Which of the following is listed as a disadvantage of Reliability Centered Maintenance?

• A. Startup costs
• B. Increased reliability
• C. Efficiency
• D. Focus on critical components

Answer: (A)

Reliability Centered Maintenance aims to tailor maintenance tasks to the function and failure modes of equipment, so the plan targets what truly matters and avoids unnecessary work. The disadvantage listed is startup costs, because getting an effective RCM program in place requires a substantial upfront investment: building a complete asset inventory, gathering and analyzing failure data, conducting risk and failure mode effects analyses, creating maintenance task libraries, training staff, and possibly purchasing software. That initial effort can mean downtime and significant resource use before any reliability or efficiency benefits show up.

In contrast, increased reliability, efficiency, and focusing on critical components are benefits/characteristics of RCM. They reflect the outcomes once the program is implemented, not the initial hurdle you must overcome to start it.