Overview

Failure Classifications are part of the Failure tracking and reporting system that is embedded within Citywide. It is accessible and utilized when the Maintenance module is enabled and integrated with Assets. Part of asset management involves the timely repair, replenishment, replacement, and retirement of various assets. Failure tracking and reporting allows you to generate data that can help make intelligent decisions concerning the management of assets by tracking and gaining insights on the nature of the failures associated with those assets.  

Initiation and Setup

Setting up the Failure tracking and reporting system involves the following sequence:

1. Creating the raw data that will define the failure coding system (in Failure Classifications)
2. Organizing the raw data into failure workflows (in Failure Workflow)
3. Assigning the workflows to the appropriate assets/asset groups in (Maintenance Metrics section in Asset Profiles)

The Four Core Components - The Raw Data

Failure Classifications involve four core components:

1. Classes: a broad designation which involves naming and describing a failure type (e.g. "Engine Failure").
2. Codes: a broad set of failure characteristics (identifiers, symptoms, etc.) that can be applied across numerous classes. 
3. Causes: a broad set of causes for the selected failures.
4. Resolutions: a broad set of resolutions concerning failures.

The relationship between these four components is not hierarchical; codes are general and applicable to all classes, as are cause codes and resolution codes.

Here, for example, are three classes for which various failure codes, cause codes, and resolution codes can be applied:

Some codes (e.g. software-based problem) can be applied to any one of the classes: a computer may not boot because of a software problem (infect boot strap); traffic lights, programmed by a traffic control department, may have entered bad data into the system; and an automobile engine may have had its computer units software improperly updated by the dealership or manufacturer. Cause and Resolution codes can be equally applied. Also, any of the Class/Code items can have numerous causes and resolutions.

In general, you should define your failure classifications in very general terms—terms that can be applied broadly. The Class as a whole can be applied to a variety of different but relevant assets. "Engine knocking," for example, might be a class associated with all types of vehicles (trucks, buses, automobiles), construction equipment (loaders, back hoes, pavers), landscaping equipment (mowers, tractors, etc.), and diesel power backup generators, etc. They all have engines, and each of these engines could manifest unusual knocking noises. Each such failure will be particularized in the context of the asset it is tagged to and maintenance records in which it is recorded. Having codes that are too specific may needlessly multiply the number of failure codes and could make the system unwieldy and/or create minimalized and frayed data bits that tend to obscure and confound more than illuminate. However, under certain circumstances (depending on the criteria that you base your failure modelling on), some may need to be quite specific. You will have to decide how you define all your codes. To that end, it is a good idea to reach out to all the departments (especially maintenance) for input. They will have some existing data and likely a whole lot of hunches that they would like to generate into actionable intelligence!

Organizing the Data into Failure Workflows

The raw data created so far is dispersed across the four categories: all the codes are in one place; all the causes in another; and all the resolutions still in a third. It is at this point that the individual components need to be grouped to form logical failure units by matching the appropriate codes, causes, and resolutions with the failure classes. These are the failure workflows that can then be deployed across the system.

Associating Failure Workflows with Assets

Various types of failures apply to various types of assets. A single asset or group of assets can have numerous failure workflows associated with it (e.g. the variety of classes with a variety of failures, causes, and resolutions affect vehicles associated with vehicles). Assets in Citywide can be grouped together in Asset Profiles. The Failure Workflows can be associated with an individual asset or a group of assets through profiles. If you are 1) setting up the system for the first time, or 2) adding an entirely new set of assets that are part of an asset group, or 3) if you wish to reset the Failure Classes for an existing group of assets, you can apply a set of defaults to the select asset group.

Once your failure set up is complete, you can indicate and track an asset's failure details on the Asset Information page.