International Maintenance Excellence Conference September 22 to 24
Join the Experts in Toronto This sixth-annual gathering of industry and academic experts from around the world will again offer unparalleled insight to modern maintenance and asset-management techniques for plant and facility professionals. Hosted by Dr. Andrew Jardine of the University of Toronto’s Centre for Maintenance Optimization & Reliability Engineering, and co-produced with Maintenance Technology magazine, IMEC 2010 offers two days of keynote presentations and one day of in-depth workshops at the University’s conference venue in the heart of downtown Toronto. With a dinner at the famed CN Tower included, and unlimited opportunity to discuss the issues with international experts, IMEC 2010 provides a well-rounded, exciting learning opportunity for maintenance professionals everywhere. For more information about IMEC 2010, please contact Bill Kiesel at bill@imec.ca / 847-382-8100, ext. 116 Registration online at www.imec.ca IMEC is organized by:
Title Sponsor:
Sponsors:
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Š 2010 by Eventure Events, LLC. All rights reserved. Eventure and SAP for Utilities logos are trademarks of Eventure Events, LLC. The SAP logo is a trademark or registered trademark of SAP AG in Germany and several For more info, enter 63 at www.MT-freeinfo.com For enter 63with atthe www.MT-freeinfo.com othermore countriesinfo, and is reproduced permission of SAP AG. All other products and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
Contents JUNE 2010 • VOL 23, NO 6 • www.MT-ONLINE.com
M A I N T E N A N C E
TECHNOLOGY
®
YEARS
Your Source For CAPACITY ASSURANCE SOLUTIONS
FEATURES CAPACITY ASSURANCE STRATEGIES 14
The Business Process Review: Redrawing Your CMMS Roadmap Still trying to make progress on your software journey? If you don’t know where you’re going, you could end up in the wrong place! John Reeve, Cohesive Solutions
SUSTAINABILITY MATTERS 20
Ease Labor Pains With Asset-Performance Management
DEPARTMENTS
Overcome high labor turnover and aging equipment issues before they erode your capacity, efficiency and profits. Check out this approach. Margaret Wilson, USC Consulting Group
SUPPLY CHAIN LINKS 24
26
32
6
My Take
8
Uptime
Strong Supplier Relationships Keep Critical Maintenance Services Close at Hand
11
Motor Decisions Matter
Are the pricing demands of your purchasing department undermining the reliability of your plant’s rotating equipment? They don’t have to!
12
For On The Floor
Bill Moore, SKF USA Inc.
29
Lubrication Checkup
MARTS 2010 RECAP
30
The Green Edge
Another Success All The Way Around
33
Solution Spotlight
Check out who was there and what you may have missed!
34
Marketplace
PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS
38
Classified
Automating The Permit Process
38
Information Highway
39
Supplier Index
40
Viewpoint
Still relying on paper-based permitting? Why not let compliance-savvy software help bring your operations out of the dark ages? Bryan Gay, CHAMPS Software/CMMS Division
www.MT-online.com www. • exclusive online-only content • late-breaking industry news • 12 years of article archives JUNE 2010
Your Source For
Capacity Assurance
• enhanced training pages • comprehensive events calendar • business directory
Solutions
MT-ONLINE.COM | 3
M A I N T E N A N C E
TECHNOLOGY
®
YEARS
Your Source For CAPACITY ASSURANCE SOLUTIONS
June 2010 • Volume 23, No. 6 ARTHUR L. RICE President/CEO arice@atpnetwork.com
BILL KIESEL Executive Vice President/Publisher bkiesel@atpnetwork.com
JANE ALEXANDER
Editor-In-Chief jalexander@atpnetwork.com
RICK CARTER
Executive Editor rcarter@atpnetwork.com
ROBERT “BOB” WILLIAMSON KENNETH E. BANNISTER RAYMOND L. ATKINS Contributing Editors
RANDY BUTTSTADT
Director of Creative Services rbuttstadt@atpnetwork.com
GREG PIETRAS
Editorial/Production Assistant gpietras@atpnetwork.com
ELLEN SANDKAM
Direct Mail 800-223-3423, ext. 110 esandkam@atplists.com
EDWARD KANE
Reprint Manager 800-382-0808, ext. 131 ekane@fostereprints.com
Editorial Office: For more info, enter 64 at www.MT-freeinfo.com
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, 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 2010 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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MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY
Make
JUNE 2010
The Secret To Keeping Electronics Cool! NEMA 12 Cabinet Coolers
The NEMA 12 Cabinet Coolers for large heat loads up to 5,600 Btu/hr. are ideal for PLCs, line control cabinets, CCTV cameras, modular control centers, etc.
A bad choice could cost you thousands! Look Familiar? When hot weather causes the electronics inside a control cabinet to fail, there is a panic to get the machinery up and running again. The operator might choose to simply open the panel door and aim a fan at the circuit boards. In reality, the fan ends up blowing a lot of hot, humid, dirty air at
• Measures 8” (203mm) high • Mounts top, side or bottom • Enclosure remains dust-tight and oil-tight
NEMA 4 and 4X Cabinet Coolers
the electronics and the cooling effect is minimal. If the machinery starts functioning again, the likelihood of repeated failure is great since the environment is still hot (and threatens permanent damage to the circuit boards). Worse yet, that open panel door is an OSHA violation that presents a shock hazard to personnel.
NEMA 4 and 4X Cabinet Coolers for large heat loads up to 5,600 Btu/hr. They are ideal for PLCs and modular controls. • Enclosure remains dusttight, oil-tight and splash resistant • Suitable for wet locations where coolant spray or hose down can occur
Type 316 Stainless Steel Cabinet Coolers
Type 316 Stainless Steel Cabinet Coolers for NEMA 4X applications are available for heat loads up to 5,600 Btu/hr. • Resists harsh environments not suitable for Type 303/304 • Ideal for food and chemical processing, pharmaceutical, foundries, heat treating and other corrosive environments
The Real Solution!
Watch The Video!
Stop electronic downtime with an EX AIR Cabinet Cooler® System! The complete line of low cost Cabinet Cooler Systems are in stock and can ship now. They mount in minutes through an ordinary electrical knockout and have no moving parts to wear out. Thermostat control to minimize compressed air use is available for all models. All Cabinet Coolers are UL Listed to US and Canadian safety standards.
www.exair.com/48/44048.htm
The only compressed air powered cooler that is CE compliant!
Mini NEMA 12, and 4X Cabinet Coolers
High Temperature Cabinet Coolers
Non-Hazardous Purge Cabinet Coolers
The mini NEMA 12, 4 and 4X Cabinet Coolers for small heat loads up to 550 Btu/hr. are ideal for control panels, relay boxes, laser housings, electronic scales.
High Temperature Cabinet Coolers for NEMA 12, 4 and 4X applications are available for heat loads in many capacities up to 5,600 Btu/hr.
NHP Cabinet Coolers keep a slight positive pressure on the enclosure to keep dirt from entering through small holes or conduits. For use in non-hazardous locations.
• Suitable for ambients up to 200°F (93°C)
• Uses only 1 SCFM in purge mode
• Ideal for mounting near ovens, furnaces, and other hot locations
• For heat loads up to 5,600 Btu/hr.
• Measures 5” (127mm) high • Mounts top, side or bottom • Enclosure remains dusttight and oil-tight
“It took us three days to get a replacement computer cabinet and we didn’t
• NEMA 12, 4 and 4X If you would like to discuss an application, contact:
want to risk another heat failure. Fans weren’t an option since they would just blow around a lot of hot air. Freon-type air conditioners like those on 1151065 Goldcoast Drive For more info, enter at www.MT-freeinfo.com Cincinnati, Ohio 45249-1621 some of our other machines were a constant maintenance project of their own. We purchased EXAIR’s Model 4330 NEMA 12 Cabinet Cooler Jeff Hauck, Lasercraft Inc. Cincinnati OH
System since it was easy to install and requires no maintenance.” For more info, enter 66 at www.MT-freeinfo.com
(800) 903-9247 / fax: (513) 671-3363 www.exair.com/48/440.htm @exair
MY TAKE
Jane Alexander, Editor-In-Chief
Riding For The Brand
S
omeone once asked me why I use so many analogies in my writing. It’s simple. I think in them. They enable me, as a non-technical person, to understand what you do in your jobs. They also allow me, as a non-artist, to paint pictures in words to communicate about things that (I think) might be of interest to you. Just about anything can smack me upside the head and worm its way into my writing: chasing the fat rabbits in life (as opposed to the skinny ones); peeling the energy onion; thanking those who packed your parachute, etc. I certainly don’t claim ownership of these things. I just use them to drive home whatever points I’m trying to make at a given time. Take the title of this column. I grew up hearing the term “riding for the brand” and have frequently harnessed some variation of it during my life—forgive the pun—to help me deliver a message. As I recall, I’ve typically turned to it to clarify for employers (or prospective employers) how I approach a job, as in “I ride for the brand.” Today, as I work on Dave Krings’ “Viewpoint” entitled, “Get Out There And Lead…Every Day” (pg. 40), I can’t help but think of this old expression as a picture-perfect analogy. Nobody really knows who coined the phrase. Google “riding for the brand” and you’ll find any number of references (including motivational treatises, novels, lyrics, etc.). One fairly concise definition comes from a 2008 blog by someone named Nathan S. Collier (www.NSCBlog.com), who borrowed from the Website of Montana Bunkhouses Working Ranch Vacations (www.montanabunkhouses.com). According to these two sources, the term comes from the cattle-ranching days of America’s Old West. Back then—as it still should be today—“The brand was a ranch’s trademark, representing pride, duty and stewardship, while inspiring loyalty, dedication and cowboy camaraderie. When you rode for the brand, it meant that you had signed on to the mission, that you had committed, that you were a dedicated team player. If you weren’t, then you had no business being on the ranch’s payroll.” The way I look at it, Dave Krings assumes that leaders are going to be “riding for the brand,” whatever the brand may be. He calls on you to ride hard—maybe harder than you thought you could. No matter how tough times are, or how swamped you are, he encourages you to constantly be improving something around your operations. While his challenge is directed specifically at those in the maintenance and reliability field, it’s applicable to all lines of work. After all, when you get down to it, isn’t doing the best job possible—and leading—all about pride…duty…stewardship…loyalty…dedication…? Several poets/songwriters have reflected at length on what it truly means to “ride for the brand.” I think the great Red Steagall may have summed it up best in a sweet poem by that same name: “Son, a man’s brand is his own special mark that says this is mine, leave it alone. You hire out to a man, ride for his brand and protect it like it was your own.”* So, how about it? Are you riding for the brand? You don’t have to be a cowboy, you know. MT jalexander@atpnetwork.com
*Steagall, Red. “Ride for the Brand,” Ride for the Brand, Bunkhouse Press, 2000. (Hardcover editions of this compilation of poetry, music and original artwork by members of the Cowboy Artists of America are available through Amazon.com for $24.95.)
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JUNE 2010
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UPTIME
Bob Williamson, Contributing Editor
Made In America! To me, the term or label “Made in America” represents quality, variety and domestic production for domestic jobs. You name it: We make it, we use it, we export a lot of it for other countries to use. That’s why it’s always refreshing to meet someone who is proud and loud, in no uncertain terms, about America’s manufacturing base and the people working in it. I had a great opportunity to do just that at the recent MARTS Conference in Chicago, where actor, director, author and unabashed supporter of America’s working men and women John Ratzenberger was a Keynote speaker. Ratzenberger had, of course, first captured America’s attention as the know-it-all postman Cliff Clavin on TV’s long-running Cheers, then as a featured voice in all nine Pixar animated films to date. His television series John Ratzenberger’s Made in America, though, went in a different direction. Airing for five seasons (2004 through 2008) on the Travel Channel, it explored how American workers drive an often-overlooked share of our nation’s economic well-being. As described in his 2006 book, We’ve Got It Made In America (co-authored with Joel Engel), during nearly 100 Made in America episodes, Ratzenberger took deep, behindthe-scenes looks at over 240 businesses across the country. (If you missed the series, selected episodes are available on DVD and online. Check them out.) This work led him to establish the “Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs Foundation”
(NBT), an organization dedicated to introducing young people to the joy of tinkering and the pride gained through working with their hands. His passion for American manufacturing and the unsung choruses of the American workforce—past, current and future—should inspire all of us. Here are some points he raised at MARTS. Parts of the problem According to Ratzenberger, part of the problem for manufacturing jobs going unfilled due to shortages of skilled workers lies with “Hollywood” and the “media.” In his opinion, these influential entities frequently portray manufacturing in a poor light, and, in the process, denigrate those who work with their hands. For example: n “Hollywood” movies frequently depict manufacturing facilities as dark, dirty, hot, humid places. Workers in these films are usually scruffy-looking characters with rags in their pockets and/or tool-belts around their waists. This is NOT American manufacturing. n The “media,” often in a feeding frenzy for news, seems to concentrate on horror stories about a worker who was wronged or a catastrophic accident that maimed or killed workers. If that’s all people see and read in the news, they start believing THAT is what’s going on in ALL American industry. That’s WRONG! As Ratzenberger sees it, though, the media and Hollywood are not solely to blame. n “Politicians” play into the problem when trumpeting about “manufacturing job loss” and/or promising to restore long-lost jobs. While facts do point to SOME historical job losses to foreign countries, the lion’s share of job losses from the 1950s through 2009 are “productivity improvements” that replace labor with advanced manufacturing technologies. These same technologies often require more highly skilled—and higher-paid—employees to maintain and repair the new equipment. This is where our “skills gaps” and
Bob Williamson talks “shop” with John Ratzenberger during the actor/director/author’s book-signing at MARTS 2010.
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MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY
JUNE 2010
UPTIME
It’s always refreshing to meet someone who is as proud and loud as I am about America’s manufacturing base and the people working in it. “skills shortages” rise to the surface: Our schools, graduates and younger workers are NOT educated and trained in what it now takes to work in modern manufacturing plants. That’s the REAL loss! n “Statistics” can exacerbate the situation. Our country seems to be run on data and statistics. I learned long ago that “data” alone does not tell the whole story. I also learned that “statistics” can be contrived to make just about any point sound true and factual. For example, the historical “manufacturing job loss” statistics paint an INACCURATE picture of the manufacturing powerhouse that we are! Consider this: Productivity improvement through advanced manufacturing technologies have eliminated quite a number of unskilled and semiskilled workers (labor) of past decades. As unfortunate as lost jobs are, training and up-skilling these workers often fails to grow the needed jobs. Also, consider this: Domestic outsourced “non-production jobs” from manufacturing businesses often end up in the “services” industrial sector. As companies trim back their operations, they often contract out “indirect” manufacturing jobs, including engineering, accounting, IT, marketing, warehousing, groundskeeping and maintenance. As tracked by the U.S. Department of Labor and the government’s North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), these jobs leave the “manufacturing” sector and end up in other “non-manufacturing” and “service” sectors. Manufacturing companies, though, are still utilizing these services. That’s not real “job loss.” When you put these four pieces together (Hollywood, the media, politicians and statistics) you can’t help but come up with a picture of us in a world of hurt—a picture that bears little resemblance to our actual manufacturing reality. In reality, things are NOT that bad. Furthermore, if there were a problem with American manufacturing, we more than likely created it (and should be able to solve it). 26 from the heart In his book, Ratzenberger spends significant time discussing the making of his Made in America series, punctuating the chapters with stories of his own life JUNE 2010
experiences. He recalls what it was like growing up in a family of factory workers in the industrial town of Bridgeport, CT. “If Dad didn’t know how to fix something, a neighbor would come over to do it. Everybody had a useful hobby—like welding or boat building or radio tinkering…In school we said the Pledge of Allegiance, and in summer we marched in parades on streets festooned with American flags.” He goes on to lament, however, that the America he grew up in hardly seems to exist anymore in some places. The 26 chapters in We’ve Got It Made in America tell quite a story. Some are hilarious. Some make you hang your head as an American. All make you think. Here are three chapter highlights that struck a particularly strong chord with me: “Seven Six Lessons I’ve Learned (So Far)”… Far)”…This chapter reflects on three seasons of factory visits. His fourth “lesson” notes that “the more the company brass knows about their employees, the happier the factory floor is going to be.” In these operations, he saw people who were proud of what they were making. The notso-happy factories seemed to be the “least congenial” and to have had the “least productive” employees. The summary of lesson four is this: “It’s plain common sense that workers are happier when they’re acknowledged and valued as human beings who have real lives; and that a happy workforce is a productive workforce; and a productive workforce brings greater profits to the company.” “Thinking Outside the Big Box”…This chapter obviously targets the mega-chain stores, but also hits on the “Made in China” part of our economy. “Our appetite for low prices is what keeps those Chinese factories humming” couldn’t be further from the truth. But then Ratzenberger links the “big box” trends to the “decline in our educational system” here in America: “Over the past twenty years, but particularly in the last ten, control of the curriculum has shifted toward Washington in almost exactly the same way that the local retailing has been replaced by mass merchants…Our public schools and public educators aren’t making the grade—and that’s not just measured by what our kids don’t know about reading and math. Improved test scores may make a good headline…but it’s a shortsighted and ultimately futile gesture if our children can’t think for themselves.” Our kids do NOT have shop classes or relevant career education any more. MT-ONLINE.COM | 9
UPTIME
They are not prepared for the skilled jobs and careers that have been going begging in America for two generations so far, especially in manufacturing and widespread maintenance jobs. “One Nation”…In his final chapter, Ratzenberger reminds the reader just how important our children’s self-esteem
is and how much “fear” gets in the way of life. His last paragraph hits close to home as he reflects on September 11, 2001: “I remembered how, in the midst of all that grief and anger, we had come together as one…Because underneath it all, we really are one country. Sure, in the best of times—uneventful times—maybe we act
like siblings who can barely tolerate each other…But when something happens, the blood thickens real fast. And that’s what counts. And that’s what will always, always, always bridge all the great divides between us.” Why, I ask, can’t we come together to make American manufacturing strong? Where’s the anger? A reawakening Reading Ratzenberger’s book gets me fired up (again!). Our skills, our jobs, our productivity and our position as the top economy in the world are being seriously undermined by greed, ignorance and half-truths. Read below for an example. You’ve heard about how the world’s economic and political leaders have “bailed out” the country of Greece that has fallen on desperate economic times. Look at the gross domestic product (GDP) facts: Greece is 26th in the world with $355,876,000 (U.S. dollars equivalent); that’s comparable to the state of Massachusetts (with $351,514,000) that ranks 13th among U.S. states in GDP. By comparison, Saudi Arabia is 23rd, with a GDP of $468,800,000, just behind the state of Ohio that has a GDP of $471,508,000. If California were a country, its GDP of $1,846,757,000 would rank 8th in the world just ahead of the Russian Federation at $1,679,484,000 GDP. What are we doing to address our own problems— and our opportunities here in America? Manufacturing generates real wealth! Wake up, America! Our manufacturing sectors and our capital-intensive infrastructure is in dire need of a skilled workforce headed by entrepreneurial, forward-thinking business leaders. Let’s do our part in telling our success stories to our communities, our schools, our media and our politicians. MT RobertMW2@cs.com Resources: We’ve Got it Made in America: A Common Man’s Salute to an Uncommon Country, Center Street; (2006) ISBN-10: 1931722846 http://www.ratzenberger.com/
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MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY
http://www.nutsandboltsfoundation.org JUNE 2010
BOOSTING YOUR BOTTOM LINE
Your Motor Inventory: A Real Waste Buster
O
ne common cause of wasted energy—and wasted money—at industrial facilities is oversized motors and motor systems. Industrial-energy auditors repeatedly cite this dynamic: Your process needs have changed, but your equipment hasn’t. Wasteful motors may be oversized, improperly loaded or simply inefficient. All the time those systems are operating, energy and dollars are being lost. You can, however, avoid that waste. Developing a motor inventory—a list of all your motors, their type, size, efficiency, application and maintenance history—can provide you with a complete picture of your motors and how they fit into your manufacturing process. Use this inventory to keep your motors in tune with your process needs and, of course, to cut energy losses. When evaluating your motor-driven systems, keep the following factors in mind. Size and load… Motors operate most efficiently at 75-100% of their full rated load. Oversized or underloaded motors may operate well below their rated efficiency levels. Surveys of industrial facilities have found that as many as 30% of motors were operating at or below 50% load, significantly reducing their overall efficiencies. To ensure that your motors are running as efficiently as possible, it is crucial to match the size of the motor to the torque demand of the systems they serve. Efficiency… Older, inefficient motors may be prime candidates for immediate replacement when evaluated according to your company’s investment criteria. Energy savings from improved efficiency are typically proportional to horsepower and operating hours. Therefore, when evaluating the efficiency of your motor fleet, you’ll want to target your largest, longest-operating motors first.
JUNE 2010
Size, load and efficiency are also critical considerations when purchasing a new motor—but there’s no need to wait for a failure! Your motor inventory is dynamic, so when your process needs change, simply track that change in your inventory and respond with new equipment or operational adjustments when the opportunity arises. Oversized, underloaded or highly inefficient motors could be costing you money every day they run. Your motor inventory may reveal particular units with overall efficiencies so poor that you’ll actually save money by immediately replacing them with new ones. That’s what happened for the following two forest products operations. At Alder Creek Lumber Co., conducting a motor inventory led to replacement of an aging 200 hp unit. The energy savings Alder Creek captured with that one motor amounted to $8300 per year. At Crown Pacific Lumber Co., which looked at the motors at its sawmill in LaPine, OR, in 2000, the inventory led to the immediate replacement of an inefficient fan motor that saved the company $3400 annually. To learn more, access complete case studies, motor management tools and more on the Motor Decisions MatterSM campaign Website, www.motorsmatter.org. MT For more info, enter 01 at www.MT-freeinfo.com
The Motor Decisions Matter (MDM) campaign is managed by the Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE), a North American nonprofit organization that promotes energysaving products, equipment and technologies. For further information, contact MDM staff at mdminfo@cee1.org or (617) 589-3949.
MT-ONLINE.COM | 11
FOR ON THE FLOOR An outlet for the views of today’s capacity assurance professionals Rick Carter, Executive Editor
Training Strategies: Many Paths, One Goal All Maintenance Technology Reader Panelists agree that training is important. The need for it is ongoing, and it is a part of routine strategy for most operations. Today, its value is heightened as manufacturing operations face growing departures of experienced workers. Viewed less uniformly by Panelists is how to best implement training. Their specific conditions, budgets, needs and policies dictate whether training is done on-site, off-site, hands-on or by way of OJT, mentoring or other approaches. Each can be effective, say Panelists, depending upon whom you ask. But there is also a reported lack of training among Panelists. Despite today’s workforce pressures, some say their operations’ training programs are either poorly conducted or not conducted frequently enough to have value. Those who face the consequences of inadequate training voice serious concern. Taking a ‘dynamic’ approach “We believe that the best training program is the one owned by the work group involved,” says a utility-industry Panelist from the Northeast.“These are the people actually doing the work. Who knows better their needs, weaknesses and strengths?” The types of training conducted at his plant are determined by the group. “We favor the use of Dynamic Learning Activities,” he explains. These involve “hands-on interactive” methods and “peercoached learning experiences, which seem to be retained best by trainees, and give the most bang for the training dollar.” This Panelist adds that training topics are determined by a committee that includes various maintenance crew members as well as representation from those to be trained (see Sidebar, page 13). “I know the word ‘committee’ sends visions of wasted time, endless debate and disagreement after disagreement,” he says. “But if you take your time, form your committee wisely, put trust in it and allow it to function, it can turn out to be a very effective investment.”
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MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY
Off-site for efficiency, hands-on for results A PM leader in the upper Midwest says his operation has “combined trades into two groups, electrical and mechanical, which a lot of companies have already done.” This efficiency-inspired consolidation included shifting maintenance training off-site, though health and safety training remains on-site. The good news, reports this Panelist, is that “we normally have an opportunity to receive training if it is needed. It is ongoing and available to all of our trade people.” But he is uncomfortable with the fact that critical maintenance training programs have been taken out of the facility. “I feel that the best training is hands-on,” he says. “Most of the off-site training is so generic that it is not going to help on the floor.” Sharing his view is a maintenance engineer in the Northeast. “We train our people on the job, and bring in experts for on-site training,” he says. This Panelist adds that while his multi-site company has begun implementing TPM, “which changes the commitment of our maintenance staff and the rest of the plant,” training within company facilities is ongoing. Based on semiannual skills assessments that are used to determine specific training needs in areas of weakness, “the results are tracked by myself and the maintenance manager of each facility” to ensure training programs remain effective. Identifying, addressing gaps “In response to your request for information about training,” comments a maintenance manager in the Northeast, “we are light years behind.” This Panelist’s company “spends very little on maintenance training, and does not administer proficiency tests to see if an individual is suitable or possesses the skills necessary to succeed. It has become very frustrating.” Making matters worse, he says, is that “we have a number of associates who are close to retirement and will need to be replaced soon. I’m very
JUNE 2010
FOR ON THE FLOOR
Despite today’s workforce pressures, some say their operations’ training programs are either poorly conducted or not conducted frequently enough to have value. disappointed that we are not looking ahead to replace the skills that are present.” While not in the same dire position as this Panelist, a maintenance specialist at a Midwest process plant still sees much room for training improvement at his operation and in the industry at large. “Maintenance training takes a low priority in this day and age,” he opines. “Industry is becoming more dependant on contractors and vendors for this support,” a practice that he says tends to “waive” plant-specific personnel training. “It is more cost-effective to deal with the vendor (for training),” he notes, “but this is not a good solution for some of our remote sites.” The real solution, says this Panelist, is to “focus more on a maintenance culture shift and succession planning. A shift toward procedurecreation for maintenance repairs and specificequipment maintenance strategies that align with (an overall site strategy) would be effective, and need to be treated as ‘evergreen’ documents.” This Panelist also suggests that team members learn to use online sources to support their training. “With today’s access to Web technology and online support,” he says, “our people just need to know how to access this.” MT
Join the MT Reader Panel! Have your comments and observations included in this column by joining the Maintenance Technology Reader Panel. Send an e-mail to rcarter@ atpnetwork.com with the following: your name, title, contact information, years of professional experience, and the name and location of your company. If qualified, you’ll be admitted to the Reader Panel, and will receive requests for your thoughts on industry topics approximately every other month. After one year of active participation, you’ll be entered into a drawing for a cash prize, as a token of our thanks.
JUNE 2010
Who’s On the Training Committee? One Panelist strongly supports his company’s committee approach to training and offers an outline of how it works. At his site, the training committee determines and reviews training procedures and typically includes a cross-section of plant personnel, along with representatives from those scheduled to be trained. Here are his suggestions for who should be on the committee and why: n Department head — “It’s his budget, and he really has a big stake in it being effective. He must enter with an open mind and trust in his people. A manager has no greater opportunity to learn about his organization than this.” n Dedicated trainers — “They know the world of training, costs, what’s available, what is possible to develop and what could be contracted out.” n Two line supervisors — “We include them for what they see as issues, weaknesses and strengths.” n Three to four of the craftspeople to be trained — “This is the most important element. It could take awhile for them to open up, but they know the situation and needs better than anyone else. Once they know their opinion is valued and that it will be acted upon, you’ll be surprised at their response and involvement. It empowers them to help decide the training and allows them to help develop their own careers.” . . . RC
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A reason to brake on your way to sustainability. . .
The Business Process Review:
Redrawing Your CMMS Roadmap Still trying to make progress on your software journey? If you don’t know where you’re going, you could end up in the wrong place! John Reeve Cohesive Solutions
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T
here’s a moment in every organization’s life when doubts arise about its chosen CMMS path. Management begins to wonder if increased support costs, substantial upgrade efforts and changing technologies will really solve its facility/maintenance problems. Things had seemed so simple: Install the software and, by default, you would be adhering to industry best practice. Flawed thinking?
If you are at this point, your smartest move may be to turn off your engine, pause the upgrade cycle and conduct a formal business process review. You’ll get to look at the entire maintenance organization, revalidate responsibilities and re-evaluate rules and regulations. Start by asking how important the CMMS/EAM product is to the mission of the organization. If the answer is “very important,” remind yourself that there are three key components to any system: software, process and organization. It’s those last two that frequently lack definition and emphasis. Software can be installed and users trained, but then what? Did anyone train the organization on how to make more informed decisions? Is someone able to link management goals back to the point of input? Just like in the maintenance JUNE 2010
CAPACITY ASSURANCE STRATEGIES
Just like in the maintenance and repair world, bad decisions can be made in CMMS/EAM setup and use. The rationale for the software has to be more than “create electronic work orders so we can report actual man-hours and get paid.” and repair world, bad decisions can be made in CMMS/EAM setup and use. The rationale for the software has to be more than “create electronic work orders so we can report actual man-hours and get paid.” There needs to be a vision for the future, backed by goals and objectives, described by process and procedure and supported by solid data. Although many users can make dramatic improvements via simplification and standardization of process, the larger challenge is the application of best-practice methods. The most commonly stated purposes behind any CMMS/EAM implementation are (1) enhancement of asset reliability and (2) improvement of workforce productivity/coordination. Unfortunately, most sites fail to perform any basic failure analysis within the software—and most have never successfully created a resource-leveled, weekly maintenance schedule. Benign neglect doesn’t work here. Advanced processes require a strong organization with clear vision and singular focus, but how do you get there? The first step is to have a vision—and be visionary. You may want to perform some benchmarking to help establish this vision. Once you have a set of goals, work backwards. Is the software set up to support these goals? Are CMMS/ EAM procedures in place? Are the roles clearly defined? When was the last time the existing processes were mapped to verify roles and responsibilities? Wishing for efficiency/ productivity improvement by merely installing new software is NOT a strategy. Software alone will not fix organizational problems. Defining a BPI/BPR project BPI stands for business process improvement… BPI focuses on organizational design, which, if unclear and performing poorly, will make it impossible to design an effective CMMS/EAM system. In order to review the business process, you must first determine the “size of the puddle.” Which departments and processes are to be reviewed? A formal BPI review includes organizational structure, roles/ responsibilities, internal/external rules and regulations, policies, mission/vision statements, process workflows and measurements therein. With this understanding, you should JUNE 2010
know what performance attributes (data) to manage. Once the roles are understood, ask: “What is the purpose of our CMMS/EAM system, and what do we want it to do?” BPR stands for business process re-engineering… BPR questions the original design and seeks to re-verify CMMS/ EAM purpose and supporting roles. It focuses more on a futurestate design, leveraging critical success factors and supporting tasks. Users look into the future, provide a wish list and imagine future perfect. This type of bold thinking can help a company become more creative, innovative and responsive to change. A combined BPI/BPR review incorporates the best of both strategies and promotes an environment of continuous improvement, strong vision and user buy-in. This combination strategy helps to create an atmosphere of excitement and reinvention. Focusing on business process It’s estimated that 80% of all potential improvement can be found in the surrounding process and procedure of any CMMS/EAM system. Thus, it’s a good idea to periodically reassess (every five years) your success to date; review business objectives; adjust performance metrics; and verify customer satisfaction. In some cases, you may have done nothing different since the day you implemented the product—which could be a problem in itself. Even existing practices can become outdated. It’s also possible that your CMMS/EAM setup could have been ineffective at the outset (at identifying equipment-reliability problems or workforce scheduling). The reason goes back to inadequate vision and linking of goals to actions. A BPI/BPR review can provide a better understanding of how inputs can become outputs and how effective you could be. Even a little change can bring rewards (see Fig. 1 on pg. 16). Struggling to optimize a CMMS/EAM Why the struggle? Many organizations are mired in reactive maintenance and cannot find a way out—they’re way too comfortable being reactive. This is typically a process/ procedure issue. Most can tackle software upgrades but lack best-practice knowledge on how to become more proactive. Continued on Page 17 MT-ONLINE.COM | 15
CAPACITY ASSURANCE STRATEGIES
1 10
Increasing Costs Benefits Not Realized
Increasing Expectations
2
Best Practice Opportunity
3 New Regulations Outdated Process And System
9
8
Why BPI/BPR Review
Standardized Processes Are Lacking
7
Benchmark Discoveries
4 Training Inadequate Original Design Staff May Have Departed
5
Sustainability
6 Fig. 1. Change can come from any direction; every organization needs the ability to react fast. A BPI/BPR review enhances the organization’s ability to understand where it is and, based on that information, position it to move forward quickly.
1. Maintenance department costs are tending upward. CMMS/EAM software cost-to-maintain is also increasing. System benefits are not fully realized. 2. Best-practice concepts, especially advanced processes, were never understood or successfully implemented. 3. External benchmarking identified clever ideas, but were never implemented. 4. CMMS/EAM training covered navigational aspects, but never discussed the endgame. Interviews with the maintenance staff indicated frustration and confusion. 5. The project team that set up the software is long gone. Documentation (for past customization) was not evident. The system is essentially “tied in knots.” A fresh start may be needed. 6. You may attempt to implement new, better ideas that never seem to “take.” Cultural-change aspects were not fully understood, and process verification was never set up. 7. Multiple groups/divisions are using the same software, but their processes are all different. This complicates training, upgrades and standardized measurements. 8. The reason why we do things a certain way is no longer clear or understood. Outdated process has also lead to inaccurate/ incomplete data, making it difficult to derive useful information. The current system is not seen as a true knowledge base. 9. New or changing regulations (policies) make the current requirements inapplicable. 10.Management expects staff to do better and find ways to do more with less (be innovative and more efficient). It also has the right to readjust measurement thresholds and priorities.
Advanced processes require a strong organization with clear vision and a singular focus. But how do you get there? Table I. Reasons for Underestimating the Importance of Process and Procedure in CMMS/EAM Implementations
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Problem
Solution
There is a misconception that implementation of this software, by default, will provide better/best practices to your organization.
Software vendors may speak of improved reliability, less downtime and improved workforce scheduling, but few provide training on the detailed steps required to perform these advanced processes. That said, responsibility for this vision lies within the user’s organization.
Rules and regulations created by the organization that installed the software may no longer be applicable. Also, it’s possible that the system was not set up properly to enhance workforce productivity, improve asset reliability and manage cost.
Periodically step back and re-validate policies.
Fear of change can cause an organization to shy away from altering the current process.
Cultural management is an important role in any new project/initiative. The end-users need to know what’s in it for them. The benefits need to be clearly explained—and often, involve users in new system definition.
MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY
CMMS/EAM better/best practice expertise is usually needed. You want an experienced consultant to not only assist with implementation but also advise on advanced processes.
JUNE 2010
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The key performance indicators (KPIs) are not adding real decision-making value, e.g. number of work orders completed last month. They’re so busy reacting as an organization that they can’t find time to assess remedies. A formal BPI/BPR review can provide a long-range plan for continuous improvement based on benefit to the organization. If you interview your CMMS/EAMuser community and your customer base and hear the following, you may have a system or process problem: ■ We have resource/budget limitations; management is asking us to do more with less. We don’t know how to increase efficiency using this system with fewer resources. ■ Staff turnover is draining valuable knowledge. We never captured their knowledge in the system.
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■ IT staff is struggling to upgrade version/product due to complexity of the current design (customization) and lack of documentation. ■ Long-range improvement plans do exist, but years have passed with very little progress. ■ Failure history is not easily retrieved (if at all). Asset review means “pull out all the paper work orders on this equipment and let’s get together in the conference room.” No methods exist for identifying recurring problems or breakdowns. We’re unable to perform basic failure analysis using the CMMS/EAM system.
JUNE 2010
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5/11/10 10:56 AM
CAPACITY ASSURANCE STRATEGIES
If you find yourself in a mess, don’t automatically blame your software. It normally does what it’s designed to do. The real problem is that most organizations underestimate the importance of process and procedure.
■ Backlog is growing and mostly unplanned. And there’s confusion around who’s responsible for reviewing it, or what to review for. ■ No time exists for performing PM tasks, and no PM feedback process exists. ■ The database is mostly inaccurate, the foundation data is incomplete and there’s lack of data ownership. (In other words, there’s no functional review team and no administrator other than IT department.) How does an organization get in such a mess? Don’t automatically blame the software—it normally does what it’s designed to do. The real problem is that most organizations underestimate the importance of process and procedure. As shown in Table I, the reasons can be numerous. Methods for process improvement It’s possible to conduct your own BPI/BPR without hiring consultants—if you have adequate time. Internal and external benchmarking can be performed. The project team should be 100% dedicated to this effort, and knowledge in advanced processes is critical. Key steps are as follows: 1. Gather information… Involve the working level—along with supervisors—in the workshops. The project team should have a leader who facilitates the dialogue. There should be a second team member who records problems, complaints and suggestions. Have a camera for snapshots of notes and attendees. Write up comments by the end of the day and start to categorize this input. Assure participants that there will be no repercussions for voicing complaints or concerns. Each workshop should be scheduled at least a week in advance. Regarding the “As-Is” workshop, it’s okay to mention “future design” possibilities or opportunities for improvement, but delay extensive dialogue until the “To-Be” workshops. There can be three types of workshops: current-system discovery (“As-Is”); future-state design (“To-Be”); and process development and vision-setting or brainstorming. 18 |
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The “As-Is” workshop reviews current organization, roles and policy and identifies key process workflows and data ownership. The hardest part of any process re-engineering project, however, is development of the “To-Be” process. This step requires a clear understanding of the current system, future-state goals and gaps in between. The “To-Be” workshop will look for unnecessary tasks, paperwork and approval processes, plus discuss areas for productivity improvement, efficiency, standardization and automation. The brainstorming sessions can help bring new ideas to the table. Participants should be creative with their ideas and visualize “what could be.” In addition to workshops, there are many other places to look for key information, including: ■ Organization charts ■ Mission and vision statements; goals and objectives; KPIs and metrics ■ O&M procedures, policies and guidelines; regulatory requirements ■ Commitments to other departments within the company/facility ■ List of current CMMS/EAM system interfaces and any that are planned ■ List of reports, especially analytics ■ Stand-alone databases containing maintenance-related data, as well as paper files and tribal knowledge ■ Facility/plant walk-downs (useful for observing in-progress work methods, staff communications, CMMS/EAM update and asset condition) 2. Create an issues database (or punch list)… Expect complaints and suggestions throughout the BPI/ BPR project. Such feedback should be systematically stored JUNE 2010
CAPACITY ASSURANCE STRATEGIES
in a spreadsheet for subsequent sorting and categorization. Each entry should be labeled as a “problem/complaint,” “solution to problem/new idea” or “business decision.” Where possible, link any stated solution to the originating problem. For each solution, however, list benefits and obstacles. Set up categories for software/process/organization, critical success factors and the CMMS/EAM application it is related to. Once the list is completed, apply weighted priorities to each entry. A weighted priority consists of user importance (to him/her/them), level of effort (order of magnitude) and payback (cost benefit). 3. Periodically explain the “endgame”… In a vision-setting workshop, explain the “endgame” to the project team. This technique helps staff understand the purpose behind the system and requirements for success. Users need to know why it is important to enter data correctly into the CMMS/EAM. Conversely, a lack of proper explanation, or a “just do it” mandate can cause them to shy away from new initiatives and advanced technologies. Informed users are more likely to be motivated and involved in the overall process. Empowering them brings more eyes to the problem—and helps turn them into willing participants in both implementation and operational use. 4. Clarify roles… Who’s responsible for the accuracy of the database? Accurate and timely input of data is critical. Actual man-hours may be entered, but the main work-order screen lacks accurate input of job status and failure/problem/cause coding. The work-order-completion step is an important update time for any CMMS/EAM system. During a BPI/BPR review, you may discover that key fields on the work-order screen are not clearly identified as to exactly who is responsible for input. No matter who enters the information, there’s going to be confusion over inputting a value versus being responsible for the accuracy of this field. Another example is when a work order involves multiple crafts—but no craft assumes overall responsibility for the whole job, for providing customer status or for updating the CMMS/EAM database. 5. Understand the needs of the organization… Using a workshop venue, bring the BPI/BPR project team together with the CMMS/EAM power-users. In this visionsetting meeting, the leader asks: “What if your CMMS/EAM product did not exist? What functions would be harder to perform or what would you not be able to do at all?” In other words, why have this software at all? The goal of this meeting is to capture the thoughts of the project team and identify all needs, benefits and success factors for this system and organization. (The facilitator may also suggest ideas based on past experience and best practices.) JUNE 2010
6. Create a value-add tree… A graphical value-add tree can be created from information coming out of the previously described workshop. Its purpose is twofold: (1) to illustrate areas of strategic importance; and (2) to identify supporting tasks. Value points should be colorcoded to indicate software, process or organizational element. 7. Perform long-term strategic planning… Once the workflows are complete and all issues categorized, assess the data. Where do you want to be three to five years from now? What actions will provide the greatest ROI? While your BPI/BPR review may have generated many items for consideration, they won’t all be acted on immediately—if at all. The weighted punch list, however, can provide a “Top 10 List,” a grouping of like items or a sorting by cost. In short, it’s a comprehensive list based upon input from the entire organization. Without this roadmap for the future, it really won’t matter what software you use. 8. Provide for sustainability… Implementation of any recommendation needs to be followed by periodic auditing and training. Once the executive summary is written and the final presentation is made, the stakeholders will make their decisions based on feasibility and timing. This output becomes your roadmap forward. Culture change is not always easy, and reinforcement is needed. Some of the best organizations also have a functional review team to manage the punch list and help keep focus on priority items. Where you want to be People wonder why they underutilize their CMMS/EAM systems. If they’re unwilling to nail down the fundamentals of managing their organizations, the system will never be good enough and the software will always be blamed. When it comes to system administration—IT staff, maintenance, operations and engineering—all have a responsibility. Your software will only be as good as the surrounding process and procedure. Acquire a solid asset-management strategy that meets the requirements of all stakeholders. Review this strategy at least every five years. Get everyone involved. Listen to their problems. Document the complaints. Then, through a collaborative effort, find solutions. Always be thinking of how you can improve. If end-users from the maintenance organization are never really involved in setting up the system, database accuracy will suffer. When personnel feel empowered, they perform better. The BPI/BPR review lets you jump-start this important process. MT John Reeve is senior consultant and practice lead for Cohesive Solutions, headquartered in Kennesaw, GA. Telephone: (423) 314-1312; e-mail: JReeve@CohesiveSolutions.com. For more info, enter 02 at www.MT-freeinfo.com MT-ONLINE.COM | 19
Safeguarding your company’s future…
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margaret Wilson usC Consulting Group
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t’s a disturbing thought, one that’s keeping plenty of people awake at night. Our industries face two looming issues that will have an even greater impact on profitability and competitiveness than tough economic conditions: a drastically reduced skilledlabor pool and seriously aging equipment. Combined with higher costs for new capital purchases, this means that more restorationtype maintenance attention will be required from an ever-smaller qualified workforce. The manifestation of this problem is reduced availability and poor reliability. Everyone understands that improving the availability of equipment translates into increased utilization and, ultimately, throughput. However, the long-term concern for most organizations (if it is not already, it should or will be) is their ability just to maintain availability at current levels. As most of us have unfortunately discovered, doing even that is becoming increasingly dicey. To operate at current levels of availability, maintenance labor is key. Today, though, companies are not only having trouble finding and keeping skilled labor, when they do find it, it’s not necessarily a one-for-one skill-set transfer. In other words, newly acquired skills do not match those lost to turnover and retirement. Further compounding the issue is the fact that managers are now adding more and more responsibilities to their JUNE 2010
sustainability matterS
own task lists as regulatory requirements increase and subsequent quality issues demand more oversight. This has resulted in a management capacity problem, wherein managers have less time to spend training new employees and bringing them up to speed. Despite this scary state of affairs, organizations have a number of ways to ease their labor pains. Back to basics To survive and be competitive, companies must improve on two basic dimensions of good business practice: standard operating procedures (SOPs) and data-driven decisions. Capturing required practices… There is only one best way to do anything. A good company recognizes this; a great company discovers “the best way,” creates SOPs and requires absolute adherence to them in every facet of its operations. The benefit of standardizing work, as it relates to the issues discussed here, is that it allows new employees to have the same knowledge, standards and procedures former employees held. This means the organization has a better chance to get the one-for-one skill-set exchange it needs to maintain or improve its effectiveness. As long as replacement workforce members have the fundamental skills—essentially meaning they can read—they can follow established procedures and step right into those experienced shoes. Standardizing work helps ensure consistent performance. When developing maintenance standards, every organization must analyze the requirements from a work-content, labor and equipment perspective. Performing labor analysis… To get its asset-reliability program off the ground, an organization must first estimate its projected workforce losses over the next two to 10 years. This will help management make logical decisions about how to handle the skill drain and determine how quickly the organization needs to move to counteract short- and long-term negative impacts. Next, perform a job task analysis and develop an accurate task-to-training matrix to determine the most critical, most frequent and most important tasks in the operations and the organization’s ability to perform them. (Make sure the job task analysis is adequate. For example, a detailed review of the skills required to perform within a specific job description must be more detailed than “troubleshoot” or “work with 3 phase, 240 VAC.”) Labor analyses will define what skill levels are required where and when, whether they are available in the existing labor pool or whether training must be implemented to develop the skill levels necessary to accomplish the jobs in question. JUNE 2010
It is critical, when embarking on personnel acquisition, that this process include testing of new employees for the specific abilities, skills, attributes, mechanical aptitude and literacy required to perform a job to standard. Additionally, three other strategies should be implemented: n Train operators to assume basic maintenance tasks to reduce pressure on maintenance personnel and improve labor efficiency. n Perform Maintenance Task Analysis (MTA) on equipment using experienced maintenance and operations personnel (see next section). n Leverage technology for decision support. Enabling tools should aggregate and prioritize data so that it becomes business “intelligence.” Performing equipment analysis… A company can improve the effectiveness of its maintenance work by improving the type of activities performed. For example, it is better to monitor the actual health of equipment than try to prevent failure by replacing parts or the equipment itself on a time-based schedule. It also is crucial to leverage knowledge to ensure consistent and best practices across multiple locations with similar equipment. Use condition-based techniques to capture failures earlier and involve more employees in reliability and asset management. The first step in equipment analysis is to determine asset criticality. Use a ranking process for relative risk and impact to operations, safety and cost, should functional failure occur. Once the equipment is ranked by priority, the next step is to complete a task analysis performed by a cross-functional team of maintenance, operations, quality and engineering personnel using RCM II [1] (for critical equipment) or MTAs. An experienced reliability practitioner should facilitate this analysis. The desired outcome is an understanding of the operational requirements, the potential means of failure, methods to sustain operation and corrective action once failure starts. It is important to note that any maintenance task analysis should include education and a solid understanding by the participants of the ways equipment can fail. Awareness of all failure curves, not just the traditional view that equipment fails due to age, promotes development of proactive, conditioned-based tasks and ensures that unnecessary work is not added to the workload or important tasks overlooked. MT-ONLINE.COM | 21
sustainability matters
Once the equipment-maintenance task analysis is complete, it is documented in the form of SOPs. Said another way, it becomes the work or job plans loaded into the CMMS/EAM. Two parts of the improvement plan are in effect: Schedule attainment for completing these tasks as planned can be tracked as a leading indicator and integrated into future planning; and documentation is in place to ensure the program survives both planned and unplanned personnel turnover by maintaining the “how” and “what” of successful assetmanagement processes. These new procedures will require the enhancement/re-review of the skills matrix described above to ensure those skills necessary to support the added maintenance tasks are added and evaluated. Finally, to ensure the proper enabling tools are deployed, create a technology matrix to define what is needed to support the new/enhanced maintenance procedures, including: n Non-destructive test equipment (vibration monitoring, oil analysis, infrared, etc.) n CMMS/EAM enhancements
n Special tools and any associated training (torque, alignment, setup tools) n Asset-performance management software enabling management Implementing an asset-reliability program, of which SOPs and data-driven decision making are part, can ease labor and management shortages, improve equipment efficiencies and longevity, advance safety and improve production, product quality and customer service, as well as reinvigorate worker motivation. Measuring maintenance… The goal of applying a reliability-centered maintenance program is to improve the effectiveness of reliability programs, thereby improving the business’ financial performance. When considering the cost per unit of output, the cost of maintenance can be broken down into three types: 1. Base work, defined as “the right work at the right time,” is value-added. Also known as proactive work, it prevents failure, allows action to be taken to manage the consequences of failure or, once failure has occurred, deals with the failure effectively. By defining and performing the “right base work,” we can reduce the amount of emergency work, lost production time, excessive parts consumption and secondary damage from failure. 2. Non-value-added work is work performed with negligible impact on the asset’s performance, or work that is done too early, e.g., unnecessary/early rebuilds. 3. Deviation work is the reactive, firefighting work done when the undesired failure has already occurred and the action is too late to have any real impact. Extremely expensive, it’s often mired with other unforeseen complications, failures and downtime.
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MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY
Separating, prioritizing and managing the three types of work is best done under an asset-performance management system instead of a traditional “maintenance as a cost center” concept. Condition-based methodology and data-driven decisions—facilitated by technology—help overburdened managers understand which are the critical few indicators and assets they should be looking at on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Establishing an asset-performance management system can help develop needed management skills and create supporting infrastructure so that the responsible parties are not literally waiting for the next failure to occur, which is exactly what happens under the traditional approach to maintenance. JUNE 2010
sustainability matters
Shaft Alignment
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Driving success… Although responsibility for asset-performance management is shared by all levels in best-in-class organizations, administering a firm’s assets—human, financial and mechanical—is a job for C-level management for the simple reason that these are the components that keep a company alive. This requires the kind of back-tobasics approach and strict adherence to SOPs and data-driven decisions that only an asset-performance management system can provide. in conclusion By establishing defined SOPs that capture and pass on knowledge, companies can reduce turnover due to dissatisfaction, mitigate the loss of skills associated with retiring personnel and hire literate resources that can meet the goal of maintaining or increasing asset-performance levels. SOPs provide a base of instruction that releases the management team from training and supervisory activities so it can focus on more critical issues. The management team better understands what work is required and the level of performance to expect, and gains access to the information required to make iterative, timely, fact-based decisions. The benefits are compelling:
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n Less unplanned downtime and higher equipment availability n Improved planned downtime activities and higher availability n Improved quality, cost and OEE through increased equipment reliability n A substantially stronger bottom line Implementing an asset-performance management program before high labor turnover and aging equipment erode capacity, efficiency and profits can go a long way toward safeguarding a company’s future. mt reference 1. For more information on failure curves, see RCM II, by John Moubray, or visit www.thealadonnetwork.com. Margaret Wilson is a USCCG operations manager and its Asset Performance Management Practice leader. She earned a BS in civil engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point and is currently on active duty in Iraq, in charge of maintaining operational readiness for a fleet of combat helicopters. USCCG (USC Consulting Group) is an independent operations management-consulting firm with over 40 years experience in the area of business performance improvement. Headquartered in Tampa, FL, the company also has offices in Chicago, Toronto and Milan, Italy. For more info, enter 03 at www.mt-freeinfo.com JUNE 2010
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Are the pricing demands of your purchasing department undermining the reliability of your plant’s rotating equipment? Bill Moore SKF USA Inc.
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f you’re seeing repeated equipment failures in areas that you haven’t seen in the past, it may be because of shifts in your company’s buying patterns. Charged with management mandates for reducing procurement costs during harsh recessionary times, purchasing departments in some instances are squeezing their distributors of rotating components for immediate and dramatic price cuts. In response, the distributor that has long delivered premium components to your doorstep might now be forced to provide cheaper, lower-quality product. The loss in quality is multidimensional. It doesn’t only involve lower-grade components, such as off-brand bearings, seals, shafts and lubricants—it also hampers your ability to access the expert maintenance services available from manufacturers of premium products. Indeed, premium-rotating-component manufacturers house vast amounts of maintenance knowledge about their products and the equipment in which they are used. But such companies typically deploy their resources only to customers who purchase their products on a regular basis. Having access to a premium-component maker’s maintenance expertise is particularly important in today’s manufacturing environment. Forced early retirements and layoffs of experienced maintenance personnel have left many businesses short on maintenance knowledge, with the steel, paper, chemical and food industries being especially hard hit. Moreover, where maintenance-savvy distributors could once routinely fill such gaps, a trend is now at work where even they are offloading technical personnel. To be sure, distributors with technical expertise exist, but many are concentrating on less labor-intensive business areas, such as logistics excellence. And virtually any distributor today would be hard pressed to call in the help of a premiumJUNE 2010
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Strong Supplier Relationships Keep Critical Maintenance Services Close at Hand
SUPPLY CHAIN LINKS
Having access to a premium-component maker’s maintenance expertise is particularly important in today’s manufacturing environment. component manufacturer unless it is to service its own brand. When a purchasing manager employs a price-based procurement model, the much-desired assistance of a component manufacturer’s technical services are usually out of reach. Getting the help you need So how do you, as a manager responsible for the reliable operation of the very equipment that makes your company a profit-generating enterprise, secure the services of premium-component manufacturers when machinery repeatedly fails? One way might be by demonstrating the overall value of sourcing from premium manufacturers to your purchasing department. Can you document instances where mean-time-between-failure (MTBF) of a critical component has decreased? Perhaps a critical bearing now needs replacement every four months instead of just once per year. Perhaps you’ve recently paid handsomely for expert maintenance services that, in the past, had been supplied for less or at no cost. Such examples might be accompanied by hard figures showing dollars lost due to equipment downtime and purchasing costs for replacement components and labor. You also could point to the need for ready access to asset management, failure analysis and related assistance. Such services can provide extraordinary value. A Wisconsin paper manufacturer, for example, recently sought the aid of a premium-rotating-component supplier when a dryer supply fan exhibited performance irregularities. This fan is a critical part of the company’s papermaking process. If it failed unexpectedly, paper production would have screeched to a halt at an unplanned downtime cost of $18,000 per hour. The component manufacturer—that had regularly been supplying branded products to the mill through an authorized distributor—responded in very short order. Soon, an industry specialist was on-site with tools designed to analyze the application. By using a stroboscope to slow the fan’s motion, the specialist determined that the fan had a loose coupling, but that replacement could wait for a planned shutdown just two days away. In the meantime, the specialist alerted the authorized distributor, who arranged for all necessary replacement parts to be on hand during the shutdown. Upon further inspection, the specialist identified the cause of the problem: The coupling was worn and dry from a lack of lubrication and would almost certainly fail before the next planned downtime, four weeks away. He then recomJUNE 2010
mended a lubricant with the proper viscosity and specified the proper amount of lubricant to prevent the problem from recurring due to the same cause. Because all component parts were already on hand, the dryer supply fan was put back into service with no delay. In another instance, a Kentucky gearbox manufacturer known for its high level of quality suddenly experienced a rash of product returns. The bring-backs didn’t simply threaten the company’s sterling reputation, they were costing it money in warranty claims. Suspecting that the gearbox problems might be bearingrelated, the manufacturer sent a selection of failed units to the bearing manufacturer’s labs. There, technicians identified a series of axial dents that were equally spaced on the bearings’ outer raceways. To trained eyes, these dents told a sad story: They were the result of improper bearing installation. Assembly workers at the gearbox company had been applying force to each bearing’s outer ring to drive the component onto the shaft. The correct procedure was to apply force to the inner ring. This led the bearing manufacturer to develop a customized training program that would teach assembly workers best practices for both cold and hot bearing mounting. As a result, bearing returns dropped by 42% and scrap, caused by faulty assembly, dropped 48%. Establishing contacts Purchasing rotating components from premium suppliers on a regular basis is the most direct route to that supplier’s expert maintenance services. Most often, it will be your authorized distributor who facilitates the connection. Other avenues also exist. For example, does your branded manufacturer have a technical assistance program? Most brand-name producers of quality rotating components and technology will have a technical hotline or a Web-based resource to respond to technical inquiries. Another way to interact with component manufacturers is by participating in local forums held by engineering organizations such as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Here, by networking and building business friendships, you can establish valuable contacts that may one day prove critical when addressing an equipment malfunction. MT Bill Moore is senior vice president, Channel Management, SKF USA Inc. E-mail: William.C.Moore@skf.com. For more info, enter 04 at www.MT-freeinfo.com MT-ONLINE.COM | 25
MARTS 2010 RECAP
MAINTENANCE and RELIABILITY TECHNOLOGY SUMMIT
ANOTHER SUCCESS ALL THE WAY AROUND
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he 2010 MARTS (Maintenance & Reliability Technology Summit) wrapped up on April 30 at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare Hotel in Rosemont, IL. This year’s event, the 7th in an increasingly successful series of these conferences, spanned almost an entire week with 13 full-day Workshops and 32 one-hour Conference sessions devoted to issues of maintenance, reliability and energy efficiency, among others. The 200+ maintenance professionals in attendance got to learn from and network with a number of internationally known experts in the field and a host of noted practitioners, consultants and manufacturers with deep industrial insight. One of this year’s very special highlights was Keynote speaker John Ratzenberger, the well-known actor, director, author and champion of the skilled trades. He spoke for nearly 90 minutes on topics ranging from his New England upbringing and hardwork ethic to the life philosophy he’s gained through acting. It was while he was working on his Made in America television series that he became keenly aware of the shortage of trained industrial workers. This realization, in turn, inspired him to establish the Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs Foundation (NBT) that encourages youngsters to consider manufacturing as a career choice. Following his talk, Ratzenberger autographed copies of his book We’ve Got It Made in America for long lines of enthusiastic attendees. Other highlights included Keynoter Bob Chernow, a futurist and financial professional, who provided an analytical look into tomorrow’s business environment, and the “Reliability Gives Voice to Autism” dinner and gala that kicked off MARTS week. The dinner raised funds and awareness for autism with comments from MARTS attendees who have been affected by autism, and top-flight entertainment. Preparations are already underway for next year’s successful MARTS. Look for details in upcoming issues, or on www.MARTSconference.com. MT
1 (1) John Ratzenberger during his compelling Keynote and (2) later talking with attendees while he autographs copies of his book, We’ve Got it Made in America.
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3 (3) Ratzenberger greets Ali Sturman, associate manager Certification & Education for the Society for Maintenance & Reliability Professionals.
10 (10, 11 & 12) Attendees visit with MARTS exhibitors.
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JUNE 2010
THE CAPACITY ASSURANCE CONFERENCE
MARTS 2010 presenters at work: (4) Tara Denton, Life Cycle Engineering; (5) Bill Livoti, Baldor Electric Co.; (6) Hugh Blackwood, U.S. Navy (retired); and (7) Applied Technology Publications contributing editor Bob Williamson.
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(8) John Ratzenberger with editorin-chief Jane Alexander and (left to right) contributing editors Bob Williamson and Ken Bannister.
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(9) Team MARTS members (left to right) Tom Madding, Bill Kiesel, Jim Hanley and Art Rice with a restored 1946 “Whizzer” motorized bicycle.
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MARTS EXHIBITORS
A Big
Thank You To Our Exhibitors We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: We couldn’t have done it without you—made this year’s MARTS the success that it was for all concerned, that is. We greatly appreciate your participation as exhibitors and supporters of our publications, and, more importantly, your many contributions to our industry! Thank You!
MAINTENANCE and RELIABILITY TECHNOLOGY SUMMIT
For more info, enter 72 at www.MT-freeinfo.com
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JUNE 2010
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Lubrication Checkup
Sustainability in motion.
By Dr. Lube, aka Ken Bannister
Symptom: “We’re working through an RCM process on our major equipment. As most of our machinery is fitted with automated lubrication equipment, I am looking for typical failure scenarios and prevention strategies.”
Diagnosis: Although centralized automated lubrication systems can triple the economic life cycle of bearings, they’re not immune to abuse, neglect, poor maintenance or incorrect setup.
Prescription:
Lubrication questions? Ask Dr. Lube, aka Ken Bannister, author of the best-selling book Lubrication for Industry and the Lubrication section of the 28th edition Machinery’s Handbook. He’s also a contributing editor for Maintenance Technology and Lubrication Management & Technology. E-mail: doctorlube@atpnetwork.com For more info, enter 05 at www.MT-freeinfo.com JUNE 2010
All of which results in a host of benefits for our customers. And keeps our world moving ahead to a better future. For more on how Mobil Industrial Lubricants put sustainability in motion, go to exxonmobil.com/lubes.
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Take note of these common issues associated with automated lube systems: 1. Your automated system’s finely toleranced components are NOT dirt-tolerant. Absolute cleanliness is critical when transferring lubricants to system reservoirs. Clean reservoirs before filling and ensure that bulk lubricants haven’t been exposed to airborne contamination. 2. Mixing of lubricants can damage bearings. Mark reservoirs for the correct product and fill via dedicated transfer equipment. 3. Single-line-resistance, fixed-injector or progressive-divider-type systems are engineered by the OEM and only require the pump output delivery and sequence timer to be tuned. Once tuned, record settings and place inside the sequence controller. 4. For variable-output, single-line or dual-line injector systems, users must tune the pump delivery output, sequence timer and each delivery point output. (This system type is especially vulnerable to overlubrication due to users changing delivery point outputs.) Once tuned, physically scribe the injector set-point mark, record settings and place inside the sequence controller. If settings continue to be changed, install a physical guard over the injector points. 5. If blocked-line or broken-line indicators are employed, train operators to recognize faults and perform regular inspections for system damage. Neglecting these warning devices can shut down the system and put bearings at risk. 6. Do NOT paint see-through reservoirs or sight-glass level indicators. Mark reservoirs with a RAG (Red/Amber/Green) indicator system: GREEN indicates the high-fill line; AMBER indicates the early-warning fill requirement; RED indicates the final-warning fill requirement before the system shuts down. Train operators to monitor the fluid level and notify maintenance once the AMBER level is reached. If a unit is not filled prior to reaching the RED level, maintenance is again notified. If low-level alarms are employed and disconnected, the units must be protected with physical shrouds. 7. Moving lubricant reservoirs and controls outside equipment lockout perimeters will allow maintenance and filling while equipment runs. MT
Our most visible contributions to sustainability are our advanced products. Like Mobil Industrial Lubricants. They help our customers save energy, increase efficiency, and reduce waste. They’re designed to help our customers be more competitive by increasing equipment reliability, reducing operating costs, and extending machine life.
© 2010 Exxon Mobil Corporation. The Mobil and ExxonMobil logotypes and the Pegasus design are registered trademarks of Exxon Mobil Corporation or one of its subsidiaries.
Automated Systems
Sustainability can mean a lot of things. At ExxonMobil Lubricants and Specialties, we define it as balancing economic growth, social development, and environmental protection so that future generations are not compromised by actions taken today.
For more info, enter 73 at www.MT-freeinfo.com 0044_EXOD_Sustainability_Strip_Ad.indd 1
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THE GREEN EDGE
Energy-Efficient Facilities Are Seeing Stars The EPA’s Energy Star Challenge for Industry recognizes facilities that cut energy use. Could there be stars in your site’s future?
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he U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized the first manufacturing sites in the nation to meet the Energy Star Challenge for Industry. Operating in a variety of industries, these facilities reached the program’s goal to reduce energy use by 10% within five years or less. Under the program, the EPA works with individual sites and their parent companies to fight climate change and save money through improvements in energy efficiency. Meeting this Energy Star Challenge is straightforward: Industrial operations must establish an energy-intensity baseline, set a 10% reduction goal, implement energy-efficiency projects, track energy use and be able to verify their savings. Any U.S. manufacturing site may participate.
The first facilities to achieve these goals are owned by Energy Star Partners Kodak, Shearer’s Foods (Shearer’s), Detroit Diesel, John B. Sanfilippo & Son (Sanfilippo) and FetterGroup. The results of these companies’ efforts are impressive. Kodak’s Manitou plant in Rochester, NY, and GCG site in Columbus, GA, achieved energy reductions of 25% and 10%, respectively. Shearer’s facility in Lubbock, TX, had a 15% reduction. Detroit Diesel’s Redford Component Manufacturing Center in Detroit, MI, reduced energy consumption by 17%. Three Sanfilippo plants (Elgin, IL, Selma, TX, and Garysburg, NC) made reductions ranging from 17% to 26%. FetterGroup’s Louisville, KY, headquarters saw a 23% reduction. According to the EPA, these sites’ total annual energy savings equals
nearly 177,315,000 kWh, or roughly the energy needed to power 11,000 homes for a year. Their annual carbon dioxide savings are nearly 34,000 metric tons—equal to the emissions from nearly 6500 cars. Because manufacturing accounts for 30% of energy use in the United States, the EPA estimates that a 10% gain in the efficiency of industrial facilities would save nearly $10 billion and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions equal to about 12 million vehicles. Is your site up to the Challenge? For details on what it takes to become an Energy Star Partner and how to participate in the Energy Star Challenge for Industry, visit www. energystar.gov/industrychallenge. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D.C.
DOES YOUR COMPANY HAVE A GREEN EDGE? E-mail your product and service news to: gpietras@atpnetwork.com For information on advertising in the Green Edge section, contact JERRY PRESTON at: Phone: (480) 396-9585 / Fax: (480) 264-4789 / E-mail: jpreston@atpnetwork.com
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JUNE 2010
THE GREEN EDGE
S&C Keeps On Catching The Sun
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&C Electric has been awarded a contract to perform engineering services for Calico Solar, one of the largest solar plants in the world. Located near Barstow, CA, the new plant is being developed by Tessera Solar and EPC firm Mortenson Construction. According to S&C, the facility will be using Stirling Energy Systems (SES) SunCatcher™ solar dish technology to provide 850 MW of clean electricity to consumers. Chicago-based, employee-owned S&C is racking up a significant track record in the solar energy arena. Calico Solar is the second Tessera Solar plant for which S&C’s Power Systems Services Division is providing engineering services. The company also is providing engineering services for the planned 27 MW Western Ranch Solar facility near Marfa, TX, and has supplied electrical switching and metering equipment for the 1.5 MW Maricopa Solar plant that is already operating in Peoria, AZ. For the Calico Solar project, S&C engineers are charged with ensuring that the plant can be connected successfully to the grid without impacting stability or reliability of the utility’s transmission system. Services will include power-flow modeling of the SunCatcher system; stability, short-circuit coordination and dynamic simulation studies; and design of the collector system. S&C has also revised dynamic modeling of the SunCatcher, integrating control-system improvements by SES, manufacturer of the SunCatcher, into the electrical system model. S&C Electric Co. Chicago, IL For more info, enter 30 at www.MT-freeinfo.com
Wind-Turbine Lubes
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lüber’s line of gear-oil products for wind-turbine drives includes the Klübersynth® GEM 4 N series (polyalphaolefin), the GH 6 series (polyglycol) and the GEM 2 series (rapidly biodegradable ester). Each provides wear protection and resistance to micro-pitting, foaming and residue formation. These products also have good resistance to aging, high load-carrying capacity and low friction values. Klüber Lubrication Londonberry, NH For more info, enter 32 at www.MT-freeinfo.com
High-Efficiency Wall-Hung Boiler
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avet Technologies’ LumiSmart ILC™ reduces power consumed by fluorescent lighting systems without affecting occupant comfort. This Smart Grid-enabled controller provides microprocessor-driven adaptive control of lighting circuits to reduce power consumption by at least 30%. According to the manufacturer, the unit is easily installed with existing lamps, ballasts and fixtures, and can provide a return on investment in as little as 12 months.
he new AERCO Esteem 399 wall-hung, clean-combustion, condensing boiler delivers 3.6:1 turndown and 95% efficiency that helps improve system operation and reduce overall energy consumption in applications requiring 112,000 to 399,000 BTU/hr. Compact in size and simple to install, it’s designed for easy troubleshooting and optimum system performance with an intelligent, 4-digit interface module conveniently located on the boiler for quick monitoring of system statistics. Parameter values and diagnostic codes also can be fully adjusted using this module.
Cavet Technologies Toronto, ON
AERCO International Northvale, NJ
Lighting Controller Can Cut Energy Costs
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For more info, enter 31 at www.MT-freeinfo.com JUNE 2010
For more info, enter 33 at www.MT-freeinfo.com MT-ONLINE.COM | 31
PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS
Automating The Permit Process Still relying on paper-based permitting? Why not let compliance-savvy software bring you out of the dark ages? Bryan Gay CHAMPS Software/CMMS Division
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ndustrial environments inherently possess serious threats to workforce safety and health. Around the world, government agencies establish occupational safety and health standards expressly designed to eliminate or mitigate potential threats. Enterprises that must comply with national or industry safety standards expend great time and energy establishing in-house positions, policies and procedures to meet or exceed such standards. Seeking to achieve world-class safety and health goals, many also take the extra step to automate all safety processes—which, for some businesses, is a quantum leap. That’s because automation brings an oftentimes slow, blind, archaic, manually driven, paper-based process into the new millennium with compliance-savvy software that instantly enforces the latest standards and is fully integrated with real-time operations and work-control activities. One area where automation brings immediate measurable benefits to any organization is permitting. Whether you use the term “Permit to Work” or simply “permit,” there are software solutions to automate your process. Typically, plant safety-permitting processes consist of standard forms filled out in ink; three-ring binders to hold them for some period of time; and someone who knows which permit to use for each job. Even though a plant may be running sophisticated operations and workcontrol software, the closest that software may get to the permitting process is a gratuitous checkbox on a work document. For true automation, an operation needs
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more. It needs a software solution that factors safety into the equation of world-class enterprise operations and work control. CHAMPS Permit allows your plant equipment to tell the next work order that it may need one or more specific permit types for the job to be performed safely and in compliance with government regulations. Using this software tool, a standard operating procedure is triggered by calendar frequencies, run-time meter values and/or events. The software automatically initiates all permitting processes, and e-mails all appropriate parties for electronic signature approvals or FYI notifications. In support of compliance audits and complete backup when accidents happen, CHAMPS Permit provides a complete audit trail of change and historical relationships between permits, equipment, work documents and personnel. MT Bryan Gay is president of CHAMPS Software/CMMS Division, based in Crystal River, FL. Telephone: (352) 795-2362; e-mail: BryanGay@champsinc.com. About CHAMPS CHAMPS Software, Inc. has provided reliable EAM solutions for companies around the world for over 30 years. Its expertise is in creating and implementing software solutions that help customers optimize capital assets, MRO materials and human resources across the enterprise. For more info, enter 06 at www.MT-freeinfo.com JUNE 2010
SOLUTION SPOTLIGHT
In The Field With New Mobile Valve Diagnostics Tough locations and/or challenging environments? No worries. State-of-the-art software solutions based on smartphones and PDAs are making it easier than ever to evaluate the performance and condition of your AOVs wherever they’re located.
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lthough portable diagnostic solutions for use with airoperated valves (AOVs) have been around for over 20 years, the word “portable” typically has meant “transportable” or “luggable.” Hauling suitcases, cables, tables and sensors out to evaluate a troublesome valve, though, does not really lend itself to integrating diagnostics into common maintenance practices. This is especially true if a valve is on a tower or jammed behind a boiler. Even with advances in “smart” positioners (also called digital valve controllers) that incorporate the diagnostic capabilities of portable tools into onboard electronics and software functionality, getting to crucial diagnostic information while in a process plant environment is just plain difficult. There also can be issues associated with the robustness, hazardousarea certification and battery life of laptops used for this work. What a nightmare. Fortunately, with newer computing technologies and wireless, all that is changing—fast!
The future is now Emerson 475 Field Communicators are now being delivered to users with a dedicated valve-diagnostics software package called ValveLink™ Mobile Software. Designed specifically for Fisher® FIELDVUE™ instruments, this new software solution allows maintenance personnel to do far more than simply view current diagnostics alerts. They can also run, review, save and JUNE 2010
What a nightmare! Running valve diagnostics in a typical plant used to mean a laptop and tools on top of pipe. Short cables and less-than-ideal valve locations could make the task long, difficult and, sometimes, less than thorough.
EMERSON 475 Field Communicator and a typical screenshot generated by Fisher’s new ValveLink Software ValveLink Mobile screenshot via PDA
export a full suite of advanced valve assembly diagnostics— including valve signatures and step response tests—then import them onto a PC for archiving or further evaluation. This data is key in determining issues such as worn valve seat/stem/trim, excessive friction, broken stem, incorrect benchset, tuning effectiveness or adequate air supply. Simple tasks like uploading or updating a valve-assembly spec sheet on the instrument are easily accomplished during a preventive maintenance session (PM) without significantly impacting current work practices. Yes, you can ValveLink Mobile has you covered: Designed for the way you work, it can be installed on a PDA or smartphone. The product comes with a Bluetooth modem and has the same capability as that installed on Emerson’s 375/475 Field Communicator. This means that if a user has questions on diagnostic results, he/she can easily and quickly e-mail a test (via a smartphone) to an expert for immediate evaluation and direction. MT Emerson Fisher Marshalltown, IA For more info, enter 34 at www.MT-freeinfo.com MT-ONLINE.COM | 33
CAPACITY ASSURANCE MARKETPLACE
Dual-Range Torque Measurement
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he MCRT® 79700V dualrange torquemeters from S. Himmelstein have two ranges with independent outputs, eliminating the cost and inconvenience of swapping between two or more conventional torquemeters when production is switched between different products. The product accurately measures torque even if the ratio of peak to average is high.
S. Himmelstein and Co. Chicago, IL For more info, enter 35 at www.MT-freeinfo.com
Browser-Based 4th-Generation CMMS
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Pulse announces the release of MPulse v7™, its fourthgeneration CMMS. The product is 100% browserbased with no client application software to install, and is built using Microsoft.Net® as its foundation. Customers can deploy the software internally within their Intranet or via MPulse’s Application Hosting Service. The products in this upgrade include MPulse Gold™, WorkFlow™ R, WorkFlow™ W, WorkFlow™M and MobileWorks™. MPulse Maintenance Software A division of SpecTech, Inc. Eugene, OR For more info, enter 36 at www.MT-freeinfo.com
Expanded Hand-Tool Line
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anaher’s GearWrench® business has expanded its industrial hand-tool line with more than 700 new products. Designed to minimize downtime and improve productivity, the offering now includes socket sets, ratchets, accessories, impact sockets, pliers and wrenches. The company also has introduced an industrial-strength tool-storage series. The entire industrial line, including pry bars, torque wrenches, screwdrivers and nut drivers, is available in metric and SAE sizes, through distributors and mobile tool dealers. GearWrench A division of Danaher Tool Group Baltimore, MD For more info, enter 37 at www.MT-freeinfo.com
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Certifiable-Performance Air Filters
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ccording to Hankinson, its Next Generation air filters provide certifiable performance, high reliability and energy savings. The new line features five element grades for flows of 20 to 1500 scfm (34-2549 nm3/h). Tested and rated to ISO12500 standards, the product meet ISO 8573.1: 2009 Air Quality Standards. The company also notes that filters lower pressure drop by nearly 50%, thus reducing the overall cost of ownership. Hankinson A division of SPX Ocala, FL For more info, enter 38 at www.MT-freeinfo.com
Efficient, Robust Motors
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oolmex Elektrimax® Premium Efficiency General Purpose (GP) motors meet NEMA Premium Efficiency requirements as outlined in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Offered in sizes ranging from 1-250 hp, they incorporate oversized bearings on both drive ends for added endurance. These motors’ cast-iron construction protects them from cracks. Their oversized junction boxes provide plenty of space for connections. Toolmex Corp. Schaumburg, IL
For more info, enter 39 at www.MT-freeinfo.com JUNE 2010
CAPACITY ASSURANCE MARKETPLACE
Alternative To Standard Oil Sight Windows
Multi-Tasking, Field-Portable Electric Testing Instrument
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sco says that the standard sight windows on oil reservoirs make it difficult to view oil levels, stain easily and often must be replaced. To address those problems, the company now offers a replacement sight window plug called the 3-D BullsEye. It’s a clear cylinder made from a solid piece of acrylic, with threading on one end and a rounded polished end for easier viewing of the oil on the other. NPT sizes of ½”, ¾”, 1”, 1 ¼”, 1 ½” and 2” are available. Esco Products, Inc. Houston, TX
aker notes that its AdvancedWinding Analyzer (AWA) is the only tester on the market that supports all of the major electric tests,bothautomatically programmed and manual, in a single fieldportable unit. It performs tests and stores results while continuously monitoring voltage levels. If an insulation weakness is detected, the test is interrupted, the operator alerted and test parameters at the time of interruption reported within microseconds.
Baker Instrument Co. An SKF Group Company Fort Collins, CO For more info, enter 42 at www.MT-freeinfo.com
For more info, enter 40 at www.MT-freeinfo.com
Outdoor Backup Power Solutions
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ycon Power Systems’ UPSPro™ line of power-supply systems is designed for applications that require a backup power source to maintain uninterrupted service or a primary low-power source in a remote location. System enclosures have multiple ports for CAT5 cable, antenna cables/ connectors or other cabling. Units optionally feature SolarAssist™, an integrated solar panel mounted directly to the enclosure cover. Multiple configurations are available for 12V or 24V systems with various battery-storage capacities.
Tycon Power Systems Draper, UT For more info, enter 41 at www.MT-freeinfo.com JUNE 2010
For more info, enter 74 at www.MT-freeinfo.com MT-ONLINE.COM | 35
CAPACITY ASSURANCE MARKETPLACE
Low-Maintenance Particulate Monitor
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he EM 30LGX baghouse monitor, filter leak detector and cyclone overflow detector from FilterSense incorporate a nearly maintenance-free par ticulate-flow sensing technology. Users simply apply power and begin assessing filter condition. For straightforward alarm setup, the display supplies both a logarithmic analog bar graph and an absolute digital readout. Outputs include dual relays and a 4-20mA for PLC connection.
FilterSense Beverly, MA
Durable Process Gauge
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he new XSEL™ process gauge from WIKA Instrument incorporates a Bourdon tube design with stressreducing features and a rugged Swiss-made movement with hardened components. Additional standard features include overload/underload protection, a socket restrictor, a stop pin at the six-o’clock position and a solid front/blow-out back safety case design. All XSEL process gauges comply with pressure gauge standards ASME B40.100 and EN 837-1.
WIKA Instrument Corp. Lawrenceville, GA
For more info, enter 43 at www.MT-freeinfo.com
For more info, enter 44 at www.MT-freeinfo.com
Online Mechanical Seal Management
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agleBurgmann has introduced SEPROnet, an online seal-management program built on the company’s own in-house service software program. Now, instead of depending on Excel spreadsheets for seal-data documentation, end-users can access SEPROnet in real-time from any Web browser and view the status of a site’s entire mechanical seal population. Featuring an easy-to-use navigation interface and an extensive range of customizable evaluations and reports, the software can help a site maintain crucial production schedules and streamline maintenance, while minimizing parts inventory and related costs. Among other things, it automatically generates fault reports through e-mail alerts; furnishes statistical analyses of failures and details of damage; documents retrofits and technical upgrades; offers monitoring of repair costs; builds audit trails for improvement processes; and provides recommendations for preventive maintenance, as well as trending to identify problems before they occur. EagleBurgmann Houston, TX
For more info, enter 75 at www.MT-freeinfo.com
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For more info, enter 45 at www.MT-freeinfo.com JUNE 2010
CAPACITY ASSURANCE MARKETPLACE
Control Troublesome Oil Mist And Fumes
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LM Systems’ Oilmiser™ Vapor Guard (OVG) is designed for machinery like gearboxes and bearing housings that are vented to atmosphere. Under continuous operation and high working loads, oil mist and fumes build up in the air space above the oil. Temperature changes and thermal expansion cause these fumes to exhaust into the workplace and also bring in outside air through the same vent. The OVG helps prevent the serious housekeeping and mechanical problems associated with this situation by way of a central diffuser post inside a sealed aluminum containment chamber. Migrating vapors are dispersed inside the chamber and condensed back into liquid oil that collects at the bottom of the unit. From here, recovered and uncontaminated lube oil is channeled through bleed-back holes into the gearbox, where it continues to lubricate.
Limit Switches Reduce Tampering
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aton’s LS-Titan™ safety-rated limit switches are engineered to limit the potential for tampering with equipment safeguards. More than 100 switch models are offered, providing a solution for packaging, materialhandling and OEM applications. Items include safety limit switches and safety interlock switches, as well as what the company says is the first electronic safety position switch. Eaton Corp. Pittsburgh, PA For more info, enter 48 at www.MT-freeinfo.com
JLM Systems Ltd. Richmond, BC For more info, enter 46 at www.MT-freeinfo.com
Biodegradable Cleaner, Degreaser
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afko’s Oil Eater Original is a water-based, biodegradable cleaner and degreaser that eliminates the need for multiple cleaning solutions. Non-corrosive, non-toxic and non-flammable, this lowVOC cleaner cuts through oil, grease, carbon, sludge and dirt, encapsulating them into a solution that rinses off easily and leaves no residue. Harmless to the skin, it’s effective on equipment, shafts, bearings, housings, tools and other surfaces. It can also be used in parts washers and pressurewashing systems. Kafko International Skokie, IL For more info, enter 47 at www.MT-freeinfo.com JUNE 2010
Customized, Targeted Lists For Your Marketing Needs
ATP List Services Ellen Sandkam www.atplists.com 1300 S. Grove Ave., Suite 105, Barrington, IL 60010 847-382-8100 x110 / 800-223-3423 x110 info@atplists.com / esandkam@atplists.com For more info, enter 76 at www.MT-freeinfo.com
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INFORMATION HIGHWAY For rate information on advertising in the Information Highway Section Contact your Sales Rep or JERRY PRESTON at: Phone: (480) 396-9585 / E-mail: jpreston@atpnetwork.com Web Spotlight: MAINTENANCE
TECHNOLOGY
PIP is a consortium of process plant owners and engineering construction contractors harmonizing member’s internal standards for design, procurement, construction, and maintenance into industry-wide Practices. PIP has published over 450 Practices. A current listing of published Practices is available on the PIP website at: http://pip.org/practices/index.asp. For more info, enter 78 at www.MT-freeinfo.com www.pip.org
Online home of Maintenance Technology magazine, the dynamic MT-online.com portal serves the critical technical, business and professional-development needs of engineers, managers and technicians from across all industrial, institutional and commercial sectors who have specific interest in and responsibility for the availability, energy efficiency, safety and environmental integrity of countless equipment systems and processesand, thus, the viability and profitability of their organizations. The goal of MT-online.com is quite simple: to help plants and facilities leverage their increasingly precious time and resources and achieve best-of-class/worldclass status via state-of-the-art asset management strategies, technologies and methodologies. For more info, enter 77 at www.MT-freeinfo.com www.MT-online.com
LUDECA, INC. - Preventive, Predictive and Corrective Maintenance Solutions including laser shaft alignment, pulley alignment, bore alignment, straightness and flatness measurement, monitoring of thermal growth, online condition monitoring, vibration analysis and balancing equipment as well as software, services and training. For more info, enter 79 at www.MT-freeinfo.com www.ludeca.com
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ATP Lists................................................www.atplists.com........................................................76 .................37 ComRent International, LLC ............www.comrent.com.....................................................64 ................... 4 Des-Case Corporation........................www.descase.com/extreme.......................................68 .................10 Engtech Industries Inc. .......................www.engtechindustries.com ....................................75 .................36 Eventure Events-SAP for Utilities........www.sap-for-utilities.com.........................................63 ................... 2 Exair Corporation ...............................www.exair.com............................................................66 ................... 5 FLIR Commercial Systems, Inc.........www.flir.com ...............................................................67 ................... 7 Fluke.......................................................www.fluke.com/machinehealth...............................62,69.........1,17 FosteReprints........................................www.fostereprints.com..............................................72 .................28 Inpro/Seal Co........................................www.inpro-seal.com/CDR .......................................81 ................BC Int’l Maintenance Excellence Conf .....www.imec.ca ...............................................................61 ...............IFC Ludeca Inc.............................................www.ludeca.com ........................................................71,78.......23,38 Marcus Evans .......................................www.marcusevansch.com/chempetrochem2010...80 .............. IBC Mobil Industrial Lubricants...............www.mobilindustrial.com........................................73 .................29 Process Industries Practices ...............www.pip.org ................................................................70 .................22 Strategic Work Systems, Inc...............www.swspitcrew.com.................................................74 .................35 VibrAlign, Inc. ......................................www.vibralign.com ....................................................65 ................... 4
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VIEWPOINT Dave Krings, CMRP, BSME, President NoBreakdowns.com, A 20/20 Foresight Company
Get Out There And Lead…Every Day
A
s someone who has worked in maintenance most of my life, I’m amazed to still see the same problems that I did when I first picked up a wrench. Reactive maintenance work is still a booming business. Equipment failures still plague many facilities. Maintenance people are still dealing with the same problems that dogged their fathers and grandfathers. Isn’t that strange? While technology marches on, it can’t transform a reactive maintenance program into a proactive program. Better tools applied reactively only allow us to react faster. These tools can help us tremendously, but many organizations waste their capabilities on detecting failures they have neither the skills nor willpower to eliminate. It’s like driving screws with a hammer. I attend a number of maintenance conferences each year—and see the same faces time and again. They’re the faces of champions that refuse to give up. They have truckloads of technical knowledge and common sense stored in their heads, yet back at their plants they can’t find customers for what they have to offer. They know what to do. They just can’t figure out how to do it. There’s a big difference between having great ideas and creating a compelling vision that excites others. Selling is a critical maintenance skill, and one that needs to be learned. In my opinion, however, most maintenance leaders haven’t mastered it. They simply can’t sell. Brutal? Yes, but we can’t fix this problem if we aren’t honest with each other. Many people who depend on maintenance personnel to keep their machines running don’t know that failure is an option, not a fact. They think that maintenance crews are supposed to fix broken things. This belief falls far short of our ability to avoid most failures and reduce the consequences of the rest to a level that causes very little stress. Our customers really don’t know what they need (and would be shocked and appalled if they knew what they were missing).
Every day, people who know it is wrong to do so are conducting maintenance work incorrectly. The knowledge needed to do the same work correctly is free for the taking—and has been for about 50 years. Leaders keep asking their maintenance teams to prove that proactive maintenance is better, all the while throwing away profits on reactive work that costs easily four times as much. Every time proactive maintenance is applied, it saves money, improves productivity, increases quality and enhances worker safety. To ask for proof of this is like asking someone to prove that the Earth is round.
No matter how busy you are, take a few minutes to improve something. Try producing a consistent, high-quality product without written procedures, without a schedule and without raw materials. Impossible? Reactive maintenance is the same thing. The fact that reactive production plants run at all is a testament to the people who do maintenance work under these ridiculous conditions. Let’s do something about this—today! Commit to doing one thing every day that moves your organization toward proactive maintenance. No matter how busy you are, take a few minutes to improve something. You don’t need a lot of money to do some good. Collect equipment information from a nameplate and enter it into your work order system. Plan a job well. Say “thank you” when someone does the right thing. Smile. And, most importantly, share this idea with someone else. Lead the way! MT Dave Krings, aka “Arms Dealer for the Maintenance Battlefield,” can be reached at dkrings@nobreak downs.com.
The opinions expressed in this Viewpoint section are those of the author, and don’t necessarily reflect those of the staff and management of MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY magazine.
40 | MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY
JUNE 2010
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Inpro/Seal Company has been in the business of bearing protection for rotating equipment for 32 years and counting. We have been supplying bearing protection for the IEEE-841 motors since they were first introduced. It is only logical that we would expand into the field of motor shaft current mitigation to protect motor bearings. The CDR is:
ROBUST Machined entirely out of solid corrosion resistant
and highly conductive bronze, the CDR/MGS is capable of carrying 12+ continuous amps. They are made exclusively by the Inpro/Seal Company in Rock Island, IL, to ensure consistent quality and same-day shipments when required.
RELIABLE The CDR and MGS (Motor Grounding Seal)
products were developed in our own Research and Experimentation Laboratory and then extensively tested and evaluated by professional motor manufacturing personnel. Our standard guarantee of unconditional customer satisfaction of product performance applies. We stand behind our products.
REALISTIC When you order a CDR or MGS from Inpro/Seal, you are assured of the complete responsibility for technology and performance from a single source. We want to earn the right to be your first choice for complete bearing protection.
For more information visit www.inpro-seal.com/CDR or contact 800-447-0524 for your Inpro/Seal Representative.
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