Managing the introduction of RCM experiences from a Swedish hydropower company

The introduction of reliability centred maintenance, RCM, has become more and more commonly within different industrial sectors. The many application areas, and the long-time use of RCM, points to the importance and usefulness of RCM when developing an effective and efficient maintenance programme. However, introducing RCM, implies introducing a new way of way of working with maintenance in an organisation, which can be very complex and cumbersome. Although RCM is an organised common sense approach to improvements of maintenance performance, a long-term approach may be difficult to manage. Several examples of failed introductions of RCM exist in various lines of business and types of organisations. Some of the main reasons why the RCM introduction becomes problematic or fails are technical in nature, but the majority of problems seem to be managerial and organisational. The introduction characteristics described above has been studied within a longitudinal single-case study, performed within a hydropower organisation. The case study, as well a multiple-case study, including three other hydropower organisations. Based on the findings in the case studies, a comprehensive and holistic RCM introduction strategy was proposed. The strategy framework could be seen as a structured approach to managing obstacles and driving forces identified in the case studies.