Stages in the development of the RCM maintenance program
Nowlan and Heap's reliability-based maintenance method

The motivations that led Nowlan and Heap to develop the RCM maintenance procedure stem from their assessments of the four objectives that a maintenance program must achieve:

• 1. ensure inherent levels of equipment safety and reliability;

• 2. restore safety and reliability to their inherent levels following the occurrence of a degradation ;

• 3. obtain the information needed to improve the design of assemblies whose inherent reliability has been shown to be inadequate;

• 4. achieve these objectives at minimum overall cost, including maintenance and residual failure costs.

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