by Bob Williamson, CMRP, CPMM, MIAM, Editor | Nov 22, 2021 | Asset Management, Newsletter Column
Thinking about integrating new technologies in your manufacturing or utility systems? Beware. Equipment-performance data collection goes back to zero to build a new baseline of performance rates, points of failure, and failure modes. All too often, new tech is sold on...
by Heinz Bloch, P.E., Editor | Nov 20, 2021 | Asset Management, Plant Operations, The Bloch Files
This article is a follow-up to one on choosing the right priorities (Nov. 13, 2021, see link below). To recap where we left off, Streamlined RCM (SRCM) methods include visual inspection and qualitative assessments in the field that are assigned on a daily, weekly, or...
by Ken Bannister, MEch (UK), CMRP, MLE, Editor | Nov 15, 2021 | Asset Management, The Sustainable Plant
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock during the past few weeks, you probably are aware of the 2021 COP26 Climate Change Convention in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. Media sources are still being been bombarded with sound bites coming out of speeches at the event...
by Drew Troyer, CRE, CMRP, T.A. Cook/Accenture, Editor | Nov 15, 2021 | Asset Management, RAM Tools & Methods
In Part 1 of this series on the second element of Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), we discussed Yield/Speed as the ratio of the actual production rate divided by the Highest Sustained Rate (see ink below). We also raised another important issue about this...
by Heinz Bloch, P.E., Editor | Nov 15, 2021 | Asset Management, Plant Operations, The Bloch Files
This article looks at the past and asks readers if their companies have progressed from where they stood 20 or 25 years ago. In September 1999, I met with the reliability team of a Well-Known Petrochemical Company (let’s call it “WKPC”) to discuss ways of improving...
by Bob Williamson, CMRP, CPMM, MIAM, Editor | Nov 8, 2021 | Asset Management, Plant Operations
Preventive maintenance (PM) of production machinery would be a commonsense piece of cake if it weren’t for conflicting priorities. OEMs have every good intention when they outline PM requirements for their equipment. Maintenance specialists will adopt or adapt...
by Drew Troyer, CRE, CMRP, T.A. Cook/Accenture, Editor | Nov 8, 2021 | Asset Management, RAM Tools & Methods
Having explored Availability, the first element of Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), in detail, we will now be examining OEE’s second element: Yield/Speed. As we begin this new discussion, keep these points in mind: Availability quantifies the...
by Heinz Bloch, P.E., Editor | Nov 6, 2021 | Asset Management, Plant Operations, The Bloch Files
A few years ago, two of my former colleagues were rehired by a former employer as contract engineers for new and expansion projects in the U.S. and overseas. Although they proudly and efficiently carried out their tasks, both expressed disappointment at the gap...
by Bob Williamson, CMRP, CPMM, MIAM, Editor | Oct 31, 2021 | Asset Management, Plant Operations
Continuous improvement is alive and well among businesses in today’s competitive and challenging marketplace. Some still call it by the big buzz word of the 1990s: kaizen. Many keep improving because they know it’s possible and much needed in their markets....
by Howard Penrose, Ph.D., CMRP | Oct 30, 2021 | Asset Management, RAM Tools & Methods
Pick up any trade journal, watch the news, or sit in on discussions at technical conferences these days. Before long, you’re thinking that all problems in a plant can be solved by way of complex data analytics and such-and-such high-tech device or solution. Not...
