Maintenance Technology January 2014 by Applied Technology Publications

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SYSTEM

Contents

MAINTENANCE

TECHNOLOGY & ASSET PERFORMANCE

JANUARY 2014 • VOL 27, NO 1 • www.MaintenanceTechnology.com

FEATURES ASSET PERFORMANCE STRATEGIES

Mapping A Way to Manufacturing Excellence Reaching a specific destination on time takes careful planning. Heeding the advice of those who’ve made the journey can help. Jane Alexander, Deputy Editor

DEPARTMENTS

ASSET PERFORMANCE STRATEGIES

6 Forward Observations 8 Uptime

Regret-Free Contracting This insight from a real-world user of contract services could help make your future projects more successful. Randall Noon, P.E.

12 Don’t Procrastinate… Innovate!

14 News 40 Products

ASSET PERFORMANCE STRATEGIES

43 Marketplace

IP Networks Rule the Plant

45 Workforce

Taking care of your network is the key to efficiencies now and tomorrow.

46 Viewpoint

Gary Mintchell, Executive Director

Development Issues

47 My Take 48 Manufacturing

ON THE ROAD TO SUSTAINABILITY

Connection

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MAINTENANCETECHNOLOGY.COM | 3

MAINTENANCE

TECHNOLOGY & ASSET PERFORMANCE

January 2014 • Volume 27, No. 1 ARTHUR L. RICE

President/CEO arice@atpnetwork.com

GLEN GUDINO

Executive Director/Publisher ggudino@atpnetwork.com

HOLD THESE DATES

March 18-21, 2014 Hyatt Regency O’Hare, Rosemont, IL

PHIL SARAN

Associate Publisher psaran@atpnetwork.com

GARY MINTCHELL

Excutive Director gmintchell@atpnetwork.com

RICK CARTER

Executive Editor rcarter@atpnetwork.com

JANE ALEXANDER

Go to www.MARTSConference.com for further details.

Deputy Editor jalexander@atpnetwork.com

GREG PIETRAS

Managing Editor, Print/Emedia gpietras@atpnetwork.com

ROBERT “BOB” WILLIAMSON KENNETH E. BANNISTER Contributing Editors

RANDY BUTTSTADT

Director of Creative Services rbuttstadt@atpnetwork.com

You don’t want to miss MARTS 2014!

ELLEN SANDKAM

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Editorial Office: 1300 South Grove Ave., Suite 105 Barrington, IL 60010 847-382-8100 / FAX 847-304-8603 www.MT-online.com Subscriptions: FOR INQUIRIES OR CHANGES CONTACT JEFFREY HEINE, 630-739-0900 EXT. 204 / FAX 630-739-7967

Maintenance Technology® (ISSN 0899-5729) is published monthly by Applied Technology Publications, Inc., 1300 S. Grove Avenue, Suite 105, Barrington, IL 60010. Periodicals postage paid at Barrington, Illinois and additional offices. Arthur L. Rice, III, President. Circulation records are maintained at Maintenance Technology®, Creative Data, 440 Quadrangle Drive, Suite E, Bolingbrook, IL 60440. Maintenance Technology® copyright 2014 by Applied Technology Publications, Inc. Annual subscription rates for nonqualified people: North America, $140; all others, $280 (air). No subscription agency is authorized by us to solicit or take orders for subscriptions. Postmaster: Please send address changes to Maintenance Technology®, Creative Data, 440 Quadrangle Drive, Suite E, Bolingbrook, IL 60440. Please indicate position, title, company name, company address. For other circulation information call (630) 739-0900. Canadian Publications agreement No. 40886011. Canada Post returns: IMEX, Station A, P.O. Box 54, Windsor, ON N9A 6J5, or email: cpcreturns@ wdsmail.com. Submissions Policy: Maintenance Technology® gladly welcomes submissions. By sending us your submission, unless otherwise negotiated in writing with our editor(s), you grant Applied Technology Publications, Inc. permission, by an irrevocable license, to edit, reproduce, distribute, publish, and adapt your submission in any medium, including via Internet, on multiple occasions. You are, of course, free to publish your submission yourself or to allow others to republish your submission. Submissions will not be returned. “Maintenance Technology®” is a registered trademark of Applied Technology Publications, Inc. Printed in U.S.A.

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FORWARD OBSERVATIONS

Calling Out the Man Rick Carter Executive Editor

xcept for one thing, William Marsh’s story is not so unusual. The owner of American Bar Products, a Pennsylvania-based maker of cold-finished steel bars, Marsh was fined $8000 by OSHA in 2011 for lockout/tagout deficiencies. Though reduced from $20,000, the fine was tough on his small company and a blow to Marsh’s pride. The fact that the investigation was triggered by a disgruntled employee’s false claims about company safety was also disturbing, and a foreshadowing of things to come. When the same employee was fired in 2012 for cheating on his time card, Marsh warned his team to expect another visit from OSHA. “I thought it would take two weeks,” he said. “It took two days.” And here’s the twist: “This time I didn’t let them in. I said they needed a warrant, and that when they returned, to bring the area supervisor, and that my congressman and an agent of the press would be here.”

Posted on YouTube, William Marsh’s event shows a company owner who believes in his ability to run his business properly and safely, without government intervention. After that, nothing—until late last year when OSHA returned, unannounced, to check plant noise levels. “They were just in the neighborhood,” said Marsh, “but they had no formal complaint, so I denied their entry again. And they got a warrant, which listed ‘probable cause’ as their reason for entry.” When OSHA declined to explain the cause, Marsh decided to take his case to the world. “I invited members of the local news media to tour our facility,” he said, “and they ran stories about what

6 | MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY & ASSET PERFORMANCE

was going on.” He also invited two state senators, one of whom was quoted saying OSHA’s actions sounded like “an agency gone rogue.” But the officials could do nothing for Marsh, nor could the local-business owners who called and emailed their support after the articles appeared. When Marsh asked them to join him at a press conference he was planning, all politely declined. Marsh held the conference anyway, in early December, the day before the warrant-authorized inspection was scheduled. Posted on YouTube (search “William Marsh standing up to OSHA”), the event shows a passionate company owner who believes in his ability to run his business properly and safely, with his experienced staff, without government intervention. When I spoke with Marsh on the day of the inspection, the agent had already found several instances of missing paperwork. Marsh was not encouraged. “I expect to be fined heavily,” he said, “probably $10,000 to $20,000 from OSHA, in addition to my legal fees. And my plant will be no safer for it.” At press time, Marsh didn’t know the official outcome of the inspection. In our conversation, he stressed that while his shop’s heavy-industry environment is not pristine, “it is not unsafe. For what we do,” he said, “it is an exemplary manufacturing facility.” And I don’t doubt it. The unfortunate lesson here, however, is that government regulations have evolved to where they are because not every business owner is as capable or trustworthy as William Marsh may be. With his David/Goliath approach and belief that his property was searched unreasonably, it’s hard to be totally critical of Marsh. Yet it’s harder still to watch him take another hit for something he could easily correct. His small operation may lack “the ability to finance a paperwork engine,” as he claimed, but if he wants to stay in business he will probably have to get that engine going. Better to bring on part-time office help than hand over big money in federal fines. As everyone else Marsh looked to for help seemed to already know, that’s a sure way to bring his story to a quick end. MT&AP

rcarter@atpnetwork.com

JANUARY 2014

UPTIME

Is Your Workforce Engaged and Inspired? Bob Williamson Contributing Editor

igh-performing, productive, innovative, conscientious and safe employees are typically engaged with their work and with the mission and goals of the company. They are inspired to go beyond the status quo. While we would like to believe that many of our employees are engaged, evidence suggests that they’re in the minority in the American workplace, historically ranging no higher than 30%, according to Gallup research. What would happen if we could truly engage our workforce to eliminate the causes of poor-performing and unreliable equipment? Better on-time performance, lower operating costs, fewer defects, less waste, a safer workplace and more. But what if we can’t engage this workforce, and those in it become actively disengaged? Gallup’s report on the State of the American Workplace – Employee Engagement Insights for U.S. Business Leaders (2013) provides valuable lessons learned and suggestions that make sense, especially considering the state of flux in manufacturing, maintenance and reliability (i.e., an aging workforce, skills gaps, lack of skills-development infrastructure). It states that on average, 30% of the U.S. workforce IS engaged and that the remaining 70% are not reaching their potential at work. This 70% is divided into two categories: 52% are not engaged and 18% are actively disengaged.

What would happen if we could truly engage our workforce to eliminate the causes of poor-performing and unreliable equipment? What should really concern us are those who are actively disengaged. Per Gallup’s survey, these are the people who aren’t just unhappy at work, “they’re busy acting out their unhappiness.” Every day these workers undermine what their engaged coworkers accomplish.

8 | MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY & ASSET PERFORMANCE

The 52% who aren’t engaged have “essentially checked out, they’re sleepwalking through their workday, putting time—but not energy or passion—into their work.” These are the workers who seem to be on top of things, show up to work on time and aren’t disruptive. Their minds may be elsewhere, however, planning for the evening or next weekend. One of the most important findings spelled out in the report deals with the extremely positive benefits of engaged employees. In addition to being highperformers, as discussed above, they are actively contributing to increasing their companies’ earnings per share and the country’s Gross Domestic product (GDP). The question is, why are so many employees NOT engaged and others dangerously disengaged? The answer is that leadership and work cultures are getting in the way. Gallup’s survey is based on its pioneering Q12 methodology that encompasses 12 observable and actionable workplace elements. Understanding these 12 elements is the foundation for understanding the basic leadership behaviors and work cultures that promote (or stifle) engagement. The company has used a standard set of questions since the late 1990s to survey over 25 million employees in 189 countries and 69 languages. The following list is a summary of Q12 items that serve as the best predictors of employee and workgroup performance. Regarding engaged employees: 1. They know what is expected of them. 2. They have the materials and equipment needed to do their work. 3. They have the opportunity to do what they do best every day. 4. They receive recognition or praise for doing good work weekly. 5. They have someone who seems to care about them at work. 6. They have someone who encourages their development.

JANUARY 2014

UPTIME

7. Opinions seem to count. 8. They feel that their jobs are important. 9. They have associates or fellow employees committed to doing quality work. 10. They have a best friend at work. 11. They have had someone talk to them about their progress in the past six months. 12. They have had opportunities to learn and grow within the past year. These seem like straightforward actions and behaviors that employees should have come to expect. Unfortunately, they’re not that common today. Employees’ impressions of their work and their companies are heavily influenced by their immediate managers or supervisors and the behaviors of senior executives with regard to their subordinates. (Interestingly, even something as simple as just using the words “superior” and “subordinate” can imply a command-and-control workplace and leadership style.) The bottom line is that how people treat each other in the workplace has a significant effect on their levels of engagement and disengagement.

Leadership engagement pays dividend Employee engagement applies to supervisors and managers—not just the hourly workforce. As Gallup points out, “managers and leaders play a critical role.” Leadership, managers and supervisors are in positions to nurture employee engagement or smother it. Thirty-six percent (36%) of the managers and executives surveyed in the U.S. in 2013 were engaged. Research also pointed out that “managers who focus on employees’ strengths can practically eliminate active disengagement and double the average of U.S. workers who are engaged nationwide.” That is an astonishing finding. Managers and supervisors who are able to identify an employee’s strengths and engage him/her in using those strengths in the workplace hold the key to workgroup, company and national productivity. Being able to identify strengths, however, doesn’t necessarily come easy: Some employees are good at hiding (or not flaunting) their strengths as they conform to workplace norms. Thus, leadership engagement is essential to improving workforce

JANUARY 2014

engagement. A company policy stressing engagement principles, however, is not the solution: Selecting the right leaders is. The key to improving engagement is top-down at the local level (as opposed to merely putting an emphasis on engagement in the corporate headquarters). Local workgroups and their leadership must be empowered to make great strides in what they do and how they do it—to be engaged not just in work, but also engaged with the business.

Managers and supervisors who are able to identify an employee’s strengths and engage him or her hold the key to workgroup productivity.

Plant-floor engagement Some the referenced survey findings relate to the types of work and businesses of our readers. The 2013 Gallup research found that in the category of “installation or maintenance workers,” 29% were engaged, 51% were not engaged and an alarming 20% were actively disengaged. Given these figures, one has to wonder how many of our equipment and facility failures are purposely caused by maintenance workers who are actively disengaged. In large physical plants, it takes many people with a wide variety of skillsets on multiple shifts to maintain and repair equipment. Based on Gallup’s findings, 29% appear to be part of the solution, but 20% could be part of the problem with unreliable equipment systems, processes and facilities. Yet another interesting finding is related to what Gallup classifies as “manufacturing or production workers.” The survey found that this group was among the least engaged: 24% were, 50% were not and 26% were actively disengaged. These numbers could explain erratic product-quality issues and higher manufacturing costs, as well as equipment problems and unreliable processes. Manufacturing processes rely on uninterrupted flow of production through the plant and across all shifts to be competitive. Actively disengaged workers can easily interrupt these processes.

MAINTENANCETECHNOLOGY.COM | 9

UPTIME

A picture of workgroup engagement

Collectively, they would be involved in solving and eliminating problems and routinely looking for ways to improve their performance and productivity for the betterment of the business. This workgroup would strive for perfection, even though they knew they could never

Imagine what it would be like to have a group of engaged employees focused on achieving 100% reliability of your most critical processes—managers, supervisors, technicians and support staff alike.

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truly be perfect. “Right the first time, every time” would be their mantra. This engaged workgroup would be cross-training in the critical skills and knowledge needed to accomplish their goals. Members would be committed to not only doing the right things efficiently, but also be committed to each other and making sure the entire group wins together. As I wrote the previous paragraphs, it came to me: I’ve seen such workgroups before. They do exist in the real world. While 100% engagement of a workgroup may seem unrealistic, it still can be a goal. Likewise, while 100% reliability may seem unrealistic, sometimes the consequences of failures make 100% reliability a requirement. Where I have seen basically an entire group of engaged employees—from company owners to top leadership, from frontline leaders to plant-floor workers—should come as no surprise to readers who know me and have followed my own research and writing over the years. The summer I spent documenting the inner workings of Hendrick Motorsports (one of the most successful, long-running NASCAR race businesses ever) opened my mind to what’s possible when employees at all levels of an organization are truly engaged and inspired to excel. That’s what workgroup engagement would be like!

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I encourage you to download and digest Gallup’s comprehensive State of the American Workplace – Employee Engagement Insights for U.S. Business Leaders report for yourself at gallup.com. Its findings and insights are quite timely for the future of our nation’s business and industry, not to mention the future of many of our workplaces. The report offers a good read and a great way to start the New Year! MT&AP

Robert Williamson, CMRP, CPMM and member of the Institute of Asset Management, is in his fourth decade of focusing on the “people side” of world-class maintenance and reliability in plants and facilities across North America. Email: RobertMW2@cs.com. JANUARY 2014

DON’T PROCRASTINATE...INNOVATE

Minute Maintenance, Part 1 Ken Bannister Contributing Editor

ith skilled workers no longer the renewable resource they once were, maintenance departments everywhere face a serious challenge for the future: Increasing qualityof-service and demand levels will significantly stress their ability to deliver unless a new work model is devised. That’s where innovation comes in. Innovation takes full advantage of the attributes that set us humans apart from other life forms (i.e., reasoning, problem solving, communicating through complex, nuanced language forms, abstract thinking, using tools, etc.), especially where adversity looms. According to management guru Peter Drucker, “Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.” Translation: If maintenance organizations are to perform work in an environment where time and skill resources are budgeted, they must begin to evaluate their proactive methods and revise them for efficiency and effectiveness. One method I have devised for doing this capitalizes on a combination of problem solving, communication and abstract thinking: I call it the “Minute Maintenance” approach to proactive work.

Time is the most precious of commodities. When treated as such, it changes the way one views and approaches maintenance work. Minute Maintenance is the pursuit and implementation of proactive methods, processes, techniques and tools designed to reduce or eliminate non-valueadded (waste) maintenance activity to produce an efficient and effective result in minutes. It very much reflects a lean maintenance process. Time is the most precious of commodities. When treated as such, it changes the way one views and approaches maintenance work. Any activity that

12 | MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY & ASSET PERFORMANCE

doesn’t add value takes away meaningful utilization of the maintainer resource. Take, for example, very large plants or where a maintenance department serves multiple sites/ facilities: A centralized maintenance-shop approach means substantial staff time will be spent in backand-forth travel. Adopting a decentralized or zone deployment system can help to reduce travel time and reclaim precious maintenance resource minutes. Similarly, use of cached inventory locations rather than a large central storeroom can reduce the time spent waiting for parts. In an advanced maintenance state, both strategies can be expanded upon with devices like smartphones and tablets to schedule just-in-time work orders, thereby eliminating timeconsuming return trips to central maintenance for new work orders. Another strategy involves issuing parts to convenient locations near job sites—or having them kitted, staged and drop-shipped internally or by a third-party supplier to the actual job site. This type of inventory transaction has long been associated with small auto-repair shops. Such businesses rarely carry inventory, preferring to place calls to parts-suppliers minutes before items are needed. A supplier, in turn, will kit the needed part(s) and deliver them to the shop in a matter of minutes. Although these are sophisticated strategies and processes that require highly disciplined planning and scheduling, there are many simple activities, techniques and tools that can add value and free up maintenance personnel for deployment where they can be better utilized.

The process in brief Minute Maintenance achieves results through the introduction of innovative methods, processes and tools at the design phase of an asset or through systematic review, analysis, design and implementation of maintenance improvements to existing practices. In both cases, it is imperative that maintenance be involved in the process. The Minute Maintenance process adopts a similar approach to the successful review, analysis and design process used in SMED (Single-Minute Exchange of Die), a lean process developed by Shigeo Shingo in

JANUARY 2014

DON’T PROCRASTINATE...INNOVATE

the late 1950s to reduce time waste during a production line changeover (i.e., achieve a line change in 10 minutes or less). It begins with the maintenance team performing an existing process or PM job planas they typically wouldwhile timing and filming it. The team should include those normally involved in the referenced process, including the planner, scheduler, supervisor, maintainer(s) and operators. Members of the team then reconvene in a facilitated brainstorming session to critically review the written flow diagram or PM instruction and recorded work session for waste (usually measured based on effort that produces little or no value) and propose improvements. Each idea is captured and reviewed for cost vs. practicality, expected return on investment in time and availability/reliability results. To be clear, some of the recommendations coming out of these brainstorming sessions will require reengineering and involve input from others. Unlike a production department that may have one line and a handful of processes to consider, a maintenance organization can have hundreds of things to deal with. Expediency, therefore, would typically demand that maintenance departments begin by streamlining their major processes like planning and scheduling and inventory transactions. Or they can start with their most common and repetitive PM tasks like bearing lubrication or pulley and belt inspections.

Activities, techniques and tools Efficiency and effectiveness is achieved through consistency. Consider a typical lubrication PM asking personnel to place a grease gun on a bearing and pump grease into it. If the job task simply states, “lubricate as necessary,” no two PMs will be completed the same way. With no control parameters specified, the PM would rely solely on the person performing it to understand if the correct grease is being applied in the correct amount to the correct number of bearings. To reach certain bearings, equipment may need to be taken offline and require lockout/tagout (LOTO) procedures and machine-guard removal. These are all time-consuming elements, none of which guarantees the equipment will be lubricated correctly every time. Taking a Minute Maintenance approach to this type of PM could result in numerous improvements at different levels. Level One Improvements: Rewrite the PM job task using objective language. Identify and number all lubrication points on a schematic drawing that can

JANUARY 2014

be printed on the PM and/or laminated and attached to the equipment. Identify the grease to be used on the PM task and on the schematic drawing. Calculate the amount required for each bearing, translate into grease-gun strokes and identify on the PM and schematic—for every numbered bearing. Level Two Improvements: Perform Level One Improvements. Review guard-access issues and design/install remote lubrication line extensions from guarded bearing points to outside the guard, eliminating the need to take off and reinstall guards. If there are many points behind one guard, review the possibility of redesigning it to a 30-second hinged guard (more about this in Part II). Negotiate to perform this PM during a production break so no downtime is encountered. Level Three Improvements: Perform Level One Improvements. Design and install a centralized lubrication system with all lines connected to an engineered lubrication divider block mounted on the perimeter of the machine. A grease gun can now be attached to the divider block and pumped until an indicator pin visually indicates to the operator that all points have received an engineered amount of lubricant. While this level requires an inexpensive engineering modification, it allows an unskilled operator to perform the greasing—and does not require LOTO or equipment to be taken out of service to perform the PM. Accordingly, what could have taken an hour to complete can be accomplished in under five minutes. This particular lubrication task could be taken to a fourth level through a fully automated centralized delivery system or by adding a pump and controller, eliminating the PM entirely. This would require another PM: to check that the system is operating correctly and the reservoir is always charged with grease. Each level incrementally increases efficiency and effectiveness through waste elimination. The level chosen for adoption will depend on many factors— including the budget and the return-on-investment factor. More tips and techniques will be covered in the March issue. kbannister@engtech.com

Ken Bannister will speak on “Minute Maintenance” at MARTS 2014, as well as conduct a Pre-Conference Workshop on its use in lubrication fundamentals. For more, visit www.MARTSconference.com. MAINTENANCETECHNOLOGY.COM | 13

NEWS

2013 NAME Award Goes to Emergent BioSolutions, Lansing, MI The Emergent BioSolutions facility in Lansing, MI, has been announced as the sole recipient of the 2013 North American Maintenance Excellence (NAME) Award. Administered and presented by the Foundation for Industrial Maintenance Excellence, the NAME Award honors North American organizations that excel in performing maintenance processes that enable operational excellence. It is considered the most prestigious recognition within the industrial maintenance discipline. Emergent’s Lansing site won the 2013 Award based on the company’s pursuit, dedication and demonstration of operational and maintenance excellence. During a

Emerson Takes Full Ownership of EGS, Renames It ‘Appleton Group’ Emerson has closed on a previously announced deal to take 100% ownership of the EGS Electrical Group by acquiring SPX Corporation’s 44.5% minority interest in the group. Going forward, the business will be known as the Appleton Group, a name change that’s reflective of the most recognized EGS brand. Emerson and SPX had jointly held EGS since 1997. In a statement expressing appreciation for SPX as a long-time partner in the venture, David N. Farr, Emerson’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, noted that emerging opportunities with his company’s Process Management and Industrial Automation organizations make this the right time to leverage various synergies that are possible with EGS as a fully integrated Emerson business. Headquartered in Rosemont, IL, EGS booked revenues of more than $500 million last year. Although the business serves a wide range of markets with products for commercial, industrial, hazardous and adverse-environment applications, participation in the oil, gas and chemical arenas now accounts for more than half of total sales. 14 | MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY & ASSET PERFORMANCE

four-day, on-site visit, a NAME audit team evaluated the company on 14 characteristics grouped into three major themes: organization, work processes, and materials management. The audit noted a number of key strengths at the facility, including: Maintenance and Calibration Systems; Qualification of Equipment; Reliability Engineering; Lean 5S Program; and People Development, among others. Emergent BioSolutions will detail how they won the award in a presentation at MARTS 2014. For more information on MARTS, visit www.MARTSconference. com. For more on the NAME award, see page 46, or visit www.nameaward.com.

Siemens Introduces Managed Security Service in the U.S. Siemens Industry has announced the rollout of its Managed Security Service in the U.S., a new offering aimed at providing continuous protection for production environments. The service includes assessment of security posture, implementation of recommended security measures and transitions into ongoing defense against rapidly evolving cyber security threats in industrial control system environments. Following its U.S. introduction, the new service will be rolled out in Europe, then in Asia. According to the company, its Industrial Security Services group expands on the existing Siemens security portfolio by providing holistic protection to sites.

Acquiring ThingWorx Positions PTC as Major Internet-of-Things Player Technology company PTC has acquired ThingWorx, creators of an award-winning platform for building and running applications for the Internet of Things (IoT). Based in Needham, MA, PTC helps manufacturers address the various disruptive and transformational forces impacting today’s industrial landscape. The acquisition of ThingWorx positions PTC as a major player in the IoT era by accelerating its ability to support companies seeking competitive advantage as they create and service smart, connected products. As part of PTC, ThingWorx will continue to help customers in a range of industries leverage the IoT, including those from the telecommunications, utilities, medical-device, agriculture and transportation sectors, as well as from an emerging partner network of IoT-enabled service providers. JANUARY 2014

NEWS

Eaton’s Blansett to Head International Fluid Power Society Tom Blansett, Manager of Eaton’s Training Services Group, Hydraulics, has been elected President of the International Fluid Power Society (IFPS), a nonprofit professional organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of certifications, educational opportunities, technology evolution and professionalism within the fluid-power and motion-control industry. IFPS currently has nearly 10,000 active certifications around the world.

Rockwell Automation Initiates Test-Bed Project for Optimization of Manufacturing Assets Rockwell Automation has initiated a project to optimize manufacturing assets at a U.S. Army-owned, contractor-operated, metal-parts plant in Scranton, PA. It’s one of two test-bed efforts in the $10 million Smart Manufacturing Leadership Consortium (SMLC) project to develop the first open smart-manufacturing (SM) platform in the United States. Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, the project will show how small, medium and large manufacturers can leverage this SM platform in the area of real-time energymanagement. SMLC-developed technologies are expected to help improve energy productivity, reduce carbon dioxide and boost production output.

New Testing Facility Expands 3M’s FallProtection R&D Efforts 3M has unveiled a state-of-the-art testing facility for its expanding portfolio of fall-protection products, complete with a research and development tower. Located at the company’s Fall Protection campus in Cottage Grove, MN, it’s been designed to test according to global fall-protection regulatory standards and provide an innovative, collaborative type of environment where the 3M Research and Development team can design safe, secure solutions for those who work at height. The company intends to test harnesses, connecting and anchorage devices, lifeline systems, confined-space equipment and escape-and-rescue products at the site.

Update of Human-Machine-Interface Guidelines Released by Industry Group The Abnormal Situation Management (ASM) Consortium has released a second edition of its human-machine-interface (HMI) display design guidelines under a new name: “Effective Console Operator HMI Design Practices.” Based on the Consortium’s research in prevention, mitigation and management of abnormal situations, the document is written for individuals who establish or assist in establishing company HMI standards, style guides and information displays accessed by console operators through control-system workstations. Learn more at www.asmconsortium.org. JANUARY 2014

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NEWS ISA Rolls Out Knowledge-Based Certification Program for Cybersecurity Specialists The International Society of Automation (ISA) now offers an ISA99/IEC 62443 Cybersecurity Fundamentals Specialist Certificate. Through the work of the Society’s Committee on Security for Industrial Automation & Control Systems (ISA99), this knowledge-based certification program is designed to help individuals involved in IT and control-systems security improve their understanding of principles related to ISA99/IEC 62443 standards and acquire a command of industrial-cybersecurity terminology. Developed by international cybersecurity subject-matter experts from across industry, government and academia, the series of ISA99/IEC 62443 standards apply to all key industry sectors and critical infrastructure, and provide the flexibility to address and mitigate current and future vulnerabilities in industrial-automation and control systems. The certificate will be awarded to those who successfully

complete a two-day ISA classroom-training course, “Using the ANSI/ISA99 (IEC) Standards to Secure Your Industrial Control System (IC32),” and pass a 75-question multiple-choice exam. Although there are no prerequisites to register for this program and no application is necessary to take the exam, ISA notes that it would be helpful for candidates to have three to five years of experience in the IT cybersecurity field (with at least two of those years in an industrial processcontrol engineering environment). A paper/pencil format of the new exam is now available. The current paper version of the test will be augmented with an electronic version in the first quarter of 2014.

ISA also has annnounced publication of a new book asserting that another Chernobyl- or Fukushima-like catastrophe is inevitable unless nuclear-power plants adopt fully automated safety systems. Automation Can Prevent the Next Fukushima explains that while technology exists to prevent the vast majority of nuclear-reactor disasters, the world’s nuclear-energy facilities continue to rely on human operators to monitor plant conditions and manually take corrective safety measures if needed. Author Béla G. Lipták, P.E., says the question we should be asking is not “if” another major nuclearpower-plant disaster will occur, but “when.” For more information on ISA’s new cybersecurity certification and/or the recently published Lipták book, go to www.isa.org.

Valve Manufacturers Association Now Offers Basic Training Online

Announces “The Easolution” In January 2014 Cascade MVS Goes Live !!! With PDM on the WEB

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In an effort to expand its educational outreach, the Valve Manufacturers Association (VMA) has launched “Valve Basics Online Training (VBOT),” adapted from the association’s place-based “Valve Basics Training” course. According to recent VMA research, the valve industry has seen a 50% increase in employees from a decade ago and anticipates adding more jobs in the coming year. As this industry “grays,” however, it faces increasing challenges in the identification, attraction and retention of workers. Part of VMA’s in-depth “Valve Ed” program, the new online training is expected to serve not just as a means for developing valve literacy, but as a vehicle for generating career interest. Valve Ed was established in 2009 to train existing and future employees of the valve industry, as well as those working in industries that use valves. Since then, more than 900 individuals have taken the basic 101 course. Visit www.vma.org for more details. JANUARY 2014

March 18-21, 2014 Hyatt Regency O’Hare, Rosemont, IL www.MARTSconference.com MARTS is back — but in a totally new format and focus — achieving operational excellence through asset performance. MARTS has always attracted decision makers. Over 80% of 2013 attendees were managers, professionals and engineers with decision-making authority. The 2014 edition will build on the tradition of attracting the brightest minds in predictive maintenance but will also add even more sessions designed to attract additional decision makers.

You don’t want to miss MARTS 2014!

Go to www.MARTSConference.com for further details. MAINTENANCE

TECHNOLOGY & ASSET PERFORMANCE

Mapping a Way to Manufacturing Excellence Reaching a specific destination on time takes careful planning. Heeding the advice of those who've made the journey can help.

Jane Alexander Deputy Editor

ASSET PERFORMANCE STRATEGIES

Line managers in manufacturing operations shoulder responsibility for a diverse set of plant goals, including profit and loss (P&L), safety, cost, production, customer service, product quality, environmental compliance, return on invested capital and facility preservation. They must handle the targeted annual improvement in these areas while simultaneously addressing the routine operation of the plant. This is no easy task, as the routine demands of daily maintenance, capital upgrades, scheduled outages, employee scheduling, hiring, training, union relations and customer visits represent only a partial list of areas requiring attention. According to long-time manufacturing executive Bob Taylor, managing those responsibilities in a piecemeal way doesn’t work. “It can turn a line manager into a juggler,” he notes, “and balls will be dropped.”

A better way is through a comprehensive and integrated approach, Taylor says. He should know. His career spans 35 years of operational experience from entry-level engineer to CEO, including positions with Hudson Bay Oil and Gas, CIP, International Paper, Sappi Fine Papers, Armstrong World Industries and Neucel Specialty Cellulose. Working with talented people at every stop led to the development of what he calls a “RoadMap for Manufacturing Excellence.” Based on a perspective of minimum effective design, the route Taylor proposes is laid out for ease of use, efficiency and delivery of desired results—particularly valuable in plants with limited resources.

Drawing the map The RoadMap is organized under two broad categories: principles and tools. The principles are further separated into those that influence JANUARY 2014

individual actions and others that define organizational guidelines for routine work. The tools are organized under the categories of operations, maintenance, engineering and organizational excellence, along with a focus on results. All of the previously referenced measures of plant success (P&L, safety, cost, etc.) are considered. For example, the familiar components of variable and fixed cost are reviewed, but so is the less familiar marginal cost which can potentially have a very negative impact on P&L at the low end of a pricing cycle. A special emphasis is placed on reliability— which Taylor refers to as the bedrock support for all manufacturing results. The RoadMap’s in-depth analysis of reliability includes measures of both plant reliability (PR) and the cost of unreliability (COUR). Without these key quantitative measures, the impact of reliability is underestimated, and management attention is diverted to other less vital needs of the business.

Emphasizing principles Although the RoadMap’s “principles” represent the “soft side” of manufacturing excellence, Taylor says that when properly chosen and applied, they have a wide impact on how work gets done and can be very influential in changing the behavioral norms in a plant. For example, the personal principal of “Tell the Truth” encourages full disclosure; never holding back on the delivery of unpleasant news; and never misleading anyone regarding your knowledge or understanding. An organization that deals with the truth doesn’t waste valuable time trying to sort fact from fiction, and solves its problems in a much more efficient and effective way than those where reality is shaded by halftruths and misinformation. The work principle example of “Implement via Minimum Effective Design” is a reminder to never complicate things any more than is absolutely necessary to produce a desired outcome. This requires a consistent effort to simplify work and avoid the creeping bureaucracy and complexity that will lower operational efficiency and add cost. As Taylor explains, becoming “so minimum” that policies, SOPs (standard operating procedures), etc., are meaningless provides no advantage—but looking for simplicity while still retaining required effectiveness does. MAINTENANCETECHNOLOGY.COM | 19

ASSET PERFORMANCE STRATEGIES

Focusing on results The next step toward manufacturing excellence is establishing the correct focus on results—starting with an assessment of plant stability. It is pointless, notes Taylor, to embark on a major change initiative involving cost, customer service, etc., if the operation of the plant is highly unstable (i.e., if it is unreliable). If faced with this challenge, the only option is to move all operational initiatives to the background and narrow the focus to improving plant reliability (PR). According to Taylor, improving PR to an acceptable level (90-95%) will automatically improve results in every other operations area, while a low PR will mask the impact of most other improvement initiatives. “For example,” he says, “total manufacturing cost can be elevated up to 15% in a plant that’s operating 20% below its PR potential, and the cost variations associated with a changing PR will render the impact of most other costimprovement initiatives unrecognizable.” The specific target chosen for PR, Taylor asserts, can be determined using the RoadMap’s Flow-Down Tool that provides an assessment of the plant’s true PR potential. The associated dollar value is calculated from COUR and compounded by the extra profit from higher sales, if plant sales were production constrained at the lower PR levels. “Safety,” Taylor contends, “should be added to this reduced focus." That's because even though low PR and safety problems go hand in hand and improving reliability will automatically improve safety, it will be difficult to ignore a direct focus on safety without generating organizational resistance to the overall improvement effort. Developing improvement goals for the remaining operational areas requires a detailed knowledge of the plant’s customers, supply chain and manufacturing operation, as well as those of its competitors. Taylor says improvement targets in these areas can be developed using the RoadMap’s internal or external benchmarking tools. “Like

Table I. Foundational Tools for Initial Implementation (Remaining RoadMap Tools Will Be Used as Needed to Deliver Results)

RoadMap Tool

Major Purpose

Focus on Results Plant BSC (Balanced Scorecard)

Improvement starts with setting plant-level goals—and tracking progress against these goals.

Work Plans — developed using the Flow Down Tool

Provides a systematic means to refine plant Improvement goals, and develop supporting action plans.

Line of Sight (LOS) Indicators

LOS indicators define the area measures that support the plant goals.

Road Map Crew Meetings

Provides both a focus on LOS indicators and the methods (Principles and Tools) to achieve LOS targets.

Plant Improvement Teams

Prime means to formally engage the complete workforce (hourly and salaried) on designated projects to solve plant problems.

Operations Excellence Level 1,2 and 3 Housekeeping

Good housekeeping is basic to employee morale and initiates the expectation of “precision.” It also provides the first test of management capability to lead.

Operator Rounds Cycle

Rounds start to engage operators as equipment owners and have a huge impact on improving PR, safety and other key measures.

Maintenance Excellence PM Cycle

Fundamental to PR improvement.

Reduction of Reliability Defects (starting with the Tools of Lubrication and Precision Methods)

Reducing reliability defects—and the practices that keep producing them—is the only way to gain long-term improvement in PR.

Planning and Scheduling of Maintenance Work

There will always be a shortage of trades for the amount of work required. Planning and scheduling starts to address this.

Engineering Excellence Project Management

Efficient project management is necessary to conserve scarce capital and time. Poorly chosen and/or executed projects also devastate employee morale.

Organizational Excellence Performance Management This is the best means of promoting accountability to results. Managerial Skill Development

Improving the interaction between managers/supervisors and their teams is an important element to changing the plant culture to one supportive of RoadMap implementation.

plant reliability,” he explains, “translating as many of these improvement goals expressed in process units to their dollar equivalent and impact on P&L is a more powerful motivator at the shopfloor level.” Safety and environmental goals, he adds, can be justified in terms

20 | MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY & ASSET PERFORMANCE

of their obvious impact on people and the surrounding community, in addition to meeting regulatory demands. Whether a plant’s initial focus is restricted to reliability and safety, or is part of a more comprehensive improvement effort, Taylor cautions that initial JANUARY 2014

ASSET PERFORMANCE STRATEGIES

application of the RoadMap’s tools should include only a foundational subset of its complete toolkit. There’s little point in overwhelming an organization with an excessive number of new methods when a thorough application of the basic tools listed in the accompanying table will jumpstart the targeted improvements. According to Taylor, although the initial application of the foundational set is limited to less than one-half of the full complement of available RoadMap Tools, he feels the complete list should be previewed during the introductory phase. Providing even a brief picture of this possible endgame, he says, will limit the frustration that generally surfaces as new tools are continually introduced over an extended period—something that is often construed as a never-ending list of new demands. Still, in keeping with the minimum effective design principle, tools beyond the initial foundational set should be used only where absolutely necessary. NOTE: Although some RoadMap tools will be familiar, Taylor says their performance expectation is raised considerably by the documented standards for excellence and the defined roles and responsibilities. Consider operator rounds, for example: They’re are covered in most manufacturing plants under the umbrella of Autonomous Maintenance/ TPM/Basic Care, etc.—yet few are ever implemented to the level of the RoadMap standard for the operator-rounds cycle.

Organizational excellence is also required Manufacturing excellence, Taylor points out, is often pursued strictly from the perspective of operations, maintenance and engineering excellence. In his view, that short list overlooks the critical role of people in the implementation process. “Excellence cannot be achieved only through superior engineering designs, optimum process configurations and a superior system of manufacturing procedures,” he says, “although they are all important requisites.” JANUARY 2014

Based on principles of minimum effective design, this RoadMap has been laid out for ease of use and efficiency, as well as for delivery of desired results. These features can be particularly valuable for plants that have limited resources available.

Equipment must be maintained in excellent condition and procedures implemented with care and precision by people. The needs of people, Taylor notes, are generally more difficult to address than technical concerns, but invariably play a larger part in implementation success. That’s why the organizational excellence section of the RoadMap reviews, at length, the role of people and topics like hiring, effective teams, supervisor skills development, performance management, and working within union environments—and, importantly, puts special emphasis on key attributes required of plant leadership.

The implementation process Taylor acknowledges that any system purporting to deliver manufacturing excellence is only as good as the results it ultimately delivers in a plant application, and that while process documentation on manufacturing excellence abounds, successful applications are rare. The RoadMap addresses this by including a separate section devoted to implementation to ensure that what is described is actually practiced. Among other things, implementation is supported by a description of the

roles and responsibilities required for the successful application of the principles and tools. Also, questions are posed at the conclusion of each segment to stimulate group discussion and improve understanding. The goal is to help employees grasp the full scope of the endeavor, which will ultimately pay off in a greater sense of ownership and a speedier and more substantial implementation. A concise “RoadMap on a Page” overview provides added support in comprehending the full scope. This summary helps maintain the perspective of the RoadMap as holistic—and of minimum effective design—as changes/additions are considered over time.

Summary Asked to sum up the RoadMap, Taylor highlights the fact that it covers all aspects of manufacturing excellence and is not just aimed at meeting plant goals. It also provides a way to better define these goals and develop a comprehensive plan to achieve them. Set up to be “evergreen” and easily amenable to adding new principles and/ or tools, the RoadMap can be presented to plant employees as a means to “organize what we know and adapt what we learn,” which builds in ownership for manufacturing excellence. Because the entire RoadMap is built on the concept of minimum effective design, Taylor says it is simple to follow and straightforward to apply. To him, this minimalism is a critical feature, as it provides better support to line managers who are responsible for a host of varied demands in their plants than the types of complicated and/or piecemeal approaches that may have hindered them in the past. MT&AP Bob Taylor recently joined ReliabilityOptima as an Executive Vice President specializing in manufacturing excellence. For more information related to this article, telephone him directly: (901) 303-7009 or (281) 359-2162; or email: btaylor@ reliability-optima.com. MAINTENANCETECHNOLOGY.COM | 21

Regret-Free Contracting This insight from a real-world user of contract services could help make your future projects more successful. Randall Noon, P.E.

ASSET PERFORMANCE STRATEGIES

Companies typically don’t take the decision to use a contractor lightly. The details and activities associated with successfully setting up and managing contract projects and contractors shouldn’t be taken lightly, either. The goal is twofold: 1) The contractor is to complete a project for the company that benefits both parties; 2) When the work is completed, both contractor and client should be able to walk away from a job well done, without further entanglements, ready to work again with each other if the need arises.

Choosing contractors The traditional RFP and low-bid process may be the least effective way of meeting the two parts of the preceding goal. Consider the following scenario: The company writes an RFP that details the work, the schedule and everything else in an attempt to control costs and get the job done at the lowest price. Savvy contractors will then game the system by combing through the RFP carefully to see what work has been left out of the document that must be done in order to complete the project—and keep such findings to themselves. (Think of this information as a contractor’s ace in the hole.) Since many companies that want work to be done are less experienced in the overall scope of their desired projects than contractors, it’s not unusual for things to be left out of RFPs. It is difficult to be omniscient. Consequently, a contractor may underbid the true price of the project to get the job and then attempt to make up the difference by constantly finding “extra work” to be billed according to a time and materials schedule that’s in addition to the bid. (As many readers already know, billing rates in an “extra work schedule” are typically higher than the billing rates implicit within an accepted bid.) About halfway through the project, the contractor may attempt to play his/her “ace in the hole” and use the unfinished work as bargaining leverage. Further, the contractor will be the first to recognize that some of the materials or items specified in the contract cannot be found in a timely fashion and may barrage the company with material-change and extra-work notices. Most of the change notices will be for material substitutions that increase the contractor's margin or will be billed as the “extras.” This hypothetical scenario is a classic example of how the traditional low-bid contracting system sets up adversarial relationships in the real world: Instead of working together to efficiently solve problems and complete the job, the contractor is constantly looking for loopholes and deviations from the contract. The client company, on the other hand, attempts to stay within the original contract to keep the price low—even when unanticipated problems that require deviations arise. Since few major projects rarely go exactly as planned, the odds are on the contractor's side. The unyielding bid price keeps both parties hostage. There is a better way: Pre-qualify a contractor, or group of contractors, any one of which will do a fine job at a reasonable cost. Don't accept bids or proposals from contractors that chronically litigate for extra money over the bid price; shift workers and resources to other, more profitable projects; or disappear overnight when the cash flow goes into the red. (Note: If a pre-qualified contractor is assured of being paid fairly, it will work with the client company to get the job done correctly. On the other hand, if a contractor worries about losing money, its main focus may be on bringing work to a quick end.) JANUARY 2014

MAINTENANCETECHNOLOGY.COM | 23

ASSET PERFORMANCE STRATEGIES

Much like defining lines Perform your due diligence Working with a contractor is essentially taking on a temporary partner. Most people prefer trustworthy partners with whom they can bargain and problemsolve in good faith when emergent issues occur during a project—as they usually do. Finding a contractor who is a trustworthy partner solves most problems before they start. Unfortunately, the procedures many companies and government agencies use in securing contractor services—such as some low-bid processes—don’t always ensure the selection of a trustworthy partner. In this regard, the best and perhaps only useful measure of a contractor's trustworthiness is its past performance. Don’t be caught off guard. Make phone calls and/or write letters to obtain critical information before entering into a contract. Following are a number of important points to consider while evaluating a new contractor. Check the contractor's record with the Better Business Bureau and the state attorney general's office. How a contracting company deals with disputes that arise with its own clients indicates how it will handle problems with your company. Check the contractor's credit record. Does the company pay its bills on time? Can it meet payroll obligations while the job is in progress? Is it difficult for creditors or subcontractors to collect from the contractor? Are there liens for nonpayment against the contractor’s business? Will the business fall apart before it finishes your work? A surprise you don’t want (or can’t afford) would be the discovery that your contractor has gone bankrupt halfway through your major project. Check the contractor's legal record. Has the business been involved in a string of lawsuits concerning workscope disputes, higher-than-expected costs, missed milestones, etc.? There is nothing more fun than being tied up in a lawsuit where unfinished work is used as leverage. Low-bid contracts become expensive quickly when teams of $500-per-hour lawyers assemble to battle each other.

of authority before contract work begins, clarify whose rules will be followed and where.

Finally, check the contractor's incorporation papers in its state of record (information that’s usually available through the office of the Secretary of State). Find answers to the following questions. 1. Does the business have tangible assets and community connections? In other words, how fast could the contractor disappear to another state if cash-flow troubles occurred on your project? 2. Has the contractor only recently been incorporated? 3. Have officers of the contractor’s business traded positions in a series of related past enterprises over a short period of time? 4. Is the contractor’s business connected to other companies (like holding companies, through which assets can be shifted around)? Before the job begins, define clearly who is in charge of whom, and for what and when. Make sure that both management and employees of the company and management and employees of the contractor understand who is in charge (and, just as important, who is not). Then, stick to the agreement. Remember the sign that used to be standard issue in many auto-mechanic shops: “Labor $25/hr.—$50/hr. if you offer advice and help.” The same type of admonition could be applied to contract projects. Much like defining lines of authority before the contract work begins, clarify whose rules will be followed and where. Make sure contractor employees and company employees all know the rules

24 | MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY & ASSET PERFORMANCE

and stick to the agreement. This is especially important with respect to safety rules and those involving company security issues, as well as rules of conduct—as in where people are allowed to smoke or are prohibited from doing so, for example. Remember, however, that not all safety rules are the same. Disputes between a contractor and a company frequently arise because the contractor is adhering to one set of safety and work rules, while the company's employees are required to adhere to another set. Sometimes, seemingly trivial things, like where smoking is or is not permitted, can touch off amazingly out-of-proportion disagreements.

Let contractors do their job From experience, I have found that a contractor typically knows his business better than company personnel, and viceversa. So, allow your contractors to do what they do best. Whenever possible, set goals and objectives in the RFP or request for bid rather than specify each and every detail and each schedule milestone. Let contractors apply their knowledge and experience about how the work will be done and what constitutes a reasonable schedule. Often, an arbitrary completion schedule detailed by the company will lead to unnecessary costs that could be avoided if the contractor were allowed more leeway. As you would if you were dealing with a London cabbie, tell your contractor where you want to go and let it choose the best route based on distance, time of day, expected traffic and road conditions. (Note: London cabbies are granted licenses based upon their knowledge of the streets and byways of London and the most efficient ways of getting from one point to another. The test must be darn hard. Most applicants reportedly fail it twelve times or more before they are granted a license.) MT&AP Randy Noon is a Root Cause Team Leader at Nebraska's Cooper Nuclear Station. A noted author and frequent contributor to MT, he has been investigating failures for more three decades. Email: rknoon@nppd.com. JANUARY 2014

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IP Networks Rule the Plant Taking care of your network is the key to efficiencies now and tomorrow. Gary Mintchell, Executive Director

ASSET PERFORMANCE STRATEGIES

Everything is networked. If not now, it will be soon. Ethernet has won the networking war. The most important of the protocols that we commonly, if inaccurately, label Ethernet is Internet Protocol (IP).

You may have heard of the Internet of Things. IoT has received increasing publicity over the past couple of years. Now marketing types are rushing to coin new words and phrases. Recently, I've seen people discussing Industrial Internet and Industrial IP. Some traditional industrial networks such as HART, Profibus and DeviceNet have Ethernet and IP implementations—HART over IP, Profinet and EtherNet/IP. What all of this means is that engineers, managers and technicians must become knowledgeable about the intricacies of networking. It is more important than ever that plant managers and division managers bring IT professionals into active and fruitful collaboration on building and maintaining effective plant networks. Engineers and technicians must learn enough about IP networks to recognize and troubleshoot problems early on. Dan McGrath, industrial automation solutions manager at Panduit and a representative of the Industrial IP Website jointly operated by Panduit, Cisco Systems and Rockwell Automation, thinks we're at a transition point of improving maintainability and uptime of processes with IP networks. “With IP networks coming to the plant along with control networks, it brings along people and process, mobility, energy data, sensors and video. This makes network infrastructure critical to plant success,” says McGrath. “Engineers were familiar with older networks and their rules on terminating resistors, media, number of nodes, monitors and all the other peculiarities. IP networks bring change. Some of the surface things of the past go away, since IP networks are a little like 'plug-and-play,' but now engineers need a vision of where the IP network is going.”

The high-level view Taking a high-level view of network architecture yields many benefits for performance and security. McGrath advises, “As you add automation, video and other applications, you'll need to learn to segment your network for performance and resiliency. You need to figure out how to achieve high availability along with high reliability by looking at how some people got into trouble.” Industrial automation networks can easily grow quite large. McGrath notes that one machine he worked on had 500 nodes on the network. “If you don't have structure and JANUARY 2014

knowledge of designing and installing a network,” he says, “you'll run into problems. I had a case at a food plant where the maintenance guy started plugging and unplugging network nodes trying to find a problem. He went home for the night and the machine didn't work until he came back in to tell colleagues where he was with the troubleshooting. With IP networks, you don't have to fall into that trap.” Many tools exist to guide development and work with IP networks. There are TIA standards on how to structure a network. Tools are available to assist design and documentation. McGrath advises structuring with managed switches: “Now with wireless and video connections to enterprise, managed switches help with security and safety,” he says. “A pharma company I knew had lots of unmanaged switches. A remote person could shut down the plant. The good thing is that there are solid answers. You can find a reference architecture on the Industrial IP Advantage Website.” Panduit, Cisco Systems and Rockwell Automation built the Industrial IP Advantage Website because they saw a need for a repository of best practices. The site contains a number of links, pages related to a variety of topics, and a plantwide reference guide. The vendor-agnostic site also contains a community angle where everyone can post questions or contribute expertise, including an IoT approach. “Mobility, cloud, and data analytics will change how we do maintenance and how remote experts can help,” McGrath explains. “Our site has sections for emerging topics. Currently, we have some of the high-level information and we are always adding details. In 2014, we are launching online training that should have more detail.”

Updating network design McGrath illustrates the importance of modern network design with an example of a large, West-Coast generating facility that uses a fiber-optic network spread over four to five acres. The network carries control-system data, which controls the operations of a coal-fired plant, which controls the ovens as well as the electrical generator. When the plant was experiencing network errors, months of troubleshooting on switches, software, sensors and controllers indicated that the problems were caused by a physical infrastructure problem. The utility company could not resume control of the facility until the issue was resolved. During a plant walkthrough, Panduit service professionals noticed that the plant’s fiber-optic network was approximately 12 years old and was Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI)-grade from the dotcom era of the 1990s. Fiber from this era has a limited bandwidth and is unable to communicate at the data speeds of today. Panduit recommended testing the network during a maintenance window MAINTENANCETECHNOLOGY.COM | 27

ASSET PERFORMANCE STRATEGIES

and followed with a recommendation to overhaul the fiber network. In the next maintenance window, Panduit ran new fiber and tested all connections. The problem—caused by 12-year-old fiber optics—was solved.

Segmenting networks Sabina Piyevsky, commercial engineering manager at Rockwell Automation, discussed network design using segmentation on the Industrial IP Website (www.industrial-ip. org/industrial-ip/convergence/logicalsegmentation-and-vlans-overview). There are two types of segmentation implementations. “Physical segmentation is common,” she writes, “but has been applied to an extreme. Logical segmentation is the process of outlining which endpoints need to be in the same local area network, better known as a LAN.” Following is from the remainder of the article: Segmentation is a key consideration for an Industrial Automation Control System (IACS) network. Segmentation is important to help manage the real-time communication properties of the network, and yet support the requirements as defined by the network traffic flows. Security is also an important consideration in making segmentation decisions. A security policy may call for limiting access of plant floor personnel (such as a vendor or contractor) to certain areas of the plant floor (such as a functional area). Segmenting these areas into distinct subnets and Virtual LANs—commonly called VLANs—greatly assists in the application of these types of security considerations. Subnets and VLANs are two concepts that go hand-in-hand. A VLAN is a broadcast domain within a switched network. Devices within a VLAN can communicate with each other without a Layer-3 switch or router. Devices in different VLANs need a Layer-3 switch or router to communicate the traffic. Subnets are simply a subset of IP addresses assigned to a set of devices. Subnets are Layer-3 (Network/IP)

concepts and VLANs are Layer 2 (datalink/Ethernet). Typically, devices in a VLAN are assigned IP addresses from the same subnet and a subnet has devices in one VLAN to make routing easier and more straightforward. Best networking practices call for a one-to-one relationship between VLANs and subnets. When designing IACS network logical segmentation plans, there are competing objectives. On one hand, all Level 0 to 2 devices that need to communicate multicast I/O between each other must be in the same LAN. It would seem easier to put all devices in one VLAN and subnet. However, the smaller the VLAN, the easier it is to manage and maintain realtime communications. That’s because the broadcast traffic and multicast traffic are constrained. Real-time communications are harder to maintain as the number of switches, devices and network traffic increases in a LAN. Smaller VLANs also isolate devices from those that are faulty or compromised, because the negative impact only occurs within the errant devices’ VLANs. For the same reason, VLANs form the basis for setting and implementing security policy and protection. VLANs provide the broadcast isolation, policy implementation and fault-isolation benefits that are required in highly available networks. There are many approaches to segmenting a network. Manufacturing facility networks can be divided by functional sections of the plant floor, product lines and traffic type (for example, I/O, controller-to-controller and explicit message traffic). To achieve the goal of minimizing VLAN sizes, a mixture of all three may be used. Segmentation can be achieved via the following two key mechanisms in the Cell/ Area IACS network: Physical—Using separate cabling and Layer-2 access switches. VLAN (802.1Q)—Using the VLAN protocol that can be implemented on the same physical infrastructure

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Physical segmentation is a highly common approach in current Ethernet implementations, but has been applied to an extreme. For example, a common approach in current Ethernet deployments is to physically separate I/O traffic from HMI traffic and not to connect the I/O traffic to any interconnected Layer-3 distribution switch. In these cases, a controller has separate network interface connections (NIC) to each network, and the only means to communicate between the two networks is over the backplane of the controller. The I/O network is, therefore, reachable only via the controller backplane that processes only CIP traffic. The effects of this include: Devices on the I/O network are not accessible via non-CIP protocols (such as SNMP or HTTP), limiting overall interconnectivity. A controller was not designed to route, switch or bridge continuous network traffic, and may introduce delays when used in this manner. Network-based services (such as security, management, IP address allocation and so on) must either be replicated in each network or are not available. Increased costs occur because the available network resources in the HMI network (for example, open ports) are not available in I/O network. Although physical segmentation dedicates network resources to these various traffic types and helps increase the level of certainty that the traffic receives sufficient network resources, best practice is that these networks be at least connected to Layer-2 or Layer-3 switches to enable interconnectivity via other methods than the controller. In this way, the networks stay interconnected and get the full benefits of the converged network. Ethernet is alive and well in your plant. Will you be ready to help keep it performing well? MT&AP JANUARY 2014

Schneider Electric’s North American headquarters, Palatine, IL.

A Blueprint for Green Schneider Electric travels the path to world-class sustainability and good corporate citizenship. Here’s what the company has learned along the way. Rick Carter, Executive Editor Company President/CEO Jean-Pascal Tricoire has committed Schneider Electric to “helping people navigate the transition to a new energy world.”

'It’s time for everyone to become an active player in energy' is the call-to-arms Schneider Electric President/CEO Jean-Pascal Tricoire uses to introduce the company’s 2012/13 'Strategy and Sustainability Highlights' report. His statement defines both the culture of Schneider Electric and its self-termed position as “the global specialist in energy management.” It’s also at the root of the company’s stated goal to “work each day for a more efficient and sustainable world” in the 100 countries where it operates. In business since 1836, with early connections to iron, steel and shipbuilding, Francebased Schneider Electric has become a 21st-century thought-and-action leader in sustainability and energy efficiency. Or, as Tricoire puts it: “Helping people navigate the transition to a new energy world.” JANUARY 2014

Schneider Electric’s growing list of sustainability benchmarks includes: a 30% reduction in overall energy use and natural gas use from 2004 to 2011 at its North American facilities; avoidance of 260,000 tons of CO2 equivalent at those facilities in the same period; and a total savings of $24 million. In 2011, the company was added to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Best known as a manufacturer of low- and medium-voltage electrical distribution equipment, Schneider Electric also offers power-related services and solutions to its five main markets: Energy & Infrastructure; Industry; Data Centers and Networks; Buildings; and Residential. Global sales for 2012 were $32.6 billion (€24 billion), a 7% increase over the prior year and a reflection of its customers’ growing need and commitment to make industry, IT, energy use and cities themselves more efficient. The company describes its solutions as “created to provide customers a cost-effective and sustainable means to meeting business goals.” Schneider Electric has expanded its world presence through acquisitions, a key company strategy since the late 20th century (when it acquired U.S.-based electrical-parts manufacturer Square D). Since 2000, the company has acquired more than 30 companies in the fields of automation, security, power monitoring, MAINTENANCETECHNOLOGY.COM | 29

ON THE ROAD TO SUSTAINABILITY

SCADA and control systems, energy management, power inverters and others. For 28-year employee Ted Klee, Sr. VP, Global Supply Chain, North America, the company’s brisk pace of acquisitions has meant nearly continuous involvement with integration and consolidation, which he considers a normal part of life at the company. “We’ve done this same thing in eight regions around the globe,” he says, referring to the company’s ability to standardize manufacturing perspectives on many fronts, including energy. A veteran of Schneider Electric and Square D plant-management, Klee (rhymes with “glee”) today oversees 37 plants and distribution centers in North Schneider Electric North America America from Schneider Electric’s U.S. headquarters Sustainable Achievements, 2004-2011 office in Palatine, IL. “We’ve brought many new companies into the fold A sample of achievements from the company’s by applying economies of scale, while at the same time remaining true to local customers and markets,” Klee says. 37 plants and distribution centers in the U.S., “Some were smaller companies that may not have seen the Canada and Mexico includes: value in some of the sustainability issues. But as soon as Total energy-management savings: $24 million we acquire or pick up a new plant, we send in our central teams and can give them high-level advice and help. The Reduced energy usage: 30%+ amazing part is how they are generally very receptive and excited about it.” Klee explains that facility-management Reduced natural gas usage: 30%+ functions and project budgets, including those related to energy efficiency, are entirely centralized, meaning that all Avoided 260,000+ tons of CO2 equivalent decisions come out of the group. The standard-protocol process covers everything, from safety, energy and enviThree Schneider facilities received ISO ronmental procedures to the company’s lean production 50001-certificaton, with two more scheduled strategy known as the Schneider Production System. for certification in December 2013 and six “Plants can serve up ideas,” says Klee, “but this way we more in 2014. ISO 50001 is the international can make sure we’re going after the biggest projects across standard that specifies requirements for the company and not on a plant-by-plant basis. This takes implementing, operating and maintaining some of the pressure off plants while we bring the broader resources of Schneider to these smaller entities.” energy-management systems. CEO Tricoire has furthered Schneider Electric’s culture of sustainability by his insistence on company-wide Schneider’s Mississauga facility in Canada metering. “He wants dashboards,” says Klee. “Naturally, received LEED Silver certification. Other we use our own monitoring and software, and now all Schneider facilities pursuing LEED certificaSchneider locations with 50 or more people have metering tion include its new Monterrey Design Center and are tied into the company’s global dashboard. They are available in semi-real time on what our consumption (Mexico) and new global R&D center in is and what kind of projects are out there to drive improveAndover, MA. Both are expected to receive ments.” This is not entirely new for Schneider Electric, LEED certification in 2014. which for years has used metering in its own plants. “We’ve always had a good handle on how much energy we used,” notes Klee. As energy became more expensive, metering led to audits, then to the incorporation of procedures, practices and equipment that are becoming boilerplate in sustainable operations: lighting upgrades, occupancy sensors, improved building-control systems, variable speed drives, HVAC upgrades and others. “None of these may be revolutionary,” says Klee, “but all are part of a very engineered solution.”

‘Energy is fun’ and other factors As a top corporate mission at Schneider Electric, energy reduction is up there with safety and profitability. “We’re a business, and you must drive financial performance,” 30 | MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY & ASSET PERFORMANCE

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ON THE ROAD TO SUSTAINABILITY

Ted Klee, Schneider Electric’s Sr. VP, Global Supply Chain, North America, has spent much of his 28-year career with the company pursuing better ways to understand, monitor and manage energy usage.

says Klee, “whether that’s being able to market sustainability or see it in your bottom line. But I would say we get both, partly because not only is energy a win-win, it’s fun. It does take investment, but it has good payback, especially in the early years. It’s not like new-product development where there is a lot of guessing. With energy savings, you can truly build an engineered solution: You know what it’s going to cost and what the results are going to be, and it’s easy to monitor and manage. Plus, we’re an engineering-based company, so we love to measure and monitor things. And as we get deeper into monitoring our consumption at all levels, we have a solid fact base which helps us see if our investments are paying off.” When they do pay off, broadcasting the good news is part of the Schneider Electric strategy. “The more you highlight your gains, the better,” says Klee. “In a lot of companies, the investment is made, but the results aren’t published. The financial community likes to see what’s going on. After all, this is where the conservatism toward new projects usually arises. So if you can draw them into the analysis and they can see the rock-solid benefits at the bottom, it makes the next project a lot easier.” JANUARY 2014

So do Schneider Electric’s Green Teams, comprised of employee volunteers at each worldwide site who keep the practices of sustainability as integrated as possible into company culture. The Green Teams link to the larger world of sustainability by overseeing and guiding projects that involve recycling, charity work and “any other activities they can implement to make our people more happy, comfortable and engaged,” says Klee. At a company whose policy is to “look at every stream of waste and find the best use for it,” recycling is particularly important. Each plant’s Green Team looks at their site’s waste flows and guides recycling efforts, starting with what can be recycled to how to collect it and keeping employees engaged in the programs. What cannot be reused or recycled offsite in standard fashion, such as materials other than cardboard and metal, can call for a unique approach. “One of the toughest materials we ever had to deal with was from our thermoset injection-molding process,” says Klee. The solid byproduct “like stone” flummoxed company recycling efforts because it could not be reused, melted down for recycling or sold as is. The solution was to have the material crushed into powder, which was then combined with tar for use in road-surface materials. Klee sees this as another example of sustainability’s impact on corporate decisionmaking processes. “Clearly, the things you wouldn’t have thought about paying to do 20 years ago,” he says, “you’re very likely to pay to do today from an environmental aspect.”

A charitable approach Schneider Electric culture also supports the belief that sustainability includes working to improve communities where the company operates. This has resulted in outreach programs that focus on issues like rural electrification, vocational training, carbon-reduction and others. It has also led to formation of the Schneider Electric Foundation, the purpose of which is “to get involved

with associations working for the social inclusion and employability of young people,” according to an online interview with Gilles Vermot Desroches, Schneider Electric Senior Vice President, Sustainable Development. Formed in 1998 and based on an earlier company program that provided worker training in the electrical trades, the Foundation now uses its $5.4 million annual budget to fund charitable missions around the globe.

As an eight-year corporate sponsor, Schneider Electric donates load centers, disconnects, lighting and other equipment for all Habitat for Humanity builds in the U.S., and some in Canada and Mexico.

In North America, the Foundation donates heavily to the American Red Cross and local Heart Association chapters, and supports an ongoing matchingfund program for donations Schneider Electric employees make to any charity. A key focus here is the company’s partnership with Habitat for Humanity, says Klee, a member of the North American Foundation board. As an eight-year corporate sponsor, Schneider Electric donates product in-kind—load centers, disconnects, lighting and other equipment—for all Habitat for Humanity builds in the U.S., and some in Canada and Mexico. When the group prepares to build a house, it places a supply order inside Schneider Electric’s system, “and we’ll ship them that equipment for free,” says Klee. MAINTENANCETECHNOLOGY.COM | 31

ON THE ROAD TO SUSTAINABILITY

A solar array near Schneider Electric’s Platinum-LEED-certified manufacturing facility in Smyrna, TN, supplies power to the plant and acts as a test lab for the company’s solar-inverter business.

The company has further supported this effort by sponsoring the construction that equipment data of as many as 15 homes near its sales offices or manufacis not only collected, turing plants. “In these cases, but put to good use. we’ll be the lead sponsor for that build,” says Klee, which "Any energy project means the company provides funding and its people to the that you just do and work site. “It’s one of the best then forget will soon employee-engagement things we do,” he adds. “It serves the start losing its benefit." same team-building function as a corporate retreat, only better. It’s also a highlight for me because after spending so much of my time trying to conserve money, [sitting on the board] is the one day a month where I get to try to spend an entire budget.”

It's critical, says Klee,

Consistency amidst change “Manufacturing plants are changing all the time,” says Klee, “so the things that may have made most sense five to seven years ago, you have to continually stay on top of.” He believes that extraordinary solutions are less likely to make a company sustainable than simply “applying the same practices in different 32 | MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY & ASSET PERFORMANCE

ways.” This means establishing work procedures that call for consistent checks to ensure that HVAC systems are upgraded and in tune with building management systems, for example, and that the right variable speed drives are on the right sets of motors. And it’s critical, says Klee, that equipment data is not only routinely collected, but that it is put to good use. “Any energy project that you just do and then forget will soon start losing its benefit,” he says. “You can tune the building to be as energy-efficient as possible, but if you don’t continually monitor it, check it and adjust it, the benefits will go away. In our case, we always want to know how things are tracking to make sure we’re taking full advantage of the investment we’ve already made.” Though Klee sometimes fears his staff will run out of sustainable projects to tackle, he has not had that problem. “When we go back out and restudy the plants and look at our consumption, we see what’s changed and we find a whole new list of things we can work on. Last year, for example, we came in with an additional 6% energy savings in North America. And for 2013, we’re on track for 4%,” he says. “So you just have to work harder and harder the farther down the road you get.”MT&AP Learn more about Schneider Electric’s sustainable activities at Schneider-electric.com. JANUARY 2014

JANUARY 2014

Identifying Energy Savings with Fingerprint Analysis

5 Questions Plant Managers Should Ask Themselves About Their Power Systems Identifying Energy Savings with Fingerprint Analysis Advanced tools and techniques for optimizing boiler efficiency pay off. The answers to these critical questions can reveal the actual condition of a facility and its ability to stay up and running safely, efficiently and profitably.

hether in an industrial facility or a power plant, many of today’s challenges regarding power-system protection are the same. Organizations are trying to mitigate rising costs and adapt to shrinking budgets in the face of changing regulatory requirements and aging infrastructures. This can result in less emphasis on maintenance and preventive services—which can compromise the reliability and performance of critical electrical assets.

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PLANT UTILITIES MANAGER

For many operators, the annual energy bill for their boilers will run into millions or tens of millions of dollars. Frequently, sophisticated monitoring and control processes are used to ensure the boilers are run in an optimal fashion, but over time the associated hardware and software can become degraded. When large energy bills are in play, measures to avoid such degradation and thus reduce energy consumption are very welcome—as found. welcome— chemical company Arkema found Turning to an advanced analysis tool, the Arkema site in Calvert City, KY, improved its processes while achieving significant reductions in energy bills and associated carbon emissions.

Background Oil prices are a good indicator of general energy costs. From 1989 to 2003, the average price of a barrel of oil was around $20, eventually rising to $50 by 2005 and peaking at nearly $150 in mid-2008. Apart from the financial-planning headaches such volatility causes, the eye-watering energy bills landing on companies’ doormats bite deeply into profitability. For energy-intensive equipment like industrial boilers, the challenge is particularly acute: A 150 klb steam/hr (68,040 kg steam/hour) industrial boiler running on natural gas would have had an annual fuel bill of around $5 million between 1989 and 2002—rising to $10 million in 2007 and 2002— to $20 million in 2008. Where the trend is heading 2008 remains unclear. One place to look for cost relief is in the hardware and software dedicated to optimizing boiler operation. Ensuring that these items are in good working order brings a number of benefits, including: Energy savings Better response to process steam demands Extended operating range for the boiler More reliability Improved safety Reduced carbon footprint JANUARY 2014

Like much of the equipment across industry, steamproducing boilers rely on PID (proportional-integral-derivative) controllers to regulate the process, reduce product instability and improve operations. In many operations where PID automation is used, however: PID loops are not being maintained PID loops have degraded PID loops are hampering production and performance Associated equipment is not performing properly

The search for solutions Headquartered in France, Arkema is a leading manufacturer of chemicals. The company has production facilities worldwide, including 27 in the United States. Its Calvert City site—which includes the world’s largest HFC-32 refrigerant-production plant—worked with ABB to conduct a detailed “Fingerprint” analysis on its four boilers. The results show how powerful this type of analysis can be. The Calvert City boilers produce steam at slightly different levels because they are different sizes and were installed at different times. The first two units, both installed in 1952, are brick-set with forceddraft (FD) intakes and induced-draft (ID) removal fans. Both are rated at 40 klb/hr. The third boiler, a 1965 economizer, has only an FD fan and is rated at 75 klb/hr—though it was typically operated at a maximum of 60 klb/hr. The fourth boiler, a 1996 economizer of the flue-gas-recirculation (FGR) type, was operated identically to the third. All four boilers produced steam at about 165 psi, but none were run at maximum load. A Fingerprint analysis examines the state of hardware and controls, tests the stability and operation of the boiler, performs combustion load trials and executes dynamic step-response tests. In this process, boiler operations are first benchmarked to define existing performance levels and establish a basis for identifying and evaluating improvement opportunities. Recommended improvements are scrutinized to estimate return on investment (ROI) and prioritized according to payback. Subsequent actions then fix problems and sustain performance. MAINTENANCETECHNOLOGY.COM | 35

Diagnose

Implement

Sustain Scan/Track

Hands On

3. Sustain (scan/track)

Measure performance gap

Manage performance gap

Forecast ROI

Schedule maintenance

Deliver action plan

Define condition triggers

2. Implement (hands on)

prin

Maintain to conditions

Fix performance gap

ger Fin

The Fingerprint work at Calvert City began with the second boiler. The unit thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s used most often, it was also the least efficient of the four. Initial examination revealed that the ID-fan-positioner movement was jerky, indicating a potentially faulty pneumatic cylinder or piston assembly. The FD fan was also found to have issues. During the analysis, it was discovered that a loose hatch door near the oxygen sensor was leaking air into the ductwork before the ID fan. Furthermore, the two boiler oxygen sensors continued to read about 2% higher than a portable analyzer. The leakage meant that air was being added for an oil flow that was not really going into the boiler. Air-flow and fuel-flow measurements were thus going up and down. Both were exhibiting hysteresis, working against each other and creating variability. In addition, a furnace-draft test showed that leakage air was being sucked in by the ID fan and emitted from the stack as wasted power. Based on load tests, the air/fuel ratio setting was updated. (The oxygen trim that fine-tunes the air/fuel-ratio had been underused in recent years, leading to suboptimal operation.) An industry rule of thumb notes that, six months after installation, the performance of approximately 50% of process-control loops will be degraded to some degree. Accordingly, control loops were monitored using a Loopscan tool. As shown in Fig. 2, a number of deficiencies were found.

3 Phases of ABBâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fingerprint Analysis 1. Diagnose (fingerprint)

Performance Gap

System performance

PLANT UTILITIES MANAGER

Time

Define monitor plan

Making the case for improvements The Fingerprint analysis resulted in a comprehensive to-do list. Recommendations for hardware improvements included: Repair FD and ID control drives. Resolve oxygen transmitter reading issues: check calibration, find leak, change location.

Adjust, clean or replace sight glass for drum level. Control logic recommendations included: Perform full combustion test to fine-tune steam-to-air curves, especially for oil. Update control logic to current implementation standards.

Adequately seal all doors.

Adjust logic to indicate when oil/gas is off.

Recalibrate steam flows.

Update excess air calculation.

Add blowdown flow monitoring (blowdown removes solids buildup originating from the water/steam).

Tuning improvements included: Retune loops to be less aggressive.

Fig. 2. Results of control-loop monitoring

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The approximate Reduce output surge and ringing tendencies. Add a small filter to the level measurement to reduce feed-water chatter. Reduce filter on old steam flow measurement. As a result of the remedial measures, oxygen readingsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;which had previously measured in the 6 to 7% rangeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;were brought down to under 5%. This reduction in oxygen levels reflects less air being drawn in, less air heated up and less air blown out, which translates into substantial fuel savings. In fact, the approximate value in savings was $75,000 for the second boiler alone, and all without major capital investment. The third boiler exhibited a problem in that it would trip inexplicably during

JANUARY 2014

value in savings was $75,000 for one boiler alone, and that came without a major capital investment. storms. The project team traced the source of the issue to an FD fan with a roof intake. The exposed roof position rendered it susceptible to error because wind shear affected measurements from the Pitot tubes coming off the fan intake. To solve this problem, Arkema built a protective cover to guard against wind shear. As a bonus, it was shown that it was

safe to operate the boiler at higher loads, thus getting more out of the installed capital equipment. In all, the Fingerprint analysis achieved a total annual plant energy savings of around $237,000. As the service cost about $25,000 per boiler, the payback time was short. The Fingerprint analysis has been applied to other industrial boiler installations, with similar success. In addition to reducing energy consumption, the procedure can help clients reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. As these reduction targets become more important to industrial operations, tools like the Fingerprint analysis are expected be more widely used. MT&AP

Information for this article was supplied by ABB and adapted from the ABB Review.

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PLANT UTILITIES MANAGER PRODUCTS

High-Efficiency Pulse-Width-Modulated Controllers IronHorse GSD1 series DC drives from AutomationDirect are high-performance Pulse-WidthModulated (PWM) controllers for 12- to 36-volt battery/solar-powered equipment providing smooth control with high-efficiency operation. Design features include adjustable maximum/ minimum speed, current limit, I.R. compensation and acceleration. The adjustable current-limit feature protects the control, battery and motor from sustained overloads. GSD1 series DC drives, available up to ¼ hp, are available in open-frame and NEMA 4X enclosed styles, and all come standard with a speed pot, knob and dial plate; an optional 0-10VDC analog input signal card is also available. IronHorse GSD series DC drives are backed with a one-year warranty. Additional accessories such as speed potentiometer kit, analog current and voltage input cards, digital potentiometer and manual reverse switch are also available. AutomationDirect Cumming, GA

Expanded Bi-Fuel Power System Generac’s 600 kW Bi-Fuel power system will soon expand to include 400 kW and 500 kW power nodes. Standardized engines and other improvements will accompany this expansion. The company’s Bi-Fuel generators use diesel as a pilot fuel to ignite the natural gas, eventually running primarily on natural gas (typically 70%). However, they are also able to run on diesel fuel alone, as conventional diesel generators typically operate. The natural gas provides extended running times, and also allows for reduced on-site diesel-fuel storage, which means a smaller footprint and reduced diesel-fuel maintenance. The systems can be used either as single-engine solutions or connected in parallel as part of a Generac modular power system [MPS] for more redundancy and reliability in mission-critical applications. The expanded Bi-Fuel family will be available with all current configurable options, but upgrades will be made in the frame, gas flow sensors, controls module and flex hose connections. Additionally, all Generac Bi-Fuel generators will now feature Perkins engines. The 500 kW Bi-Fuel generator is currently available, with the 400 kW unit targeted for availability in the first half of 2014. Generac Power Systems, Inc. Waukesha, WI

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Flexible Rack/Row UPS with Energy Star Qualification Emerson Network Power recently announced that its Liebert APS uninterruptible power supply system (UPS) has earned ENERGY STAR qualification. Designed for small- to-medium-sized sites, the Liebert APS system supports power requirements of up to 20kVA/18kW. It eliminates the need to over-provision, increasing operational efficiency and contributing to the UPS system’s low total cost of ownership. It is suited for data centers that expect increasing power requirements as they meet growing demand for resourceintensive applications. The unit’s FlexPower modules allow power capacity to grow in 5kVA /4.5kW increments up to 15kVA/13.5kW or 20kVA/18kW. Battery modules may also be added as needed to increase backup time. FlexPower modules and battery modules are hotswappable, and can be added or replaced by the user. According to the company, the Liebert APS is the highest efficiency UPS in its class, achieving up to 92% efficiency in double-conversion mode. Emerson Network Power Columbus, OH

Improved, Integrated Energy-Management System GE’s latest version of its Industrial Energy Management Solution—Power Management Control System version 7 (PMCS v7.0)—is an integrated energy-management system that helps industrial customers improve their energy efficiency. By proactively monitoring energy assets and trends, customers can make system changes that will help to optimize energy use, reduce downtime and deliver higher productivity. According to the company, PMCS v7.0 delivers improved usability and performance. With improved visualization capability and support for larger device counts and newer versions of devices, PMCS v7.0 provides an intelligent perspective on an energy infrastructure that enables customers to make faster decisions to improve system reliability and realize higher productivity. Customers also can remotely optimize device performance to help manage costs and maximize asset efficiency. The PMCS v7.0 is also designed to: • Integrate existing, disparate energy components to establish a baseline for an energy-management strategy. • Manage rising energy costs by optimizing energy use of assets during peak demand periods. • Use data visualization to make faster decisions for day-to-day operations. • Analyze asset status and energy trends with intelligently aggregated device and system information. • Remotely optimize device performance. • Consolidate information about disturbances to improve power quality on the electrical network. General Electric Fairfield, CT JANUARY 2014

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PRODUCTS

Precise, Versatile Temperature Scanner Fluke Calibration has released its 1586A Super-DAQ Precision Temperature Scanner, offering up to 40 analog input channels and scan rates as fast as 10 channels per second. The Super-DAQ is suited for thermal mapping, process sensor calibration, quality-control testing, life-cycle testing, process monitoring and environmental testing in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, food processing, aerospace and automotive sectors. The 1586A can measure thermocouples, platinum resistance thermometers (PRTs), thermistors, dc current, dc voltage and resistance. It offers temperature measurement accuracy of plusor-minus 0.005 degrees C for PRTs, 0.5 degrees C for thermocouples and 0.002 degrees C for thermistors. The Super-DAQ’s color display has channel indicators that can chart up to four channels simultaneously with four modes of operation (scan, monitor, measure and digital multimeter). Alarms indicate when a channel measurement exceeds an assigned high or low limit. Fluke Calibration Everett, WA

Protective Shield for High-Pressure Glass Level Gauges

A new Lexan polycarbonate protective shield for armored glass liquid level gauges is available from ClarkReliance Corporation. Safe View Shields are designed to protect operators from highpressure leaks, a rare but potentially dangerous situation. The shields are easily retrofitted to Clark-Reliance’s Jerguson brand level gauges or on similar gauges made by other companies. Safe View Shields are available in lengths to fit commonly used flat glass gauge styles. Installation takes only a few minutes per gauge. A short video demonstrating the shields can be viewed at www.jerguson-safe-view.com. Clark-Reliance Corp. Strongsville, OH

Modular Radar Transmitter Series

Invensy has introduced its Foxboro Eckardt LevelWave Radar Series measurement solution for liquids, including corrosive, sticky or difficult media. The LevelWave Radar Series offers a modular, click-in design that allows 360-degree positional rotation, enabling side or top mounting and making it easier to fit the device into existing spaces. All LevelWave instruments feature an external display and offer easy-to-follow configuration. There is an option for full digital remote electronics up to a distance of 100 meters. Applications include blending; distillation tanks; process tanks and separators; solid silos and storage tanks for most liquids; pastes; foam; and corrosive media. Invensys Operations Management Plano, TX

Lubricant Inspection Pod The Condition Monitoring Pod (CMP) from Luneta is a multi-parameter device for expanding daily lubricant inspections. The CMP is a visible inspection window providing a method of inspecting machine health without the need for laboratory analysis. It includes a built-in oil sampling port, an easy-to-remove magnetic plug, a corrosion/varnish inspection probe, and a quick lubricant access point for syringe sampling. Best applications include gearboxes, bearing oil sumps, hydraulic reservoirs, compressor oil reservoirs, turbinegenerator main oil tanks and paper machine central reservoirs. Luneta, LLC Jenks, OK

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JANUARY 2014

PRODUCTS

Expandable Widescreen Panel PC Advantech’s Industrial Automation Group has introduced its PPC-4150W panel PC, specifically designed for machine builders and factory automation. This 15.6-inch widescreen panel PC features a low-power, Intel Atom D2250 CPU, a projected capacitive touch (PCT) screen, a large number of I/O ports and multiple expansion slots. The PC offers a choice of a standard PCI, PCIex1 or a mini-PCIe expansion slot. The PPC-4150W comes with an IP65-compliant aluminum diecast front panel and a TFT LCD PCT screen with anti-scratch glass display. The 16:9 screen aspect ratio provides 40% more screen area than 4:3 displays. Two pale blue soft-keys are included: a Home key, which if held for three seconds will lock/unlock the display so it can be cleaned without affecting operation; and an iKey to adjust the backlight, show system information, and perform screen capture. These keys are also customizable for other functionalities. Advantech Corp. Cincinnati, OH

High-Rate Metal Removal for Titanium 5ME has introduced its 20-flue CYCLO CUT Max-Flute end mill designed for titanium and other aerospace material cutting. The new end mill can remove up to 12 in3/min (197 cm3) of material with only 45 ft lb (61 Nm) of torque at 12 hp (12.9 kW) power. Max-Flute tools use shallow, radial widths of cut, transferring less heat to the cutting tool compared to conventional milling approaches. This allows higher surface speeds for roughing titanium, inconel and other high-temperature alloys that have traditionally required high torque at low rpm to achieve desired removal rates. Coupled with trochoidal machining strategies, Max-Flute end mills maintain a constant angle of engagement, making the radial cuts more consistent throughout the cutter path. This increases material removal rates and decreases cycle times, while extending tool life. 5ME Detroit, MI JANUARY 2014

Remote Racking Solution for Low-Voltage Breakers

CBS ArcSafe has released the first remote racking solution made specifically for General Electric’s commonly used line of GE AK-1-25 low-voltage power circuit breakers. Using a CBS ArcSafe RRS-2 configurable remote racking solution enables technicians to rack the GE breaker IN or OUT remotely up to 300 feet away, outside of the arc-flash hazard boundary. It is compatible with all GE AK-1-25 style breakers operating on any voltage, with current ratings up to 600A, and up to a four-high configuration. As with all CBS ArcSafe remote racking and switching solutions, the RRS-2 GE AK-1-25 attaches to the enclosure with magnets that ship with the unit. The tooling is lightweight, portable and suited for remote operation in hard-to-access areas. CBS ArcSafe Denton, TX

Work-in-Process Tracking Software BellHawk Systems has released its BellHawk Work-in-Process tracking software (WIPS) that enables users to track the real-time progress of jobs through a sequence of operations. It also enables the capture of labor hours on each operation, as well as elapsed time. WIPS uses a Web-browser interface and can be accessed using a wide range of devices including PCs, Macs, tablets and smartphones. It can also be used with wireless mobile computers that have integral barcode scanners, as well as with ruggedized tablets equipped with Bluetooth scanners. WIPS can be installed on a Windows server in a client’s plant or remotely in the Cloud. Data can be collected using inexpensive PCs equipped with low-cost barcode scanners, and includes the ability to print a barcoded traveler on an office printer. This traveler can then be scanned in and out of operations at each work center to track the progress of each job, as well as to record the labor for each step. WIPS uses BellHawk’s open-architecture, facilitating integration with a wide range of other systems. BellHawk Systems Millbury, MA MAINTENANCETECHNOLOGY.COM | 41

PRODUCTS

Software with Expanded KPI Tracking

HSS Radial-Shaft Seals for Critical Steel Mill Use

Siemens Industry Automation division now offers an optional WinCC/PerformanceMonitor package for calculating and analyzing plant-specific key performance indicators (KPIs) for its Simatic WinCC V7.2 SCADA software. The Simatic WinCC V7.2 Scada software supports the acquisition, visualization and analysis of production data. Analysis with the new WinCC/PerformanceMonitor software processes data acquired by WinCC, and the new package enables users to combine production results with other data to reveal correlations, such as output results in relation to product quality from suppliers. Visualizations include a Gantt chart with the time sequence of states, a bar chart for analyzing the key performance indicators and a table for states and accompanying values. The visualizations are also available via the Web in the WinCC WebNavigatorClient.

SKF has introduced HSS radial-shaft seals designed for performance and reliability in critical steel mill and metals industry assets. The all-rubber, reinforced seals are designed to protect large-size bearings from harmful contaminants. HSS seals are manufactured from nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), SKF DURATEMP hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR) and SKF DURALIFE fluoroelastomer material (FKM). Standard grades of these materials are used for the sealing lip and a harder grade is engineered for the part of the seal body contacting the housing bore to provide stability during installation operation. The reinforced seal design allows for split versions to facilitate installation and replacement. The smooth outside diameter of HSS seals offers excellent static sealing without risk of dimensional changes to the seals when exposed to moisture. HSS seals are available in a wide range of metric or inch sizes and can be delivered in any quantity with quick turnaround.

Siemens Industry Automation N端rnberg, Germany

SKF USA, Inc. Landsdale, PA

42 | MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY & ASSET PERFORMANCE

JANUARY 2014

PRODUCTS â&#x201E;˘

Real World Training...for Real World Needs

Semi-rugged Convertible Tablet PC Panasonic has upgraded its Toughbook CF-C2 semi-rugged convertible tablet PC to offer 4G LTE multi-carrier embedded wireless broadband connectivity, approximately 14 hours of battery life and additional durability. The built-in camera now has a 1.2 megapixel resolution, and a five-megapixel rear-facing camera is available. Toughbook CF-C2 is powered by a fourth-generation Intel Core i5 processor and is optimized for the Windows 8.1 64-bit Pro operating system. An optional 19-hour battery is available. The tablet features a magnesium alloy case and shock-mounted flex-connect hard drive allowing it to handle up to a 30-inch drop to six sides, as well as a 12-inch drop from 26 angles. The computer also features a spill-resistant keyboard (up to 6 ounces). The Toughbook CF-C2 employs an enhanced triple-hinge design that provides support when rotating the screen from laptop to tablet mode. At 3.99 lbs with an ergonomic Y-shaped hand strap, it is designed for comfortable longterm handheld use. With an optional lightweight battery, the device weighs just 3.7 lbs and still delivers approximately 7 hours of continuous power. Panasonic Newark, NJ

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MAINTENANCETECHNOLOGY.COM | 43

Ad Index ADVERTISER

MAINTENANCE

TECHNOLOGY

JANUARY 2014 Volume 27, No. 1 •

& ASSET PERFORMANCE

WEB ADDRESS

PAGE #

American Trainco.......................................................www.americantrainco.com..........................................43 Baldor Electric Company..........................................www.baldor.com............................................................IFC

JANUARY 2014 • Volume 27, No. 1 1300 South Grove Avenue, Suite 105 Barrington, IL 60010 PH 847-382-8100 FX 847-304-8603

Cascade Machinery Vibration Solutions................www.cascademvs.com ..................................................16 Emerson Process Management................................www.emersonprocess.com/workfaster......................BC

SALES STAFF

Exair Corporation ......................................................www.exair.com/48/470.htm ........................................5 Grace Engineered Products, Inc...............................www.pesd.com ...............................................................IBC Lubriplate Lubricants Co. .........................................www.lubriplate.com......................................................10 MARTS-Applied Technology...................................www.martsconference.com .........................................4,17 Meltric Corporation ..................................................www.meltric.com ..........................................................42 Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation ....................www.milwaukeetool.com/thermal-imaging ............1 National Technology Transfer, Inc...........................www.nttinc.com/mtap .................................................3 NETA ...........................................................................www.powertest.org........................................................25 PROFIBUS PROFINET North America ...............www.us.profinet.com....................................................11 Scalewatcher ................................................................www.scalewatcher.com.................................................15 SKF USA Condition Monitoring - Fort Collins ...www.bakerinst.com.......................................................37 Strategic Work Systems, Inc......................................www.swspitcrew.com....................................................4 Test Products International (TPI) ...........................www.testproductsintl.com ...........................................42 WEG Electric Corp. ...................................................www.weg.net/us .............................................................7

MAINTENANCE

TECHNOLOGY & ASSET PERFORMANCE

Submissions Policy: Maintenance Technology gladly welcomes submissions. By sending us your submission, unless otherwise negotiated in writing with our editor(s), you grant Applied Technology Publications, Inc., permission, by an irrevocable license, to edit, reproduce, distribute, publish, and adapt your submission in any medium, including via Internet, on multiple occasions. You are, of course, free to publish your submission yourself or to allow others to republish your submission. Submissions will not be returned. Reproduction of Materials: Materials produced by Maintenance Technology may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without permission. For Reprints: Contact the publisher, Glen Gudino (847) 382-8100 ext. 119.

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CT, KY, ME, MA, NH, NY, OH, RI, TN, VT, ON, QC 18 Oxford Lane Middletown, NJ 07748 Office 732-275-1167; Cell 908-415-3719 RUSSELL BRODY rbrody@atpnetwork.com AL, DC, DE, FL, GA, MD, MS, NC, PA, SC, VA, WV 1750 Holmes Drive West Chester, PA 19382 610-793-3093; Fax 610-793-3094 JIM HANLEY jhanley@atpnetwork.com IA, IL, IN, MI, MN, NE, ND, SD, WI 1300 South Grove Avenue, Suite 105 Barrington, IL 60010 Direct 708-557-1021 PHIL SARAN psaran@atpnetwork.com AR, KS, LA, MO, NM, OK, TX 5930 Royal Lane, Suite E #201 Dallas, TX 75230 972-816-3534; Fax 972-767-4442 GERRY MAYER gmayer@atpnetwork.com AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY, AB, BC, MB, SK 6746 E. Tyndall Circle Mesa, AZ 85215 480-396-9585 JERRY PRESTON jpreston@atpnetwork.com CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING 1300 South Grove Avenue, Suite 105 Barrington, IL 60010 847-382-8100 x112; Fax 847-304-8603 TIM STEINGRABER tsteingraber@atpnetwork.com

JANUARY 2014

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT ISSUES

The Changing Face of Apprenticeship Michael I. Callanan Executive Director National Joint Apprenticeship & Training Committee for the Electrical Industry (NJATC)

t’s been more than 25 years since I completed my electrical apprenticeship program in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). As an apprentice, I learned my craft by splitting time between on-the-job training assignments and classroom-related instruction. I learned my “hands-on” skills on the job and the theoretical parts of my trade in the classroom. For the better part of the years since, the apprenticeship model has remained virtually unchanged. While it has clearly served us well, three recent developments have highlighted the need to reinvent and reinvigorate that traditional model. First, and perhaps foremost, the way apprentices are used on the job today is vastly different than when I was an apprentice. In my day, it was not uncommon for apprentices to stand at the bottom of the ladder watching a Journey-level worker—waiting their turn to demonstrate what they had been shown. Now, the competitive nature of construction and maintenance operations rarely affords the opportunity for apprentices to watch and learn in the same manner that I did. Today, they must be a productive part of the workforce and contribute to the overall efficiency of their respective projects. This has resulted in a dramatic shift from the jobsite to the classroom in the teaching of hands-on skills.

While the traditional apprenticeship model has clearly served us well over the years, three recent developments have highlighted the need to reinvent and reinvigorate it. Second, changes that have occurred on the jobsite have been accompanied by significant changes in the classroom. Undoubtedly, the classroom I sat in so many years ago is now little more than a relic. Technology has changed the game. Today’s classrooms incorporate digital media, distance-learning models and simulations, as well as a host of other technologically advanced training aids that equip instructors with a full palette of educational tools to help them JANUARY 2014

meet their objectives. For example, instead of merely looking at a three-phase synchronous motor sitting on a table in a classroom, students these days have the opportunity to view 3-D drawings of the motor and use animations and simulations to virtually replicate the operation of the unit. Third, in case you haven’t noticed, today’s apprentices aren’t the same as in the past. They are, for the most part, older, better educated and, most important, more technology-savvy than their predecessors. Apprentices today also learn differently. Thus, we need to meet them where they are as learners. This means we must equip them with technology-based learning tools that mesh with their learning styles. Later this year, my organization will transition our national apprenticeship model—the same one I completed over two decades ago—to a blended learning model. Approximately 30,000 apprentices will complete their homework assignments online in a learning-management system that permits our instructors to monitor their progress in real time. When our apprentices come to class, their instructors will have prepared a customized lesson for them based on the results of their homework. After reviewing learning objectives that were problematic, the apprentices will move to the shop area and practice the hands-on skills that are critical to their development as new electrical workers. Although our traditional apprenticeship model has served us well, the demands of our customers and our industry have precipitated the need for a change. Fortunately, we have the technology and a new breed of apprentices that will help to ensure our model remains sustainable for the next generation of workers. MT&AP

mic@njatc.com

NJATC (www.njatc.org) is the training arm of the IBEW and NECA. It oversees 300 program sponsors and 40,000 apprentices in the electrical industry.

MAINTENANCETECHNOLOGY.COM | 45

VIEWPOINT

The North American Maintenance Excellence Award Stanley T. Grabill CMRP 2013 Chairman, Foundation for Industrial Maintenance Excellence

he North American Maintenance Excellence (NAME) Award is an annual program to recognize North American organizations that excel in performing the maintenance process to enable operational excellence. The NAME Award is run by the non-profit Foundation for Industrial Maintenance Excellence, established in 1990, whose board of directors comprise past winners. We are volunteers—and represent some of the best owner/operator practitioners in the business. Companies represented belong to multiple business verticals: Automotive, Biomedical, Chemicals, Food, Mining and Metals, Petroleum, Pharmaceuticals and Pulp & Paper. There have been over 70 applicants and 21 winners to date. The program follows an annual venue, starting with the initial application deadline of June 30, whereby all applicants are eligible to achieve this recognition. What are the objectives of the NAME Award? 1. To increase the awareness of maintenance as a competitive edge in cost, quality, service and equipment performance. 2. To identify industry leaders, along with potential or future leaders, and highlight “best” practices in maintenance management. 3. To share successful maintenance strategies and the benefits derived from implementation. 4. To understand the need for managing change and stages of development to achieve maintenance excellence. 5. To enable operational excellence. What are the benefits of participation? 1. Maintenance process assessment: Completing the application facilitates an internal audit of strengths and opportunities for improvement. 2. Competitive awareness: Entering the award program increases the participants’ awareness of their maintenance process and reflects favorably on their commitment to utilize maintenance as a competitive advantage. 3. Goal setting: This helps sites establish priorities and competitive performance goals based on standards of maintenance excellence. 4. Feedback for continuous improvement: Participants are provided valuable benchmarking comparison data to support their continuous improvement. 5. Increased cooperation:

46 | MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY & ASSET PERFORMANCE

Participating in the NAME Award program builds a sense of site teamwork and emphasizes the value of interfunctional support. What are the areas of evaluation? 1. Organization in the areas of operations and maintenance team development, effective humanresource utilization, employee development and training, and progressive employee involvement. 2. Work processes, which includes Maintenance Execution, Planning and Scheduling, Reliability and Continuous Improvement HSE, business planning, performance measurement and reporting, and fixed asset/capital project management. 3. Materials Management, including Storeroom Customer Service Levels and Inventory Control, Procurement activities and Supplier Alliances, and Strategic and Operational Storeroom Materials Planning. Is there a screening process to help prospective participants understand if their sites have a good chance of winning? Yes. Go to our Website and submit a “Quick Check,” a two-page questionnaire designed to allow a potential award candidate to investigate its site’s readiness to apply. The questionnaire is designed to explore industry Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Once completed, it is forwarded to the NAME Board of Directors, which reviews it and assigns a score, thus helping the candidate determine if the site is ready for the full award application. This service is provided free of charge. What is the timing? Each year’s applications must be completed by June 30. The NAME Board reviews them by mid-August, at which time the applicant is deemed eligible for a final site examination. Others are notified with our feedback. The site examination occurs in the September-to-October time frame, followed by a decision and notification in November. The NAME Award is publicly presented at the MARTS Conference in Chicago, typically in March. For further information, please visit www.name award.com. MT&AP

stan.grabill@honeywell.com

JANUARY 2014

MY TAKE

The True Cost of Lost In-House Expertise Jane Alexander Deputy Editor

inding myself unexpectedly alone in an unusually quiet house the morning of New Year’s Eve, I did something that always makes me smile: I checked in with processindustry veteran Heinz Bloch. Wishing an old friend a prosperous 2014 wasn’t the only reason for my call. I also wanted to discuss issues raised in his recent Viewpoint column on how “tradition will fail you” (pg. 80, MT&AP, December 2013). In that editorial, Heinz had decried what apparently has become an all-too-common equipmentreliability strategy in today’s plants: rejecting Best Practices and clinging to old specifications because “that’s the way we’ve always done it.” As he alluded, if nothing is done to counter this approach—which he links to diminishing numbers of readers, learners and thinkers in industrial operations—the asset-management capabilities of many facilities will continue on a downward slide toward calamity. Eager to know more about these problems, I asked him to provide some real-world examples. I was especially interested in the disappearance of in-house intellectual muscle and expertise from sites. Heinz gets lots of feedback regarding his opinions (published and otherwise). Writing articles, presenting to standing-room-only audiences or simply engaging in small talk, he consistently strikes

Since around 1990, the grooming of in-house subject matter experts hasn’t been viewed as a high priority by new generations of managers. Therein lies a big part of the problem. chords with reliability-focused end-users—some of whom later reach out to him with personal horror stories. I knew that he would have several to share. Here’s just one of them: Two career automation specialists in the refining/ petrochemical sector described the aftermath of several wholesale downsizings in their operations

JANUARY 2014

over the last 40 years. Those downsizings, they said, “had been justified by manager-executives who placed little value on bench-strength expertise in what they considered a mature industry.” That ill-advised overemphasis on the bottom line took off like a runaway train. As a consequence, entire in-house engineering divisions at the site vaporized. In the operating plant, contract employees became common in engineering, advanced process control, maintenance and laboratory services. The latter were outsourced, as were machine-shop tasks. Today, solid in-house subject matter experts (SMEs) are virtually non-existent around this company. Hearing all this, I had to ask: When’s a bargain not a bargain? It’s a question industry should ask. According to Heinz, the shortfall of in-house subject matter experts began to be felt around 1990. Since then, the grooming of SMEs hasn’t been viewed as a high priority by new generations of managers. Therein lies a big part of the problem. Heinz acknowledges the availability of excellent contractors and consultants and the fact that hiring them may be attractive from a financial perspective. But he also believes financial decisions that put critical plant functions completely in the hands of outside resources often fail to take into account another important value proposition. It involves the significant returns that can be generated by synergies among knowledgeable, experienced, dedicated employees who are thinking and acting in solidarity with a company. In his opinion, the bottom line is quite simple: “Best-in-Class companies got there with the help of SMEs. Any expectations to become Best-in-Class performers without SMEs are so unrealistic as to not even merit discussion.” The risk of catastrophic failure, he concluded, will go up exponentially until industry returns to what he calls “square zero.” “That,” he said, “can only be achieved by reintroducing SME development and retention concepts in place 30 years ago.” Having told you what Heinz thinks, I’ll now invite you to share your own opinions and/or stories with me. I look forward to your emails. MT&AP

jalexander@atpnetwork.com

MAINTENANCETECHNOLOGY.COM | 47

THE MANUFACTURING CONNECTION

Converging Technologies Bring Manufacturing Teams Together Gary Mintchell Executive Editor

traveled for most of the last third of the year talking with industry executives, going to meetings and listening to presentations. One observation stands out: The coming convergence of functions within manufacturing and production. One of the first areas of convergence that companies worked on was getting IT and engineering to play nicely together. Whether the function is process engineer, control engineer or automation engineer, it now requires deeper knowledge of and skills in IT. These professionals need to be comfortable with networking and servers, not to mention conversant with security and virtualization. At one time, operations went its own way and maintenance and reliability were often orphans. Now, professionals in all departments are expected to work together. People may fill roles in more than one area. Engineers are almost part of the maintenance team in some factories. Operators may double as first-line maintenance workers. All of them may share space in operations control rooms.

Technology is the key What’s the key? Technology. Powerful analytics and intelligence software sort through manufacturing “big data,” providing situational information to the correct person in a format they can use: console, tablet or smartphone.

Strong plant management is required to bring the different groups together for the good of the organization. I witnessed an example of this trend at the December meeting of the Center for Intelligent Maintenance Systems in Ann Arbor (http://themanufacturingconnection.com/2013/12/big-data-analytics-boostindustrial-intelligent-maintenance/). Fifteen years ago, the Center’s engineering Ph.D. candidate researchers were working on advanced condition monitoring. This work culminated several years ago in 48 | MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY & ASSET PERFORMANCE

some code called the Watchdog Agent that incorporates algorithms derived from the research. This year’s topics incorporated maintenance, of course, but many of the projects touched on areas that help operations as well as maintenance. They discussed big data, analytics, cloud technologies, smartphone apps and situational data delivery, among other topics. Really branching out. Technology requires data, but technology for manufacturing and production requires data with specific attributes. The week I’m writing this, I’ve attended two organization meetings where dedicated engineering and IT professionals are working on specifications for defining the data attributes and for defining data flow and workflow. One group, MIMOSA (www.mimosa. org), is concerned with physical assets from design to operate and maintain. The other is the Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition (smartmanufacturing coalition.org) that is working on the manufacturing side. Another key is organizational. Strong plant management is required to bring the different, often bickering, groups together for the good of the organization. Only by forging a cohesive plant-management team focused on operating a profitable plant can the company and each person succeed. Those two trends are the reason I started The Manufacturing Connection, as well as the reason I’m moving to develop new branding for Maintenance Technology magazine by adding the emphasis on Asset Performance (not just asset availability or uptime or asset utilization). “Throughput” sums up the winning formula for the plant team. I joined the Maintenance Technology team a little late to be able to put as much new emphasis on our conference—MARTS (www.martsconference.com)—as I would have liked. But the team has taken up the challenge of assembling a conference that takes a fresh look at the needs of plant professionals. Our goal is to go beyond just another maintenance-and-reliability conference in order to provide the educational and networking environment where the plant-management team learns the skills for success. I welcome ideas and feedback. You can send an email, DM me on Twitter @garymintchell, message me on LinkedIn or check out the Maintenance Technology group on LinkedIn and send a note there. MT&AP

gmintchell@atpnetwork.com JANUARY 2014

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