Reliability 4.0

Hosted by Sebastian Traeger, CEO of Reliability.com

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Aug 2026

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About the show

This podcast is your premier destination to unravel how cutting-edge technologies like AI, IoT, and Big Data are revolutionizing the way we approach reliability and maintenance in various industries. Our host, the CEO of Reliability.com, Sebastian Traeger, uses his extensive experience to illuminate the most pressing topics in the reliability engineering field today. The Reliability 4.0 Podcast is here to keep you informed and inspired, bringing you insightful discussions, interviews with leading experts, and real-world case studies. Subscribe now to never miss an episode!

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60 recent

September 1, 202624 min

E60: Good Data Is the Foundation of Reliability with Ryan Chan from UpKeep

You can't improve reliability if you don't trust your maintenance data. And without quality data, even the best AI and analytics will fall short. In this episode of Reliability 4.0, Ryan Chan , Founder & CEO of UpKeep , shares how a frustrating experience as a process engineer led him to build a mobile-first CMMS—and why high-quality data is the foundation for AI, root cause analysis, and better maintenance decisions. Ryan explains why reducing downtime often creates more value than increasing production speed, why technicians should capture information where the work happens, and how AI is changing the way reliability teams analyze data not replace them. We discuss: 🔹 Why reducing downtime can deliver bigger gains than increasing line speed 🔹 How mobile-first maintenance improves data quality 🔹 Why AI is only as good as the data behind it 🔹 The difference between a CMMS and Root Cause Analysis 🔹 Why quality and quantity of data determine better reliability decisions If you're investing in AI, CMMS, or reliability improvement, this conversation is a reminder that better decisions always start with better data. This episode is available on: 📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/c80gqKCRVcU 🎧 Apple Music: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reliability-4-0/id1729943699 Or wherever you get your podcasts! Want to strengthen your RCA process alongside your maintenance data? 👉 https://easyrca.com/engage #Reliability40 #Maintenance #CMMS #RootCauseAnalysis #AssetManagement #ArtificialIntelligence #ReliabilityEngineering

August 18, 202620 min

E59: The Generational Shift Reshaping Maintenance & Reliability with Casey Pritt

“What happens when your most experienced maintenance technicians retire? And how prepared is your organization to retain the knowledge they take with them?” In this episode of Reliability 4.0 , Casey Pritt from Smurfit WestRock explores one of manufacturing’s biggest challenges: preserving decades of maintenance knowledge while embracing new technology. Drawing from her IMC presentation, Casey explains how each generation has shaped maintenance practices—and why the future depends on combining hands-on experience with modern digital tools rather than choosing one over the other. We discuss: 🔸 Why maintenance knowledge is disappearing as experienced workers retire 🔸 How different generations have shaped maintenance strategies 🔸 Why technology should complement—not replace—equipment knowledge 🔸 The challenge of planning large paper mill outages with thousands of contractors 🔸 How AI could help capture expertise before it leaves the workforce If your organization is preparing for the next generation of maintenance professionals, this episode offers practical insights into protecting knowledge while driving reliability forward. This episode is available on: 📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/RDo_8PsbQwY 🎧 Apple Music: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reliability-4-0/id1729943699 Or wherever you get your podcasts! Want to explore how EasyRCA helps capture and standardize reliability knowledge?👉 https://easyrca.com/engage #Reliability40 #Maintenance #ReliabilityEngineering #KnowledgeTransfer #AssetManagement #Manufacturing

August 4, 202617 min

E58: Why Reactive Maintenance Is Not a Career Strategy

“Being the best firefighter is not a career strategy.” In this episode of Reliability 4.0 , Jeremie Lieb from Worthington Steel shares how his team is transforming maintenance culture by moving away from reactive firefighting and toward proactive reliability practices. Jeremie explains how Worthington Steel is combining reliability strategy, condition monitoring, AI tools, and frontline engagement to improve maintenance performance across multiple facilities. We discuss: 🔸 Why reactive maintenance creates long-term safety and reliability risks 🔸 How Worthington Steel is approaching NFPA 70B compliance and electrical reliability 🔸 Why PM follow-up quality matters more than simply completing tasks 🔸 How AI can support planners, maintenance leaders, and RCA thinking 🔸 Why proactive maintenance starts with changing culture—not just adding technology If your organization is trying to reduce downtime, strengthen reliability culture, or improve maintenance execution, this episode is packed with practical insights. This episode is available on: 📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/r89eT9eQohc 🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reliability-4-0/id1729943699 Or wherever you get your podcasts! Want to explore how EasyRCA can support your reliability program?👉 https://easyrca.com/engage #Reliability40 #ReliabilityEngineering #Maintenance #RootCauseAnalysis #AssetManagement #Manufacturing

July 21, 202620 min

E57: How Gold Fields Improved Reliability Through Frontline Coaching

“Dashboards don’t improve reliability. People do.” In this episode of Reliability 4.0, Jordan Gair from Gold Fields shares how his team improved reliability at a large-scale gold mining operation by investing in frontline leaders, coaching, and proactive maintenance culture. Jordan explains why many reliability transformations fail—not because teams lack data or technology, but because organizations spend too little time supporting the people closest to the work. We discuss: 🔸 Why frontline coaching matters more than reporting dashboards 🔸 How Gold Fields improved plant reliability through proactive maintenance 🔸 The role of inspections, defect elimination, and quality notifications 🔸 Why sustaining culture change is harder than launching it 🔸 How AI can support maintenance tactics and improve work management If your organization is trying to improve reliability culture, reduce downtime, or strengthen frontline accountability, this episode is packed with practical insights. This episode is available on: 📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/sipbGTXSAns 🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reliability-4-0/id1729943699 Or wherever you get your podcasts! Want to explore how EasyRCA can support your reliability program?👉 https://easyrca.com/engage #Reliability40 #Mining #ReliabilityEngineering #Maintenance #AssetManagement #ContinuousImprovement

July 7, 202622 min

E56: Building Reliability Into Aging Water Infrastructure

Wastewater plants have gotten away with reactive maintenance for decades. That’s changing. In this episode of Reliability 4.0, Lauren Michael from City of Cedar Rapids shares how her team is building a proactive reliability culture inside a 45-year-old wastewater treatment plant. Lauren explains why executive sponsorship was critical to launching their reliability transformation, and how involving leadership from the very beginning helped create buy-in across operations, finance, HR, and city leadership. We discuss: 🔸 Why many wastewater plants are still operating reactively 🔸 How Cedar Rapids launched “Program Phoenix” to improve reliability 🔸 Why executive sponsorship must start at kickoff—not after the fact 🔸 How RCA helped shift the culture away from blame 🔸 Why wastewater operators need reliability more than ever as infrastructure ages If your organization is trying to improve asset performance while working with aging infrastructure and limited resources, this episode is full of practical lessons. This episode is available on: 📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/65UtsavmfJg 🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reliability-4-0/id1729943699 Or wherever you get your podcasts! Want to explore how EasyRCA can support your reliability journey?👉 https://easyrca.com/engage #Reliability40 #RootCauseAnalysis #Wastewater #AssetManagement #ReliabilityEngineering #Maintenance

June 16, 202617 min

E55: Go Back to the Basics: Reliability Lessons From Fresenius

Sometimes the perfect RCA becomes the enemy of solving the problem. In this episode of Reliability 4.0, Juan Mendoza from Fresenius Medical Care shares how his team uses Rapid Problem Solving (RPS) to respond to equipment failures faster, reduce repeat downtime, and build stronger problem-solving habits across manufacturing teams. Juan explains why most equipment issues don’t need weeks of investigation—and how setting clear rules around speed, ownership, and execution helps teams stay focused on solving problems instead of endlessly analyzing them. We discuss: 🔸 Why every unplanned downtime over 45 minutes triggers an RPS. 🔸 How “containment first” keeps production moving before investigation starts. 🔸 Why rapid investigations must be completed within five days. 🔸 The difference between rapid problem solving and deep RCA investigations. 🔸 Why most reliability improvements still come from mastering the basics. If your organization struggles with recurring downtime or slow investigations, this episode offers a practical framework for building a faster reliability culture. This episode is available on: 📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/9CeZ3wcFjAU 🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reliability-4-0/id1729943699 Or wherever you get your podcasts! Want to explore how EasyRCA can help your team solve problems faster?👉 https://easyrca.com/engage #Reliability40 #RootCauseAnalysis #Manufacturing #Maintenance #ContinuousImprovement #ReliabilityEngineering

June 2, 202622 min

E54: How La-Z-Boy Is Standardizing Reliability Across Plants

Maintenance isn’t just technical. It’s emotional, political, and people-driven. On this episode of Reliability 4.0, Alejandro Nuñez from La-Z-Boy shares how his team is building a structured maintenance and reliability system across multiple plants, starting with simple metrics, RCA adoption, and consistent processes. Alejandro explains why reliability programs fail when companies wait for the “perfect system” instead of building consistency with the people and processes they already have. We dig into: 🔸 Why structure improves reliability without killing creativity 🔸 How La-Z-Boy rolled out RCA across plants 🔸 Why maintenance transformation is a people challenge first 🔸 The importance of starting small with metrics and processes 🔸 Why inconsistency—not complexity—is what breaks reliability programs If your organization is trying to move beyond reactive maintenance, this episode is packed with practical lessons on building systems that actually stick. This episode is available on: 📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/HW5_j_4Y6hQ 🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reliability-4-0/id1729943699 Or wherever you get your podcasts! Want to explore how EasyRCA can support your RCA program? Start here: https://easyrca.com/engage #Reliability40 #RootCauseAnalysis #Maintenance #AssetManagement #ReliabilityEngineering

May 19, 202625 min

E53: How United Utilities Built a Maintenance Excellence Culture Across 700+ Facilities

The best thing we ever did was just get started. In this episode of Reliability 4.0, Phil White, Chief Maintenance Officer at United Utilities , shares how his team transformed maintenance culture across one of the UK’s largest water and wastewater providers. Over the past six years, United Utilities rebuilt its maintenance strategy from the ground up—reworking hundreds of thousands of PM tasks, investing in technician capability, and creating a culture focused on continuous improvement instead of reactive work. We dig into: 🔸 Why maintenance excellence is more about people and culture than tools 🔸 How United Utilities rebuilt its entire PM workbank using reliability principles 🔸 The role of PM compliance and PM yield in driving accountability 🔸 How “bad actor” dashboards help identify long-term reliability problems 🔸 Why Phil believes the hardest part of transformation is simply getting started If your organization is trying to move from reactive maintenance to a proactive reliability culture, this episode offers practical lessons from a large-scale transformation journey. This episode is available on: 📺 YouTube 🎧 Apple Music Or wherever you get your podcasts! Want to improve your RCA and maintenance processes? 👉 https://easyrca.com/engage #Reliability40 #MaintenanceExcellence #RootCauseAnalysis #AssetManagement #PreventiveMaintenance #ContinuousImprovement

May 5, 202625 min

E52: Building a Reliability Program from the Ground Up at NTT Global Data Centers

“In data centers, you don’t have the luxury of downtime—but you do have redundancy.” In this episode of Reliability 4.0, Lee McClish , Director of Maintenance and Reliability at NTT Global Data Centers , shares how he built a reliability program from scratch for a fast-growing organization with 21 U.S. sites and hundreds of mission-critical assets. Lee discusses how he overcame the challenges of redundancy-driven complacency, built a proactive culture, and created measurable results by focusing on preventive maintenance (PMs), KPIs, and effective communication. We dig into: 🔸 How NTT's data centers balance redundancy with reliability 🔸 Why reliability and culture are the hardest aspects to change 🔸 How Lee built PMs and KPIs from scratch to track progress 🔸 The importance of educating operators and “preaching” proactive maintenance 🔸 How Lee uses scorecards to hold teams accountable and drive continuous improvement If you’re building a reliability program in a growing, complex environment—or struggling with culture change—this episode has the lessons learned you can implement today. This episode is available on 📺 YouTube 🎧 Apple Music Or wherever you get your podcasts! Want to improve your reliability culture and program? 👉 https://easyrca.com/engage #Reliability40 #RootCauseAnalysis #DataCenters #PreventiveMaintenance #ReliabilityEngineering #ContinuousImprovement

April 21, 202617 min

E51: Why AI Fails Without Good Data—and How to Build a Reliability Foundation First

“AI will just get you to the wrong answer faster—if your data isn’t right.” In this episode of Reliability 4.0, Brian Heinsius from Eco Materials shares how they’re building a reliability program from the ground up—starting with data, systems, and remote monitoring across new sites. From setting up Maximo and asset hierarchies to deploying sensors and dashboards, Brian walks through what it takes to create a scalable reliability foundation before layering on advanced analytics. We dig into: 🔹Why building a clean, accurate data foundation comes before AI 🔹How remote monitoring enables small teams to manage multiple sites 🔹How AI can help analyze data—but still requires careful validation 🔹Why starting with simple RCA (like 5 Whys) is often enough early on 🔹How to use condition-based signals to trigger maintenance actions If you’re trying to scale reliability across sites—or exploring AI in maintenance—this episode is a practical look at what to build first. This episode is available on: 📺 YouTube 🎧 Apple Music Or wherever you get your podcasts! Want to strengthen your RCA foundation? 👉 https://easyrca.com/engage #Reliability40 #RootCauseAnalysis #AssetManagement #PredictiveMaintenance #AI #ReliabilityEngineering #DigitalTransformation