June 29, 2006 Maintenance Planning Tip
It is a common problem for planners to become bogged down in the details of job planning to the point that many of their responsibilities are neglected due to attempts to perfect the work instructions. The maintenance planner should define some sort of schedule for allocating his time to all of the activities necessary to perform the job. The following is representative of how much time should be devoted to the various activities and is typical of a planner’s daily schedule:
Job Screening…….………….5% of the day
Job Requirements……..........10% of the day
Job Research…………............5% of the day
Detailed Job Planning............20% of the day
Job Preparation……….………5% of the day
Procurement…………………20% of the day
Job Scheduling………………15% of the day
Daily Schedule Adjustments…5% of the day
Job Close Out…………………5% of the day
Personal and Miscellaneous…10% of the day
Total: 100%
Bear in mind that each and every day will not break down to these proportions, but over the course of each work week, the planner’s actual daily time/activity should be close to the schedule’s time/activity values shown above. Analysis of imbalances could indicate a need for additional training, improved Planner Libraries, additional planners or expanded/improved use of computer databases.
Tip excerpted from Maintenance Planning and Scheduling : Streamline Your Organization for a Lean Environment Timothy C. Kister, Bruce Hawkins, published by Butterworth-Heinemann
June 29, 2006 Airborne Ultrasound Tip
GO AIRBORNE SCANNING FOR BEARINGS
War Stories is short stories that the author, Jim Hall of Ultra-Sound Technologies, an industry leader in Airborne Ultrasound Training has compiled from several years of using Airborne Ultrasound.
The US Postal Service has long been a user of airborne ultrasound, particularly for bearing analysis on high speed mail sorting machines known as the Digital Bar Code Sorter (DBCS). While visiting the Pearl Harbor Post Office several years ago, I was asked if the ultrasound could detect bad bearings on a mail sorting machine table. This unit was a one level flat-bed mail sorter machine. The bearings were high speed and ranging from around 7/16” to 5/8” in diameter. The bearings were mounted vertically in the table top and were belt driven. I remember a Maintenance Manager at the facility was having a hard time predicting bearing failures.
The airborne ultrasound equipment had both a contact or structureborne (contact) probe and an airborne scanner for detecting air leaks. We tried the contact probe several times but were unable to manipulate the steel probe without touching the belt while it was moving. By using the airborne scanner we were able to scan over the top (90 degrees to the table) of the vertically mounted bearings and could hear which bearing was faulty and/or deserved more attention. Several hundred ultrasound kits were sold to US Postal Service over the past 15 years. Then 6-8 years later, came the DBCS Machine, the Digital Bar Code Sorter Machine with around 2300 bearings, Four Sorting Shelves stacked atop each other. Airborne Ultrasound Scanning is once again a method of choice to detect early bearing failure. Technicians must still find a “baseline” or use the comparative method to compare good to bad. For this application the method is proving to be very fast, enabling the user to scan the bearings in one third the time....
CAUTION
AIRBORNE SCANNING BEARINGS is limited to just a few applications, typically conveyor bearings, printing machines, etc..
WHERE else can you find these machines? Any company with a large mailing service (ie..Large Banks, Credit Card Companies, Insurance Companies, etc..). WHAT ABOUT your conveyor systems?
STOP and TAKE a look at your plant and think about where this technology will benefit your plant.
Some companies have a “Flexible Wand” both an 18” & 36” wand that can be used for this application extremely well. Other vendors offer the airborne scanner which can be used with a interconnect cable (6-8ft long), but could leave your arm and fingers exposed to belts or chain drives. There are also Laser Optical Tachometer (RPM Sensor) and a Thermometer attachments that can store readings directly into the instrument datalogger. An RPM Sensor can be beneficial when inspecting conveyors and conveyor drive motors.
TRY USING your airborne scanning module NO MATTER WHOSE instrument you are using. This application is extremely useful especially for “SLOW-SPEED” Bearings.
LET ME KNOW HOW YOU MAKE OUT...........
Tip provided by Jim Hall
Ultra-Sound Technologies LLC
http://www.ultra-soundtech.com
June 29, 2006 Get Focused on Predictive Maintenance! Get Uptime!
Uptime magazine provides information for the Predictive Maintenance Professional who actually uses Predictive technologies. Each month will feature case studies, practical tips and useful procedure for:
• Vibration Analysis
• Airborne Ultrasound
• Infrared Thermal Imaging
• Motor Testing
• Oil Analysis
• Precision Maintenance
-Alignment
-Balancing
-Leak Detection
-Lubrication
Free subscriptions are available in Print and Digital editions.
June 29, 2006 Enter the Predictive Maintenance-Tip and Lubrication-Tip Challenge!
Do you have great advice that will help other predictive maintenance and lubrication professionals do their jobs better?
Enter your tip into the PdM-2006/LubricationWorld Tip Challenge and you may be a lucky winner! Winners will be announced on July 20.
To qualify please send a tip in one of the following categories:
• Vibration Analysis
• Infrared Thermal Imaging
• Airborne Ultrasound
• Motor Testing
• Oil Analysis
• Lubrication
• Contamination Control
Prizes:
1 Grand Prize PdM or Lubrication Tip: Free PdM-2006/LubricationWorld 4 Day Conference Pass, 4 nights single/double room hotel at the Chattanooga Marriott in Chattanooga Tennessee, Tip Featured in Maintenance-Tips Email newsletter as Grand Prize Winner
1 Runner Up PdM or Lubrication Tip: Free PdM-2006/LubricationWorld 4 Day Conference Pass, Tip Featured at EAM-2006 in Maintenance-Tips Email newsletter
25 other published tip submissions will be entered into a drawing for a Free Maintenance Tips hat and a PdM-2006 Conference proceedings CD
What is a Maintenance tip? A 1-3 paragraph bit of practical “how-to” wisdom that can be put to immediate use without having to purchase something.
June 29, 2006 Vibration Analysis Tip
VIBRATION TRENDS
Always set up trend parameters in your vibration database. Most vibration analysis software will allow the overall equipment vibration and specific frequency ranges to be trended over time. Trending this information will help identify problems as they occur in your equipment. Also, this will help determine the severity and repair urgency of the problems identified.
For example, if the vibration trend is increasing slowly, then the failure may not be progressing rapidly. However, if the vibration trend increases sharply between readings, then the problem may be progressing more rapidly than previously thought, and failure may be more imminent.
Tip provided by LUDECA, INC.
ALIGNMENT * VIBRATION * BALANCING
http://www.ludeca.com
Tel: 305-591-8935
June 29, 2006 PdM-2006 - The Predictive Maintenance Technology Conference
Please join us for PdM-2006, the Predictive Maintenance Technology Conference & Expo from September 12 through September 15, 2006 in beautiful downtown Chattanooga Tennessee.
This conference is designed for predictive maintenance beginners and seasoned condition monitoring professionals
This one event provides a venue for all of the techniques and technologies required for reliable machinery operation.
PdM-2006 provides leading techniques and case studies for:
• Vibration Analysis
• Airborne Ultrasound
• Infrared Thermal Imaging
• Motor Testing
• Oil and Wear Particle Analysis
• Other condition monitoring technologies
World class best practices indicate that up to 50% of your maintenance activity should be spent on condition directed tasks to replace ineffective time based maintenance.
Finding and implementing the right combination of predictive maintenance and condition monitoring technologies is a challenge.
Like other Reliabilityweb.com conferences, PdM-2006 features a wide selection of pre- and post-conference workshops, 10 different 60 minute short courses, 35 focused learning zone sessions and plenty of networking opportunities with people who face the same issues you do on a daily basis.
All Condition Monitoring - All the Time!
Watch for more program and event details in this month’s Uptime Magazine or use the link below to request a PdM-2006 brochure.
Please make plans to attend PdM-2006 today and take advantage of early bird savings. Group discounts are also available by calling toll free (888) 575 1245.
June 29, 2006 Human Error Tip
A reactive environment tends to bring an adrenaline rush to the facility and a common cause to keep the production moving. If a facility was totally reliable, the rewards are boredom and insecurity as everything is running smoothly and now maintenance people fear losing their jobs. As organizations move towards Reliability they should let their maintenance people know that as the number of failures decrease, there will be many challenging jobs available in the Reliability Department. Most Reliability departments are understaffed because most of the people are out there fixing things that break. RCA, RCM, Vibration Techs, Infrared Techs, UT Testing, Eddy Current Testing, Lube Oil Analysis, etc. are all tasks that need to be done under the Reliability umbrella and often do not have enough resources to keep up with the tasks.
Tip provided by Reliability Center Inc.
http://www.reliability.com
June 29, 2006 MRO Tip
MRO Excellence- Managing Flammable Material
A quality storeroom must address several issues:
• Develop a comprehensive catalog for the storeroom.
• Develop the policies and procedures to effectively manage the storeroom.
• Develop and establish supplier partnerships, consignments and blanket orders.
• Develop and establish an efficient and effective storeroom layout.
• Develop and deliver continuous training for all of the storeroom personnel.
• Develop a plan to what portion of the storeroom is to be managed by contract and by internal resources.
• Storeroom metrics and management by turns by classifications.
• Develop and establish a partnership with maintenance and operation to achieve maintenance excellence.
• Integrating the storeroom function to supply reliable capacity for the assets.
• Develop policies and procedures for standardizing parts including engineering and maintenance responsibilities.
Please use this list and evaluate your storeroom function and how well it is working.
Tip provided by Kevin Lewton, Met Demand LLC
http://www.metdemand.com
June 22, 2006 Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) Tip
Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) is a common metric that has been used for many years to establish the average time between failures. Although it can be calculated in different ways, it primarily looks at the total runtime of an asset divided by the number of failures for that asset.
Total Runtime/Number of Incidents = MTBF
Tip excerpted from Root Cause Analysis 3rd Edition by Robert J. Latino, Kenneth C. Latino, published by CRC
June 22, 2006 Peter Senge's Five Disciplines
Learning Organizations five disciplines
1) Personal Mastery - is the individual’s motivation to learn and become better
2) Mental Models - are a technique that can be used to foster creativity as well as readiness and openness to change and the unexpected
3) Building Shared Vision so that the organization may build a common commitment to long term results and achievement
4) Team Learning - is needed so that the learning is passed on from the individuals to teams
5) The 5th Discipline is that of Systems Thinking which allows a person to see a systemic view of the organization as a function of its environment.
Tip from “The Fifth Discipline” by Peter M Senge
