At Mantua Group, we believe that a well-executed Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) program is not just about preventing failure — it’s about enabling high-value, risk-informed decision-making for physical assets across their entire lifecycle.
What Is RCM and Why It Matters
Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) is a structured approach used to ensure that physical assets continue to perform their intended functions in their operational context. It is primarily used in industries where asset reliability is critical, such as aerospace, manufacturing, transportation, and energy. It can be performed under a variety of variations including RCM II and variations that support Mil-2173 AS optimization, and we produce the needed work instructions and data load files for your CMMS.
RCM is a rigorous methodology used to identify and analyze the critical functions of an asset and their potential failure modes. It’s not merely a type of maintenance like preventive (PM) or condition-based (CBM) — it’s a strategic process focused on defining what maintenance is necessary and why, to achieve the inherent reliability and availability of an asset.
The purpose of RCM (Reliability-Centered Maintenance) is to ensure that assets continue to do what their users require in their present operating context, by developing a cost-effective, risk-based maintenance strategy.
Core Objectives of RCM:
Preserve System Functionality
Focuses on keeping equipment and systems performing their intended functions.
Ensure Safety and Compliance
Identifies failures that could compromise safety, environmental standards, or legal compliance, and prevents them where possible.
Optimize Maintenance
Avoids over- or under-maintaining assets by selecting the most appropriate maintenance tasks (e.g., predictive, preventive, or run-to-failure).
Increase Reliability and Availability
Reduces unplanned downtime and extends asset life by proactively managing failure modes.
Improve Cost-Efficiency
Targets maintenance efforts where they matter most, minimizing unnecessary labor, parts, and downtime.
RCM provides the bridge between design intent, operational reality, and optimized maintenance — transforming maintenance from a cost center to a value driver.” – Phil Sage, CEO of Mantua Group
RCM at a Glance: Five Key Stages
- Preparation and Scope Definition
- Analysis Stage – answering the seven RCM questions
- Maintenance Task Packaging, Optimization & CMMS Load Sheet
- Act and Sustain
- Continuous Improvement (Living Program)
At Mantua, we guide clients through each stage with discipline and clarity, using a blend of expert facilitation, cross-functional collaboration, and modern tools.
How to Perform an RCM Analysis with Mantua Group
Stage 1: Preparation & Scope Definition
Step 1: Assemble the Right Team
RCM success begins with a capable, cross-functional team with specific subject matter experts (SMEs) in your equipment and environment. Mantua recommends teams of 6–8 members from operations, maintenance, systems/manufacturing engineering, quality, as well as OEM representatives and others within various disciplines. Our RCM facilitators ensure productive sessions, while digital scribes operate our preferred RCM software platforms to document live analysis and ensure consistency with naming conventions and logic trees.
Step 2: Define Scope and Boundaries
We help you select the right asset for pilot studies, define the analysis level (system, sub-system, component), and draw clear functional boundaries using Functional Block Diagrams (FBDs). Our approach is to start small and build momentum, avoiding the risk of incomplete projects.
Step 3: Establish Clear Terms of Reference (TOR)
A Mantua-designed TOR outlines project purpose, roles, schedule, scope boundaries, and assumptions. This aligns all stakeholders and sets clear expectations from the outset.
Step 4: Gather Documentation
Mantua works with your teams to collect OEM manuals/drawings, P&IDs, service histories, failure logs, and existing Preventive Maintenance (PM) strategies — ensuring that the analysis is grounded in real-world data.
Stage 2: Structured Analysis & Answering the 7 RCM Questions
The Seven RCM Questions
Following IEC 60300-3-11, we guide teams through the classic seven RCM questions, with an emphasis on:
- Defining clear, measurable functions (e.g., “To deliver 800 LPM at 40 PSI”)
- Identifying functional failures and plausible failure modes
- Analyzing failure effects and consequences using FMEA/FMECA hybrid models
- Selecting the most appropriate proactive tasks (Failure Finding, CBM, PM, or RTF)
At the heart of Mantua Group’s RCM methodology are seven essential questions. These form the backbone of our structured asset analysis — designed to translate system knowledge into effective, risk-informed maintenance strategies.
Step 5: Identify Function
What is the asset expected to do — and to what standard — in its current operational environment? (functions)
We start by clearly defining the asset’s intended functions and measurable performance standards, framed in operational language (e.g., “deliver 600 LPM at 45 PSI”).
Step 6: Identify Functional Failures
How can the asset fail to meet its intended functions? (functional failures)
Here we identify functional failures — the specific ways performance can degrade or be lost — across each defined function.
Step 7: Identify Failure Modes
What are the credible causes of each functional failure? (failure modes)
We determine the failure modes, focusing on plausible, consequence-driven scenarios rather than exhaustive lists. This helps maintain analysis discipline and decision relevance.
Step 8: Identify Failure Effects
What are the observable effects when each failure occurs? (failure effects)
This step considers what the team will see, hear, or detect — both at the local and system level — when a failure mode manifests. This drives the detection portion of the strategy.
Step 9: Identify Failure Consequences
We explore the consequences of each failure mode: operational disruption, safety or environmental risks, hidden failure risks, or non-critical effects. Our consequence matrix guides clear prioritization.
Step 10: Identify Proactive Tasks and Intervals
What proactive actions can be taken to prevent or predict the failure? (proactive tasks & intervals)
Maintenance tasks are selected based on technical feasibility, cost-effectiveness, and risk mitigation. These include condition-based, scheduled restoration, or failure-finding tasks.
Stage 3: Maintenance Task Packaging, Optimization & CMMS Load Sheet
Step 11: Identify Default Actions
What action should be taken if no suitable preventive task is feasible? (default actions)
When proactive tasks are impractical, we evaluate default strategies such as redesign, redundancy, or run-to-failure — always considering spare part logistics and operational impact.
Mantua Insight: Our team emphasizes consequence-based prioritization using the RCM II logic diagram and our custom decision trees. Hidden failure modes, safety/environmental risks, and operational losses are all addressed explicitly, creating a defensible and transparent maintenance strategy.
Task Packaging and CMMS Integration Mantua Group helps you package selected tasks into logical, resource-efficient work orders for deployment through your CMMS. Tasks are grouped by frequency, skill type, and runtime feasibility — balancing shutdown and online inspections.
Optimizations: Lowest cost, highest availability and safety, and determine the optimal frequency to schedule each package.
Deployment: CMMS load sheets alteration plans, then develop precise and detailed work instruction documents and load handheld devices.
Stage 4: Act and Sustain
We develop the most appropriate maintenance tasks into an optimized maintenance plan, and help determine time intervals for tasks to be carried out for the greatest efficiency and effectiveness.
Stage 5: Continuous Improvement (Living Program)
We track post-RCM performance data, identify recurring or escaped failures, and adjust strategies accordingly. Our approach reflects the intent of Nowlan and Heap’s original vision — embedded, evolving reliability strategy.
Why Mantua Group?
- Independent Expertise: We apply structured, vendor-agnostic RCM methodology.
- Industry-Proven Tools: Digital scribing, logic trees, consequence ranking models.
- Cross-Sector Know-How: Clients in energy, mining, defense, and heavy industry.
- Execution Focus: We ensure RCM outputs are deployable in your CMMS with clear work instructions, frequency logic, and resource planning.
RCM with Real Business Impact
Mantua’s RCM programs reduce unplanned downtime, improve asset availability, and eliminate non-value-added maintenance — all while enhancing compliance and safety performance.
One-Page Visual Workflow
Download our RCM Project Infographic or connect with our team to learn how to apply Mantua’s pragmatic approach to your next critical asset.
While you are here at www.mantua.group, explore more about how we support reliability transformations that deliver sustainable results.