By guest blogger Lindsay Audin

One important point facility managers should keep in mind is how a minor system failure, left untended due to a failure to complete a work order, could lead to breakdown of a much larger and more expensive piece of equipment, sometimes causing a serious operational problem. This domino effect is not new: Shakespeare fictionalized one such event in Richard III when King Richard cries out “A horse! My kingdom for a horse!” His steed had fallen, ostensibly due to the loss of a horseshoe which, in turn, was due to poor equine footware maintenance. With due respect to poet George Herbert (who chronicled Richard’s problem via verse), the updated story goes something like this…

For want of a sensor, the calibration was lost.

For want of a calibration, the temperature setting was lost. 


For want of a temperature setting, the coil was lost. 


For want of a coil, the A/C was lost. 


For want of the A/C, the presidential visit was lost.


And all for want of a sensor.

The upshot of the story is that identifying and attending to such “horseshoe nails” in a system may hold the capability to avoid much greater headaches later on. Some CMMS programs can be set to prioritize maintenance based on the potential failure impact of devices that could be critical to maintaining major systems.

-- Lindsay Audin is president of EnergyWiz, an energy consulting firm based in Croton, N.Y. He is a contributing editor for Building Operating Management. For the full article on computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) related to this blog, go to http://www.facilitiesnet.com/maintenanceoperations/article/CMMS-Capabilities--11969