For Ali Elsalaymeh, reliability isn’t a buzzword; it’s a culture. As Associate Director of Maintenance Excellence at Bristol Myers Squibb, Ali brings a grounded, no-nonsense approach to solving real-world problems. From his early days as a design engineer to leading asset management across pharmaceutical and industrial sites, his journey is a case study in doing the fundamentals well.

Ali shares how he uses metrics like MTBF, MTTR, and OEE to drive clarity, why small wins like daily checklists matter more than flashy projects, and how root cause analysis keeps teams focused on long-term solutions.

Quick Overview (TL;DR)

• Ali Elsalaymeh leads Maintenance Excellence at Bristol Myers Squibb, with prior experience in aerospace, oil & gas, and automotive.
• He emphasizes fundamentals: KPIs, checklists, torque standards, and structured RCA.
• Success in reliability starts with credibility—earned through small wins, not big promises.
• He shares practical advice for young engineers and how to sell change to skeptical teams.

Table of Contents

• Ali’s Career Path and Reliability Focus
• The Fundamentals: KPIs, Task Analysis, and Process Discipline
• Root Cause Analysis as a Culture Builder
• Gaining Credibility with Small Wins
• Advice for Young Engineers
• How EasyRCA Helps Teams Stay Focused on the Root

Ali’s Career Path and Reliability Focus

Ali’s background is anything but typical. He started in design engineering for the military, then transitioned into maintenance leadership across high-stakes industries—from oil & gas to pharmaceuticals.

What’s stayed constant? He believes that successful reliability programs are built on measurable results and cross-functional credibility.

At Bristol Myers Squibb, Ali now leads maintenance excellence programs and works to elevate the baseline performance of every plant, no matter the maturity level.

The Fundamentals: KPIs, Task Analysis, and Process Discipline

Ali is a big believer in metrics that matter:

• MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) to track stability
• MTTR (Mean Time to Repair) to measure responsiveness
• OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) to link performance with availability

But metrics alone aren’t the solution.

Ali emphasizes the importance of maintenance task analysis. Getting specific about what jobs need to be done, when, and how.

He also advocates for standards like proper torqueing practices, daily checks, and cleaning protocols as a way to drive performance from the ground up.

“Don’t start with big tech and dashboards. Start with clean, torqued, and inspected assets.”

Root Cause Analysis as a Culture Builder

Ali doesn’t just use RCA as a problem-solving tool; he uses it to build a culture of discipline and accountability.

He describes how his teams perform root cause analyses not only after failures, but as a preventive tool to reduce repetitive work and avoid reactive maintenance spirals.

“If you’re doing a task five times and it still fails, something’s wrong. RCA helps you fix that, and prove it.”

Gaining Credibility with Small Wins

Whether rolling out new processes or pitching a capital project, Ali knows the secret to buy-in: prove you can help the team, not just make their work easier.

He recommends starting with something simple but visible:

• A better daily checklist
• A torque audit on critical fasteners
• Eliminating one common PM with poor ROI

These small wins build momentum and trust, especially in skeptical environments.

“If people don’t believe in you, they won’t adopt your system—no matter how good it is.”

Advice for Young Engineers

Ali closes the conversation with advice for new professionals entering the field:

• Stay humble. Don’t walk in thinking you know more than operators or techs.
• Ask questions. Reliability is built in the field, not in spreadsheets.
• Measure your impact. Use data to show progress, even if it’s slow.

“Credibility isn’t given—it’s earned. You get it by making things better, not by being the smartest in the room.”

How EasyRCA Helps Teams Stay Focused on the Root

At EasyRCA, we believe good reliability starts with clarity, consistency, and credibility. That’s why our platform helps teams capture RCAs simply, communicate them clearly, and follow through with accountability.

Watch Ali’s full perspective on building reliability from the ground up on YouTube, or listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Further Reading:

• Data-Driven Reliability: How Rildo Pereira is Driving Global Uptime at Gestamp
• Transforming Manufacturing Reliability: Insights from Rehrig Pacific’s John Ramirez