Knoxville Marriott
Wednesday May 9, 2007
9:30 am - 5:30 pm
http://www.marcon-2007.com

You are invited to register for a FREE MARCON-2007 Expo pass to see the latest technologies and services for the maintenance and reliability community.

The MARCON-2007 Expo features 20 leading solution providers that are on hand to answer your questions with hand’s-on demonstrations.

• Taproot
• Reliabilityweb.com
• Uptime Magazine
• Wilcoxon
• SMRP
• Univ of Tennessee
• Vibrametrics
• Philadelphia Mixing Solutions
• MasteringMaintenance.com
• Wyle Laboratories
• Commtest, Inc.
• Ludeca
• Allied Reliability
• Reliability Management Group
• Meridium
• Areva
• Azima
• SDT
• PCB/IMI Sensors
• Henkel Corporation

All attendees have a chance to win a portable GPS system.

MARCON-2007 Expo passes are available at NO COST however pre-registration is required.

Request your free MARCON-2007 Expo Pass here

SUCCESS by DESIGN introduces a series of Electrical Motor Diagnostics classes that are neutral to any one manufacturer’s technology. Whether the attendee is using basic technologies, surge testing, MCA, MCSA, ESA or torsional analysis, all will come away with a deeper understanding of the application and the interpretation of these technologies.

Coming soon to a location near you!

Find Out More About Electric Motor Diagnostics Workshops

What non-repeatability may be telling you.

Regardless of what type of alignment system or method you use, corrections should never be attempted if the readings don’t repeat within an allowable tolerance. Here are some things to check for when this happens;

a) Make sure all components and bracketing are secure to the shaft, that nothing is rubbing, and that all equipment hold-down bolts are tight.

b) If possible, increase the measuring average of the laser to compensate for ambient vibration. Dial indicator users cannot compensate for this effect.

c) Tooling used to turn large machinery may be deflecting the shaft and influencing readings; use the Multipoint method of taking readings if your laser system offers this.

d) Wait for recently run machines to cool off to ambient temperature and all thermal gradients within the machines to stabilize before taking readings.

e) After eliminating all of the above, you may very well still have machinery issues such as bad or excessively worn bearings.

Tip provided by LUDECA, INC.
ALIGNMENT * VIBRATION * BALANCING
http://www.ludeca.com
Tel: 305-591-8935

More Alignment Resources

The 6th reliability deliverable prior to starting up equipment is” All maintenance technical training is complete. If special technology is employed, there is a minimum of 2 associates trained in this new technology. “

There is never a better time to understand the skills requirement and gaps then during the execution of the project. There are two skill categories which should be reviewed: general craft skills and specific equipment and/ or process training. The first category is general training.

A project will be installing technical components which are already installed in the factory. This is the ideal time to review the performance of the workforce in troubleshooting specific components. For example, if your Mean Time Between Failures on belt drives are low, reviewing the basic care for belt drives: alignment, tightening, design and inspection will improve the performance of existing assets as well as those being installed.

By identifying these needs upfront the training can be negotiated with the purchase price of the equipment. The second set of training which needs to be identified and detailed is specific equipment and process training. This training needs to focus on new technologies or new applications of standard technologies. It also needs to provide the technical resources the ability to troubleshoot component issues as it relates to the complete process not just at the specific component level.

One of the important steps to manage special training is to have at least a primary and back up resource. The purpose is to insure availability of the skills. If attrition occurs in one of these resources, your organization has someone knowledgeable of the technology to train another. If you’re running around the clock, you can split the resource during a critical time of the start up to ensure downtime is eliminated or avoided.

Tip provided by Kevin Lewton
MetDemand LLC
http://www.metdemand.com

iPresentation invitation: Use a Project to Change to a Proactive Culture!

Avoiding a disconnected RCA analysis

When conducting Root Cause Analysis investigators can become biased because of inferences from well respected peers. Inferences are expressed based on personal biases that frame your opinion about how something may have occurred.

The danger here is the personal bias may be based on only one small thread of evidence observed at the failure scene, but because of respect of who stated the inference it is taken as fact. Anytime the investigator is presented with failure scene information he must process it as good information and ask for a way to prove or disprove it. A good RCA is always fact driven down to the Root Causes.

Tip provided by Mark Latino
Reliability Center Inc.
http://www.reliability.com

Find Out More About The Reliability Center

June 5-7, 2007
Tampa Marriott Airport
Tampa, Florida

Learn how dramatic RCM analysis cycle reduction is accomplished by combining advanced facilitation techniques with the Traditional RCM thought process.

Students learn how RCM Blitz is not only one the fastest process available but it also one of the most thorough!

Find Out More About The RCM Blitz Seminar

Check those rebuilt motor bearings ! ! !

A couple years ago we noticed that we had a couple premature motor failures after bearing rebuilds. So we started checking the rebuilt motors as they arrive from the shop. We found that on a few the bearing housings were not thoroughly cleaned at the shop. A small stainless rod ( tig welding rod ) is used to probe down the grease tube to the bearing and slowly removed. The grease / debris is wiped on a white grease rag. If there is visible contamination in the grease tube area (usually burnt grease) then it may be throughout the bearing or it will be pushed into the bearing the first time that the motor is lubed after it is put in service. After seeing our results the rebuild shop added some procedures for their techs to ensure that the housings are cleaned and that new lube tubes are installed.

Reader tip provided by Jerry E. Baker
PdM Lubrication,BIO-PDO
Tate & Lyle, Loudon TN Plant

Thanks Jerry - your Maintenance Tip hat is on the way!

Do you have a Maintenance Tip to share? Send it to us and you will get a FREE Maintenance Tip hat when published.

Planning a Critical Project
Excerpt from John W. Rushton’s book,
Effective Maintenance Management Using Planned & Preventive Maintenance

A large maintenance project can take a significant amount of material and human resources, and can interrupt production. Because of this, proper preparation and planning is essential.

Critical Project Planning requires dedicated effort and is time consuming. Success is directly proportional to the time and effort spent in the initial stages, and the quality of the information gathered.

We suggest that the initial planning of a large maintenance project be broken down into the following six categories:

1.The Definition: The definition should include what you are going to do, and what you are not going to do. The biggest single reason for failure in the execution of a critical project is the adding of work after the project is started. This destroys momentum, which is essential for success. Every job added requires a completely new work plan. If the job is absolutely necessary, do it, but think about it.

2.The Task Statement: This is a list of jobs or activities, which can be as detailed or as broad as you want to make them. Practice is the only way to develop skill in this area.

3.The Critical Path Network: The initial CPN is designed to show the inner relationship between jobs, and prepare the planner to make a realistic bar chart.

4.The Bar Chart: This is primarily a scheduling and man-power leveling tool. This chart, along with the CPN, will ultimately be the tools used to control the job.

5.The Parts List: There is very little maintenance work where expected parts usage cannot be reasonably estimated before a machine is shut down. The parts business is particularly difficult, but the effort must be made. The parts list is usually started after the CPN because you need to know exactly what you are going to do before you can make an accurate estimate of the parts required.

6.The Cost Estimate: It is unusual for a company to spend more on a repair than the cost of a new or rebuilt machine. All levels of maintenance management should develop a feel for costs.

You now have enough information to schedule the work and give management a reasonable estimate as to how much time and money it is going to take. After the decision to go is given, this information can be used as a tool to properly finish the planning, and to execute a successful project.

Find Out More About Planning Large Maintenance Projects at Rushton