September 15, 2005
Maintenance Planner/Scheduler Tip
Maintenance Planning and Effective Communication
Successful organizations are built around effective communications between all functions within the organization. When we ask the question “How effective are we in our communications”? In most cases the answer is poor. The first place to start making improvement is between the maintenance planner and the first line supervisor. In most cases, these individuals are not, will not or do not see a need to communicate. This combination has to become a synchronized team that anticipates each other’s needs. To accomplish this relationship daily dialog is essential. This dialog has to center on improving and/or maintaining the reliability of the equipment or process. Morning and afternoon communications have to take place which typically focus on current work progress, work request scope clarification, labor availability and scheduling issues. Development of this close relationship requires commitment from both parties. The success of this relationship results in everyone being aware of the true maintenance issues and their impact on the overall reliability of the equipment or processes. Once this first step of effective communication is in place and ingrained into the daily routine, the exchange of information will carry over to the maintenance personnel. Reliable equipment and processes are dependent on effective communications between operations and maintenance as well. Everyone contributes to effective communications.
Tip provided by Life Cycle Engineering
http://www.lce.com
Tel: 843.744.7110 x267
September 15, 2005
Infrared Tip
Check Tank Levels Using Your Infrared Camera
The storage of liquid and bulk materials in tanks and silos is common at many industrial sites. While likely instrumented with sophisticated tank level monitoring equipment, many storage tank levels can be quickly determined under the right conditions using your infrared camera.
The volume in a tank is filled with a material and any remaining headspace. During the day the tank and its contents absorbs the sun’s energy. Obviously the mass of the material and the headspace are very different. Since thermal cameras are very sensitive (usually to less than 0.1°C) it is easy to take advantage of the daily changes in a tanks volume temperature. Earlier in the day the headspace will heat up faster than the stored material, resulting in an image that shows the empty volume as warmer than the filled volume. After sunset the headspace will cool more quickly than the filled volume causing the filled space to be warmer than the headspace. Sometime during this period an event called thermal crossover will take place when the two volumes are at the same temperature. Because this is a transition state the duration of near equilibrium conditions is determined by many factors but should last less than one hour.
This technique works best on painted tanks that are not too reflective. If viewing highly reflective vessels it is recommended to view these at early evening when the influence of ambient scene reflection is minimized.
September 15, 2005
Vibration Tip
When analyzing phase data to check for force unbalance, the horizontal inboard and outboard readings will most likely be very similar to the vertical inboard and outboard readings. But if couple unbalance is the culprit, the horizontal readings on the inboard and outboard readings will be approximately 180 degrees out of phase.
Tip provided by LUDECA, INC.
ALIGNMENT * VIBRATION * BALANCING
http://www.ludeca.com
Tel: 305-591-8935
September 15, 2005
Maintenance Tip
The 10% Rule of Preventive Maintenance
Many organizations use the metric “PM Compliance” as a measurement of their maintenance department’s performance. This metric is seen many times by professionals as a joke because if your PM Compliance is high but you continue to have many reliability issues then the metric has no meaning. I have seen organizations that report 100% PM Compliance but have over 10% downtime due to reliability issues. Of course many different issues could contribute to this problem.
I wanted to focus on a solution to the PM Compliance Metric in order to make it believable and truly help you feel confident that this metric is a true measurement of compliance to your PM Program. I have tested and proven that if you were to manage your PM Program as a “Controlled Experiment” then you would be able to control reliability with more reliable accuracy.
Now in order to have “Controlled Experiment” we must control the variables such as time. Most PM’s are time based and thus controlling the variance in your PM schedule would allow you to control reliability better and help you make better decisions.
I believe in the 10% Rule of Preventive Maintenance and it simply states:
“that a time based PM must be accomplished in 10% of the time frequency or it is out of compliance”
That statement is a tough one to follow. If you were to apply the 10% Rule to all of your time based PMs immediately, your PM compliance might be less than 5%. Let’s look at this example before we go any further:
Let’s say you have a monthly PM that must be accomplished. Would you agree that:
• If you postpone a PM until the end of the month would you say you completed the PM on time?(yes)
• Next month you complete the same PM at the beginning of the month. Would you say you completed the PM ontime? (yes)
• Next month you complete the same PM task at the end of the month. Would say you completed the PM? (Yes)
• Now what, is the affect of performing time based PM this way? Is this really a monthly PM or an out of control PM? ( I say the PM schedule is out of control and probably so is the reliability of your equipment)
My recommendation is to focus the 10% Rule on time based PMs you are performing on your critical assets first. These critical assets are the ones that will get you in trouble if their reliability is low. I would measure their PM compliance separately from the rest of the equipment. I would also measure equipment capacity on this equipment in order to see the affect of the 10% Rule.
One company I know went from 100% PM Compliance to 50% over night because they decided to measure PM Compliance using the 10% rule on all assets, but equipment uptime went from 89% to 94% as a result of following this process in as little as 3 months. We have been taught by everyone that 100% is the best but I say the “number is the number” whatever it may be as long as capacity or uptime continues to rise.
Tip provided by Ricky Smith, CMRP
http://www.maxzor.com
Click here to view an I-Presentation on this topic
September 08, 2005
Alignment Tip
Sloppy Couplings/Backlash
If you have worn couplings, or couplings with a lot of backlash, consider switching to Pass Mode measure mode for uncoupled shafts (if your laser system possesses this feature) to minimize any potential torsional play effect on your readings, even though you are still coupled up and turning the shafts together.
Tip provided by LUDECA, INC.
ALIGNMENT * VIBRATION * BALANCING
http://www.ludeca.com
Tel: 305-591-8935
Learn about the Rotalign ULTRA alignment system
September 08, 2005
Vibration Tip
Beware of incorrect sensor mounting
If you are taking demodulation, enveloping, PeakVue, shock pulse, spike energy, HFD or any other measurement that utilizes high frequency vibration, it is essential that you have clean, solid contact between the machine surface and the sensor. Whereas normal vibration spectra and waveforms utilize data below 5 kHz (typically), the methods listed earlier utilize vibration signals above 5 kHz and can extend up beyond 10 kHz. Unless you use a clean, flat, rare-earth magnet on a clean, flat mounting pad; or better yet a stud mounted accelerometer; the high frequencies will be attenuated. The result of poor sensor mounting is that you may not receive an early warning of the fault condition, and your readings will not be repeatable.
Tip provided by Mobius
Tel: 206 842 8721
http://www.ilearninteractive.com
Learn more about Mobius Institute Vibration Training & Certification
September 08, 2005
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September 08, 2005
Oil Analysis Tip
Flagging Points and Alarm Limits –
Where do the Numbers Come From?
Providing equipment, lubricant and filtration information with your used oil samples can help your laboratory set unit-specific flagging points and alarm limits. OEM and lubricant specifications are a good starting point, but statistical analyses of unit, lube and filter information is essential. Omitting or providing inaccurate information not only decreases the depth of your analysis and the value of an analyst’s recommendations, but can greatly affect at what point an oil analysis result is flagged.
Flagging points and alarm limits should be based on:
• OEM/equipment specifications
• lubricant specifications
--manufacturer
--type
--grade
• information submitted with the sample
--unit type – diesel engine, turbine, compressor, gear, hydraulic, etc.
--unit manufacturer
--unit model number
--filtration type – full flow, bypass
--filter micron rating – 4µm, 6µm
--sump capacity
• statistical analysis of historical laboratory sample data with same criteria
--annual re-evaluation is necessary to account for changes in engineering, manufacturing processes, metallurgies and design
Tip provided by POLARIS Laboratories
http://www.polarislabs1.com
Tel: (317) 808-3750
Click here to learn more about the importance of unit-specific flagging points
September 08, 2005
Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) Tip
How to Measure a Successful RCM Effort
Reliability Centered Maintenance is powerful reliability tool, it’s also a tool that takes time and resources to complete. Because of this, RCM should only be applied where it will deliver a return on you investment in one or more of the following areas:
1. Improved Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)
• Increased Good Product Produced
• Decreased Operational Losses
• Decreased Quality Losses
• Decreased Speed Losses
2. Improved Environmental Health and Safety Performance
• A Decrease in Reportable Incidents and Accidents
• A Decrease in Spills and Emissions
• Reduced Risk in Employee, Citizen Health Issues
The best news is, all of the above listed items are measurable. Use the measures to select candidates for RCM by first identifying you critical assets and then applying the measures. Prove the success of your RCM effort by continuing to measure the assets performance following implementation of your tasks. Successful RCM efforts are proven RCM efforts!
Tip provided by Doug Plucknette
Reliability Solutions
Tel: 585-349-7245
http://www.reliabilitysolution.com
September 08, 2005
Revisiting Return on Investment for Maintenance/Asset Management Improvement
An iPresentation Tutorial by Terry Wireman, GenesisSolutions
As organizations progress from reactive practices to “Best Practices” in their maintenance/ asset management, the return on investment for the transition becomes scalable. In the beginning organizations focus only on their maintenance function, but as they mature, they refocus on the impact of maintenance and the resultant increase in asset productivity and performance. This change of focus defines the transition from maintenance management to asset management. The return on investment for mature organizations needs to be clearly understood. Join noted Maintenance Expert and Author, Terry Wireman for a 39 minute iPresentation Tutorial on Understanding Return on Investment for Maintenance/Asset Management Improvement. This presentation is based on information that was provided by GenesisSolutions & Reliabilityweb.com in 2004. This update contains some new material showing how business leaders are beginning to view the maintenance/ asset management function within companies.
