November 06, 2008
Leadership Tip
Communicate the Rules of the Game
People become confused when there are no established performance standards, when the rules are contradictory, or when the stated values are not being followed.
For instance, we may communicate that we respect employees’ time, yet we consistently begin our meetings fifteen minutes late – wasting fifteen minutes of everyone’s time. Perhaps we say employees are our most valuable assets, but we hire the first “warm body” we can find to be on the team. Or maybe we tell people that we value excellence, yet ask more and more from our top performers, while tolerating mediocrity and poor performance from others.
Earning employees’ trust begins with clearly establishing acceptable standards of behavior for the team. To do that, managers must first answer the question, “What are the team’s values?” Then they can determine the “rules of the road” and decide which behaviors are “non-negotiable.” If the standards are not clearly established, are continually changing, or are contradictory, you can’t expect to develop personal trust. After all, what would they be trusting?
When people understand the rules of the game, generally speaking, they will do their best to play by the rules.
Tip excerpted from The Manager’s Communication Handbook: A Practical Guide to Building Understanding, Support, and Acceptance by David Cottrell and Eric Harvey
November 06, 2008
Does your IR Inspection Program Need a Jump Start?
Experience Isn’t Everything… Attend an intensive infrared course from the Academy of Infrared Training, Inc. (AIRT), and you’ll learn things that you can’t pick up with years of on-the-job experience:
“This AIRT course enlightened me that even after managing a global maintenance organization … we were missing the boat when it came to providing accurate qualitative and quantitative reports.”
—D.C., Ford Engineering
AIRT can help you start, update, or improve your current infrared program.
Find out more about AIRT scheduled IR training levels and locations
November 06, 2008
Bearing Tip
Plain or sleeve bearings are designed to support shafts that rotate, oscillate, or reciprocate. Though seemingly simple, and certainly one of the least expensive of mechanical parts, sleeve bearings are highly engineered components. They range from porous self-lubricated power metal parts only a fraction of an inch in diameter to stationary power plant bearings, which often exceed 18 inches in diameter.
With few exceptions, sleeve bearing lubrication is hydrodynamic, that is, during operation, the shaft floats on a thin film of the lubricant. Because of this, friction and wear are minimized. However it is important to realize that so-called minimum film thickness is NOT the same as the bearing clearance. While the latter may be up to several thousandth of an inch, the minimum film thickness is typically on the order of one ten-thousandth of an inch. Nevertheless, sleeve can have almost unlimited life, provided proper maintenance practices are followed. When replacement does become necessary, following proper refurbishing and assembly procedures will assure extended life of the replaced parts.
Tip excerpted from Maintenance Engineering Handbook (7th Edition)
by R Keith Mobley, Lindley Higgins and Darrin Wikoff
Published by McGraw Hill
November 06, 2008
Maintenance Management 201 Tip
Tip 9 - A good Predictive Maintenance program will allow you to sleep at night
The Maintenance Manager position can either be very frustrating or very rewarding. Frustrating in that breakdowns can occur at any time, and (in strict compliance with Murphy’s Law) invariably at night or on weekends when the equipment is needed most and when your family is depending on you to be with them and not at the plant. Rewarding in that there is a proven answer to those breakdowns if you have the foresight to implement a sound Predictive Maintenance program.
The key to maximizing your free time is to know the condition of your equipment. PdM technologies enable you to identify potential defects within equipment, usually while the equipment is still in operation. Often, some of these problems may be caught early enough that the condition can be corrected before the equipment suffers damage. With the right training, feedback, and experience, PdM technicians will also be able to give you a prognosis of the equipment’s remaining life which will allow you to take care of the problem on your terms and your schedule instead of at Mr. Murphy’s whim.
Not every potential failure is detectable, but the vast majority are with the right technologies employed – and new technologies are being developed every day. PdM is not “magic”; it’s hard science. The warning signals are real if we are perceptive enough to listen. Applying the right technology to the right equipment and potential failure mode will give you the ability to determine equipment health and increase your confidence that you can make plans with your family that won’t be interrupted.
Tip provided by Bruce Hawkins
MRG
http://www.mrginc.net
October 30, 2008
Top 5 Most Anticipated Predictive Maintenance and Machinery Lubrication 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.
Find out more about the top five Predictive Maintenance and Machinery Lubrication sessions available exclusively at IMC-2008 that we’re most looking forward to.
Top 5 Most Anticipated Predictive Maintenance and Machinery Lubrication Sessions
October 30, 2008
Predictive Maintenance (PdM) Management Tip
Predictive Maintenance is perhaps the most misunderstood and misused of all plant improvement programs. Most users define it as a means to prevent catastrophic failure of critical rotating machinery. Others define predictive maintenance as a maintenance scheduling tool that uses vibration and infrared or oil analysis data to determine the need for corrective maintenance actions. A few share the belief, precipitated by vendors of predictive maintenance systems, that predictive maintenance is the panacea for our critically ill plants. One common theme of these definitions is that it is solely a maintenance management tool.
Because of these misconceptions, the majority of established predictive maintenance programs have not been able to achieve a marked decrease in maintenance cost or a measureable improvement in overall plant performance. In fact, the reverse is too often true. In many cases, the annual cost of repairs, repair parts, product quality, and production have dramatically increased as a direct result of the program.
Predictive Maintenance is much more than a maintenance scheduling tool and should not be restricted to maintenance management. As part of an integrated, total plant performance management program, it can provide the means to improve the production capacity, product quality, and overall effectiveness of our manufacturing and production plants.
Tip excerpted from Maintenance Engineering Handbook (7th Edition)
by R Keith Mobley, Lindley Higgins and Darrin Wikoff
Published by McGraw Hill
October 30, 2008
Introduction to Machine Vibration by Glenn D. White
The purpose of this book is to serve as a reference text for the maintenance engineer and technician who is working with condition monitoring and predictive machinery maintenance technology.
Broadly speaking, the subject is the principles of vibration theory and analysis as they apply to the determination of machine operating characteristics and deficiencies. The first chapter underscores the importance of vibration analysis in the field of predictive maintenance and root cause failure analysis.
Find out more about Introduction to Machine Vibration by Glenn D. White
October 30, 2008
Torque Tip
Torque Wrenches in the Maintenance “Arsenal”
When we need to insure that the flanges on a large motor coupling are properly tightened, we reach into our tool cart for a torque wrench. Without them, we are just guessing whether the bolting is “tight enough”, uneven, or “within spec”.
Unfortunately, mechanical wrenches are calibrated within 10%; not that close. After they’ve been used for a few years, they are probably much farther off calibration. They’re also slow to use, and if they slip off the bolt, can rearrange your dental work.
For higher torques and greater accuracy, there are pneumatic and hydraulic torque wrenches that are calibrated in the 5% (or less) range and will provide safe torquing to 80,000 ft-lbs if needed.
Long used by the railroads, refineries and power plants, these tools cut time and manpower drastically on turnarounds. They’re not cheap, but if your capital outlay budget is thin, some manufacturers will rent them to you weekly, with credit towards purchase, or return it at the end of the project. That cost can be properly taken from the maintenance or project budgets which are usually better funded.
The bonus to worker safety is the best feature, as the operator is away from the work operating the control pendant. Check the Internet for application photos and operating video. It’s amazing to see the special designs for tight working conditions and difficult torquing problems that have been invented.
Reader tip provided by Don Bell
Send in your own tip and get a stainless steel, diamond plate, Reliabilityweb.com coffee mug
October 30, 2008
Maintenance Planning Tip
Execution Wins It – Every Maintenance Manager, Planner, and Supervisor has heard this before. Most CMMS and EAM systems are pretty good at providing a platform for the exchange of requirements and requests from the Operating groups via a work order system. These systems are not usually designed, however, to put the ‘who,’ ‘when,’ and ‘what,’ of the weekly and daily planning and scheduling into an electronic format that can be disseminated to the Management Team. One of the most overlooked areas of potential improvement is the Maintenance Department’s ability to reduce costs through better management of their daily work. If your company doesn’t have a clearly defined strategy for managing the assignment of work to specific technicians, then you’re not able to measure their collective and individual performance. The optimal solution is a system that can measure (1) what you wanted to do, (2) what was assigned and (3) what was really accomplished.
Tip provided by Dave Koelzer
Dimension Technology Solutions
Englewood, CO
http://www.dts-global.com
October 30, 2008
Predictive Maintenance Management Book & DVD Combo
by Jack R. Nicholas, Jr., P.E. & R. Keith Young
This text provides an overview of Predictive Maintenance Management (PdM). Descriptions of the 15 most commonly used predictive technologies form the heart of this text.
Other subjects covered include the place of PdM in the hierarchy of maintenance, its relationship to major advancements such as Reliability-Centered Maintenance, Total Productive Maintenance and Root Cause Failure Analysis.
Also described are elements of PdM philosophy, analysis methods, program implementation best practices, and means of integration into present day operations and maintenance.
This companion DVD (designed to play on a personal computer) contains narrated web workshops in Flash format and Windows Media Player format (one to match each chapter of the book), MP3 sound files for each lecture which can be played on any iPod or portable audio player and a PDF slide presentation.
Find out more the Predictive Maintenance Management Book & DVD Combo
