Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site
A listing in reverse chronological order of these article series:
Equipment Identification tags save time. Identifying equipment for operators and tradesmen will save time, reduce errors and promote accurate record keeping. Equipment identification involves putting a unique number and a unique written description onto a machine.
Keywords: CMMS, computerised maintenance management system, planning, breakdown repair, reporting faults, equipment tags, catalogue. [Read more…]
Being able to communicate the improvements with Maintenance Planning & Scheduling with finance and senior leaders can be difficult. The maintenance team sees a high PM Compliance, or more work being complete, but what does that mean for the business in tangible benefits? This is where the communication between maintenance and finance breakdown. By being able to identify and link the maintenance improvements to financial returns, maintenance will be able to generate support for current and future projects. [Read more…]
Experiences with magnetic (magdrive) pumps. Magnetic drive pumps come in three varieties – canned motor pumps, all metal pumps and plastic lined metal pumps. They are sealless and cannot leak into the environment. Long, repair- free service life depends on recognising the limitations of these pumps. This article covers issues with using direct mounted, lined magdrive pumps experienced ‘in the field’.
Keyword: separation liners, chemical compatibility, sediment, particulate. [Read more…]
Implementing a Maintenance Planning & Scheduling process can be trying, difficult and downright frustrating. How would you like to dramatically reduce the stress involved and see results quicker? By utilizing these 5 tips, you will be able to build a robust, highly efficient and effective process with reduced effort. [Read more…]
What readers will learn in this article.
One of the most challenging aspects of being a consultant is addressing the musings of those who have accepted defeat.
With a smile of course; and friendly reassurance that you have in fact worked with companies who were worse off and with some training, confidence and a sound business plan they were able to turn things around to a point where people actually enjoyed coming to work. [Read more…]
Shutdown, Turnaround, Outage are all the same thing. An extended planned downtime event, in which a tremendous amount of resources are utilized to ensure the site will be able to achieve its business goals. Whether the shutdown involves overhauls, CAPEX or a combination, the successful completion of the shutdown depends heavily on the planning and execution of it.
Shutdowns are resource intensive and often under compressed timelines. This unique situation requires a different approach to planning, scheduling and executing work, than the typically Maintenance Planning & Scheduling process. [Read more…]
Many of the chemicals we deal with each day are dangerous and need to be handled correctly and safely. Safe use of dangerous goods includes recognising when situations can arise where the consequence of a failure or error will result in danger to life, property or the environment. One of the methods used to minimise risk when dealing with dangerous goods is by separation and segregation.
Keywords: Hazard, storage facility, control, emergency plan, MSDS, material safety data [Read more…]
It’s Friday so I thought I would go back in the archives and find something light and meaningful. Enjoy 🙂
I can remember thinking my dad was old when he turned 50. While I might look old to my kids I don’t feel old. When I look in the mirror each morning I still see the person I saw yesterday and he doesn’t look any older than he did the day before. [Read more…]
One of the most important, but often the least effective parts of the Maintenance Planning & Scheduling process, is the work order close out step. Here critical data is supposed to be captured and used to improve the job plan, identify future work and improve reliability. All of these add up to improve the profitability of the organization. [Read more…]
Excluding primary practices that still prevail in most industrial companies, the evolution of MRO Materials Management Technology can be summarized in three technological waves, as shown below.
There are many grave technological limitations. However, in view of room limitation, I will mention just two of the most relevant and easy to understand limitations. [Read more…]
Steam is often used for heating liquids. Heat is provided to a liquid either through a heat exchanger or by direct injection of raw steam. The injection of steam directly into the process is known as steam sparging. The sparge design and location affect the efficiency of the process.
Keywords: boiling, heating water, temperature increase, injector, lance, boiler pressure, properties of steam. [Read more…]
While working in the field of Asset Management formerly known as Maintenance and Reliability for over 30 years I have worked with my share of Managers and Leaders. Those who have known me for years know that I started in the field as a Pipefitter Apprentice, worked as a Journeyman and Team Leader for a number of years, did a stint as a Maintenance Supervisor, went to night school to become a Reliability Engineer and then as a business owner working with customers around the world. [Read more…]
In search of excellence in MRO Materials Management (indirect materials / spare parts), I have noticed two curious facts.
First, even in developed countries, industrial companies and providers of ERPs (enterprise management systems) are technologically very backward in this specialty.
Second, those very little companies or experts who developed differentiated technology keep it safe guarded as a trade secret.
This exposure results in considerable accumulation of knowledge and expertise, and a unique set of observations and conclusions which certainly could not fail to be shared with the concerned community. [Read more…]
Coordinating all of the maintenance activities within a site can be overwhelming. A schedule is supposed to help reduce the sense of being overwhelmed. But why is it that when trying to pull together a schedule for the next shift, day or week, it always seems to be a mad dash?
Often times the maintenance scheduling process is not well defined or thought out, and this leads to being overwhelmed. It also projects an image to our operational partners that we do not have our house in order. This image may or may not play a role in having our Maintenance windows moved or cancelled, further our scheduling issues. [Read more…]