by Drew Troyer, CRE, CMRP, T.A. Cook/Accenture, Editor | Mar 8, 2020 | Newsletter Column, Plant Operations, Workforce Issues
Famed management guru Peter Drucker was spot on years ago, when he coined the phrase “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” That statement is just as true today as it was back then. Make no mistake: Drucker was not discounting the importance of strategy. Rather, he...
by Jane Alexander, Managing Editor | Mar 8, 2020 | Solution of the Week, Solution Showcase
Johnson Controls, Milwaukee, WI, recently launched an expanded YORK YZ Magnetic Bearing Centrifugal Chiller platform in North America and Latin America markets. This expansion in capacity (up to 2,020 tons) builds on the manufacturer’s YORK YZ chiller line that’s...
by Bob Williamson, CMRP, CPMM, MIAM, Editor | Mar 7, 2020 | Plant Operations, RAM Tools & Methods
Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) has been used as one of the more important manufacturing metrics since Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) came to the U.S. in the late 1980s. It’s the primary measure used in TPM to identify and quantify the major...
by Ken Bannister, MEch (UK), CMRP, MLE, Editor | Mar 7, 2020 | Maintenance Management, RAM's Human Factor
As an asset-management consultant working with a new client, one of my first steps is to perform a Maintenance Operation Effectiveness Review (MOER) in which we review and quantify the current state of the maintenance organization to determine how effectively it...
by Heinz Bloch, P.E., Editor | Mar 7, 2020 | The Bloch Files, Workforce Issues
There are many ways to make one’s job recession-proof. Being a better-than-average worker is an obvious advantage, assuming your facility’s owners tend to give pink slips to employees in the lower 50% of capability, likeability, productivity, and the usual criteria....
by Howard Penrose, Ph.D., CMRP | Mar 7, 2020 | Electrical Reliability, Maintenance Management, Motors & Drives
In this first part of a new series on electric motor systems, we’ll review the reliability of such systems. Let’s start by considering one the most-asked questions associated with the topic: “How long should the motor last?” While there are standards that...
by Heinz Bloch, P.E., Editor | Mar 2, 2020 | Newsletter Column, The Bloch Files, Workforce Issues
It has now been roughly 20 years and four months since I met with the reliability team of a Well-Known Petrochemical Company—let’s call it “WKPC”—to discuss ways to improve the organization’s reliability performance. During about four hours of discussion, we...
by Jane Alexander, Managing Editor | Mar 1, 2020 | Solution of the Week, Solution Showcase
Quick-disconnect cables from AutomationDirect, Cumming, GA, have a 3, 4 or 5-socket M8 female connector on one end and 3, 4 or 5 open leads on the other end that allow fast and easy connection between field devices and terminal connections. A “lock in place”...
by Drew Troyer, CRE, CMRP, T.A. Cook/Accenture, Editor | Mar 1, 2020 | RAM Tools & Methods, Safety Matters, The Sustainable Plant
Fugitive emissions, are a concern across the industrial landscape. Although this article focuses on leveraging predictive maintenance (PdM) to combat the problem in the natural-gas arena, the suggested strategies and tactics can be adapted in any operation where...
by Bob Williamson, CMRP, CPMM, MIAM, Editor | Mar 1, 2020 | Plant Operations, Workforce Issues
As a presenter at a recent conference, I attended sessions on topics of maintenance, workforce development, and automated-handling and -sorting systems. Intriguing discussions on the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” a recurring theme of business and industrial...
