Would in-house or third-party testing make more economic sense for an enormous motor fleet? A large automotive manufacturing facility in the Midwest scheduled a planned shutdown in July 2018. In operation since the early 1980s, the plant spans more than 3 million sq. ft. and contains hundreds of motors and other essential equipment required for […]

Lubrication alarms prevent catastrophic failure, but only if they trigger preventive maintenance.

By Drew D. Troyer, CRE, Contributing Editor Many debate what’s more important: knowledge or skills; theory or application; and learning inputs or outcome. These pairings, though, are often considered dichotomous, i.e., mortal enemies. This couldn’t be further from the truth. I often think back to the early 2000s, when I worked extensively with Cargill Inc., Minneapolis […]

This third podcast in a new Efficient Plant series focuses on issues involved in data collection and management. In this conversation with Kevin Clark, vice president of Fluke Digital Systems, we evaluate how data should be dispersed and to whom. We also discuss the impact of data transparency on empowering floor-level workers and how it […]

By Kristina Gordon, Illumiti A fully integrated ERP, such as SAP, should contain data that help you move toward a reliability-centered asset-management culture. As a manufacturer, you want your plant to run the maximum number of hours. By putting a robust maintenance strategy in place, you’re making the whole operation more reliable and boosting uptime—the […]

Q: How much is reliability tied to Deming’s 14 Points? A: There isn’t space to review all of the 14 points, but the six I’ve selected, adapted from W. Edward Deming’s book Out of Crisis, (1986, MIT Press), directly address reliability issues in today’s manufacturing operations. Statements in italics, following each point, are mine. 1. […]

By Dr. Klaus M. Blache and Dr. Javad Seif, Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville Reliability and Maintainability Center (RMC) An assumption in traditional production-scheduling practices is that assets will continuously operate and process the jobs. It also is assumed that the information available to planners is complete and certain. However, we all know that the machines […]

By Drew D. Troyer, CRE, Contributing Editor In my two most-recent columns (Jan. and Feb. 2019), I discussed the importance of skills, behavior, and knowledge in achieving reliability and asset-management objectives. This month, I focus on the role wisdom plays in managing those objectives. One may have skills to carry out a particular asset-management task. […]

Consider the value that predictive maintenance can bring to your operations in terms of safety, reliability, environmental health, and sustainability. By Drew D. Troyer, CRE, Contributing Editor Predictive maintenance (PdM) ticks multiple value-adding boxes for plants, regardless of sector. While this article specifically addresses it in the context of an “all of the above” business […]

Q: How much is reliability tied to Deming’s 14 Points? A: There isn’t space to review all of the 14 points, but the six I’ve selected, adapted from W. Edward Deming’s book Out of Crisis, (1986, MIT Press), directly address reliability issues in today’s manufacturing operations. Statements in italics, following each point, are mine. 1. […]

Aging grease gets no respect in plants, and little or no attention until it fails. By Randall Noon, P.E. Old grease can be a sneaky failure mechanism, especially in infrequently operated equipment. When grease fails to do its intended function, it can mimic other failure modes, such as misalignment, binding, or wear, while the grease […]

Shutdowns, turnarounds, and outages are prime times to update and revitalize lubrication programs. Spring is a time when many operations and maintenance departments are busy planning for annual/biannual production shutdown and turnaround events, due to take place during the upcoming summer. Shutdown and turnaround events are often confused and, depending on the type of industry, […]