May 15, 2008
Maintenance Tip
Who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed? RACI can tell you!
When your maintenance team needs a decision made on changing a part or changing a process do they know: Who is Responsible, Accountable, who should be Consulted, and who should be Informed? When decisions need to be made or processes need to be changes at your facility, are YOU always sure who you should be seeking out?
Wouldn’t it be nice if just a quick glance at a chart could define just who is Responsible, Accountable, should be Consulted or only Informed? Just having all of these people identified formally for all processes and even for decisions when they need be made could be the difference between achieving your maintenance goals or running into obstacles at every turn.
If you are new to a maintenance team, you’re probably facing the frustration of learning the boundaries within your organization. That defeated feeling you have is only because you consistently go to the same people for the wrong thing and guess what? Everyone else is or has done exactly the same thing. Two or three phone calls later you might get to someone who is Accountable or Responsible….maybe. Seems like a real waste of time doesn’t it?
Imagine being a new manager and walking into a maintenance department, seeing a chart which clearly defines each process, who is accountable and responsible, etc. Maybe you could learn where your boundaries are in the new organization must faster rather than walking around blind for at least a few weeks or like I did once for a few months.
RACI Charting has been around for a long time, it seems so simple yet so few organizations use it. Maybe because they assume each employee will just “figure it out” over time. This idea of learning as you go doesn’t help – it hurts. RACI can empower your organization, create a streamlined decision-making process that everyone can understand. When you realize what a simple and powerful tool RACI can be, you’ll wonder why you never used it before or why you didn’t think of it first! Here are some basic rules of RACI.
• R – Responsible = this is the “doer”
• A – Accountable = the “buck” stops here
• C – Consulted = who needs to be consulted before an something happens (no option)
• I – Informed = Keep this person informed (no option)
Tip provided by By Ricky Smith, CMRP
Allied Reliability
Cell: 843-725-8378
May 15, 2008
Get the recognition your team deserves: Nominate your program for Uptime Magazine's PdM Program of t
Entry Deadline: June 2
• Best Vibration Analysis Program Award
• Best Ultrasound Inspection Program Award
• Best Infrared Thermal Imaging Program Award
• Best Motor Testing Program Award
• Best Lubrication/Oil Analysis Program Award
• Best Precision Maintenance (alignment/Balancing) Program Award
• Best Overall PdM Program Award
Who can enter? Any company with an active PdM program can enter. We expect that you have been performing some sort of PdM for at least one year. If you are just getting started – you should consider entering at this time next year!
How much does it cost to enter? Nothing. The fee is $0. Unlike other maintenance awards that charge thousands of dollars, this is not a commercial activity – it fulfills our mission to promote excellence in predictive maintenance. International entries are encouraged.
What do the winners get? Each winning company will get a handsome award trophy, two Denim PdM Award Winner shirts, a handsome Poster Board featuring your program to display at work, two free passes to PdM-2008 Predictive Maintenance Technology Conference, acknowledgment in front of peers at the award presentation and an exclusive invitation to a special winners award dinner.
Find out more about Uptime Magazine’s PdM Program of the Year Awards
May 15, 2008
PM Builder
PM Builder is an inexpensive, entry level application that can help facilities maximize staff effectiveness, minimize maintenance costs and increase facility productivity. It has been designed for large or small companies that do not have a comprehensive or well defined/documented PM program and do not have the resources to commit to a full RCM or PMO analysis.
• Administer and deliver a well documented Preventive Maintenance program.
• Dramatically reduce the time to create a site wide PM program.
• Embark on a formal means of approval and document control.
May 15, 2008
Request Your Copy of the New Oil Analysis Book (No Cost)
Insight Services has put together a practical reference handbook on lubrication, oil analysis and sampling procedures. This easy to understand guide is a must read for any maintenance professional.
Now on the third edition, this book has been circulated to more than 4,000 maintenance professionals throughout the country.
Don’t miss your chance to receive our book today compliments of Insight Services.
Receive this terrific reference tool valued at $19.95 ABSOLUTELY FREE. Complimentary to U.S. residents only.
1-800-TESTOIL
http://www.testoil.com
May 15, 2008
Turnaround Tip
Welder’s Fire Blankets
When planning welding work require that contractors and maintenance personnel use only welding blankets that conform to ANSI/FM 4950.
A single fire event attributable to a poor-quality blanket can have huge financial impacts and cause delays to your project, not to mention the possibility of personnel injury and damage to equipment.
“Fire blanket” has been a loosely used term in the industry for many years, but there has been a standard in place for a while now. The cost of a quality fire blanket is very cheap, given the ugly and dangerous alternative.
Reader Tip provided by Jim Overly
Turnaround Planner
Turnaround Group of Texas, Inc.
Oyster Creek Texas
Thanks Jim - your stainless steel, diamond plate, Reliabilityweb.com coffee mug is on the way!
Send in your own tip and get a stainless steel, diamond plate, Reliabilityweb.com coffee mug
May 15, 2008
Continuous Improvement Tip
A Step-by-Step Process for Focused Continuous Improvement
Organizations routinely struggle with selecting and verifiably making continuous improvements. The following seven steps can be used as an improvement process guide.
1) Select the project.
It is always advisable to select projects and activities in accordance with the company’s core objectives/themes. In addition to projects being selected in accordance with strategic objectives, there should also be justification for one project over another. Data should quantify, qualify and help define the opportunity. The data collected here helps to prioritize resources, frame goals and set measurements for improvement.
2) Establish a non-degrading starting point.
Stabilize the situation before starting. As relevant, restore to a like new status. This step alone will often have a significant positive impact. Understanding and addressing the root cause(s) of the instability may, in deed, resolve the issue. Bottom line, it is not feasible to invest in a lost cause. (I.e. why paint the car when the tires are flat and the engine is blown.)
3) Select improvement targets.
Utilize problem-solving tools, skills and analysis to select improvement target(s). This step more clearly quantifies and qualifies the before picture and sets the expectations for the after picture. Show the tools, processes, assumptions, conclusions and the data for improvement targets.
4) Evaluate and select countermeasures.
Quantify, qualify and select improvements. This may be an individual or team effort depending on the project and skill level of those involved. Cost benefit and or risk analysis is typically utilized here to understand feasibility or impact of options. Here again, show the process and the data that lead to the selected countermeasure(s). Do not hesitate to involve people outside of your functional area for input and validation regarding the evaluation process and selection of countermeasures. Particularly, get the finance department to help with the cost benefit returns and analysis. Also include areas, such as Engineering, Operations, and Environmental Health and Safety (EHS), in the evaluation and selection of relevant countermeasures.
5) Implement countermeasures.
Implement the solution(s) and evaluate the results. Careful, do not make the changes and walk away. Evaluate the results. Note positive or negative changes. Any new problems created? Iterate through steps 1–4 as necessary.
6) Confirm effectiveness.
Let the data speak. Once the countermeasure has been implemented, prove that the issue has been resolved and that no counterproductive results have been achieved. Effectiveness must be demonstrated over a period of time. Confirm the improvement with defensible data. Show the Return On Investment (ROI), Economic Value Added (EVA), increase in uptime, improved throughput, mitigated risk or other accepted evaluation metric.
7) Standardize.
With the results confirmed, standards are established to sustain the improvements and further deploy lessons learned to other applicable areas. At minimum, this typically involves documentation and training. (Maintain the gain!)
Tip provided by Todd White, CMRP,
Management Resources Group, Inc.,
(203) 264-0500
Request your Focused Continuous Improvement Scorecard today to begin tracking your progress
May 15, 2008
Uptime Magazine PdM Program of Year Award Winners at PdM-2008
Uptime Magazine PdM Program of Year Award Winners from 2006 and 2007 return the share best practices at the Predictive Maintenance Technology Conference, September 15-18 in Omaha Nebraska.
• Catawba Nuclear Site’s Relentless Pursuit of PdM Excellence, by Ted Royal, Duke Energy – Winner Best Overall PdM Program Award
• Gallatin Steel Company Predictive Maintenance Story by Jeff Stegemiller, Gallatin Steel and Donald Nice, Jr. Timken - Winner Best Overall PdM Program Award
• Road to Gold: Hamilton Sunstrand quest to achieve UTC’s Ace Gold Status by Steven Piazza - Winner Best Ultrasound Inspection Program Award
• Calpine Motor Testing PdM Initiatives by Kevin Nordenstrom - Winner Best Motor Testing Program Award
• Working Toward Infrared Excellence at Arnold Air Force Base by Jennifer Daugherty - Winner Best Infrared Thermal Imaging Program Award
• Managing Lubrication and Oil Analysis at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station Mike Bryson - Winner Best Lubrication/Oil Analysis Program Award
• Timing is Everything - Effective Precision Spindle and Gearbox Condition Monitoring by Andrew Calcagno, GM Spring Hill Powertrain - Winner Best Vibration Analysis Program Award
• Pieces of the (Infrared) Puzzle by Matt Willems and Nick Bohonik, Johns Manville - Winner Best Infrared Thermal Imaging Program Award
• PM and Today’s Maintenance Realities by Carl Stevens, Virginia Department of Transportation - Winner Best mobile Lubrication/Oil Analysis Program Award
You will more than a maintenance survivor at PdM-2008 – you will be a maintenance champion.
Super team discounts – the earlier your register your team – the more bonus passes you get.
Find out more about learning to move from reactive maintenance to proactive maintenance at PdM-2008
May 15, 2008
Pump Tip
Slenderness Ration
Slenderness may be good for your waistline but it is not very desirable for your overhung pump shafts. A quick way to ensure that your overhung pumps have the robustness to withstand operating far from the best efficiency point is to determine their slenderness ratio. The ratio is calculated by taking the cube of the length (L) from the center of the inboard bearing to the overhung end of the shaft and dividing it by the diameter (D) of the pump shaft at the stuffing box (under the sleeve) to the fourth power. As you can see from the formula, large diameter shafts that have limited overhangs from the inboard bearings are desirable. Ratios of twenty-five or less should handle the unevenly distributed pressure in the pump volute caused by throttling without allowing shaft flexing that causes premature seal or bearing failures. It is a good exercise to check the slenderness ratio of your problem pump to see if there are opportunities for improvement.
Tip provided by Jim Hudson
Trico Corp.
800-558-7008 (USA only)
262-691-9336
May 08, 2008
WALGREENS seeks Maintenance Managers & Maintenance Technicians in 14 locations
Walgreens currently seeks qualified MAINTENANCE MANAGERS and MAINTENANCE TECHNICIANS for 14 locations in our state-of-the-art Distribution Centers across the country. Walgreens Distribution Centers have developed a reputation for finding the newest, most efficient and innovative ways to move merchandise.
May 08, 2008
Service Spare Parts and MRO Spare Parts Survey
Note: This survey is offered by our friends at ignite Service and is independent from Reliabilityweb.com
Thank you in advance for taking this survey about forecasting and planning for Service Spare Parts and MRO Spare Parts. The survey is intended for practitioners in both Field Service and Maintenance Repair & Overhaul (MRO) environments, so we have generically used the term “spare parts” to cover both service spare parts and MRO spare parts. Please answer the questions as best you can from your individual perspective.
Your input and opinions are vital, so we truly appreciate the time you take to answer these questions. It should take only about 10-12 minutes. As always, unless you give ignite Service your specific permission to share it, any contact information you provide will be KEPT STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL.
ignite Service will also provide you with a courtesy copy of the summary report of this survey.
