What are the causes of equipment failures?

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1. What is a equipment failure? 2024 has arrived, and this meeting is held specifically to ensure the smooth progress of work. The main topics of this meeting include year-end summaries, year-end reports, year-end rewards, and year-end plans. Four aspects can be used to summarize this meeting. II. Causes of equipment failures: Based on the equipment’s life cycle, we can identify the causes of equipment failures by considering the following aspects. I. Before the equipment arrives at the factory II. Equipment installation III. During the operation of the equipment. The causes of equipment failures are analyzed comprehensively by considering three aspects: the environment, the personnel, and the equipment itself ； I. The process prior to the equipment’s arrival at the site includes its design, manufacturing, transportation, and storage. 1. Equipment design: Equipment design encompasses not only the design of the equipment itself, but also aspects such as the design of industrial components, buildings (such as indoor lighting and ventilation), mechanical equipment, instruments, manufacturing processes, operating procedures, and maintenance and inspection, as well as the selection of materials to be used ； 1) Improper design a) The design of the equipment’s structure does not meet safety requirements. b) Defects in the braking device; insufficient safety distance. c) Sharp burrs and edges on the workpiece, as well as sharp chamfers on the equipment, etc. d) Poor lighting in the production area, including insufficient illumination or excessive light intensity as well as glare, can lead to operational errors by workers and cause equipment failures. e) Poor ventilation, no ventilation, or an inefficient ventilation system in the equipment room. f) The equipment rooms are narrow, with insufficient spacing between the equipment. g) Improper design or configuration of the operational procedures, with too much cross-tasking. 2) Design errors: Accident prevention should start with the design phase, as most unsafe conditions are caused by improper design. Due to limited technical knowledge and lack of experience, necessary safety measures may not have been taken, resulting in errors caused by inadequate design considerations or carelessness. Design errors include: a) inaccurate strength calculations, b) inappropriate material selection, c) unsafe appearance of the equipment. d) Unreasonable structure, e) Improper control mechanism, f) Safety devices not designed as required, etc. g) Even if the controller selected by the designer is the correct one, if it is placed in an inappropriate position on the control panel, it may cause confusion among the operator, leading to operational errors, or it may increase the operator’s reaction time and result in mistakes due to haste. h) Designers should also pay attention to the design of the working environment; inappropriate operating positions and working postures can cause fatigue or stress among operators, increasing the likelihood of errors. 2. Equipment manufacturing 1) Manufacturing errors Manufacturing errors refer to technical mistakes that occur during the production process of the equipment, or errors that arise during its assembly. Manufacturing errors include: a) improper processing methods (such as using riveting instead of welding), b) insufficient processing precision, c) improper assembly, d) wrong or missing parts, e) parts that are not secured or are not secured properly. f) Scratches, dents, marks caused by tools on the parts, as well as rough machining surfaces, can lead to stress concentration and cause failures in the equipment during operation. 2) Assembly errors: Assembly errors refer to mistakes that occur during the process of assembling device components, such as missing parts, failure to assemble them as required, or neglecting to include necessary tools inside the device. Assembly errors include: a) The rotating parts are not aligned during assembly, and the alignment of the shafts with bearings and gears is either too tight or too loose ； b) Miscellaneous items such as tools, parts, or cotton yarn left inside the equipment ； c) The equipment was not assembled as required ； 3. Transportation accidents: Transportation accidents refer to situations in which, after the equipment has been manufactured and tested to meet quality standards, errors occur during its transport from the manufacturer to the party that will use it, resulting in defects in the equipment. Transportation accidents include: a) An unsafe layout of traffic routes, which leads to prolonged transportation times and equipment failures. b) Bumpy surfaces on transportation roads, along with oil or other liquids, ice, and snow, as well as slippery objects such as cylindrical tubes, debris, and balls, can cause equipment failures. 4. Equipment storage: Equipment storage includes two aspects – storage at the manufacturer’s facility after the equipment is produced, and storage once it arrives. Problems with equipment storage include: a) After the equipment is manufactured, excessive height or weight of the storage conditions can lead to malfunctions in the equipment ； II. Equipment installation encompasses the process from the completion of equipment arrival verification to the point at which the equipment is put into production use. (Including equipment installation and equipment commissioning) 1. Equipment installation: Equipment installation refers to the process of setting up the equipment after it has been inspected upon arrival; issues can arise during this process, leading to equipment failures. a) During installation, the rotating parts are not aligned coaxially, and the alignment of the shafts with bearings and gears is either too tight or too loose. b) The equipment is not level. c) The foot screws are not tightened. d) Miscellaneous items such as tools, parts, or cotton yarn left inside the equipment can all cause malfunctions in it. 2. Equipment commissioning: Equipment commissioning refers to a series of activities aimed at testing the equipment after it has been installed, including powering it on, running it in standalone mode, and testing its system performance. During this process, various equipment failures can easily occur due to improper human operation. Includes: a) Starting, shutting down, or moving machinery without permission ； b) Failing to give a signal when starting or stopping the machine ； c) Accidental rotation caused by the switch not being locked in place ； d) Forgetting to turn off the device ； e) Ignoring warning signs and warning signals ； f) Operational errors (such as pressing the wrong button, valve, or wrench, or using the handle in the opposite direction) ； g) Excessively fast feeding or supply speed ； h) Mechanical over-speed operation, etc. III. The equipment usage process encompasses the entire cycle from the completion of equipment installation and debugging to its disposal. During this process, the probability of equipment failure is highest. The main reasons lie in the operation of the equipment, its maintenance, as well as the management and training of employees. 1. Equipment operation: Equipment operation mainly refers to the actions performed by operators on the equipment during its use. During operation, equipment failures can easily occur due to operational errors. Includes: a) Starting, shutting down, or moving machinery without permission ； b) Failing to give a signal when starting or stopping the machine ； c) Accidental rotation caused by the switch not being locked in place ； d) Forgetting to turn off the device ； e) Ignoring warning signs and warning signals ； f) Operational errors (such as pressing the wrong button, valve, or wrench, or using the handle in the opposite direction) ； g) Excessively fast feeding or supply speed ； h) Mechanical over-speed operation. i) Refueling, repairing, inspecting, adjusting, welding, or cleaning while the machine is in operation. 2. Equipment maintenance: Equipment maintenance refers to the routine inspection and lubrication of equipment during its use. a) Failing to apply lubricant to moving parts on a regular basis, and b) failing to replace components when signs of degradation are detected, are both maintenance errors. c) When the equipment is overhauled and reassembled, similar errors to those that occur during its initial assembly may arise. d) Failure of safety devices that is not repaired in a timely manner, e) Operation of equipment beyond its capacity without intervention, f) Operation of equipment while it is malfunctioning, etc. 3. Employee management and training: Employee management and training refers to the requirement that companies should provide regular vocational skill training for their employees, as well as assess the results of such training. 1) Deficiencies in employee training: a) Insufficient education and training, starting work without proper training; b) Low competence in operating industrial equipment, lack of knowledge regarding safety and self-protection; c) Lack of understanding of safe operating procedures and poor skill levels; d) Inattention at work and an irresponsible work attitude; e) Emotional fluctuations influenced by external factors and failure to follow operating procedures – all of these are indirect causes of accidents. 2) Management deficiencies: Management deficiencies refer to certain shortcomings in a company’s management of people and resources, resulting in the failure to fulfill the responsibilities of a manager. a) The labor system is unreasonable. b) Rules and regulations are not strictly enforced; they are not followed despite their existence. c) Errors in the lack of inspection or guidance for on-site work. d) No safety operating procedures or inadequate safety procedures.