By Drew D. Troyer, CRE, Contributing Editor One of the toughest issues in managing reliability is that of critical—or insurance—spares. Unlike consumables and ordinary repair items, where bin-level and economic-order-quality (EOQ) processes are effective, critical spares present a challenge in that the assets they support aren’t expected to fail. This means critical-spare decisions are basically risk […]

By Kristina Gordon, Illumiti In past issues, we have discussed the flow of single-cycle maintenance plans. Another plan that is critical to the maintenance process is the counter-based plan. A counter-based maintenance plan involves a reading from an asset that must be entered at a specified frequency, e.g., running hours or temperature. The following four-step process […]

Developing and sustaining a positive, collaborative culture in today’s manufacturing operations comes naturally to some, but can be a significant struggle for others. Some don’t recognize its importance in company operations. It’s a big part of the success of family-owned Aquatherm, manufacturer of a wide range of polypropylene-R piping systems, located in Attendorn, Germany (aquatherm.de) […]

By Drew D. Troyer, CRE, Contributing Editor One of the toughest issues in managing reliability is that of critical—or insurance—spares. Unlike consumables and ordinary repair items, where bin-level and economic-order-quality (EOQ) processes are effective, critical spares present a challenge in that the assets they support aren’t expected to fail. This means critical-spare decisions are basically risk […]

Every day we see and read articles, reports, and studies about new technologies and ways of doing business that will drastically change how we need to perform our jobs.

By Drew D. Troyer, CRE, Contributing Editor As a reliability engineer, I’ve frequently debated the merits of FMEA and FRACAS in managing plant- and equipment-reliability risks. While many people consider them to be competing tools, that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, as I’ll try to explain here, they’re opposite sides of the same […]

By Kristina Gordon, Illumiti In past issues, we have discussed the flow of single-cycle maintenance plans. Another plan that is critical to the maintenance process is the counter-based plan. A counter-based maintenance plan involves a reading from an asset that must be entered at a specified frequency, e.g., running hours or temperature. The following four-step process […]

Is your plant ready for the challenges of winter weather?

Depending on space and needs, there are four recirculating-oil-decontamination system variations that will keep an asset’s moving parts lubricated with fresh oil.

Your application, operating conditions, and lubricant quality determine which seal design will best keep contaminants from damaging rotating equipment.