October 09, 2008
Top 5 Most Anticipated Maintenance Information Management Sessions At IMC-2008
The team at Reliabilityweb.com and Uptime Magazine have been busy gearing up for this year’s highly anticipated International Maintenance Conference (December 8-11) in Bonita Springs, Florida.
Early bird discounts, spouse meal pass, hotel savings and Certificate workshops are still available through November 1.
Find out more about the top five Maintenance Information Management sessions available exclusively at IMC-2008 that we’re most looking forward to.
October 09, 2008
Balancing Tip for Fans
In order to help identify the exact placement of the reflective tape for the zero degree point on the shaft and the corresponding zero degree point on the fan wheel that results in a more precise balancing job, a laser level tool can help.
With the laser line from the laser level tool marking lengthwise along the side of the shaft, move the laser tool over to the fan inspection door so that the laser line also marks the zero point on the fan wheel. If a fan blade is to be used as the zero point, move the fan wheel until the laser line marks the side of the blade. The location of the laser line on the shaft is where the reflective tape should be attached for the corresponding zero reference mark on the fan wheel.
Instead of using a laser level tool, you can also use one of the Belt Hog brand V-Belt Laser Alignment units to create the laser line.
Use caution when operating the laser and follow the manufactures or your company’s recommended safety procedures.
Reader tip provided by Charles Rogers
Program Manager
KSL Services, JV
Los Alamos, NM
October 09, 2008
Lean Reliability Leadership
Last quarter – make it count with professional training you’ll use today
Lean Reliability Leadership: Develop a cohesive reliability strategy that links profit and capacity
October 09, 2008
Visual Inspection Tip
While performing Pre-PM inspections on gear, always have a printed or electronic exploded view of the gear so inspector(s) can mark or draw defects such as missing items, leaks, cracks, etc.
This type of information can be invaluable to planning the corrective maintenance tasks for the next scheduled maintenance downtime.
Reader Tip provided by Jerry Peterson
Director, eMESA Services
Dimension Technology Solutions (DTS)
Gillette, WY
October 09, 2008
Maintenance Management 201 Tip
Tip 7 - Always question policies that don’t seem to make sense
Although this may seem like an invitation to make a “career limiting move”, it is not – it is really an extension of point 6. Many “systems” that we work within do not exist by design; they have evolved over the years. The organization may have put a policy in place that was needed to address a problem many years ago, but the problem no longer exists. We sometimes find ourselves bound by those policies that needlessly stifle organizational growth.
A common example of this point is the decision to select some craftspeople for training in predictive maintenance technologies. A policy may be in place that such positions have to be awarded on the basis of seniority only, and when the position is bid, a craftsman who is only a year or two from retirement has bid on it and has the greatest seniority. Does it make sense to award the job to that person and provide a year’s worth of training, only to have him/her retire just when he/she becomes competent?
The world around us is constantly changing, and sometimes our rules and policies need to change in order to keep pace. If we do not recognize this and make the necessary changes, it is tantamount to being “stupid on purpose”. We need to take an objective look at our rules, policies and practices, and modify those that don’t make sense. Although this may be difficult to do in some organizational environments, you should still raise the issue. After all if you don’t question an outdated policy, then who will?
Tip provided by Bruce Hawkins
MRG
http://www.mrginc.net
iPresentation Tutorial Invitation: Maintenance 201 – More of the Basics
October 09, 2008
Lawson Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) helps you manage your important assets—your infrastructur
Are you currently able to:
• Monitor asset performance and proactively identify potential maintenance needs?
• Estimate the required labor, material, and time factors involved in maintenance activities?
• Properly budget for asset maintenance requirements and predict annual asset impairment potential based on historical trends?
• Feel confident that critical assets will perform when you need them?
• Allow work requests and service requests to be created in just a few seconds?
• Integrate with inventory, sourcing, purchasing, and accounting to fulfill requests quickly?
• Provide your customers with a high degree of assurance that you will complete your work on schedule?
Lawson can help you automate and simplify processes, achieve greater efficiency and productivity with regard to your assets.
October 09, 2008
Pump Shaft Gland Packing Tip
I wish to share my experience and solution on the pump (sea water, fresh water, liquids) gland leakages and short life of gland packing.
The gland packing tend to leak and damage at quick intervals due to the following reasons-
- Frequent nip up gland nuts in attempting to minimize leak.
- Rough shaft or sleeve area for packing
- Rough or scored and pitted area of gland housing.
- Over tightening of gland packing flange or uneven tightening.
- Inadequate maintenance of pump, vibrations, misalignment, dirt flow conditions etc.,
The solution-
- Prepare shaft and gland pack housing smooth surfaces.
- Cut white Teflon round washer inside correctly to shaft size and out side correctly to housing size.
- Insert first the Teflon washer.
- Next fit the gland packing of correct size.
- Later fix another white Teflon washer.
- Subject to gland packing length ensure every packing protected by Teflon washer.
- On top fix another Teflon washer for gland packing flange to keep pressed against packing.
- Moderately tight the nuts with spring washers of the packing assembly.
- Observe the result.
Note: If pumps are not dismantled, make an angle cut of Teflon washer and insert on shaft. Repack in similar manner as explained above.
The benefits of the solution-
- Gland packing will be intact between white Teflon washers.
- This type of packing provides labyrinth sealing effect and minimize leak.
- Packing in service will not deform due to various reasons like dirt, squeezing due to over tight, uniform pressure applied on tightness.
- Minimum or negligible leak keep the personnel happy.
- Long term maintenance and reduced spares and maintenance.
- Benefit to environment.
- This method can be applied to rotating and reciprocating shaft.
Reader tip provided by Tatta Seshu Raghavacharyulu
Fleet Support Manager
NYK Ship Management
Singapore
Thank you for the tip - your Maintenance-Tips hat is on the way!
October 09, 2008
Leadership Tip
Today’s Leadership Topic: The Main Thing
Here are five ways to ensure your team not only know what your main thing is, but also that they work together to accomplish it.
1) Share your vision of what’s truly important…what you want and need your team to achieve. Don’t just recite the organization’s vision – that’s great for the annual report, but employees need to know what’s in your head. It should be a clear explanation of what your team’s results can and should be…and how you see that happening.
2) Provide regular feedback on how each team member is helping to accomplish the main thing. Do not fall into the “as long as you don’t hear from me you’ll know you’re doing okay” trap. Again, your people need to hear directly from you whether things are going well or not.
3) Show the team that you care. If your group is like most, the question “Does anybody really give a flip about what we do around here?” probably comes up now and then. Everyone needs to feel (and BE) appreciated by his or her leader. In fact, being recognized for one’s efforts and contributions is the number one factor leading to long-term job satisfaction. That’s right…it ranks above money!
4) Identify and eliminate unnecessary activities that either don’t support your main thing or that block the progress and success of your people. Test all of the team’s decisions and activities against the main thing. Then have the courage to stop doing the things that distract the team from accomplishing its top priority.
5) Stay consistent. The leader’s job is to provide consistency in everything he or she does. Your actions must be consistent with your words. The performance reviews you conduct must be consistent with the coaching you have provided along the way; the reward system you have in place must reflect and acknowledge the accomplishment of important team goals.
Tip excerpted from Leadership Courage: Leadership Strategies for Individual and Organizational Success
By David Cottrell and Eric Harvey
October 02, 2008
Reliability Masters Track at IMC-2008 23rd International Maintenance Conference
December 8-11, 2008
Hyatt Resorts Coconut Point
Bonita Springs Florida
Just a few of 48 Learning Zone presentations available only at IMC-2008:
• Implementing a Multi-Site Engineered Maintenance Plan by Mark Gilbertson, Director of Asset Management, Rio Tinto Energy Americas Tom Moriarty, PE, CMRP, Alidade MER
• Current Best Reliability and Maintenance Practices by Christer Idhammar, IDCON
• If People Are Our Greatest Asset, Why Are We Still Allowing Them to Get Hurt? by Bart Jones, Director, Facilities O&M, Arnold Engineering Development Center/ATA
• Standards for Condition Monitoring and Diagnostics of Machines by Kenneth J. Culverson, Senior Reliability Engineer, Shaw Industries, Inc.
• “Root Camp” How an airline trains technicians in Root Cause Analysis techniques by Bill Brinkley, US Air
• The Building Blocks to a Successful Lubrication Analysis Program by Brian Thorp, Seminole Electric
• A New Asset Management System (AMS) Standard by Sridhar Ramakrishnan, Lead Maintenance Planner, Growth, Planning & Development (Firebag), Suncor Energy Inc.
• Reliability Excellence and Leadership by Brendon Russ, Southern Gardens Citrus and Gary Thomas, PCA
• A Focus on the I-P Interval A Case Study About Understanding the Complete P-F Curve by
• Phil Pinkston, Cargill Memphis and Doug Plucknette, Allied Reliability
• Don’t Let the Economy Be an Excuse for Poor Performance by Clay Lewis, Rayonier Wood Products and Dave Bertolini, People and Processes, Inc.
• Level of Planning Detail by Robert J Doherty, CMRP, US Sugar Corporation
• How did we get to where we are by Joe Lynch, CPMM, Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District
• Reliability Centered Maintenance or Root Cause Analysis - Chicken or the egg? by Bob Di Francesco, ARMS Reliability Engineers
• Building Effective PM Tasks by Steve Turner OMCS
• Lubrication for Managers by Ray Thibault, CLS
IMC-2008 also includes additional case studies, Reliability Masters Track, 10 Certificate workshops, 2 keynotes, 70 leading solution providers, 4 technology learning labs including the new Arc Flash lab, power coaching sessions, 2 plant tours, C-Level Asset Reliability Forum and yes – the obligatory IMC Golf Tournament at Raptor Bay.
Transform yourself and your reliability journey at IMC-2008 by speaking with one of our conference specialists’ toll free (888) 575-1245 or find out more online…
October 02, 2008
Reliability Reporting Tip
Many production tracking systems are not integrated with the maintenance recording system.
For reliability reporting it is critical to link production downtime events with the corrective maintenance events which are typically in the form of work orders. Only when the maintenance records are linked to production downtime events can the full power of downtime analysis reporting can be realized.
Tip provided by Jerry Peterson
Director, eMESA Services
Dimension Technology Solutions (DTS)
Gillette WY
