TEROTECHNOLOGY

Terotechnology
1.1 Introduction

Terotechnogy is the process of optimising the life cycle cost of physical assets. Life cycle cost is
the sum of all costs incurred during the life time of an asset that is, the total of procurement and
ownership costs. Life cycle costs are categorised as: cost of acquisition, cost of use, and cost of
administration. Life Cycle Cost (LCC) of any physical asset is influenced by the plant reliability
and plant maintainability.

Maintainability is the action taken during the design and development of assets to include features
that will increase ease of maintenance and will ensure that when used in the field the asset will
have minimum downtime and Life-cycle support costs i.e. its serviceability, reparability, and cost-
effectiveness of maintenance are increased.

Reliability is the probability that an item will carry out its stated function adequately for the
specified time interval when operated according to the designed conditions, i.e. to define reliability
of any equipment:
 We must state the planned working life e.g. a new car might be very reliable if we only
expect it to last for 5 years; less reliable over a period of 10 years; and completely unreliable
if we are expecting a useful life of say 40 years.
 Similarly we shall need to know the intended conditions of use, and the routine
maintenance which is required, e.g. if a car engine seizes because there is no water in the
radiator this is a failure of maintenance rather than a failure of reliability; if a car is driven
carelessly and fails this is a misuse failure.

Mean Time between Failures (MTBF) and Mean Time to Repair (MTTR): The Mean Time
between Failures (MTBF) tells us how long on average, equipment operates before it fails, and
this we want to be as long as possible. MTBF, therefore, depends on reliability. The Mean Time
To Repair (MTTR) tells us how long on average, it takes to put the equipment right after it has
failed, and this we want to be as short as possible. MTTR, therefore, depends on maintainability.

1.2 Product Quality

1.2.1 Definition of Quality
Broadly defined, quality refers to the ability of a product or service to consistently meet or exceed
customers’ needs and expectations. However, quality can be defined in various ways, depending
on the perspective of the user. Quality is:
 Conformance to applicable specifications and standards.
 Fitness for use.
 Satisfaction of customer wants, need and expectations at the competitive cost.
Conformance - Quality of conformance refers to the extent to which the product complies with
the specifications, standards, and workmanship criteria imposed upon its manufacture. A product,
manufactured to specification and in conformance with the control limits of the production
processes should satisfy the customer provided that the specifications have correctly translated the
customer's requirements (and that pertinent reliability aspects were considered in design). The
difference between quality of design and quality of conformance is illustrated by the following
example:
Two electrical freezers are made to the same design, specifications, procedures, and standards i.e.
they both have the same quality of design. One of them is unable to carry its cooling load as
advertised; it therefore does not conform to the specification, and the two units differ in their
quality of conformance.

Fitness for use - All human institutions (industrial companies, schools, hospitals etc.) are engaged
in providing products or services to human beings. This relationship is constructive only if the
goods and services respond to the overall needs of the user in price, delivery date, and fitness for
use. If the goods and services do respond to these overall needs, they are said to possess
marketability. Among these overall needs, the extent to which the product successfully serves the
purpose of the user, during usage, is called its “fitness for use”. Fitness for use is determined by
those features of the product that the user can recognize as beneficial to him/her, e.g. clear
reception of TV programs, timeliness of bus service, life of shoes etc. Fitness for use is judged as
seen by the user, not by the manufacturer.

Customer Satisfaction at the Competitive Price: Another definition for Quality says that
product or service quality is the producer's ability to satisfy customer needs while still being able
to realize a profit. This definition has both a customer and a manufacturer orientation. While the
customer is the reason for the organization's existence, the product manufacturer and service
producer must still make a profit. This definition focuses on satisfying the customer at the
competitive price. Many customers will not purchase a product or service unless it is reasonably
priced.

1.2.2 Types of Quality

There are three types of quality that are normally considered - quality of design, quality of
conformance, and quality of performance.

i) Quality of design has to do with intentional differences between goods and services with the
same basic purpose. A given level of design quality may satisfy some consumers and may not
satisfy others. Designing quality into a product or service is extremely important. A good product
design will prevent problems in manufacturing and will result in satisfied customers. The product
design will specify a set of tolerances (specifications) that must be met if the product is to
operate/perform acceptably. [This is the Design Stage].

ii) Quality of conformance has to do with the ability of a process (for instance, a manufacturing
process) to meet the specifications set forth by the design. The types and quality of raw materials,
the design and efficiency of the production process, the amount of training given to workers, the
care and attention paid by workers and the extent to which quality control practices are employed
will all affect the ability to meet the design specifications. [This is the Process Stage].
iii) Quality of performance has to do with how well the product or service actually performs in
the marketplace. The quality of performance in the marketplace will determine the ultimate market
share of the product or service. Quality of performance studies can reveal two kinds of quality
problems. A quality problem will exist when the product design (the set of quality characteristics
and specifications set forth in the design) does not exceed the needs of the consumer. However,
even if the product design is well conceived, a quality problem will exist if the production process
produces quality characteristics that exhibit too much variation. [This is the
Operation/Performance Stage].

1.2.3 Objectives of Quality Control and Quality Control Steps

Quality control is the engineering and management activity by which we measure the
quality characteristics of the product, compare them with specifications or requirements,
and take appropriate remedial action whenever there is a difference between actual
performance and the standard.
The objective of the quality-control department is not to eliminate all variability of the
items produced - which would be an impossible task - but to constrain this variability to
economically feasible limits. The basic quality control plan should provide for the
control of the product throughout its development and production cycle.

Control is impossible unless objectives and targets are clearly defined, and it is also
impossible if objectives and policies change with every passing whim. For example, we
cannot control a design or process without setting quality standards, and we cannot
control research and technology without setting quality targets. There are six steps to
control the quality, which is shown in figure 1 below. This is the basic philosophy of control,
and control only takes place when the loops shown in figure 2 are followed. If this is done with
respect to clearly defined quality objectives, it is quality control. Also control can be exercised
effectively if statistical methods are used skilfully at each of the above stages. This is statistical
control. When exercised with respect to quality, it is called Statistical Quality Control (SQC).
Statistical Quality Control can be divided into acceptance sampling and statistical process
control. Acceptance sampling involves testing a random sample of existing goods and deciding
whether to accept an entire lot based on the quality of the random sample. Statistical process
control involves testing a random sample of output from a process to determine whether the
process is producing items within a pre-selected range. When the tested output exceeds that range,
it is a signal to adjust the production process to force the output back into the acceptable range.
This is accomplished by adjusting the process itself. Acceptance sampling is frequently used in a
purchasing or receiving situation, while process control is used in a production situation of any
type.

Quality control for both acceptance sampling and process control measures either attributes or
variables. Goods or services may be observed to be either good or bad, or functioning or
malfunctioning. For example, a lawnmower either runs or it doesn’t; it attains a certain level of
torque and horsepower or it doesn't. This type of measurement is known as sampling by
attributes. Alternatively, a lawnmower's torque and horsepower can be measured as an amount of
deviation from a set standard. This type of measurement is known as sampling by variables.

1.2.4 Quality Assurance

The purpose of quality control is to assure that processes are performing in an acceptable manner.
This is accomplished by monitoring process output using statistical techniques. If the results are
acceptable, no further action is required; unacceptable results call for corrective action.

The best companies emphasize designing quality into the process, thereby greatly reducing the
need for inspection or control efforts. Quality assurance that relies primarily on inspection after
production is referred to acceptance sampling. Quality assurance efforts that occur during
production are referred to as statistical process control.