February 16, 2006 Root Cause Analysis (RCA) Tip
Walking the Talk in the Blame Game
When “blaming” people for failures has been a part of a plant culture that can be a difficult environment to implement RCA. This is often because everyone will see this as a fancy tool to help blame more people (when we know that this is not the case).
When faced with trying to get people to buy-in to your new RCA efforts, you must prove your intentions with actions and not words. The first high visibility failure that occurs, where in the past the normal protocol would be to discipline someone associated with the incident, DON’T!
Let the RCA follow its natural course and identify the Latent or Organization root causes that led to poor decisions being made. Then have someone important present these findings publicly and accept some responsibility on behalf of the organization as a contributor to the event. Then, maybe, people will begin to think management is serious about RCA!
Tip provided by the Reliability Center Inc.
http://www.reliability.com
Tel: 804-458-0645
iPresentation Invitation: The Essential Elements of Root Cause Analysis
February 16, 2006 Ultrasound Tip
SCAN OVERHEAD LIGHTS DURING COMPRESSED AIR ENERGY AUDITS WITH ULTRASOUND
Ever walk into the plant and wonder where the low pitch audible sound is coming from? Especially, if a bulb is missing from the light, the ballast is still energized and wasting energy.
Whenever performing a compressed air energy audit and using an airborne ultrasonic receiver, parabolic dish and/or a long range cone to spot air leaks in the overhead piping, you should scan those light fixtures emitting the sound of dollars going down the drain.
Tip provided by Jim Hall
Ultra-Sound Technologies
Tel: (770) 517-8747
February 16, 2006 Infraspection Institute -Distance Learning Infrared Thermography Courses
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Infraspection Institutes broad range of Distance Learning Courses includes Certification Prep, Applications, and Industry-Specific courses. All courses are taught by expert Level 3 instructors utilizing dynamic, multi-media resources.
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February 16, 2006 Manage Maintenance Information Effectively
Please join us for EAM-2006 the Enterprise Asset Management Summit, March 8-10, 2006 in exciting Las Vegas Nevada. This year, EAM-2006 is co-located with RCM-2006 - The Reliability Centered Maintenance Managers’ Forum providing twice the value and learning opportunities.
EAM-2006 is dedicated to Enterprise Asset Management and Computerized Maintenance Information Management including Maintenance Inventory, Maintenance Planning & Scheduling and Maintenance Work Management.
You will take away new solutions for maintenance information management that you can put to immediate use as peers and industry experts share knowledge and experience in a non-commercial environment.
February 16, 2006 Top 10 List: Reasons to get an Allied Reliability Phase 1
1) You learn the business case for improving your maintenance program
2) You learn how to eliminate and replace your most unproductive, non value-added maintenance activities
3) You learn how small changes in your maintenance practices can lead to big improvements in machine life
4) You learn how to choose the best condition monitoring technologies for your most critical pieces of equipment
5) You learn how to eliminate or replace up to 60% of your preventive maintenance work
6) You learn how to reduce overtime work and “call-in’s” while increasing reliability
7) You learn how to avoid the biggest mistakes companies make when moving from a reactive to a proactive maintenance model
8) You learn which maintenance tasks actually increase the probability of failure instead of reduce it
9) You will learn how to set reasonable, actionable goals and objectives that will lead to lower costs and higher returns on your maintenance spending
10) You get free time (see fishing picture right)
With an Allied Reliability Phase 1 assessment, you’ll discover the most effective paths to improve your maintenance program.
Call Allied Reliability at +1 (918) 382-9400 or…
Visit Allied Reliability online to learn more about a Phase 1 assessment today
February 16, 2006 Maintenance Management Tip
EAM-2006/RCM-2006 Maintenance-Tips Challenge 3rd Place Winner
Treat your Maintenance organization as a 3-Legged Stool equal partnership among Operations, Stores and Maintenance. If any leg is not functioning properly, the job will fail. Operations is still the customer but their role is to provide the “When”. Have the equipment ready when the mechanics arrive and don’t turn them away when they show up as scheduled. The planner working with Stores handles the “What”. Have the parts, materials and resources available before starting the job. The scheduler and Maintenance supervision provide the “Who”. Have the right person with the right skills to do each scheduled job. This must apply for all non-emergency work. Establish a daily communication process to ensure that you get really good at predicting Today what you will do Tomorrow and stick to it. This must be a true team effort to develop the trusting relationships to allow each of us to prove that we will do what we say we will do. It requires changing old habits and getting back to the basics.
Tip provided by Roger D. Lee, Special Projects Manager, Eastman Chemical, Kingsport TN
February 16, 2006 Alignment Tip
Measuring Coupling Backlash with your Laser Shaft Alignment System
This procedure is ONLY possible with laser shaft alignment systems that have a linearized bi-axial (or multi-axial) sensor. This will not be possible with laser systems that have single axis (Y-Axis only) sensors.
Keep in mind that if you desire to see how much torsional play a coupling has (how much it “backlashes"), you should first try to position the laser and sensor as close as possible to the O.D. of the coupling. If the coupling is too small to “skim” across the top of the coupling, place the laser and sensor as close as you can to the shaft (lowest point on the support posts). Obviously, the farther up the components are placed on the support posts, the larger your results will be. If they are “skimming “ the top of the coupling, the values will be very close to the actual amount that the coupling halves backlash relative to each other at their O.D.
Another alternative (on large couplings) is to instead shoot the beam through one of the coupling bolt holes, provided the hole is close to the rim or O.D. of the coupling. Special magnetic brackets can facilitate this.
Keep in mind that each coupling has its own characteristics and backlash values that are considered to be “normal”. Furthermore, the values seen will change from a misaligned condition to the aligned condition.
Elastomeric type (rubber insert type) couplings will be “spongy” and will not have a true backlash stopping point, whereas the shim type coupling will have no backlash at all.
Tip provided by LUDECA, INC.
ALIGNMENT * VIBRATION * BALANCING
http://www.ludeca.com
Tel: 305-591-8935
February 16, 2006 Motor Testing Tip
Squirrel Cage Rotor Bar Testing
When establishing the severity of a rotor defect on a squirrel cage induction motor, remember to include the rotor design as a variable in the severity level. A closed bar cast aluminum rotor design will reduce the severity of a rotor defect. A closed bar design means that rotor iron completely surrounds the rotor bar, preventing a broken rotor bar from squeezing out and colliding with the stator. An open copper bar design may increase the severity factors. Copper bars are commonly pressed into the rotor slots in an open rotor design. Open rotor designs have slots or openings in the rotor iron, which in a degraded condition could allow broken rotor bars to slip out of the slots into the stator winding causing a catastrophic failure.
Tip provided by PdMA
http://www.pdma.com
