by Bob Williamson, CMRP, CPMM, MIAM, Editor | Nov 22, 2020 | Asset Management, Newsletter Column, Workforce Issues
This is the second in a series of discussions regarding tasks associated with operator-performed maintenance. As explained in Part I (Nov. 16, 2020), the use of operators for such tasks has met with mixed reviews ever since the concept rolled out as part of...
by Bob Williamson, CMRP, CPMM, MIAM, Editor | Nov 15, 2020 | Asset Management, Newsletter Column, Workforce Issues
Engaging operators in the maintenance of their machines has been met with mixed reviews since its deployment as part of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) in the 1980s. Proponents believe in it. Opponents don’t want operators touching their machines more than...
by Bob Williamson, CMRP, CPMM, MIAM, Editor | Nov 7, 2020 | Plant Operations, RAM Tools & Methods
The ways many businesses measure financial performance with standard cost accounting may be at odds with reliability improvement. Likewise, production-scheduling standards can also mute the importance of reliability improvement. As a top executive once explained to...
by Bob Williamson, CMRP, CPMM, MIAM, Editor | Oct 30, 2020 | The Sustainable Plant
And so the quest began. The front cover of the Jan. 14, 1911, issue of Scientific American featured Thomas A. Edison and his improved storage battery. He had invented the alkaline storage battery in 1901, and spent years perfecting this achievement before placing it...
by Bob Williamson, CMRP, CPMM, MIAM, Editor | Oct 25, 2020 | Newsletter Column, Workforce Issues
The National STEM Consortium (nationalstem.org) reports that there are now over 2.6 million hybrid and electric vehicles on the road in the United States. According to a World Bank study, by the end of 2020, the world-wide electric-vehicle value chain will likely be...
by Bob Williamson, CMRP, CPMM, MIAM, Editor | Oct 19, 2020 | Asset Management, Newsletter Column
Data, metrics, measures, assessments, evaluations, scorecards, progress reports, etc. Many of us have been faced with a host of measurement opportunities. However, some performance measurements seem like moving targets that we seldom hit. With so many business,...
by Bob Williamson, CMRP, CPMM, MIAM, Editor | Oct 10, 2020 | RAM's Human Factor, Workforce Issues
Detailed work instructions are the most important equipment-reliability-improvement tool we have: They explain the meaning of checklists. Such instructions list WHAT, HOW, and HOW WELL to perform a task, as opposed to checklists that typically just list WHAT to do....
by Bob Williamson, CMRP, CPMM, MIAM, Editor | Oct 3, 2020 | RAM Tools & Methods, The Sustainable Plant
We work in a sea of ever-churning reliability acronyms, buzz words, and descriptive labels with multiple meanings. It’s not easy to effectively communicate with our peers or, worse yet, with top management when we use uncommon terms with assumed meanings. Such...
by Bob Williamson, CMRP, CPMM, MIAM, Editor | Sep 27, 2020 | Newsletter Column, Workforce Issues
As I’ve said and written for decades, “Maintenance is the least defined of all industrial activities.” There is no common set of standards that defines maintenance standards, practices, methods, or job descriptions. Yet, there are some industry-specific standards and...
by Bob Williamson, CMRP, CPMM, MIAM, Editor | Sep 11, 2020 | Plant Operations, Safety Matters
Why is it that many people on the plant floor use compressed air to clean their machines and the floors around them? It’s easy. That’s why. The problem is compressed air can be the most expensive and most ineffective and damaging way to “clean” machine♦s. Think about...
