Thoughts On Turnarounds And Repair Centers
Time marches on, but some fluid-machine-repair operations could still be working in the past. The author asks if your site’s chosen repair-upgrader offers at least a 1998-level of expertise.
Lagging Metrics For Asset Management: OEE’s First Element (Availability, Part 6)
This series installment continues a discussion on market- and marketing-induced “unavailability,” with a look at oversold production capability, imposed short-runs, and frequent product changeovers.
True Tales Of Picking Cherries & Low Hanging Fruit
In the RAM world, continuous improvement involves more than cherry- and low-hanging-fruit-picking. Those techniques will only go so far when it comes to harvesting equipment reliability.
Exploring The Trouble With AI, ML, And IoT
Convinced all problems in a plant can be solved with complex data analytics and such-and-such high-tech solution, or do you still have questions? This article discusses the confusion.
Points Of Interest On Reshored Manufacturing Jobs
Over 1,800 companies employing 224,000 people are projected for U.S. reshoring and foreign direct investment in 2021. Most of those jobs involve high- and medium-high technology.
Lagging Metrics for Asset Management: OEE’s First Element (Availability, Part 5)
Continuing a discussion on “unavailability” (the flip side of Availability), this article offers another hard truth: Markets and marketing greatly influence production availability in many industries.
The Grease Nipple: 100 Years Old And Counting
The lowly grease-nipple fitting has only one job, and it’s been doing it well for a century. Choosing and using the right design and type for an application is very much a RAM best practice.
Organizing For Continuous Improvement
Per the author, to achieve real gains and continuous improvement, there must be a clear separation of the old “putting out fires” function in plant operations from another activity: eliminating problems.
Part IV: Electrical Signature Analysis & Transformers (Series Conclusion)
Using Electrical Signature Analysis with oil- and dry-type transformers can be more complex than with electric motors. The author offers how-to examples of transformer-defect detection with this method.
Successful Maintenance And Reliability Change Starts At The Shop Floor
Even the most well-thought-through maintenance-improvement plan will falter if a site’s technicians don’t back it. As this article notes, though, some of the best ideas for change will come from them.
