by Ken Bannister, MEch (UK), CMRP, MLE, Editor | Nov 30, 2019 | Maintenance Management, RAM Tools & Methods
In my Nov. 24, 2019 article for The RAM Review, I focused on the “relationship” factor with regard to what a maintenance department actually controls and what it merely manages. That’s an important distinction when it comes to understanding the...
by Bob Williamson, CMRP, CPMM, MIAM, Editor | Nov 30, 2019 | Maintenance Management, RAM Tools & Methods, Workforce Issues
There are huge, and growing, opportunities to improve what we do in the workplace, including, among other things, safety, productivity, quality, efficiency, effectiveness, equipment performance, and reliability. But the desire to improve and the words “improve it” by...
by Heinz Bloch, P.E., Editor | Nov 30, 2019 | RAM Tools & Methods, The Bloch Files, Workforce Issues
To recap, in a recent article, “Workforce Appreciation and Achieving Plant Goals” (Nov. 23, 2019), I discussed how, in early 2000, the Canadian consulting company Systems Approach Strategies (SAS) developed a training course that brought W. Edwards Deming’s “14...
by Howard Penrose, Ph.D., CMRP | Nov 29, 2019 | Electrical Reliability, Motors & Drives, Safety Matters
Power quality involves a variety of impacts on the Voltage supply, the Current, and the grounding system While many standards and documents emphasize one part or another, the reality is all of these factors impact each other. Unfortunately, except for...
by Bob Williamson, CMRP, CPMM, MIAM, Editor | Nov 25, 2019 | Newsletter Column, Workforce Issues
In the past, when businesses experienced labor shortages, they would beef up advertising, expand recruitment efforts, and speed up their on-boarding processes. That was when companies were looking for skilled and semi-skilled labor and unemployment was hovering...
by Jane Alexander, Managing Editor | Nov 24, 2019 | Solution of the Week, Solution Showcase
United Electric Controls, Watertown, MA, is now offering new ammonia- and hydrocarbons-sensor-head options for its line of Vanguard WirelessHART gas detectors. Wireless gas detection is said to reduce compliance costs, as well as improve safety by eliminating the need...
by Ken Bannister, MEch (UK), CMRP, MLE, Editor | Nov 24, 2019 | Maintenance Management, RAM Tools & Methods
For a maintenance department to understand the “who” and “what” factors in equipment or process failures, it first must understand what the department actually controls and what it simply manages. There’s a big difference, one that involves the relationships a...
by Drew Troyer, CRE, CMRP, Editor, and Lance Bisinger, CMRP, CRL | Nov 23, 2019 | Maintenance Management, RAM Tools & Methods
If you’re a manager or engineer at a manufacturing or process-industry plant, you probably don’t get through a day without learning of some type of equipment failure or an asset that needs corrective action. While you may not know exactly what maintenance will be...
by Heinz Bloch, P.E., Editor | Nov 23, 2019 | RAM Tools & Methods, Safety Matters, The Bloch Files, Workforce Issues
While a plant’s efforts in areas related to reliability, availability, and maintenance (RAM) indicate appreciation for equipment assets, who or what beyond the HR department makes it a point to show similar “appreciation” for the site’s human assets? To put it in...
by Randall Noon, P.E. | Nov 23, 2019 | Learning from Mistakes
Those who deal with rotating-equipment maintenance are well aware that ensuring long equipment service life requires rotating elements to be balanced to minimize vibrations. There are a number of reasons for this. High vibrations in rotating equipment can damage...
