Listening To You… And Responding

As you go through this issue of MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY, you may be thinking that its purpose is strictly proprietary – just another product of a for-profit magazine publisher. It’s not. Our mission runs much deeper.

Our goal—as it has been for almost 20 years– is to regularly deliver timely, relevant information on strategies and solutions that help your operations continually run better, smarter, safer and more cost-effectively. We do this through a variety of value-added media vehicles, including monthly print publication(s), monthly e-Newsletters, special sections and themed supplements, www.MT-online.com and technical conferences and product exhibitions.

The past year has seen significant changes at MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY. To better serve you, we’ve brought new energies into our organization, and all of us have been working hard to strengthen our commitment to you–and helping you grow your own businesses. But, successful publishing ventures like ours don’t operate in a vacuum. Many of our recent changes have been based on your specific feedback.

No doubt, you’ve already noticed changes in editorial direction (including more emphasis on successful, best-practice case study articles), changes in size and content of some regular columns, letters to the editor, more news, book reviews, a broadening of the products and markets that we cover, etc. We bet you’ve also noticed a change in our approach to visual elements, some of them subtle—others, including our colorful and compelling new cover designs, not so subtle.

The changes at MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY, though, go well beyond direction and design. We’ve also added several ancillary products to keep you more informed of crucial industry issues. Take, for example, the regular UTILITIES MANAGER supplement we launched this year. It focuses on helping plants and facilities across all industry sectors optimize their electrical, gas, compressed air, water/wastewater treatment, refrigeration, steam and hot oil systems—increasing reliability, reducing downtime and taking a bite out of their energy bills in the process.What company isn’t interested in those types of successes?

As part of our electronic link to the marketplace, we are continuing to upgrade our monthly e-Newsletter and www.MT-online.com offerings. Going forward, look for these products to improve even more (and to become your number one connection( s) to the maintenance and reliability arena).

Finally, we recognize that the development and availability of a skilled workforce are key concerns for most of our readers.Moreover, we know you have great respect for ongoing professional development— and are constantly seeking ways to enhance it for yourselves and others within your organizations. These issues are real drivers for us, too. That’s why we will continue to identify, develop, grow and improve educational opportunities for you, including our annual Maintenance & Reliability Technology Summit (MARTS), scheduled for April 16-19, 2007, in Rosemont, IL. MARTS 2007 is now in its final planning stages.You’ll want to put it on your own calendar ASAP as your premier “must attend” professional development event for next year.

We know that you and your operations are constantly being challenged by a changing world and economy. Just remember that you’re not having to go it alone. MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY intends to be right there in the thick of it with you, keeping you up-to-date on all the issues and technologies critical to the maintenance and reliability community–and focused on all the opportunities. But, we can’t fulfill our end of the bargain without your input and support.

We need you to tell us what’s on your minds. Don’t hesitate to stay in touch with me personally. My e-mail address is bkiesel@atpnetwork.com – I encourage you to use it. In the meantime, stay tuned. . . there’s lots more to come! MT