It all started with a letter we received from a major multinational petrochemical company: A reliability manager related that he had recently asked each maintenance department within the corporation’s businesses to submit the top 10 production-loss sources over the past few years. When his staff analyzed the various replies, it was discovered that most of the corporation’s problems related to equipment that had been recently commissioned as part of major projects. Having discovered this common thread, the reliability staff asked the maintenance departments how much influence they had in equipment design and selection during the early stages of the project.