A reliability route is a schedule of machines, measurement points and conditions, repeated consistently. The design decisions you make in week one determine whether it still runs a year later.
Fix the measurement points and never move them
Every bearing housing gets defined positions and orientations, marked physically where possible. Comparability across months depends entirely on this. A reading taken 100mm away in a different plane is a different measurement.
Capture representative operating conditions
Machines must be measured under normal load and speed. A pump throttled back or a fan on a damper tells you very little. Route order should follow production reality — plan around the schedule rather than fighting it, and record the operating condition alongside each reading.
Size the route honestly, then scale it
Work out how many assets can genuinely be covered in a day at proper quality. If your asset list needs more, book more days rather than rushing the route — a hurried measurement is worse than none, because it pollutes the trend.
Sites with large asset lists commonly run several days a month, sometimes consecutive, sometimes split across the month to suit shutdown windows.
Review the route quarterly
Assets change, criticality changes, and some machines turn out to be uninteresting. Drop them, add the ones that are causing pain, and keep the route reflecting the plant as it is today.