by Heinz Bloch, P.E., Editor | Feb 21, 2020 | RAM Tools & Methods, The Bloch Files, Workforce Issues
You may recall hearing about (or could have possibly experienced) this type of situation in your workplace: There are times when we attend presentations by competent technical people, including colleagues, whose relevant requests are eventually ignored by their...
by Heinz Bloch, P.E., Editor | Feb 17, 2020 | Newsletter Column, The Bloch Files, Workforce Issues
Those who no longer stand up for what is right have plenty of company. Like dead fish, they swim downstream, in accordance with the tide. Their sense of self-preservation takes over, and their consciences become dulled. I’ve seen this in the reliability field,...
by Heinz Bloch, P.E., Editor | Feb 7, 2020 | The Bloch Files, Workforce Issues
There is an obvious truism about making progress: “The first step toward getting somewhere is not to stay where you are right now.” For reliability professionals, this means that retaining and defending the existing state of affairs at a plant or corporation...
by Heinz Bloch, P.E., Editor | Feb 3, 2020 | Maintenance Management, Newsletter Column, The Bloch Files
Perhaps you, too, have seen a storeroom packed full of startup spares (usually two wear parts or parts that, in the past, failed due to “random coincidence”). In any event, “random coincidence” is how my car dealer’s service manager explained things...
by Heinz Bloch, P.E., Editor | Jan 24, 2020 | Learning from Mistakes, The Bloch Files, Workforce Issues
A few years ago. I was asked to summarize the root causes of massive bearing failures on a pump and its steam turbine driver. The resulting fire was quickly extinguished and could be called a “near miss.” The most likely cause had been confusion, or lack of...
by Heinz Bloch, P.E., Editor | Jan 20, 2020 | Newsletter Column, The Bloch Files, Workforce Issues
Mark Twain has been credited with a quote to the effect that the owner of a book who won’t read it has no advantage over a person who cannot read. We would call such a person an “analphabet,” and he or she surely would not feel flattered by the moniker. Today’s...
by Heinz Bloch, P.E., Editor | Jan 12, 2020 | The Bloch Files, Training & Qualification, Workforce Issues
Experienced manufacturers can be effective tutors: Consider selecting the best qualified from among them and make them your technology providers. Involve those technology providers in presenting well-structured half-day (or longer) seminars at your facility, and find...
by Heinz Bloch, P.E., Editor | Jan 6, 2020 | Newsletter Column, The Bloch Files, Workforce Issues
Are you at a point in your work life where you are mentoring others? Whether you answer yes or no, you’ve probably had one or more mentors who have helped you along your own professional-development journey. I had some excellent mentors when I entered the work...
by Heinz Bloch, P.E., Editor | Dec 20, 2019 | RAM Tools & Methods, The Bloch Files, Workforce Issues
It was a regular routine. In the few decades from 1960 until 2000, during my daily drives in to work, I would make it a point to spend time deciding what to tackle once I arrived. Then, on my drives home, I would mull over what I had (or had not) accomplished on a...
by Heinz Bloch, P.E., Editor | Dec 14, 2019 | RAM Tools & Methods, The Bloch Files, Workforce Issues
This article is the final installment of a two-part discussion on networking and adult education that I began in my Dec. 2019, 2019, newsletter column for The RAM Review. It provides closure to the cliff-hanger at the end of Part I: how a single networking contact...
