November 09, 2006
Maintenance Storeroom Tip
I just taught a course on Inventory and stock room management in beautiful Louisiana (if you are not familiar with the US- New Orleans is in Louisiana as well as a good portion of our alligator population) and they reminded me about the importance of having the right parts available at the right time.
There were a couple lessons that could be learned by any storeroom starting with the importance of accurate records. Everyone agrees with the importance of accurate records but disagree with how to achieve the goal. Here’s my take on achieving the goal:
• Be sure everyone knows why it is important.
• Encourage people to take responsibility for their part.
• Be sure everyone knows who is accountable for
different aspects.
• Provide physical security.
• Provide training in procedures for storeroom
personnel and your customers
• Conduct motivational talks from different parties
• Provide the tools to make doing the right thing the easiest thing to do.
• Establish goals and measures and report on progress IN PUBLIC
• Management must have the will power to make it so!
Did you ever think of all the areas where mistakes can happen to mess up your inventory numbers?
• Parts removed without paperwork
• Missing shipping, receiving documents
• Wrong part sent in and missed in receiving
• Rebuildables handles differently each time
• Confusion in unit of measure
• Marking wrong SKU (part number) on incoming part
• Errors in transcription
• Returns improperly accounted for
• One part blocking sight of another
• Pilferage, theft
• Toolbox and rat hole inventory
Another thing that struck me was the complexity of the process to change items on the stock list. If you want to see something interesting get a sheet of quad paper (if they still sell it- or use Visio) and take a business process like Return surplus items to stock or the process to agree to standardize on one item (such as a particular bearing). Draw all the steps, authorizations, conversations, files created or changed, forms to be filled out to accomplish the objective. In our class adding an item to stock required 20 steps and a plant manager’s signature!
Thanks for reading- Joel Levitt - Author - Lean Maintenance in a Nutshell
November 02, 2006
Free Plant Tour at IMC-2006
This week only: Buy a 3 day or 4 day conference pass and choose the Seminole Electric Generating Station plant Tour and you will get the Tour at no cost!
Just use Discount Code: TOUR
Register today - this special Free Plant Tour at IMC-2006 offer ends November 4!
November 02, 2006
Coolant Tip
Water is not “just water”
Analyzing source water is extremely important to the success of any cooling system preventive maintenance program. Although water may be the most readily available heat transfer agent known to man, its reaction to heat is governed by the type and amount of contaminants present that antifreeze and coolant inhibitors can correct. And most of the water in the world contains enough contamination to fail ASTM and OEM specifications for use in engine coolants. These contaminants produce either scale or acidic conditions that can both lead to metal corrosion or pitting.
A water’s ability to form scale depends largely on the amounts of calcium and magnesium it contains. Such contaminants as silicate and sulfate, as well as the water’s ability to form carbonates, will determine the type of calcium/magnesium scale formed. Scale formation in an engine can result in cracked heads, head gasket failure and clogged radiators and oil coolers. Acid formation can cause pitting in liners, radiators and oil coolers and damage water pumps.
November 02, 2006
Phillip Slater will help you achieve your inventory reduction goals and lower your business cost!
Sustainable Cost Reduction: 10 Steps to Lower Cost Business details a proven, 10-step approach to cost reduction, and provides a series of tools to help you achieve sustainable cost reduction in your business while avoiding the damage of “slash and burn”. It presents a new ‘Operations Improvement Cycle’, featuring the benchmark, priority and guidance that were missing in the original cycle. Not only will this manual save you money on an ongoing basis, but these proven techniques will have an impact almost immediately!
Sustainable Inventory Reduction: An Introduction to Inventory Cash Release™ is the result of the author’s time spent working with clients and studying the issues people face in trying to achieve their inventory reduction. This landmark manual shows you the seven Actions for Inventory Reduction so you can easily, efficiently and sustainably achieve your inventory reduction, free up cash, and reduce your costs without risk and impact on your capability. Additionally, it explains the author’s self-developed process to follow, the mistakes to avoid, and a sure fire approach that minimizes your workload!
In addition to these titles, Industrial Press offers a broad range of acclaimed Maintenance references covering the numerous facets of the field.
SPECIAL OFFER to U.S. residents only…receive a 20% discount on any Maintenance book by providing special offer code MAINT-06 when checking out! Offer expires December 31, 2006.
November 02, 2006
The Dirty Dozen: 12 Ways to Wreck Your Maintenance Program
Communicate As Poorly As You Possibly Can (1 of 12)
Poor communication is one of the most effective ways to destroy a maintenance program. At all levels of an organization, each of us has valuable information that can be used to solve problems and improve the maintenance process. By withholding that information, you can do spectacular amounts of damage. If you are serious about wrecking your maintenance efforts, include poor communication in your arsenal.
In your next maintenance team meeting, withhold information that could help others solve a problem or make improvements. Hoarding of information can give you a feeling of power, which is a nice side benefit for you. No matter what your role in the organization, there are ample opportunities to keep information to yourself, so don’t assume this tip is only for managers. If someone challenges you about your poor communication, an effective response is to say that the information was confidential or sensitive, and the questions will usually go away, just like magic.
Tune in for our next tip as we continue to expose the secret lives of seriously disturbed maintenance “professionals” with The Dirty Dozen Tip #2: Pretend You Are On the Team.
Tip provided by NoBreakDowns.com
Tel: (218) 327-3114
Receive a complimentary Dirty Dozen: 12 Ways to Wreck Your Maintenance Program electronic poster
November 02, 2006
Belt and Sheave Tip
Belt and Sheave Electrical Frequency Analysis
Belt frequencies, in demodulated current signatures, tend to show in the 5 to 15 Hertz range. In conditions where there is belt alignment and tension issues, there will often be two peaks that represent the sheave and belt frequencies. However, the value in demodulated frequency, alone, can only identify that this issue exists, but not the severity of the problem. To view the severity, the analyst must view the ‘high resolution’ or around the line frequency peak to see if sidebands of the belt and sheave frequencies can be seen. This sets the values, in dB, relative to the amplitude of current (load). If the peaks exist and exceed -65 dB (65 dB down), then there is an issue that must be addressed quickly and will usually represent belt tension and alignment faults.
Tip provided by Howard W Penrose, Ph.D., CMRP, SUCCESS by DESIGN Reliability Services
November 02, 2006
What Your Boss Doesn’t Want You to Know… (ADV)
Meridium is hiring.
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November 02, 2006
Ultrasound Tip
Use Ultrasound to scan the production line quarterly or semi-annually.
Using airborne ultrasound to scan your production line quarterly is a good idea for those plants using a lot of control air, conveyors and robotics. Ultrasound is sound above 20 kHz and also short-wave about 1/8” to 5/8” long making it very directional. Imagine a control line leaking or a robotic arm binding? Ultrasound may hear this when the human ear cannot detect it. Not just any ultrasound is used to do this. Make sure your instrument has the sensitivity to hear these sounds in a noisy area. Some instruments receive on such a wide band that hearing these anomalies can be very difficult.
Try this inspection method you may be surprised as to what you find.
Tip provided by Jim Hall
Ultra-Sound Technologies
November 02, 2006
Maintenance Tip
What is the product of Maintenance?
I had the wonderful opportunity to work in a gold mine in South Africa. Deep (like 10,000’), hard rock mining is a tough, dangerous proposition. Maintaining the equipment is likewise tough and dangerous. Even in that tough environment the basic lessons are important. For example I asked them the easy question, “what is the mine’s product?” Of course they could answer “the Mine’s product is GOLD” (with a dummy added under the breath).
Then I asked what was the product of the maintenance department? The universal answer was that the maintenance department’s product is a repair to broken equipment. Superficially that makes sense. When I think about the service department at a new car dealer I think in terms of my car is broken, they fix it. I pay for the repair. Therefore they are in the repair business.
Is the maintenance department of a mine any different from a service department in a car dealer? I would say this point is the core difference between struggling maintenance departments and great ones. The answer of this query also explains the focus of management.
The maintenance department’s product is CAPACITY. It is the capacity to dig up the ore and turn it into GOLD. It is the capacity created by maintenance that is valuable not the ability to repair equipment.
What difference does this make? If capacity is the product then management should be focusing on optimizing capacity (the most capacity for the least resources). Since the capacity is so valuable the maintenance resources is a small input into the calculation. If repairs are the product then the focus is on cutting the cost of repairs by reducing parts inventory and number of people in the department.
Lets get back to mining. If nothing breaks we might able to mine enough ore to make 50,000# of gold a year. But due to breakdowns and downtime we actually only get 35,000# per year. The maintenance budget might be around $15,000,000 to achieve this level of production. Then the gap is 15,000# of gold a year. That might not sound like too much but a pound of gold is worth $5600, so the gap is worth $84,000,000 every year.
With proactive maintenance and other good maintenance practices we might be able to close 15% to 20% of the gap with modest (percentage wise) increases in the maintenance effort. Increases in the maintenance budget, which would be temporary, might amount to $1M to $2M per year for a few years. The extra investment might be in systems, increased inventory, additional training or some combination.
In the beginning was a change in attitude toward maintenance. Maintenance makes capacity. There is way more money to be made annually for the company in increasing capacity then there is in a decade of maintenance budget cuts. The economics of good maintenance can make significant return on investment to companies willing to change their attitudes.
Thanks for reading- Joel Levitt, Author - 20 Steps to World Class Maintenance
