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 Ken Bannister, MEch (UK), CMRP, MLE, Editor | Nov 18, 2019 | Newsletter Column, RAM Tools & Methods
In the retail world, November is celebrated for its “Black Friday” shopping events, during which old stock and “nice to have” luxury items are purchased at what seem to be fire-sale prices by enthusiastic consumers, just in time for the December holiday season. Taking...
by Drew Troyer, CRE, CMRP, T.A. Cook/Accenture, Editor | Nov 15, 2019 | Asset Management, Plant Operations, RAM Tools & Methods
We see them prominently displayed on the walls of all types of businesses: safety policies, environmental policies, quality/customer-satisfaction policies. Often signed by a top corporate officer, such policies proclaim an organization’s commitment to safety, the...
by Heinz Bloch, P.E., Editor | Nov 15, 2019 | RAM Tools & Methods, The Bloch Files, The RAM Library Collection
The following excerpt is taken from material I prepared for the first of 14 chapters of my upcoming book, “Fluid Machines: Improving the Life of Pumps, Gas Compressors and Turbines,” (ISBN 978-3-11-067413-2). Its German publisher, De Gruyter, Berlin...
by Heinz Bloch, P.E., Editor | Nov 11, 2019 | Newsletter Column, RAM Tools & Methods, The Bloch Files, Workforce Issues
If you’ve ever wondered how good Reliability Managers groomed their successors in the 1960s and 1970s, read on. I have written and spoken about this topic many times over the years. The following information is taken from a one-day teaching and networking session...
by Bob Williamson, CMRP, CPMM, MIAM, Editor | Nov 8, 2019 | RAM Tools & Methods, Workforce Issues
“We keep having equipment problems, not the same equipment all the time, but the same causes on the same shift, almost every time. We know what we need to do from a reliability perspective, but we can’t get anybody else to change the way they do things. How do...
by Ken Bannister, MEch (UK), CMRP, MLE, Editor | Nov 8, 2019 | RAM Tools & Methods
Don’t be misled. “Data” does not equal “information.” Real “information” in areas of reliability, availability, and maintenance (RAM) is derived from the collection of relatable or valuable data that can then be used to make fact-based, management decisions. The...
by Heinz Bloch, P.E., Editor | Oct 31, 2019 | RAM Tools & Methods, The Bloch Files, Workforce Issues
Quite some time ago, I had a very candid discussion with the Reliability Manager of a prominent multi-national oil company. One of his concerns involved what he considered a rather puzzling fact: Many companies that experienced repeat failures of rotating equipment...
