Speaker
Description
The availability of accelerators is a critical success factor for scientific research institutions.
Reliable operational processes and their continuous optimization are key drivers. Both aspects are an integral part of a comprehensive quality management (QM).
This presentation demonstrates that systematic process management, along with the implementation of operational lessons learned, achieve the opposite: it can stabilize and enhance the availability of facilities.
A show-case, illustrates how traditional firefighting - the ad-hoc resolution of failures without in-depth root cause analysis - may leads to recurring problems. This approach is inefficient and undermines the availability of work processes and technical systems. In contrast, the analysis of the failure by the quality department, along with the institutionalization of findings through the PDCA cycle and process modeling, demonstrates how robust solutions can be developed.
This highlights that the underlying - often organizational - root causes of failures can only be uncovered and resolved through a systematic, methodical investigation.
QM should be understood not as an obstacle but as an enabler for research: By optimizing work processes and establishing quality methods, not only the availability of accelerators can be increased, but the freedom of research could also be strengthened - as reliable processes allow more time for actual research work rather than waiting for repeated repairs.
The results underscore that lessons learned and a continuous improvement process of internal operational workflows are key components for the reliability of scientific infrastructures.