How long has RCM been around and who created it?

Watch the video above or read the message below.

Reliability Centered Maintenance principles are almost 50 years old!  RCM principles were first conceived in the United States’ commercial airline industry, specifically by the Boeing 747 Maintenance Steering Group, in response to an ever-increasing crash rate.  Those principles are detailed in Handbook, Maintenance Evaluation and Program Development, MSG-1. MSG-1 was published on July 10, 1968.

Improvements were made which consequently resulted in MSG-2, Airline/Manufacturer Maintenance Program Planning Document which was published on March 25, 1970.

The United States Department of Defense was interested in knowing how the commercial airline industry created their maintenance programs for transport aircraft and commissioned United Airlines to write a report.

The book Reliability-Centered Maintenance, authored by Stanley Nowlan and Howard Heap of United Airlines, was published on December 29, 1978.  It remains one of the most important documents ever written on equipment maintenance and reliability.

RCM has stood the test of time and human meddling and remains one of the most majestic asset management processes on the planet (in my opinion)!