Asset Reliability Practitioner® [ARP] Training and Certification

As of this writing, the ARP certification scheme has passed the final audit and has been formally accredited by the government-appointed body. The auditing body has also stated that everyone who has already been certified will automatically be enrolled in the accredited program.

Mobius Institute Board of Certification (MIBoC) is accredited by the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ) to provide personnel certification for Asset Reliability Practitioners according to ISO/IEC 17024, ED161-1 and ED161-2.

When the Mobius Institute Board of Certification™ [MIBoC] Scheme Committee initially established the Asset Reliability Practitioner certification scheme, it was decided that it should follow the same naming process as the condition monitoring ISO 18436 certification program. Therefore, it was decided that each level should be Category I, II, and III.

The problem was, it caused confusion because whereas there is a definite growth path from Category I to II and III in vibration analysis, for example, and the fact that you needed to be Category II before you could apply for Category III, the same rules did not apply for ARP.

The Scheme Committee decided that a person should be able to transition directly to the highest certification level of the ARP without being required to be certified at lower levels. The reason why is described in separate FAQ questions.

The same is true for the second-highest level. The scheme committee determined that a person should be able to go directly to Category II.

To avoid confusion, the certification levels were renamed as follows:

• Category I became ARP-A “Reliability Advocate”
• Category II became ARP-E “Reliability Engineer”
• Category III became ARP-L “Reliability Program Leader”

Certain people in the industry, and the practitioners who formed the Mobius Institute Board of Certification Scheme Committee and Technical Committee believed that there should be more than one level of certification in recognition of the challenging task involved with improving reliability, maintenance, operational performance, and asset health monitoring. Thus, the three-level system was devised:

• ARP-A: For engineers, managers, and practitioners who need to understand the entire picture of reliability and performance improvement without getting bogged down in any of the details in any one area
• ARP-E: For reliability engineers who are focused on the technical aspects of reliability, maintenance, and asset health monitoring – the requirements go well beyond CMRP or any other certification program
• ARP L: For the reliability program leaders who must primarily understand the business case, the requirements to change the culture, the strategy, and the leadership skills necessary to make such an initiative successful – the requirements, once again, go well beyond CMRP or any other certification program

Generally speaking, there are two types of people in the role of a Reliability Program Leader.

• There are people who have come up through the ranks, potentially beginning in a condition monitoring role, then working in reliability engineering, and finally being promoted into a role where they lead the reliability program. That person will have the technical skills and experience but will have to develop the knowledge necessary to create the business case, change the culture, develop the strategy, and implement a successful program. And that is what ARP-L is for.
• However, there are also people who come into the role because they have already demonstrated leadership skills. They understand the business case, and they know how to lead people. They are organized project managers, and therefore have the skills to implement a successful program. In many cases, those people do not wish to delve deeply into the technical side of reliability engineering. Instead, they make sure that they have competent Reliability Engineers reporting to them who are able to make the right technical decisions and provide accurate information.

Although this second group of people would benefit from having a deeper knowledge of reliability engineering, it was decided that they should not be forced to gain that knowledge. Instead, the ARP-L training provides a solid overview of the technical aspects so that they understand the terminology and main issues.

The SMRP CMRP certification has been around for a long time and it is generally respected in the industry. The SMRP CMRP certification program is accredited to IEC/ISO 17024 so it is fair, independent, and legitimate – just like ARP.

Certain people in the industry and the practitioners who formed the Mobius Institute Board of Certification Scheme Committee and Technical Committee believed that there should be more than one level of certification in recognition of the challenging task involved with improving reliability, maintenance, operational performance, and asset health monitoring. Thus the three-level system was devised.

The Scheme Committee and Technical Committee also believed there should be a structured training program to support the certification program and that people should be encouraged to take the training. Many people are only given the opportunity to take training if it is associated with the certification program. Unfortunately, SMRP actively discourages organizations from offering training that prepares a person for the CMRP certification, instead requesting people to read a variety of books.

While certification is important, the education gained in achieving that certification is arguably more important.

The structure, independence, discipline, and fairness behind the Asset Reliability Practitioner training and certification are very different from those that exist for CRL. While the training associated with CRL is closely related to that covered on the ARP-A course, that is where the similarities end.

CRE certification is highly respected in the industry. CRE is focused on reliability engineering, however, the vast majority of CRE certified personnel are focused on product reliability; ensuring that your television does not fail, and determining warranty requirements, for example.

ARP-E “Reliability Engineer” is focused on the role performed by personnel working with industrial equipment (rotating machinery, electrical equipment, mobile assets, etc.) with the goal of ensuring that equipment is available to be used when called upon, and to minimize the maintenance costs associated with those assets.

No. While the ARP-A course will provide a useful introduction which will make it far easier to understand the topics covered in ARP-E, the ARP-E course does not assume prior knowledge.

No. While the ARP-A and ARP-E courses provide a useful introduction which will make it far easier to understand the topics covered in ARP-L, and while ARP-E will be tremendously valuable to the Reliability Program Leader, the ARP-L course does not assume prior knowledge.

You will be issued a digital certificate, personalized logo, and certification card. The certificate will acknowledge that the recipient has completed training,  passed the exam and has sufficient practical work experience relevant to the technology to be fully certified. This will be available to share online as needed by the candidate. Your name will also appear on the Mobius Institute website (unless you would prefer to remain anonymous).

(From the MIBoC guide ED161-2) The requirements are:

• ARP-A – 6 months
• ARP-E – 24 months
• ARP-L – 48 months

The experience requirements exist simply to ensure that you have experienced the issues related to poor reliability: downtime, lower than desired production output, frustration with breakdowns, etc. In the case of ARP-E and ARP-L, the experience requirements also exist to ensure that you have some experience improving reliability. It is not expected that you have been a full-time reliability engineer or program leader, but it is expected that you may have been involved with some of the common activities, such as condition monitoring, the acquisition of laser alignment or other precision maintenance tools, root cause failure analysis, and so on.

(From the MIBoC guide ED161-2) The requirements are:

• ARP-A: 60 questions, duration 2 hours, 70% passing grade
• ARP-E: 100 questions, duration 3 hours, 70% passing grade
• ARP-L: 100 questions, duration 3 hours, 70% passing grade.

The Mobius Institute Board of Certification (MIBoC) has established an independent Technical Committee (TC) and questions have been submitted for approval from other industry experts. Questions are proposed, audited, and reviewed by the TC. MIBoC has developed a process that utilizes software developed for the task so that the exam questions are protected, and so that all changes are tracked. The TC is made up of industry experts and experienced people who work in the field from around the world.

Once a question has been used in an exam, special statistical processes, called psychometrics, are used to check if any questions are too easy, too hard, or too confusing. Those questions are then reviewed by the TC and either improved or rejected.

Yes and no. Unfortunately, there is not an ISO standard for the certification of reliability practitioners or anything close to it.

However, the Mobius Institute Board of Certification [MIBoC] ED-161 scheme is modeled on the ISO 18436 standards; the topics are mapped to the ISO 55000 standards; the scheme follows ISO/IEC 17024, and the core knowledge and vocabulary/terminology is based on definitions developed in a variety of ISO standards (and other international standards). The topics themselves, and the requirements, were developed over a long time by the MIBoC Scheme Committee and Technical Committee. SC and TC are made up of industry experts and experienced people who work in the field from around the world.

No. Certification at ARP A, E, and L demonstrates that you have some experience in an industrial setting and that you understand certain facts, concepts, and principles, but it does not mean that an employer should not take responsibility for the tasks that you are assigned to perform.

Having said that, a person who has passed ARP-E should have the knowledge necessary to become an effective reliability engineer, and a person who passes ARP-L should be able to manage and lead a reliability improvement initiative.

Yes. We will need to see some evidence that you have taken the training, but it is not necessary to retake any training.  For a list of recognized courses, refer to ED169 .  You can email certification@mobiusinstitute.com for questions or submitting training for verification.

Mobius Institute is a private training, conference, and media organization. Some of the training offered by Mobius Institute has been approved by the Mobius Institute Board of Certification. At the time of this writing, there were approximately 130 organizations in 60 countries that have been approved to teach the Mobius Institute courses in 23 languages.

Mobius Institute Board of Certification (MIBoC) is a private organization, however it operates in the same way as a not-for-profit organization (except that, due to Australian taxation law, we do not have not-for-profit status because we service organizations outside Australia, therefore we pay tax on all revenue received, unlike other not-for-profit organizations.) MIBoC is governed by the MIBoC Governing Body, and all of its procedures are defined by independent Scheme Committees. All technical matters are defined by independent Technical Committees.

No. For many years there has been a body of knowledge associated with reliability and performance improvement, including best practices in maintenance, condition monitoring, asset strategy development, reliability engineering, and other related topics. While a Mobius Institute course may have a unique way of presenting the material, Mobius Institute courses simply teach well documented best practices.

Yes. The topics covered in the Mobius Institute courses will prepare you for the SMRP certification exams. You will simply have to make arrangements with the organization providing that training, and SMRP, to ensure that you can take an exam after you have been trained.

Yes. If you have evidence that you took the course, then you are welcome to take the ARP-A exam so that you are certified by an accredited certification body.

Yes. It will be necessary to coordinate with the Mobius Institute Board of Certification (MIBoC) as there are certain procedures that must be followed.

Yes, many people take the ARP (and other) exams at our training conferences. Please contact the certification manager to organize the exam.

If you have knowledge and experience in the field of reliability and performance improvement, then the ARP-A course may aid you in the preparation for the CMRP exam. However, given that the main aim of the ARP-A course is to create detailed awareness rather than detailed knowledge, you are best advised to take the longer ARP-E course to fully understand Reliability Engineering.

It should be stated that the SMRP certification scheme has been developed with the highest standards, and the CMRP scheme is accredited to ISO/IEC 17024. The Mobius Institute Board of Certification [MIBoC] processes mirror the SMRP processes, and MIBoC is accredited to the same standard.

Yes. Your training material will need to be approved by the independent Technical Committee established by MIBoC, and the Technical Committee members to review your course are chosen to ensure there is no conflict of interest.

Yes. We have a simple but proven method to become an Approved Training Center. We have been working with companies in 60 countries around the world to teach other Mobius Institute courses, and we would certainly like the opportunity to work with you as well. As you can imagine, we need to ensure that you are qualified in the subject areas, that you have experience teaching courses, and you have a business capable of supporting these activities. And once you are approved, you will take additional training to ensure you are confident and competent in teaching the Mobius Institute courses.

The reason that most organizations seek to improve reliability is to improve the performance of the organization.

Ultimately most organizations wish to improve financial performance; whether that’s increased profits, or reduced expenses in the case of a government organization, for example. Organizations must also seek to improve their safety and environmental performance. In order to achieve the company’s goals, the organization must perform better in many departments of the company, including maintenance, operations/production, procurement, materials and work management, and engineering.

While we seek to improve reliability, we are not improving reliability for reliability’s sake; we are making improvements that add value to the organization, ultimately by improving performance.

Yes. The ARP-A “Reliability Advocate” course would be perfect for an on-site course, and it has been delivered on-site many times. We can either “simply” teach the course or we can work with you to expand the course so that you can relate the topics of the course, and the issues raised during the course, to the reality in your plant. In that case, we could team up with someone within your organization who can ask the ideal questions at the ideal time.

There are actually two versions of the ARP-A course. The standard course which is taught during conferences and public training sessions, and a course that we call the ARP-A “PLANT-WIDE AWARENESS” course. This course was developed for people who will not actually work in the role of which the primary goal is to improve reliability, who therefore need to understand how to implement the program, the challenges of culture change, the business case, and other issues. The “PLANT-WIDE AWARENESS” is perfect for people who work in the plant and simply need to know why reliability should be improved, how they will benefit, how they can contribute to the program, and to demystify all of the technologies and terminology.

It is an excellent course if you want to ensure that everyone is on the same page, pulling in the same direction.

For a list of recognized courses, you can refer to the document ED169

ARP-A certification is valid for three (3) years.

We will endeavor to contact you before your certification expires, therefore it is important that you keep your TMS records up to date (TMS is the training management system you will use to register for the course and for certification). If you change roles, it is essential that you update your records. We also invite you to set a reminder in your calendar for five years hence to contact us.