by Bob Williamson, CMRP, CPMM, MIAM, Editor | Jun 13, 2021 | Newsletter Column
In January 2019, a railway collision near Copenhagen, Denmark resulted in 8 passenger fatalities and 18 injuries. What got my attention in the post-mortem report were the stated causes of the incident: improper loading, lack of lubrication, improper maintenance, and...
by Drew Troyer, CRE, CMRP, Editor | Jun 6, 2021 | Newsletter Column, The Sustainable Plant
The past few weeks have been a pressure cooker for large oil and gas companies. The message delivered by shareholders was clear: “Get serious about your environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance [particularly regarding climate impacts].” Consider...
by Bob Williamson, CMRP, CPMM, MIAM, Editor | May 31, 2021 | Newsletter Column, Workforce Issues
The dilemma around workforce training persists today, as it has for decades. Same challenge, different situation. “If we train them, they’ll leave for a better job at another company, maybe even our competitor’s!” The other side of the dilemma: “If we don’t train...
by Drew Troyer, CRE, CMRP, Editor | May 23, 2021 | Asset Management, Newsletter Column, Plant Operations
Humans are funny. One might assume that the big prize of increased profits and safer, more environmentally-responsible operations would motivate enterprises to adopt the practices of high-reliability organizations. That, however, is rarely the case. It turns out that...
by Ken Bannister, MEch (UK), CMRP, MLE, Editor | May 16, 2021 | Newsletter Column, RAM Tools & Methods
For many years, the all-purpose tool was well represented by the Swiss army knife. In time, favor turned to the Leatherman multi-tool and its many facsimiles. Although these previous-generation items are still useful, they pale in comparison to today’s...
by Heinz Bloch, P.E., Editor | May 9, 2021 | Newsletter Column, Plant Operations, The Bloch Files
Context is crucial when you’re providing, receiving, or understanding information. Consider the following process-industry examples. While we’ve touched on them in past articles and presentations over the years, they reflect how the true picture of an...
by Bob Williamson, CMRP, CPMM, MIAM, Editor | May 2, 2021 | Newsletter Column, Plant Operations, Training & Qualification, Workforce Issues
This column kicks off a new series of discussions in The RAM Review on workforce development in the post-pandemic era. Because workforce issues have plagued many industry sectors for years, some for decades, the “new normal” we’re in must include a...
by Drew Troyer, CRE, CMRP, Editor | Apr 25, 2021 | Asset Management, Newsletter Column, RAM's Human Factor
I suspect that a large majority of readers of The RAM Review’s columns and articles are reliability engineers like me. But I also suspect many may actually be functioning, albeit unknowingly, as “unreliability engineers.” Has unreliability become an...
by Ken Bannister, MEch (UK), CMRP, MLE, Editor | Apr 17, 2021 | Maintenance Management, Newsletter Column
If you have ever heard anyone in your organization state, “We’ve always done it that way,” chances are that you’re stuck in a paradigm. And it’s a paradigm that’s likely ill-suited to your current needs and requirements. This paradigm...
by Heinz Bloch, P.E., Editor | Apr 11, 2021 | Newsletter Column, Plant Operations, The Bloch Files
Several years ago, during a round of technical pump-related communications with a reliability engineer in Europe, he sent a particularly thought-provoking note. This engineer worked for a prominent oil refiner and, clearly, wanted to let me know all that glitters is...
