SDT North America and ALL TEST Pro are sponsoring two lucky winners who will be able to attend the Learning Labs, meet the Ultrasound experts at SDT and the Motor Testing experts at ALL TEST Pro.

Here is what each winner will get:

• VIP Status in SDT Learning Lab

• VIP Status in ALL TEST Pro Learning Lab

• Round Trip Airfare from any US or Canadian airport to Daytona or Orlando Airport

• Airport Transportation from Daytona or Orlando Airport to Daytona Beach Hilton

• 4 Nights Hotel stay at the Daytona Beach Hilton

• IMC-2007 2 Day Conference Pass (Dec 6-7)

Click here to enter the IMC-2007 Learning Lab Giveaway

When working on wall light switches, label the inside of the light switch cover with the power feed location, i.e. power panel and circuit breaker, for easy identification of power source and time savings for next person trying to lock out the power for safety reasons.

Reader tip provided by Charlie Tuttle
Manager - Maintenance Operations
E.I.DuPont
Towanda, Pennsylvania

Thanks Charlie - your Stainless Steel Diamond Plate Reliabilityweb.com Coffee Mug is on the way!

Send in your own maintenance tip and get a hat or coffee mug

No worries. You can get all the papers and presentation by ordering the PdM-2007 Proceedings CD for just US$99 .

As a thank you - we will include a PdM-2006 and a PdM-2005 Proceeding CD (normally $99 each) at no additional fee!

That’s a $297 value for just $99

Click here to order before September 30

Proper planning of maintenance work will provide you with free labor.

Statistical work sampling studies show that the BEST productivity (hands-on-tools-time) you can expect without planning is around 35%. Most reactive organizations are lower than that. The remaining 65% of the craftsperson’s day is spent trying to find parts, looking for technical information, talking to Operations to see what’s wrong with the equipment, and other nonproductive activities. If you have 20 people in your crew, they are doing the equivalent work of 7 people at 100% productivity. In essence, you’re paying for 13 people who aren’t adding value to your organization.

Some productivity loss is unavoidable; planning the work in advance will eliminate the avoidable delays. With good planning, you can expect a workforce productivity of 55% or better. That’s a 57% improvement in the amount of work your crew can do in a day. Do the math; your 20-person workforce can now do the work of 11 people at 100% productivity. You just added the equivalent of four people to your workforce - at no additional cost! In addition, your workforce is less frustrated because they have what they need to do a quality job. (Palmer, Richard D., 1999, Maintenance Planning and Scheduling Handbook, McGraw-Hill, New York, pages 2.31 - 2.32.)

Planning also provides other benefits. Since the planning function is so integrated into the work management process, it provides the “glue” that holds it together and ensures that it functions properly. Planners also provide a “quality assurance” function to make sure that the data in your system is accurate and meaningful. Considering these benefits, a good planner can be one of the most valuable members of your organization!

Tip provided by Management Resources Group, Inc.
203.264.0500 x136
http://www.mrginc.net

iPresentation Tutorial invitation: MRO Data Is An Asset

During a scheduled shutdown of a system in your plant (of course being certain it is de-energized and safe to do so), consider installing high emissivity targets on your low emissivity components.

This allows you to take accurate radiometric measurements anytime it is necessary. It also enables you to better detect small heating differences that are often difficult to see on shiny metal surfaces. These can signal important changes in the condition of the health of an asset.
Without these targets you have little assurance of accuracy and repeatability. It is simply a matter of physics! The combination of low emittance and high reflectance makes measurements on most of these surfaces impossible.
The best target to use is typically a high-quality electrical tape as it is approved for use in electrical systems and has a known emissivity of 0.95. It may also be possible to use other electrical insulation materials, paper stickers or various kinds of paints that are compatible with electrical systems.

Of course, before modifying any system, it is important to have such changes approved by management or your safety committee.

Tip provided by John Snell
Snell Infrared
http://www.snellinfrared.com

Attend Thermal Solutions...the conference for professional thermographers

The 22nd International Maintenance Conference
December 4-7, 2007 - Daytona Beach Florida

We all want to make maintenance improvements but do you know what that means? Most of us use “best efforts” to make our companies better but as quality and reliability Guru W. Edward Deming states “best efforts without knowledge is just best efforts”.

By what method do you plan to make those improvements?

At IMC-2007 you will:
• Learn the systems you can use to improve reliability
• Discover the causes of failure
• Gain knowledge to appreciate what is required for reliability
• Understand the people you who will create reliability at your company

Hotel and early bird conference discount available.

Watch for the IMC-2007 in the September issue of Uptime Magazine or please call toll free (888) 575 1245 to request a your IMC-2007 brochure.

Registering 6 or more? Ask About Team Discounts

The only conference with a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee or your money back!

Find out more about IMC-2007 -The 22nd International Maintenance Conference

Plan for Unplanned Maintenance – Minimize MRO Risk

Budget season is here and you are once again faced with figuring out how to effectively trim inventory and at the same time improve performance - without going over budget. To find the economic balance between cost and availability:

1 – Determine which items are issued infrequently and have unpredictable demand and are therefore not being well managed by your current CMMS system.

2 – From that pool of items look for a subset of key spares that have a significant impact on the value of the inventory and are most likely to be out-of-balance:

a – Determine the items that have the minimum order point set too high.

b – Determine the items that have a balance-on-hand greater than the maximum required to protect availability.

c – Determine the items that have the minimum order point set too low to prevent costly downtime or unsafe conditions.

3 – For these key spares, analyze important variables such as criticality, lead time, and usage history to determine accurate reorder levels.

For more on using these steps to balance cost and availability…

View The iPresentation “The Annual Budget Challenge – Making the Most of Your Inventory Dollars"

If you are asking yourself the following:

*Where can I find examples of RCM analysis?

Then read on….

There are lots of examples on the internet and a few books also. One I recommend is: RCM-Gateway to World Class Maintenance, co-authored by Anthony M. Smith and Glenn Hinchcliffe, ISBN: 0-7506-7461-X.

While having examples is nice, I can tell you from my personal experience that trying to start an RCM program without training, coaching, and mentoring from a knowledgeable professional is a very difficult process and has a low chance of success.

Tip provided by Bill Keeter
Allied Reliability
888-414-5760
http://www.alliedreliability.com

Find Out More About Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) Training

The 22nd International Maintenance Conference
December 4-7, 2007 - Daytona Beach Florida

At IMC-2007 you will:

• Learn the systems you can use to improve reliability

• Discover the causes of failure

• Gain knowledge to appreciate what is required for
reliability

• Understand the people you who will create reliability at your company

Hotel and early bird conference discount available.

Watch for the IMC-2007 in the September issue of Uptime Magazine or please call toll free (888) 575 1245 to request a your IMC-2007 brochure.

Registering 6 or more? Ask About Team Discounts

The only conference with a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee or your money back!

Find out more about IMC-2007 -The 22nd International Maintenance Conference

Calculating PdM “Saves”

Use a factor of 0.5 for vibration related saves. PM tasks, noise,temperature indications and sensory benefits of walk-downs will reduce the severity of the typical or average save. This will vary between categories, depending upon how effective the operators or maintenance personnel are at detection under plant conditions in the vicinity if the operating equipment. However a 50% factor is a reasonable starting assumption. Raise or lower the actual factor based on actual plant conditions.

Tip excerpted from “Predictive Maintenance Management” Course workbook by Jack Nicholas Jr.
10 Part Web Workshop
http://www.reliabilityweb.com/pdm/invite.htm

Get your own copy of Predictive Maintenance Management Course Book and CD