How to create a maintenance scrapbook

By Joel Levitt, Author of Lean Maintenance 

The advent and acceptance of digital photography has significantly improved the ability to take historical photos and manage those photos after they are taken. The questions I would like to address are what photos should be taken, how to take them and why.

For most maintenance departments (who don’t have one), a digital camera is high on the priority list. Like computers, the quality has improved and the cost has gone down substantially.

There are several major categories of reasons for keeping an historical record with photographs

General condition: To see if the asset has deteriorated or in any other way changed over time (such as moved, sunk, twisted, etc.).

The second issue in construction is to determine accurately where things are located (such as where the sewer line was actually run), or to document the particulars of construction (was there rebar in place when they poured the footer). There will be a large number of shots, and all have to be described (who, what, when, where, etc.) for the scrapbook to have maximum value. The toughest issue with construction documentation is that the work has to be retrievable five, 10 or 20 years after construction. No one may still be around to tell the current people that this documentation project is available.

After a specific damage, accident, claim or potential claim. Photographs for this category will become evidence for a claim or to defend a claim. A higher level of care is necessary, including:

• Documentation of time and date of shots

• Location from which shots are taken

• Name, affiliations and contact information of photographer

To document large repairs, the photograph(s) should tell the whole story of the repair. Shots taken every hour, shift or day need to be accompanied by a narrative. It is important that the book made up for the repair is stored so that it can be found in a year or two (even five), when the repair is to be done again.

Guidelines for taking these photographs

Before you shoot, think "what would I like to know five years from now about how the asset looks today." If you don’t know some likely answers to this question, find someone who does.

For the first of a series, stand back to show the asset in its correct place. Document who is shooting, when the shot is taken and where you are standing. Write down any other useful information such as weather (if that is relevant).

Use good photographic skills to center the asset and move close in (by zoom or by walking) so that the important parts of the asset fill the frame. The biggest complaint is that the meat of the picture is too small to see anything useful.

Be sure the lighting is adequate to show the level of detail necessary for the asset. Add flash or artificial lights as needed.

If there is a front and back, top and bottom, shoot from a variety of angles.

Always complete the job by building a document and catalog, printing a scrapbook and publicizing its existence. Large organizations are starting to have thousands of photographs that are uncataloged, undocumented and impossible to find and use.

Note to readers: Please join Joel Levitt for a one day Lean Maintenance workshop at IMC-2008 23rd International Maintenance Conference, December 8-11, 2008 at the Hyatt Coconut Point in Bonita Springs Florida

Comments

[Mohammad]

I used to take the failed bearing photos and put my comments along with it, since last 5 years. Now this photo library of failed bearings help me to teach /train the new staff about the types of failures.

I agree with Phillip to take a lot of photos and then sort out for the best ones to keep as record.

[Graham Carncross]

On an offshore platform I was working on a few years ago we had a catastrophic failure of a lube oil pump supplying oil to the power turbine section and process compressor of an export gas compressor set.

There were about 200 photos taken of the dismantling, inspection and rebuilding process. These were put on the site server and also used in the breakdown report. Being on the server allowed the engineers in the Head Office to accurately visualise the condition of parts making their task of coordinating with the manufacturer much easier. As this was an offshore instillation where we worked a 14day on/14 day off schedule it was not difficult to keep up with the work progress that had occurred while you were not on the platform.

The process of dismantling, inspection, rebuilding and flushing the lube oil system of the unit ended up taking about 10 weeks so no one was actually able to see all the activities that took place.

They were also used to build a “How to” presentation for the anticipated scheduled bearing inspection that would take place much later in the turbine life.

Matt, if your organisation has a good IT network the photos can be put on the server and the required people can map to the server as required

[Phillip Slater]

I take lots of photos in my work -quantity helps ensure that I get at least a few good shots! This is very useful for before/after situations and to communicate the good, the bad and the ugly. I also photograph whiteboard drawings as it easier than saving printouts.
Matt, there are sites such as Flickr.com that allow you to share photos but I am not sure how public the photos will be,

[Ken]

As an inside sales rep for a major thermal imager manufacturer, I would like to add that a thermal image maintenance scrapbook can document asset health trends and contribute to a productive RCM approach without a lot of overhead.

[Matt Walther]

Digital pictures are great, but for our organization (T&D)a hard copy scrapbook is of little value since the organization is so spread out. Our problem is finding the right type of document library to catalogue our pictures. Our generation people have a similar issue. Any suggestions?