Want these methods applied to your site?
Everything below is the theory we run in practice, on your CMMS data. Start with the Bad Actor Diagnostic – from $7,000, delivered in 3–4 weeks.
Still essential today
The references that hold up in daily use. Sensors, IIoT and AI made most of them more relevant, not less.
RCM II – Reliability-centred Maintenance
The 7 RCM questions, functions, failure modes, consequences and the six failure patterns. The vocabulary of modern maintenance strategy comes from this book.
The P-F Curve & D-I-P-F
How failures develop, why detection windows matter, and why reliability starts at design and installation – not at the first vibration alarm.
The New Weibull Handbook
Still the standard for life data analysis. Beta and eta, B-lives, censored data and the discipline to turn failure history into maintenance intervals.
Bearing Damage & Failure Analysis
Why did the bearing fail, how do you recognize the failure mode, and what do you fix? The ISO 15243 failure modes explained from the field side.
NASA RCM Guide
Probably the best free document on RCM, FMEA, criticality, PM optimization and condition monitoring. Still used to bootstrap RCM programs today.
ISO 55000 – Asset Management
The most influential standard for asset managers today. The common language that connects reliability work to business value in large organizations.
Machinery Reliability Works
Near-timeless guidance on pumps, compressors, turbines, lubrication and failure avoidance. The physics of rotating equipment has not changed.
Maintenance Management & KPIs
Work management, planning & scheduling, KPIs and maintenance maturity. Still the backbone of CMRP and CRL preparation programs.
Uptime Elements Framework
A structured map of modern reliability: criticality analysis, reliability strategy development, defect elimination and asset management as one system.
SMRP Body of Knowledge
The best current synthesis of what a modern reliability engineer must master: business, manufacturing process, equipment reliability, work management, leadership.
GFMAM Asset Management Landscape
Often more useful in practice than ISO 55000 itself. Used by major miners, oil majors and utilities to connect asset management, reliability, risk and maintenance.
ReliabilityWeb Article Library
Hundreds of high-quality articles on bad actors, defect elimination, precision maintenance and reliability culture. A working engineer's reference shelf.
Foundational – read once, then build on it
Historically essential documents. They created the discipline, but they predate IIoT, modern analytics and AI – treat them as foundations, not operating manuals.
Reliability-Centered Maintenance (1978)
The founding document of RCM. Proved that most failures are not age-related and broke the overhaul-everything mindset. Read it for the reasoning, not as a 2026 playbook.
Concepts most sites underuse
Less famous than the classics, but this is where mature sites get most of their gains – often more than from any new technology.
Defect Elimination
Mature sites don't add more maintenance – they detect defects, eliminate the causes, and stop them coming back. The biggest mindset shift in modern reliability.
Precision Maintenance
One of the most underrated levers in the industry. More reliability gains come from precision installation than from AI – and they compound for years.
Bad Actor Management
A handful of assets eat most of your budget and downtime. Finding, ranking and systematically eliminating them is now a core reliability discipline.
Reliability Centered Design
Rarely taught, hugely valuable: the best sites eliminate defects at the design stage instead of managing them for 20 years afterwards.
Each summary on this page is original explanatory writing by Rob Reliability – we explain the key concepts in our own words and diagrams, and always link back to the original work. If you find these ideas useful, buy the books and support the authors: the summaries are a map, the originals are the territory.
Rob Reliability is independent and is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by any of the authors, publishers or organizations listed here. Book titles, trade names and trademarks remain the property of their respective owners and are used solely to identify the works being discussed. Cover images on the cards are AI-generated illustrative renderings, not the actual publications. No text or images from the original works are reproduced. Rights holders with any concern can reach us at hello@robreliability.com.