Analysis of the Side Guide & Actuator Brackets On the Australia Post FMOCR

The Australia Post Reliability Improvement Section is focused on maintaining and improving the reliability of the company's Mail Processing Equipment. The investigation outlined in the following report was conducted to determine whether certain components of the Flat Mail Optical Character Reader (FMOCR), namely the Side Guides and Actuator and Proxy Brackets, are contributing to the overall downtime of the machine.An analysis of FMOCR machine data was used to determine the contribution of each component to downtime and the cost of each component with respect to labour anddowntime. A Failure Modes and Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) was conducted to determine the function, likely failure modes and consequences of eachfailure mode for both the Side Guides and Actuator and Proxy Brackets. The proposed recommendations to reduce the failure rate of the Side Guide are:• Monitoring of Side Guides before distribution to mail centres to ensure that each is correctly adjusted and able to be immediately installed;• Development of a tool for checking the correct installation of the Side Guide on the Gripper Assembly; and• Development of a Technical Maintenance Plan to ensure that the Side Guide stays in adjustment.To reduce the failure rate of the Actuator and Proxy Brackets it is proposed that Australia Post perform the following:• Modifications to the Adjustment and Repair Manual to clarify the set-up procedure for the Lift Assembly;• Condition-based Monitoring of the Lift Assembly to prevent any components falling out of adjustment; and• An investigation into the suitability of the Shock Absorber Unit to perform the function required of it.