What is Failure Code?

A Failure Code is an alphanumeric sequence used in asset management and maintenance to record and identify the reason for equipment or system failures. It provides a standardized way to document why a failure occurred, enabling maintenance teams to diagnose and resolve issues quickly.

Typically, failure codes are integrated into a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) or Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) software. These systems store the codes as part of an asset's history, helping maintenance personnel understand failure trends, streamline troubleshooting, and apply preventive measures.

By using failure codes, organizations can:

  • Standardize failure reporting across teams.
  • Analyze failure trends for preventive actions.
  • Improve operational efficiency by reducing downtime caused by repetitive issues.

Failure codes are essential for effective maintenance management. They help teams track and resolve equipment failures consistently and efficiently.

Types of Failure Codes

1. Numerical Codes

These are simple codes composed solely of numbers, typically used to identify common failure modes concisely. For example, "001" might represent an electrical failure, while "002" could indicate a mechanical breakdown. This type of coding is straightforward and is often used when the failure categories are well-defined and limited.

2. Alphanumeric Codes

Alphanumeric codes combine letters and numbers to provide more detailed information. For instance, a code like ""MECH-01"" might represent a mechanical failure due to wear, while ""ELEC-02"" could indicate an electrical failure caused by a short circuit. This type of coding is particularly useful for industries with complex machinery, as it allows for more specific categorization of failure modes.

3. Component-Based Codes

These failure codes focus on identifying the specific component within a system that caused the failure. For example, codes like "BRG-01" might represent a failure in a machine's bearing. This approach helps technicians pinpoint the exact source of the failure, improving maintenance efficiency.

4. ISO 14224 Failure Codes

In industries such as oil, gas, and petrochemicals, failure codes are often standardized using the ISO 14224 framework. This system categorizes failures into broad groups like mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, and process failures, helping to create a uniform and comprehensive structure for reporting and analyzing failures across the industry.

5. Condition-Based Codes

These codes are applied in predictive maintenance systems and linked to real-time data from sensors. For example, a "VIB-01" code might indicate excessive vibration in a machine, triggering an alert for potential failure. These codes are vital in predictive maintenance, allowing companies to address issues before they result in significant downtime.

6. Custom Failure Codes

Organizations often develop custom failure codes tailored to their specific operations. These codes are based on the organization's unique assets, equipment, and failure patterns. For instance, a manufacturing company might create a code like "LUB-02" to indicate failures due to a lack of lubrication, allowing the organization to track and prevent recurring issues.

Failure Code Best Practices

1. Standardize Failure Codes

Standardization is key to ensuring consistency and clarity across the organization. Using predefined codes instead of open-text descriptions avoids confusion and guarantees that failure data is categorized correctly. To avoid ambiguity, codes should be easy to understand, brief, and directly linked to the asset or failure type.

2. Limit the Number of Codes

While comprehensiveness is essential, having too many codes can overwhelm technicians and reduce the system's effectiveness. Focus on the most critical and common failure modes to limit the failure codes to 30 or fewer. Avoid the use of generic codes like "miscellaneous" or "other."

3. Create Asset-Based or Inspection-Based Codes

Failure codes can be designed based on specific assets or inspections

  • Asset-based Codes: Each asset is assigned a set of failure codes relevant to its type, such as "FTC" for "failure to close" in valves. This helps ensure that the codes are relevant to the asset being worked on.
  • Inspection-based Codes: These codes are based on sensory observations, like noise, vibration, or visible damage, and can be applied more broadly across different asset types.
4. Make Code Entry Mandatory

Failure codes are required when closing work orders or documenting failures in the CMMS. This ensures that every failure is properly categorized, providing valuable data for trend analysis and decision-making.

5. Regularly Review and Update Codes

Your failure codes should be reviewed annually as operations evolve. Remove outdated codes, add new ones to address emerging failure modes, and refine the system based on user feedback.

6. Train Employees

Training is essential for the correct application of failure codes. Ensure that all relevant personnel, especially technicians, understand how to apply the codes and why they are important for data accuracy and maintenance optimization.

7. Use Failure Code Data for Predictive Maintenance

Collecting and analyzing failure code data can provide insights into common failure patterns. This data can be leveraged to enhance predictive maintenance strategies, improve reliability, and reduce downtime.

Implementing these best practices will ensure that failure codes are effectively used, leading to better maintenance outcomes, improved asset performance, and more informed decision-making.

What are the Benefits of Using Failure Codes?

  • Improved Accuracy in Identifying Failures: Failure codes help maintenance teams quickly and accurately identify the root cause of a breakdown. Instead of merely addressing the immediate issue, using a failure code requires technicians to determine why the failure occurred. This enables a more precise diagnosis of problems, often through tools like root cause analysis. Categorizing failures into predefined types, such as breakage, corrosion, or overheating, ensures that issues are addressed with the correct solutions.
  • Enhanced Historical Data for Analysis: Over time, consistent use of failure codes in a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) or Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) software creates a valuable backlog of historical data. This data can be analyzed to gain insights into common failure patterns, failure rates, and other critical metrics that drive reliability-centered maintenance strategies. Maintenance teams can assess trends, optimize preventive maintenance efforts, and reduce future breakdowns based on past data.
  • Better Tracking of Downtime Causes: Failure codes add an additional dimension to downtime tracking. Maintenance managers can associate downtime with specific failure codes, allowing for detailed analysis of why assets fail, where failures occur, and when. For instance, if a particular failure code shows that multiple assets are failing due to a common issue like improper lubrication, this allows for targeted training and preventive measures to mitigate the problem.
  • Root Cause Analysis Efficiency: Using failure codes in conjunction with methods like the 5 Whys simplifies the root cause analysis process. Failure codes identify the surface-level issue (e.g., a broken motor), while the 5 Whys help uncover the underlying reason (e.g., lack of technician training). By understanding the true cause of equipment failures, organizations can prevent future issues and implement long-term solutions.
  • Proactive Maintenance and Knowledge Sharing: Failure codes create a historical record of asset performance and common failure modes, which helps organizations shift from reactive to proactive maintenance. As failure codes are used more frequently, they build a "knowledge base" for each asset. This history can be used to train new technicians, speed up future troubleshooting, and allow teams to anticipate problems based on past trends. Failure codes essentially become a resource for improving maintenance productivity and response times.
  • Standardization and Consistency in Reporting: Organizations reduce variability in how different technicians report issues by establishing a standardized system for recording failures. This improves the reliability of the data collected, making it easier to analyze performance trends, compare across assets, and generate actionable insights. Consistent use of failure codes enables organizations to develop better maintenance and asset management strategies.

In summary, failure codes provide tangible benefits in tracking, diagnosing, and preventing equipment failures, making them an essential tool for modern maintenance management.

How to Implement Failure Codes in Maintenance Systems

Implementing failure codes in a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) requires a systematic approach to ensure consistency, accuracy, and efficiency in maintenance operations. Below are the key steps for successfully implementing failure codes in maintenance systems

1. Define the Scope

Identify the critical assets requiring detailed failure tracking. Focus on equipment with a history of failures or those crucial to operational uptime. Establishing the scope helps in limiting the number of codes while ensuring relevant equipment is adequately monitored.

2. Create a Failure Code Structure

Develop a standardized list of failure codes categorized by defects, failures, and interventions. Defects refer to issues requiring maintenance (e.g., leaks or vibrations), failures indicate the root cause (e.g., worn seals), and interventions specify corrective actions taken (e.g., lubrication or repairs). This structured approach helps ensure a comprehensive failure management system.

3. Develop a Code Library

Build a library of codes tailored to your asset base. Start with common failure modes for standard equipment, then expand to include custom codes for unique assets or operations. Make sure the codes are concise, clear, and easily understood by all maintenance personnel.

4. Integrate Codes into the CMMS

Ensure that failure codes are integrated seamlessly into your CMMS. This might include customizing the templates, automating failure code data entry into work orders, and enabling real-time tracking of failures. The system should be intuitive enough for technicians to select the correct code without extensive searching.

5. Train Employees

Training is essential for correctly using failure codes. Ensure that all relevant personnel understand how to apply failure codes and know the system's benefits, such as improved data accuracy and better predictive maintenance. Providing access to the failure code library on mobile devices or CMMS software can further streamline the process.

6. Analyze and Optimize

Regularly analyze the collected failure data to identify trends and patterns. This allows for optimizing preventive maintenance strategies, fine-tuning schedules, and resource allocation based on failure trends. Over time, reviewing and updating the failure codes ensures they remain relevant and continue to serve maintenance needs.

7. Continuous Improvement

Periodically update the failure codes based on evolving operational requirements, emerging equipment failure modes, or user feedback. Make this review an annual practice to ensure the system stays relevant and effective.

By following these steps, organizations can ensure that failure codes are effectively integrated into their maintenance systems, enhancing operational efficiency and asset reliability while minimizing downtime and maintenance costs.

Conclusion

Failure codes are essential for efficient maintenance management. They help organizations streamline failure reporting, improve diagnostics, and optimize preventive maintenance. When integrated into a CMMS, they provide valuable insights that reduce downtime, improve asset reliability, and support long-term operational success. Regular updates, employee training, and ongoing analysis ensure failure codes remain relevant and effective in driving maintenance improvements.