Capital projects are among the largest investments organizations make; new plants, production lines, or major upgrades designed to increase capacity and improve performance.
Yet, in my career, I’ve seen too many projects go live unprepared for long-term reliability.
Critical spare parts are missing, maintenance teams lack strategies, equipment maintenance strategies haven’t been developed, and operators haven’t been fully trained.
The result? A start-up that operates at high risk and with limited ability to sustain performance, putting both the investment and production goals in jeopardy.
When reliability isn’t designed in from the start, projects inherit failure before they ever begin.
The root cause is almost always the same: reliability engineering wasn’t built into the project life cycle. In some cases, maintenance and reliability were never invited to the party. Reliability must be integrated into every phase of the project, using the framework provided by the Project Management Institute (PMI).
Phase 1: Initiating – Setting the Reliability Vision
The Initiating phase defines the scope and business case. Too often, reliability is left out, which can negatively shape the project for years to come.
Reliability’s Role in the Initiating Phase:
- Define reliability objectives such as uptime, maintainability, and predictive monitoring requirements.
- Incorporate total cost of ownership (TCO): Move beyond initial capital cost to include maintenance, downtime, energy, and lifecycle replacement.
Assign roles: Ensure reliability engineers are embedded in the project team from day one. They don’t have to be full-time equivalents, but be the right portion to enable the reliability work to be executed.
A project focused only on initial cost is like buying the cheapest car on the lot and being surprised by repair bills for years to come.
Phase 2: Planning – Designing for Reliability and Maintainability
The Planning phase is where the greatest long-term reliability decisions are made. This is the best opportunity to prevent future headaches and costs.
Key Reliability Activities:
- Maintainability reviews: Ensure safe, efficient access for maintenance tasks. Confirm space to remove major components and access lubrication and inspection points. Identify maintenance “blind spots” before construction begins. Get your best craftspeople and operators involved in this step for maximum benefit.
- Criticality and spare parts planning: Identify critical assets and likely failure modes early. Determine which critical spares, especially long lead time spares, must be stocked before start-up to avoid long delays in the event of infant mortality failures.
- Lifecycle cost modeling: Balance up-front cost against long-term operating costs using TCO analysis. A cheaper piece of equipment may create decades of additional maintenance burden.
- Reliability-based design standards: Specify preferred vendors, materials, and predictive technologies (e.g., vibration sensors, thermal monitoring) in the project scope – don’t bolt them on later.
Phase 3: Executing – Building Reliability Into Procurement, Storage, and Installation
During Execution, plans become physical assets. Reliability involvement here prevents premature failure and ensures equipment enters service ready to perform.
Key Reliability Activities:
Asset storage practices: Many early-life failures start with poor storage and handling. Controlled storage prevents corrosion, contamination, and mechanical damage before installation. Best practices include:
- Rotating shafts periodically to prevent false brinelling
- Controlling humidity and temperature for moisture-sensitive parts
- Using desiccants or sealed packaging for sensitive electronics
- Monitoring lubricants and seals for degradation
Proper storage is the first step to preventing “infant mortality” failures after start-up.
- Equipment verification: Inspect equipment upon delivery to confirm it meets specifications before storage or installation.
- Installation oversight: Verify proper alignment, torqueing, lubrication, and assembly processes. Many early failures trace back to poor installation practices.
- Documentation development: Build maintenance plans, predictive task sets, and training materials as equipment is installed, not months later.
Phase 4: Monitoring and Controlling – Preparing for Commissioning
As systems near completion, the focus shifts to start-up readiness. Commissioning isn’t just about proving the equipment works, it’s about proving the organization is ready to operate it.
Key Reliability Activities:
- Implement full equipment maintenance strategies into CMMS systems and ensure maintenance teams have the tools to execute.
- Commissioning support: Validate performance under realistic operating conditions. Test safety interlocks and emergency systems thoroughly.
- Training: Ensure operators and maintenance staff are trained on procedures, predictive systems, and emergency response.
- Predictive system setup: Capture baseline vibration, thermal, and other condition-monitoring data before production begins.
By validating systems and people before start-up, you avoid the chaotic scramble that often accompanies new capital assets.
Phase 5: Closing – Sustaining Reliability Beyond the Project
The Closing phase ensures the organization transitions smoothly from construction to sustainable operations. Too many projects stop at start-up, leaving maintenance teams to figure things out alone.
Key Reliability Activities:
- Post-project review: Capture lessons learned for future projects. Identify gaps in design, execution, or commissioning.
- Spare parts audit: Verify critical spares are on hand and procurement processes are in place for long-lead items.
- Formal handover: Deliver preventive and predictive maintenance strategies, SOPs, and a complete asset hierarchy loaded into the CMMS. Ideally, this work is complete before startup.
Without these steps, maintenance and operations inherit a ticking time bomb of incomplete data, missing parts, and reactive chaos.
The Business Case for Reliability in Capital Projects
When reliability is integrated into every PMI phase:
- Start-up is smooth and predictable
- Total cost of ownership is lower
- Assets are safe and maintainable
- Projects deliver their promised ROI
When reliability is ignored:
- Early-life failures skyrocket
- Downtime stretches into weeks
- Operations teams become trapped in reactive mode
- The business never realizes the value of its investment
Capital projects aren’t just about building assets – they’re about building the future of your operation.
When reliability is treated as an afterthought, you gamble millions in capital and years of production performance. When it’s built in from Initiating through Closing, you create a foundation for sustainable success and lasting value.
