Reliability-centred maintenance (RCM) is a systematic methodology for determining what must be preserved and how to preserve it in order to ensure that any physical asset continues doing what its stakeholders require. It operates by analyzing failure modes, their consequences, and the suitability of maintenance tasks through a structured decision process. The methodology specifies failure detection and restoration procedures, proactive replacement intervals, and design modifications when tasks are inapplicable. [formal: rcm | substrate: behavior | horizon: hours | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.02]
Accepted ontology entry
reliability-centred-maintenance
Reliability-centred maintenance (RCM) is a systematic methodology for determining what must be preserved and how to preserve it in order to ensure that any physical asset continues doing what its stakeholders require. It operates by analyz…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A human-made maintenance philosophy and systematic approach that prioritizes equipment reliability through predictive analysis, preventive measures, and continuous improvement — built by engineering organizations to reduce failures and extend operational life.
Names and aliases
- reliability-centred-maintenanceen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cms8muwyg01f073fkrobwygxwDEPENDS_ON →
RCM DEPENDS_ON functional-analysis: reliability-centred-maintenance requires decomposing systems into their required functions to identify what must be preserved for reliability. functional-analysis is older (epoch 0.01 vs 0.02) and RCM needs it to operate — remove function decomposition and RCM has no method to identify reliability-critical functions. Present-tense operational dependency.
- cms81mqtv00jeh6s8s7t3j6hyDEPENDS_ON →
RCM's entire methodology is built on systematic failure-mode and consequence analysis — a form of risk assessment. Removal test: remove risk-assessment and RCM has no analytical mechanism; it stops operating. Direction: RCM depends on risk-assessment.
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 31, 2026, 7:24 AM UTC
- Content hash
- b353fc26e8adb1cdb752aab2f8f05ef779a0779d4affea6389fafa026edbc21b