Computerized Maintenance Management Summit
July 26-29, 2005
Indianapolis Indiana

Pre- and Post- Conference Certificate Workshops include:

• Managing a Computerized Maintenance Management System by Terry Wireman

• Maintenance Planning, Scheduling and Coordination by Joel Levitt

• Guide to Predictive and Preventive Maintenance by Joel Levitt

• Utilizing a CMMS to Develop and Support Key Maintenance Performance Indicators by Terry Wireman

To learn more or to register call toll free (888) 575-1245 or…

Request a CMMS-2005 Program Guide and Brochure Online

MAINTENANCE SKILL EXODUS

“most large companies will be losing most of their senior skilled crafts personnel in the next 3-5 years”

Many companies are losing their skilled maintenance workers in the next 3 -5 years and they are panicking. First, there are two things “not to do”.

1. Hire anyone that is breathing – The type maintenance person you need must have a mechanical aptitude and must be able to read and comprehend above 14 years of college minimum (most new technology requires a 16 year reading comprehension level in order to read and comprehend technical documentation).

2. Don’t try to find a quick fix. The purchasing of training books and manuals will not provide the skills. Skills can only be provided through application of knowledge hands on. Nothing replaces the hands on training.

There three things “you can do”: (you must have a short term solution and a long term solution and they are dealt with differently)

1. Short Term - Identify current skill gaps through trending your CMMS data. If your bearing purchases are going up you may need bearing maintenance training. Review your MTBF of equipment along with MTTR and look for trends that indicate skill problems also.

2. Short Term and Long Term – If you do not have comprehensive Preventive Maintenance and Corrective Maintenance procedures then write them now while you still have senior maintenance personnel. Train your new workers to these procedures and enforce the use of these procedures.

3. Long Term – Develop an apprenticeship program. Hire the right people and train them in a 4 year program that requires classroom and hands on training with testing all the way through the program. This program must be comprehensive and expect to loose 20-30% of these trainees.

Tip provided by Ricky Smith CMRP, CPMM
MAXZOR
http://www.success-in-training.com

Visit http://www.success-in-training.com

Download DMSI’s complete Asset Basic Care educational series to learn how your organization can greatly reduce maintenance costs by systematically covering the basics. Then attend the presentation live at MARTS on Wednesday, May 25th (Special extended session starting at 8 a.m.) as presented by Steve Reilly, VP DMSI, a leading industry innovator with over 20 years experience.

Click here to request the complete presentation

If you have shafts that are very hard to turn by hand, try using a pipe wrench. This is faster and easier than a strap wrench or chain wrench, since you don’t have to loosen and retighten it each time; the pipe wrench simply slides back when you back off. Important: glue a couple of strips of virgin rubber to the jaws of your pipe wrench so as not to mar the surfaces of the shaft or coupling as you apply the pipe wrench to turn them. The pipe wrench also has another advantage: on shafts that turn very easily, these may need to be held in certain positions while performing certain functions like monitoring moves or checking soft foot. The pipe wrench will serve as a perfect counterbalance to the weight of your brackets and laser components if you position it just right.

Tip provided by LUDECA, INC.
Distributor of the Rotalign PRO and Optalign PLUS laser alignment systems
http://www.ludeca.com
Tel: 305-591-8935

Visit Ludeca’s Online Resources

Test your knowledge of CMMS Best Practices with a new 10 question quiz by GenesisSolutions.

The quiz scores automatically and only you know the results. Aners and explanations are also provided for review and you can take the quiz multiple times.

You can also request a white paper “How to avoid CMMS/EAM System Failures” by registering for the CMMS IQ Quiz.

Test Your CMMS Best Practices IQ

Inventory and Purchasing Maintenance Tips to
Enhance Maintenance Planning and Scheduling
(Tip 1 of 6 in a series)

Organizational Matching
A typical maintenance organization can be classified in one of three configurations: centralized, area, or combination. The driver behind selecting the proper organizational structure is to increase the efficiency of the maintenance work force. Smaller, geographically compact plants will favor a centralized organization. Larger plants favor an area organization. Mature large plants will often utilize a combination organization to optimize labor utilization of specific technical skills or specialty trades.

How does this impact the stores organization? Until a certain level of organizational maturity is achieved, it is best to match the stores organization to the maintenance organization. The goal is to reduce the amount of delay time it will take for the maintenance technicians to obtain the spare parts required to perform their assigned work. If the organizations are mis-matched, then an area technician will still have to travel between the job site and a centralized stores location to obtain materials. This delay results in lower productivity, resulting in losing as much as 3 hours per day in travel time. While there are additional costs for area stores, studies have shown the cost increase from the stores side is less than the savings in maintenance labor expense.

As the organization matures from a maintenance planning and scheduling perspective, it is possible to kit and stage materials. This will begin to de-emphasize which stores organization a company utilizes. When the organization is mature enough to utilize staging and delivery services for the maintenance technicians, then stores can be centralized and still eliminate materials related maintenance productivity delays.

If you feel your maintenance productivity is lower than required, try examining how your maintenance stores are organized. You may find the answer to your productivity problem is organizational and not with the maintenance technicians.

Tip provided by Terry Wireman
GenesisSolutions
http://www.GenesisSolutions.com
Tel: (203) 431-0281

See Terry Wireman at CMMS-2005 July 26-29 in Indianapolis

Collecting Good Data 3 – Single Axis Vs Triaxial Data

Both single axis and triaxial data are valid depending upon the application and the type of faults one is looking for. Typically, even when single axis sensors are used, more than one axis is tested per bearing, but again it depends on the application. This can take more time as the sensor has to be moved more often and more tests have to be initiated in the data collector. Data is not collected simultaneously and the possibility exists that the machine can change state (load or speed) between tests or even shut down.

A triaxial sensor can collect data on all three axis of the machine simultaneously, thereby providing more complete data in less time. Triaxial data is useful when attempting to distinguish between unbalance and misalignment and between unbalance and foundation flexibility among other things. If one is using a single axis sensor, care should be given to consider what faults one is looking for, what axis they appear in, and test accordingly.

This tip provided by DLI Engineering
Tel: 206-842-7656
http://www.DLIengineering.com

Test your Vibration Analysis IQ and download Vibration Papers

Glossary of Common Terms in Thermography:

Microbolometer: An “uncooled”, room temperature thermal sensor typically manufactured from either vanadium oxide (VOx) or Amorphous Silicon (ASi.) Originated for military applications, not common in hand held thermography systems. Typically available in 320x240 or 160x120 pixel resolution.

Spatial resolution: the performance of a thermography system based upon detector size, pixel size, and lens. Similar concept to dpi in printers.

NEDT (Noise equivalent delta temperature): A mathematical calculation of the thermal sensitivity of an IR sensor/camera. The sensitivity is defined as the smallest thermal difference the camera can detect.

Radiometry/Radiometric: The ability to calibrate a thermography system to measure temperature or radiance.

Spot size to distance ratio: the ratio that determines the smallest target size the camera can resolve and measure at a particular distance. A factor of spatial resolution and lens.

Non-uniformity correction (NUC): A software algorithm applied to the output of an Infrared detector to correct for uneven pixel gain and offset levels. Typically these corrections are done internal to the camera and involve either “one point” or “two point.”

IRFPA/FPA (Infrared Focal Plane Array/Focal Plane Array): A two dimensional sensor that detects either photons of energy or thermal energy. Typically in dimensions of 160x120, 320x240, 640x480 or larger.

“Flame Filter”: A filter that allows a thermal imaging system to “see” through natural gas based products of combustion. Typically this filter is a 3.9um narrow band pass filter.

Longwave: the spectral response of a thermal imaging system that is nominally from 7.5-14 micrometers.

Midwave: the spectral response of a thermal imaging system that is nominally from 3.0-5.0 micrometers.

Tip provided by Electrophysics
Introducing HOTSHOT®
the world’s first thermographic camera/data logger

See a HotShot flash demo & to sign up to win a Harley Davidson