management. Several methodologies are presented in this
chapter, like 5S, poka-yoke, the PDCA (plan, do, check, act) cycle, A3 maps, the GUT
(gravity, urgency and trend) matrix, and Lean maintenance, among others. These
tools are fundamental to organizing and managing asset maintenance in particular
10 Asset Maintenance Engineering Methodologies

and the asset life cycle in general. These are the main subjects presented in this
chapter as consolidated methodologies in current competitive organizations.
• Chapter 17—Maintenance Standards: Nowadays, the asset life cycle has many
national and international standards that can help a lot with its management.
This chapter emphasizes two types of standards, ISO 5500X and maintenance
standards. Obviously, links to other international standards that can help in asset
management are presented, according to the specificity of each one.
• Chapter 18—Maintenance Project Management: Physical asset management implies
decisions like the following: renewal, periodic stoppage for general maintenance,
and major maintenance interventions. In these situations, one must have good
projects and planning in order to accomplish the objectives within the time foreseen.
Some of the usual good tools that can be used are the Gantt map, the program
evaluation and review technique (PERT), and the critical path method (CPM),
which are useful, easy to manage, and can be used with a lot of software, both
proprietary and open source, that each organization can use easily. Additionally,
these software tools can be connected directly or through a spreadsheet to the
CMMS or EAM used by the organization. These are the main subjects discussed
in this chapter that correspond to some of the most traditional project management
tools but that continue to be useful to many organizations.
• Chapter 19—Maintenance Training: Asset management in general and asset
maintenance in particular are very difficult activities, which is reflected in training
activities, even for well-trained professionals. These activities imply a continuous
upgrade in training for all professionals involved, which implies high costs for it.
Additionally, training is usually outside the organization, which implies additional
costs. New technologies can help to minimize these problems and, in many cases,
increase the quality of training, as is the case with new technologies like artificial
vision, augmented reality, and, in the near future, holography. These are the main
subjects presented and discussed in this chapter, according to the state of the art.
• Chapter 20—Terology Behind Tomorrow: This chapter presents the author’s vision of
the future of asset management, based on the current state of the art and provisional
evolution. If today can be represented by Physical Asset 4.0, this chapter will
present Asset Management 4.1.
2
Terology Activity

2.1 Background
Terotechnology is defined as “the technology of installation, commissioning, maintenance,
replacement, and removal of plant machinery and equipment, with feedback on the
operation and design thereof and on related subjects and practices. Terotechnology is
the maintenance of assets in an optimal manner. It is the combination of management,
financial, engineering, and other practices applied to physical assets such as plants,
machinery, equipment, buildings, and structures in pursuit of economic life cycle costs. It
is related to the reliability and maintainability of physical assets and also takes into account
the processes of installation, commissioning, operation, maintenance, modification, and
replacement. Decisions are influenced by feedback on design, performance, and cost
information throughout the life cycle of a project. It can equally be applied to products,
as the product of one organization often becomes the asset of another” (Husband, 1976).
The terotechnology concept appeared in the early 1970s in the United Kingdom, and it
constitutes a deep content about physical assets. It was a very important concept in this
country, being the target of the following British Standards:

• BS 3811:1993, Glossary of terms used in terotechnology


• BS 3843-1:1992, Guide to terotechnology (the economic management of assets)—Part 1:
Introduction to terotechnology
• BS 3843-2:1992, Guide to terotechnology (the economic management of assets)—Part 2:
Introduction to the techniques and applications
• BS 3843-3:1992, Guide to terotechnology (the economic management of assets)—Part 3:
Guide to the available techniques

In the same way and at the same time, the Japanese concept of total productive maintenance
(TPM), which is based on the following five points (Takahashi, 1981), appeared:

1. To establish objectives that maximize the effectiveness of the assets


2. To establish a comprehensive productive maintenance system that fully covers the
asset’s life cycle
3. To get the involvement of all departments, such as planning, operations, and
maintenance
4. To get the participation of all members, from senior management to workers
5. To strengthen the motivation of the staff, creating small autonomous groups of
productive maintenance

11
12 Asset Maintenance Engineering Methodologies

According to Takahashi (1981), the terotechnology and TPM concepts are similar, although
the latter has additional concerns with the motivation of staff, as is typical in the Japanese
industrial culture.
This terotechnological maintenance concept combines two aspects:

1. The technology of maintenance that applies engineering knowledge appropriate


to the nature of the interventions on the equipment
2. The maintenance management that “takes care” of assets, as well as the actions and
resources required to maintain them

From this formulation, but removing the technological component reflected in the word
tero(techno)logy, the new concept of terology was introduced (Farinha, 1994), defined as “the
combined utilization of operational research techniques, information management, and
engineering, with the objective of accompanying the life cycle of facilities and equipment;
it includes the definition of specifications of purchase, installation, and reception, and also
the management and control of its maintenance, modification, and replacement and its
accompanying in service, too.”
From the point of view of implementation, terology must be analyzed using its strategic,
tactical, and operational aspects:

• Strategic—Is related to new procurement policies, definitions of methodologies of


management, control of the life cycle of physical assets, the necessary human and
material resources, and their replacement.
• Tactical—Is related to the standardization problems of the physical asset, its
maintainability and reliability, cost control of the several resources involved, and
personnel training, among others.
• Operational—Is related to maintenance itself, that is, to guarantee the normal
operation of physical assets by planning and controlling interventions. These,
in turn, provide technical and economic data, which provide several indicators
necessary to evaluate the performance of the defined strategy.

This is the extensive vision of physical asset management that supports the global
approach of this book, which is based on maintenance management itself, but with an
enlarged vision of its life cycle.

2.2 Concept of Terology vs. Maintenance


The terology concept has its core in maintenance activity, as seen in the previous section.
According to EN 13306 Maintenance terminology, maintenance is the “combination of all
technical, administrative, and managerial actions during the life cycle of an item intended
to retain it in, or restore it to, a state in which it can perform the required function.”
This definition of maintenance emphasizes its importance during the life cycle of an
asset, but omits the extreme points of an asset’s life: its acquisition and all activities that
must be fulfilled in this phase, and its withdrawal, which represents the other extreme of
the life cycle and its final phase.
Terology Activity 13

All assets’ phases, including maintenance management; organizational, administrative,


and econometric models; and engineering methodologies, among others, are relevant to
global physical asset management.
It is because of this that the author introduced the terology concept, which includes
the whole physical asset life cycle, including the definition of specifications of purchase;
installation and reception; management and control of its maintenance, modification, and
replacement; and its accompanying in service, too.
In fact, the acquisition phase has implications for the whole life cycle of an asset, namely
its availability and maintenance cost, including resources involved; its depreciation; and,
finally, the replacement decision or, if it is the case, renewal and a new life cycle.

2.3 Terology as a Multidisciplinary Issue


As stated before, the concept of terology implies an enlarged view of maintenance and
physical asset management. This concept can be decomposed into several elements such
as the following:

• Operational research
• Operational research makes use of mathematical, statistical, and algorithmic
models to aid the decision-making. These strands are present throughout
the maintenance management process and, in particular, in the algorithms
that are embedded in the information systems that support maintenance
management.
• Information management
• Information management is a fundamental pillar in monitoring and main­
tenance control, being transversal to its development in several aspects. It can
be limited to management of the maintenance with data deferred in time or
can include aspects such as online reading of the data of the assets, including
automatic prediction of maintenance interventions. It is also decisive in aspects
such as fault diagnosis and the evaluation of key performance indicators.
• Engineering
• Engineering is present in most maintenance activities in several specialties,
namely electrotechnics, electronics, mechanics, electromechanics, and
mechatronics, among others.
• Reliability
• Reliability is another crosscutting aspect of maintenance activity, such as in
intervention planning, resources, and, in particular, spare parts and in all
phases of the physical asset life cycle.
• Invoicing
• Invoicing is present in maintenance activity, particularly when it is
outsourced, when part or all of the interventions are allocated to direct and
indirect customers of the equipment, and when purchasing spare parts,
among others.
14 Asset Maintenance Engineering Methodologies

Quality Information management Engineering

Stocks management/
Operational research Terology spare parts

Invoicing General and analytical Reliability


accounting

FIGURE 2.1
Interdisciplinary maintenance (terology).

• General and analytical accounting


• General and analytical accounting is the area of the organization that acts as a
barometer of the financial control, being in this case crucial for the monitoring
of the execution of the maintenance budget. It is also relevant for the definition
of the dates of amortization and reintegration of the assets, as well as a support
for asset renewal.
• When entering the data of the equipment into the information management
system, it should be immediately indexed to the accounts, either through
inventory codes or analytical accounting.
• Stock management/spare parts
• Spare parts management is crucial to the proper execution of maintenance
interventions. When a maintenance action is taken, it is essential that all spare
parts be available and that the logistics associated with them be optimized so
that the time associated with their availability and application is minimal.
• Quality
• Finally, maintenance is intrinsically linked to the organization’s quality
system as an integral part of it and due to the relevance of the evidence that
organizations must demonstrate. These can be in the ambit of the industrial
environment in the quality of its maintenance to continue guaranteeing its
accreditation and, as a consequence, the confidence of its stakeholders.

Figure 2.1 illustrates several maintenance areas in the broad perspective of terology,
with the objective of highlighting some aspects of the interdisciplinary of this activity,
which, because of its diversity, represents some of the reasons that justify its complexity
and difficulty of management.

2.4 Terology and the Environment


Better maintenance, aided by information systems, helps increase assets’ life cycles,
reducing effluent emissions and energy consumption. These are only some reasons to say
that maintenance or, in other words, terology, helps the environment.
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a particularly happy season—save in its purely spiritual aspect. He
was full of anxiety about Beatrix. It was hard to live so near her, and
yet not dare to approach her. He had seen her in church every
Sunday morning, and had seen her looking ill and worn. He knew
that she was unhappy, and without a friend except Bella Scratchell.
What a dismal season Christmas must seem for her, poor child! How
cruel a mockery the joy-bells, and holly boughs, and outward
semblance of festivity!
His business to-day took him the direction of the bridge. He could
see the Water House on the other side of the river, its gray walls and
ivy-covered entrance tower looming darkly through a mist of rain.
Who was this approaching him along the muddy road, struggling
manfully against wind and rain? Cyril could see nothing but a pair of
pepper and salt legs under a gingham umbrella. The pepper and salt
legs brought the umbrella nearer him. It was an umbrella with a
slippery brass handle, and altogether an affliction to its possessor. A
sudden gust blew it on one side, and revealed the countenance of
Mr. Namby, pale and agitated.
‘How d’ye do, Namby?’ said Cyril, with no intention of saying more,
for the village surgeon was a talkative little man, and the busy curate
had no time to waste upon gossip. But Mr. Namby made a dead
stop.
‘Oh, Mr. Culverhouse, I have just come from the Water House.’
This was enough to bring Cyril to a standstill also. ‘There is awful
trouble there.’
‘Good heavens! What trouble? Is Miss Harefield ill?’
‘Poor child! She is in a dreadful state. Her father is dead.’
Cyril felt as if his heart had stopped beating. The rainy landscape
rocked before his eyes, the muddy road reeled beneath his feet.
‘Dead!’ he gasped.
‘Dead, suddenly. And I’m afraid by poison.’
‘What!’ cried Cyril. ‘You must be mad to say such a thing.’
‘It will be for the coroner to decide; there will be an inquest, of
course. But I have no doubt as to the cause of death. There are all
the symptoms of poisoning by opium.’
‘Good God! Was he in the habit of taking opium?’
‘Not to my knowledge.’
‘But he surely must have been. How else should he come by his
death? It must have been an over dose of opium.’
‘I never heard him complain of acute pain. He had an iron
constitution. He had no reason for taking opium that I can see.’
‘No reason! Look at the men who take it without reason, for the
pleasure of taking it. Look at Coleridge—De Quincey. Mr. Harefield
was just the kind of man to be an opium-eater. That would account
for his hermit-like life existence—his seclusion from all the world. He
had a world of his own—he had the opium-eater’s paradise.’
‘It is possible,’ said Mr. Namby, doubtfully. ‘But it is strange that I
should never have perceived the symptoms. There are unmistakable
indications in the appearance of the habitual opium-eater.’
‘How often did you see Mr. Harefield?’
‘Not very often, I confess.’
‘Not often enough for your observations of him to be worth much.
Dead! It is very awful. When did it happen?’
Mr. Namby proceeded to relate all he had heard at the Water
House; and for once in his life he found Cyril Culverhouse a patient
listener.
‘And Miss Harefield? How does she bear the shock?’
‘She is very quiet. She seems stupefied. The whole thing was so
sudden. She and Miss Scratchell dined with Mr. Harefield yesterday
evening. There was nothing to show that he was ill or agitated, or in
any way different from his usual self.’
‘Who is with Miss Harefield?’
‘Only Miss Scratchell and the servants. That excellent Miss Scales
is away in Devonshire, with an ailing relation; but she is expected
back daily.’
‘She ought to be summoned at once. I’ll call at the Vicarage and
ask Mrs. Dulcimer to go to the Water House.’
He turned back with Mr. Namby, and they walked together towards
the Vicarage, which was at the other end of the village street.
Mr. Namby turned into his own garden gate, and left Cyril to go on
alone to the Vicarage. Mr. Culverhouse had no exalted opinion of
Mrs. Dulcimer’s good sense, but he highly estimated her good
nature, and he could think of no one better whose friendship he
could appeal to on Beatrix Harefield’s behalf. Mrs. Dulcimer was
warmly attached to Beatrix. She would be overflowing with kindliness
and sympathy in this hour of trouble.
The Vicar was in his library, Mrs. Dulcimer in the dining-room with
Rebecca, allotting little heaps of warm clothing as Christmas gifts for
her poor parishioners. The dining-table was covered with neatly
made flannels and linsey petticoats. Mrs. Dulcimer and Rebecca
were folding and smoothing the little packages, and admiring their
own work, for Rebecca’s needle was as busy as her mistress’s in
this benevolent labour.
Rebecca withdrew respectfully, at the curate’s entrance, and Cyril
told Mrs. Dulcimer what had happened at the Water House. She
interrupted him continually with questions and exclamations; but he
got through his story somehow.
‘Poor dear child!’ cried Mrs. Dulcimer, when she had heard all;
‘coming into that fine estate; poor Mr. Harefield’s mother was a
Pynsent, you know, and all the Pynsent property goes with the
Harefield estate, and under such shocking circumstances. What a
pity she hasn’t a husband to protect her interests! I shouldn’t wonder
if the property were thrown into Chancery. If your cousin Kenrick had
only been wise now——’
‘What do you mean, Mrs. Dulcimer?’
‘He might have been owner of the finest property in the West
Riding. He might have been Beatrix’s husband by this time.’
‘I think the lady would have been entitled to a voice in the matter,’
said Cyril, ‘however wise my cousin Kenrick might have been.’
‘Oh, nonsense, Cyril! Such a young man as Kenrick might choose
for himself. And in poor Beatrix’s position she would naturally have
reciprocated his affection, if it had only been warmly offered.’
‘I cannot agree with you there. But if you will go and see the poor
girl——’
‘I’ll put on my bonnet this instant. Will you come with me, Cyril?’
‘I think not, I should be of no use.’
‘Well, a man certainly is apt to be in the way under such
circumstances. He never knows what to say, or what to leave
unsaid.’
‘And a woman never errs in leaving anything unsaid,’ remarked
the Vicar, entering through the curtained archway.
While Mrs. Dulcimer was putting on her bonnet, Cyril told the Vicar
what Mr. Namby had said about the cause of Christian Harefield’s
death, a detail which he had not communicated to Mrs. Dulcimer.
‘This makes it a painful business,’ said Cyril.
‘Very,’ answered the Vicar. ‘But I should not be surprised at Mr.
Harefield having deliberately taken the dose that killed him.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because to my mind he was a likely subject for suicide. Look at
the life he led. A man must sooner or later get tired of leading such a
life. Some day he must say to himself, “Wherefore, to what end do I
live?” And then, if he is half an infidel, if religion exercises no
restraining influence over his acts, he will make up his mind,
suddenly, perhaps, to end his existence. He has no love of his
fellow-men to anchor him to earth, no hope of anything bright or
good waiting for him in the coming years. He has a very faint belief—
possibly none at all—in a tribunal beyond this world where he will
have to answer for his deeds. It is very clear to me that for the last
ten years Christian Harefield’s life has been burdened by some
incurable sorrow. He may have grown weary of bearing the sorrow,
as people grow weary of bearing pain.’
‘You are probably right,’ said Cyril; ‘yet I should rather believe his
death accidental.’
Mrs. Dulcimer went to the Water House, knowing no more than the
fact of Mr. Harefield’s sudden death and his daughter’s desolation.
She went up to Beatrix’s room, expecting that the stricken girl would
throw herself into her arms and pour out all her woes upon that
friendly bosom. Mrs. Dulcimer’s frills and puffings and broad bonnet-
strings were in a flutter with the importance of her mission. She felt
as if she were the young heiress’s legal guardian.
‘My dearest girl,’ she cried, ‘how my heart bleeds for you!’
But Beatrix was in a curious mood. She seemed not to want other
people’s bleeding hearts. Indeed, her own heart was too deeply
wounded to receive comfort from such sympathetic bleeding.
Mrs. Dulcimer made all the customary speeches which are made
and provided for such occasions.
‘You must come to the Vicarage with me, my love,’ she said. ‘You
must not stop in this dreary house.’
But here Beatrix was firm. She would not leave the house in which
her dead father was lying.
‘We were not happy together while he was living,’ she said, ‘but I
will not desert him now he is dead.’
And then she relapsed into a state of seeming apathy, from which
Mrs. Dulcimer found it impossible to rouse her. Bella was there,
looking pale and scared, but ready to be useful if she were required.
By and by, failing in all attempts at consolation, Mrs. Dulcimer
went downstairs to talk this sad business over with the housekeeper
and Mr. Scratchell, who had appeared upon the scene as legal
representative of the deceased, and had already busied himself in a
semi-official manner in locking up papers and setting seals on desks
and cabinets in the library.
From the butler and housekeeper Mrs. Dulcimer heard details
which she had not heard from Cyril Culverhouse. She was told all
about the mysterious visitor of the previous night.
‘I believe he was one of Mrs. Harefield’s Italian friends,’ said the
butler. ‘There was something familiar about his face. I could as good
as swear I’ve seen him times and often before last night.’
‘As good as swearing won’t do,’ said Mr. Scratchell, with
professional severity. ‘Unless you are prepared to make a direct
statement upon oath you had better say nothing, about your
impressions and recollections before the coroner by and by.’
‘The coroner!’ cried Mrs. Dulcimer, with a look of horror. ‘What has
the coroner to do with it?’
‘Why, my dear madam, as Mr. Harefield’s death is both sudden
and mysterious, there will naturally be an inquest. The notices have
been sent round to the jury already, I believe, and the inquiry will be
held here this afternoon. To-morrow being Christmas Day, you see,
allows of no time being lost.’
‘Oh, this is too dreadful!’ exclaimed Mrs. Dulcimer; ‘that poor girl,
without a single relation, in a house of death, under such fearful
circumstances. I must get her away.’
‘I would strongly recommend you to do nothing of the kind. Miss
Harefield had better stop here. She will be wanted as a witness, for it
was she who discovered her father’s death. Her leaving the house
might create a scandal. She need not be alone. Bella can stay with
her.’
‘Poor girl,’ sighed Mrs. Dulcimer. ‘What a position!’
And then, the ruling passion still dominant in her mind, she thought
of Sir Kenrick Culverhouse, and what an opportunity this time of
trouble might afford for the ripening of friendship into love. It was a
time in which a young woman would naturally lean upon a masculine
mind for support and guidance, in which words of comfort would
sound stronger from masculine lips.
‘If Kenrick were only here to-day,’ thought Mrs. Dulcimer.
And then she remembered that Sir Kenrick had given her a half-
promise that he would come back to Yorkshire in time to eat his
Christmas dinner at the Vicarage.
CHAPTER III.
before the coroner.
At the table where Christian Harefield had sat at meat on Sunday
evening, with his daughter and his daughter’s companion, sat the
coroner, in the gathering dusk of Monday afternoon, with his jurymen
in a row of heavy oaken chairs on either side of him—looking very
much as if they were sitting at a new Barmecide’s dinner—to inquire
into the cause or causes of Christian Harefield’s death.
The inquest had been called for three o’clock, but it was nearly
four, and the proceedings were but just beginning. There had been
the usual delays—one or two jurymen late—a good deal of
blundering in calling over the names—some small disputations about
nothing particular—a general muddling away of time. And now the
sky outside the heavy mullioned casements was deepening from
gray to dun, the red glow of the fire was shining redder upon the oak
panelling as the outside world darkened, the ticking of the clock on
the chimney-piece sounded obtrusively above the half-whispered
conversation, and the falling of a cinder on the hearth seemed as
startling as the report of a gun.
Mr. Scratchell sat at a corner of the table, note-book in hand, to
watch the proceedings as Miss Harefield’s legal adviser. He had
appointed himself to that post, and no one had disputed his right to
it. Beatrix had asked for no legal advice. She knew that her father
was dead, suddenly, mysteriously, awfully, but no instinct of her mind
impelled her to seek comfort, counsel, or succour from Mr.
Scratchell, or to throw herself into the sanctuary of English law.
The coroner was Dr. Judson, of Great Yafford, a medical man
much respected in his district, and a coroner who indulged in the
eccentricity of thinking for himself.
The proceedings were opened by the examination of Mr. Namby,
who gave his opinion very decidedly upon the cause of death. He
had no doubt upon this point. The deceased gentleman had died
from an overdose of opium. He described those indications which led
him to believe this, and Dr. Judson, who knew Taylor’s Medical
Jurisprudence by heart, knew that the witness was right.
Peacock, the butler, the last person who had seen Mr. Harefield
alive, was the first witness examined, after the medical evidence had
been heard, and the jury had withdrawn to view the body.
He described the visit of the foreign gentleman, and his departure.
He was not able to recall the gentleman’s name, although he had
glanced at his card before he carried it to Mr. Harefield. The name
was a foreign one, and had slipped out of his memory directly after
he read it.
Coroner. How long was he with your master?
Peacock. It might be from an hour to an hour and a half. We were
just beginning our suppers in the servants’ hall when the bell rang,
and I opened the door to the strange gentleman. We hadn’t finished
many minutes when Mr. Harefield rung his bell for me to let the
strange gentleman out.
Coroner. Do you usually take an hour and a half at your supper?
Peacock. We might take as much on a Sunday night.
Coroner (with grim facetiousness, reflecting that this is how his
servants make such an impression on the butcher’s bill). Oh, I see,
on Sunday night you eat a little extra. The better the day the better
the deed. Then, as you are in the habit of sitting an hour and a half
at your supper, you conclude that the stranger was with Mr. Harefield
as long as that.
Peacock. I should say about that time.
Coroner. How often did you see Mr. Harefield after the stranger
left?
Peacock. I went into the room twice—once with some fresh logs,
once with coals.
Coroner. Did you observe anything peculiar in your master’s
manner?
Peacock. No, sir. When I went in the first time he was sitting
before the fire, a little moody-like, staring straight before him; but he
was moody in his ways most times. When I went in with the coals, he
was sitting there still—like a statue. I asked him if there was anything
more wanted, and he said, ‘No, Peacock, nothing more.’ That was
his general reply. I couldn’t see any difference in his voice or
manner.
Coroner. Were you with Miss Harefield this morning when she
discovered her father’s death?
Peacock. I was just outside the door when she went in and found
him lying dead upon the sofa.
Coroner. In which room was he found?
Peacock. In Mrs. Harefield’s sitting-room. It hadn’t entered into my
head—or into the housekeeper’s head—to look for him in that room,
for the room was never used. Mr. Harefield kept the key, and it was
kept locked at all times, like a tomb.
Coroner. Who suggested looking into that room?
Peacock. Miss Harefield. ‘Let us go into every room in the house,’
she said, ‘my mother’s rooms first of all.’
Coroner. Did she give any reason for making that suggestion?
Peacock. Yes—she named her reason. The strange gentleman
was an old friend of her mother’s, Miss Harefield thought, and that
might have set her father thinking of old times, and carried his
thoughts back to his wife’s rooms. That is what I understood her to
mean.
Coroner. Then Miss Harefield led the way to the room in which her
father was found?
Peacock. She did.
Coroner. And he was quite dead when you found him?
Peacock. Quite dead. When Mr. Namby saw my master he said he
must have been dead some hours. He was stone cold—icy cold. Mr.
Namby said icy coldness of the body was one of the signs of
poisoning by opium.
Coroner. You need not tell us what Mr. Namby said. Mr. Namby
has told us his opinion. Have you any knowledge of your master
taking opium, for any purpose whatever?
Peacock. I have never known him to do such a thing.
Coroner. What! not an occasional dose to deaden pain?
Peacock. I have never heard him complain of pain.
Coroner. But have you never had cause to suspect him of taking
opium? He was a man of reserved and lonely habits. Have you
never seen him in a stupefied, dreamy state, such as you may have
heard of or read of as peculiar to opium eaters?
Peacock. Never.
Coroner. Have you ever seen any bottle containing opium, or any
bottle labelled opium, or laudanum, in his rooms?
Peacock. Never.
Coroner. Have you ever seen anything in your late master’s
manner indicating a disturbed state of mind—the sort of thing which
is usually called not being quite right in one’s mind?
Peacock. No, sir. My late master was not a cheerful man. He was
a gentleman who preferred to live alone. He had always lived shut
up in his own rooms since his wife’s death. I believe he took her
death very much to heart. He has never talked about his troubles to
me, or to any one in the house, but I believe that was his trouble.
The next witness was Isabella Scratchell. She had been present at
the discovery of Mr. Harefield’s death. She had dined with him on the
previous evening, and would naturally be an independent witness,
and a more unbiassed judge of his demeanour and mental condition
than either his old servants or his daughter.
Bella gave her evidence with a graceful timidity and a gentle
firmness which charmed her hearers. She felt that it was her first
public appearance, and that the eyes of Little Yafford—or possibly of
a much wider world than Little Yafford—were upon her. She stood at
the end of the long table, with her clear blue eyes fixed respectfully
upon the coroner, her little white hands clasped, her head slightly
bent. Even her father’s cold eye perceived that there was grace and
prettiness in this familiar face and figure.
‘A girl like that ought to get a husband able to support her,’ thought
Mr. Scratchell, who regarded marriage as an institution devised for
taking daughters off a father’s hands, and throwing the onus of
maintaining them upon an obliging stranger.
Coroner. You dined with Mr. Harefield yesterday evening, I
believe?
Bella. Yes.
Coroner. What impression did his manner make upon you?
Bella. I felt very sorry for Beatrix—for Miss Harefield.
Coroner. Why?
Bella. It was so sad to see a father and daughter so unloving. Or I
should say sad to see a daughter so little loved.
Coroner. Then you conclude the want of affection was on Mr.
Harefield’s side?
Bella (after a moment of hesitation). Yes.
Coroner. Do you mean that Mr. Harefield was absolutely harsh in
his treatment of his daughter?
Bella. Both harsh and cold. I should have felt it painfully had I been
Miss Harefield. Indeed, I know she did feel it.
Coroner. She has told you so?
Bella. Indirectly. She has told me of unhappiness between her and
her father.
Coroner. What kind of unhappiness?
Bella. I had rather not enter into that. I have no right to betray Miss
Harefield’s confidence.
Coroner. You are bound to answer any questions bearing upon the
subject of this inquiry. I want particularly to know the state of feeling
between Mr. Harefield and his daughter. Now what was the
unhappiness of which you have spoken?
Bella (with her eyes wandering piteously round the stolid faces of
the jury, and at last seeking counsel in the looks of her father). Am I
really obliged to answer this question?
Scratchell. Yes, yes, girl, you’d better answer.
Bella. The unhappiness was about a gentleman to whom Miss
Harefield is deeply attached. Mr. Harefield forbade her to see this
gentleman, or to hold any communication with him.
Coroner. And that had been the cause of ill-feeling between the
father and daughter?
Bella. I have never said ill-feeling. I only say that Mr. Harefield’s
manner to his daughter was morose and unkind.
Coroner. Did you perceive anything approaching to eccentricity or
mental disturbance in his manner last evening?
Bella. Nothing.
Coroner. Should you consider him a man likely to commit suicide?
Bella. I should say not. He was always reserved and gloomy.
Coroner. But not more so yesterday evening than usual?
Bella. No more than usual.
Coroner. How did Miss Harefield seem impressed by the discovery
of her father’s death?
Bella. She seemed stunned.
Coroner. She said very little, I conclude?
Bella. She said nothing. The awfulness of the discovery seemed to
turn her to stone.
The next and last witness was one in whom even those stolid
jurymen felt a keen interest. The next witness was Beatrix Harefield,
who came into the room slowly, leaning upon Mrs. Dulcimer, a living
image of horror and amazement.
Some one, seeing how feebly she moved from the door to the
table, brought her a chair; or, in the richer phraseology of the
reporters, she was ‘accommodated with a seat.’ She sat, looking
straight at the distant coroner, seen dimly by the light of tall wax
candles in old silver candelabra, at the end of an avenue of jurymen.
Beatrix was questioned as to the finding of her father’s body. Her
replies were at first hardly audible, but voice and manner grew firmer
as she went on.
Coroner. What induced you to suggest that your mother’s sitting-
room should be the first place to be searched?
Beatrix. Because I fancied my father’s thoughts would dwell upon
my mother last night.
Coroner. Why?
Beatrix. The gentleman who came here—after an absence of
many years—was a countryman and friend of my mother’s. That
would carry my father’s thoughts back.
Coroner. Can you tell me the name of this gentleman? His
evidence would be important as to the state of your father’s mind
yesterday evening.
Beatrix. I have heard him called Antonio.
Coroner. That was his Christian name, no doubt. Have you never
heard his surname?
Beatrix. Never, to my knowledge. I was a child when he used to
visit here. I have heard my father and mother both speak of him as
Antonio.
Coroner. Was your father in the habit of going into that locked up
room of your mother’s?
Beatrix. I know he went there sometimes.
Coroner. How do you know that?
Beatrix. I found the key left in the door once. No one could have
left it there but my father.
Coroner. The room was kept locked, I understand. The members
of the household were not allowed to go in.
Beatrix. It was kept locked from every one for ten years.
Coroner. Have you never been in the room during that time?
Beatrix. Once only. The day I found the key in the door. I went in
and looked at my mother’s room.
Coroner. Have you any reason to suppose that your father was in
the habit of taking opium?
Beatrix. I have no reason to suppose so. We lived very much
apart, but from what I saw of his mode of life, I do not think my father
ever took opium.
Coroner. You have never heard him complain of pain of any kind—
rheumatism or neuralgia, for instance—which might have induced
him to seek relief from opiates?
Beatrix. Never.
Coroner. Do you know whether there was any laudanum in the
house at the time of your father’s death?
Beatrix (with evident agitation, and after a noticeable pause). No,
there was no laudanum in the house at the time of my father’s death.
Coroner. Are you sure of that?
Beatrix. Quite sure. I have suffered from sleeplessness for many
weeks. Last week I bought a little laudanum, and have been taking it
nightly in small doses. I took rather a larger dose than usual last
night and emptied the bottle.
The jury, who had been getting a little absent-minded during what
they considered a somewhat wire-drawn interrogation, became
suddenly on the alert. Four and twenty eyes were fixed inquisitively
upon the pale face of the witness. A gentleman who stood in the
shadow of the doorway watching the proceedings grew a shade
paler than he had been before.
Coroner. Did any one know of your taking this laudanum?
Beatrix. No one.
Coroner. Was it recommended by your medical adviser?
Beatrix. No. I asked Mr. Namby to give me opiates, but he refused.
Coroner. And, unknown to every one, you bought laudanum, and
took it in nightly doses?
Beatrix. Yes. The sleepless nights were so miserable. I think I
should have gone mad if they had continued much longer.
Coroner. Was there any cause for these sleepless nights?
Beatrix (faltering, and with a distressed look). I had been unhappy
lately.
Coroner. There was a love affair, was there not, which your father
disapproved?
Beatrix. Yes.
Coroner. Was there ill-feeling between you and your father about
this love affair?
Beatrix. Not exactly ill-feeling. I thought that my father acted
unkindly.
Coroner. There was no quarrel between you?
Beatrix. No. I submitted to my father’s will, but he knew that when I
came of age I should fulfil the engagement of which he disapproved.
Coroner. In other words, you defied him?
Beatrix. No. I only told him that I should be faithful to the man I
loved.
Coroner. No matter how objectionable that person might be to your
father?
Beatrix. He had no cause to object. He ought to have been proud
that I had won the love of so good a man.
Coroner. Perhaps a young lady is not always the best judge upon
that point. Now, will you tell me where you got this laudanum?
Beatrix. At Great Yafford.
Coroner. At which chemist’s?
Beatrix. I got it from several chemists. The chemist I first went to
would give me only a very small quantity. I went on to another
chemist and got a little more.
Coroner. That was very ingenious. How many chemists did you go
to in this manner?
Beatrix. I believe I went to five or six shops.
Coroner. Getting a little laudanum at each. How much did you get
altogether?
Beatrix. When I emptied all the bottles into one there was a small
bottle full.
Coroner. I should like to see the bottle. Let it be sent for.
Beatrix. It is in the little Indian cabinet on the writing-table in my
bedroom.
The bottle was fetched at the coroner’s desire. It was an ounce
bottle, quite empty, labelled in the usual manner.
Coroner. Was this bottle never out of your hands after you brought
it home?
Beatrix. Never. Till last night I kept it locked in my dressing-case.
Coroner. You are sure of that?
Beatrix. I am quite sure.
This ended Beatrix Harefield’s examination. After this the coroner
adjourned the inquiry for a week, with a view to obtaining further
evidence. He made a strong point of the desirability of obtaining the
evidence of the strange visitor who had been closeted with Mr.
Harefield for an hour and a half on the night before his death.
CHAPTER IV.
christmas eve.
Beatrix went back to her room, accompanied by Mrs. Dulcimer and
Bella Scratchell. In going through the dimly-lighted hall she passed a
group of figures standing close together near the foot of the
staircase; the Vicar, Mr. Namby, and one other, a taller figure than
either of the two, a man standing with half-averted face, listening to
some remark of Mr. Dulcimer’s. Towards this one, whose face was
hidden, Beatrix looked intently, but there was no time for more than
that one earnest look, for Mrs. Dulcimer’s supporting arm was round
her, and Bella was on the other side. Between these sympathisers,
she was led up the shallow old stairs to the familiar corridor which
had to-night so awful and even unknown an air. Death lay yonder in
the bedchamber where the coroner and his jury had gone in silently
half an hour ago, to look upon the marble form that had so lately
been master and owner of all things at the Water House. In the place
of that stern ruler there was now only the lifeless clay. A dreadful
blankness and emptiness had descended upon the house, so quiet,
so changeless heretofore, but now pervaded with the one idea of
death.
Beatrix shivered as she passed the door of the room where her
dead father was lying. Mrs. Dulcimer perceived that shuddering
recoil, and again suggested that her sweet Beatrix should come to
the Vicarage. But again Beatrix was firm.
‘Do you think I am frightened at the thought of death?’ she asked
bitterly. ‘My father’s life was a living death—to me. He is no further
removed from me now than he was yesterday.’
‘My dear child, if I could stay with you here, I would not so much
mind,’ said Mrs. Dulcimer, ‘but I shall be obliged to go back to the
Vicarage almost immediately. There is Clement’s tea. He would not
think of sitting down to tea without me if he were ever so hungry. And
then later in the evening there will be the carol singers. We always
give them cake and hot elder wine. So you see, my love, I shall be
obliged to go.’
Beatrix gave a weary sigh.
‘Indeed, dear Mrs. Dulcimer, I shall be better alone,’ she said. ‘I
am grateful for your kindness, but I would rather be alone. I do not
want even Bella, and I am sure it is cruel to keep her in this
melancholy house. Do go home, Bella, or go to the Vicarage with
Mrs. Dulcimer and hear the carols.’
‘Beatrix, how can you suppose that I would leave you?’ exclaimed
Bella, and again Beatrix sighed wearily.
It would have been an infinite relief to her to be quite alone. She
had recognised Cyril in that little group in the hall, and he had let her
pass, without one word of consolation, without one pitying look. He
must have known that she was passing, she told herself, and he had
kept his face averted; he had stood coldly by and made no sign of
sympathy or kindly feeling.
Mrs. Dulcimer tied her bonnet strings, kissed Beatrix repeatedly,
promised to come and see her directly after morning service next
day, and then hurried off to superintend the Vicar’s evening meal.
‘I shouldn’t be surprised if Kenrick was to pop in upon us to-night,’
she said, as she was going away. ‘He promised to spend Christmas
with us.’
Beatrix gave a little start at Kenrick’s name. He was so near Cyril
in her mind, and just now she was deeply moved by Cyril’s strange
coldness.
Mrs. Dulcimer saw her startled look, and had an inward movement
of triumph. Here was one of her good-natured schemes assuredly
about to prosper. Kenrick had evidently made an impression upon
Beatrix; and now death had made Beatrix mistress of a splendid
fortune.
‘I only hope that foolish boy will remember his engagement to eat
his Christmas dinner with us,’ thought the Vicar’s wife, as she

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