September 28, 2006 Call for Papers: MARCON 2007
The University of Tennessee
Maintenance and Reliability Center (MRC)
May 8-11, 2007
Knoxville TN
Like previous MARCON conferences, MARCON 2007 will be a forum for all – practitioners, specialists, educators, students, and managers – to exchange information on new emerging technologies as well as on tried and proven methods and techniques in the area of maintenance and reliability engineering. Cutting edge research topics, case studies of real applications and the latest thinking in the managerial/financial aspects of the maintenance & reliability field come together in this multi-track, highly informative conference. You are invited to provide a 300 – 500 word abstract for consideration by the Technical Review Committee for presentation at MARCON 2007.
Submission Requirements:
• 300—500 Word abstract
• Clear, descriptive title
• Author’s name, e-mail address, phone & FAX number, company affiliation
• Agreement to attend and present the paper if selected
• Electronically sent to MRC by November 3, 2006
Critical Dates:
November 3, 2006 Abstracts Due
December 1, 2006 Authors Notified of Selection
April 2, 2007 Manuscripts & Presentation Slides Due
May 9-11, 2007 Presentations at MARCON
Abstracts should be transmitted electronically to and marked Attention: MARCON Technical Program Chair.
Please contact the Maintenance and Reliability Center at
Phone: 865-974-9625 or…
September 28, 2006 Ultrasound Tips
Not sure if the hydraulic actuator is bypassing fluids? Try airborne ultrasound.
When testing a hydraulic actuator for bypassing fluids, try using an ultrasound receiver and contact probe or sensor. Know your actuator or assembly, use a schematic, you may even take a similar actuator and compare sounds of a known good actuator to one that you suspect is bypassing. In some cases heat may also be present as well when an actuator has fluid bypassing. I started using airborne ultrasound on aircraft flight controls to troubleshoot actuators for binding, noise and/or fluid bypassing. The instrument I had also had a pyrometer so that a difference in temperature could also be seen.
Tip provided by Jim Hall
Ultra-Sound Technologies
http://www.ultra-soundtech.com
September 28, 2006 Start Up Tip
Many organizations manage new projects and shutdown activities from a technical perspective. World class organizations implement projects from a customer service perspective which means reliable capacity is a must. These organizations accomplish this by having a vision of reliable capacity and having everyone in the organization understand their role to contribute to reliable capacity. How do you develop this vision?
Do you know the 12 reliability deliverables which need to be completed prior to starting up a plant?
September 28, 2006 Maintenance Planning Tip
Planning is important for the following reasons.
World class organizations have the ability to plan their work. Identifying the right work and planning the right work helps keep an organization working in the right direction and on the right things.
Planning identifies and quantifies the future demand for maintenance resources.
Without accurate information on maintenance demand maintenance work is left to chance or a priority of the day approach. Nobody really knows how much work needs to be done and what the real priorities are or should be.
Organizations that plan their work improve consistency, communication, data collection, documentation and standardization throughout their organization.
Typical planning considerations (Maintenance, Production or Operations) include:
• Procedures and Instructions
• Craft Labor Requirements
• Time Estimates
• Material Requirements
• Reference Material
• Equipment and Work Location
• Special Tools and Equipment
• Required Documentation
• Post Maintenance Checks
• Completion or Compliance Testing
We wouldn’t consider releasing a production or facilities operation schedule without the above mentioned considerations being “planned”, known and communicated. Why would we allow our maintenance activities to proceed without such information?
Planning keeps the scheduling process full of well planned work. Absent well planned work, a maintenance schedule is little more than a daily coordination meeting to identify the priority of the day.
Job plans that include accurate material requirements may enable purchasing of parts just in time vs. stocking of parts just in case. Accurate job plans also facilitate parts or job kitting that can enhance wrench-time.
Time and money- Survey after survey regardless of the industry indicates that planning improves wrench-time and reduces costs.
Average wrench-time without planning is less than 30% vs. upwards of 50% with planning.
Cost of unplanned vs. planned work ranges from a cost of 4 to 1 to as high as 25 or 30 to 1 (In a leaned out environment where upstream and downstream processes are brought to a halt.).
Planning is one of the right things to do to move your organization forward.
If we are not planning our work and subsequently working the plan then we really have no reason or right to complain about the results we are seeing in our output.
Tip Provided by Todd White, CMRP
MRG Inc.
September 28, 2006 Infrared Tip
When using Infrared (IR) to measure temperature on our production liquid lines which are stainless steel it is almost impossible to get an accurate reading. One of the things that we do is use 2” wide black electrical tape on the piping to get a more accurate temperature reading. You could also paint a spot on the lines with flat black or flat white paint but this is an option we do not have in a food plant. The tape seems to work very well and has an emissivity of about 95.
Reader tip provided during the PdM-2006 Maintenance Tips challenge by Jon Vernon, Maintenance Technician/IR Technician, Nestle Powerbar, Boise ID
Thanks Jon - your Maintenance Tips Hat and PdM-2006 Proceedinsg CD are on the way!
September 28, 2006 CMMS-2006 Computerized Maintenance Management Summit
December 5-8, 2006
Daytona Beach Florida
Please join us for CMMS-2006, the Computerized Maintenance Management Summit from December 5 through December 8, 2006 in Daytona Beach Florida.
With over 60% of all CMMS implementation falling far short of expectations, we have created a conference to address the strategies, tactics and technology for more productive maintenance work process automation through Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS).
CMMS-2006, the Computerized Maintenance Management Summit is the only event dedicated to Computerized Maintenance Management, 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.
Attendance is limited to ensure quality. If you have provided your mailing address to us in the past (use the confirm link below to add your address) watch for full program details in the mail.
It is important that you register quickly to avoid disappointment. Reliabilityweb.com events generally SELL OUT two - three weeks prior to the actual event.
Request an CMMS-2006 Brochure and you will automatically be registered to win one of 100 CMMS-2006 CD to be given away in a drawing on December 11!
Please call toll free (888) 575 1245 to learn more about CMMS-2006, early bird registration discounts, Daytona Hilton hotel discounts ($83 per night/limited time) and ocean view rooms.
September 28, 2006 Instrumentation and Process Plant Tip
An asset manager believed that the designers of new facilities over-engineer instrumentation systems of process plant (as it was in their self interest to do so at the time).
Using current standards and risk assessment processes it was found that instrument maintenance & testing could be reduced by 20-30% on 20 year old offshore platforms and be focused much more on the critical systems.
This was followed by a wider process control review. The plant control systems were designed for specific design conditions and commissioned for the initial materials processed. In time the process fluids changed in composition and flow pattern, but the control system was not re-visited or re-tuned for different material characteristics and fluid dynamics. This review and subsequent action created up to 5% more production throughput by improved process stability and flow maximisation while reducing the control room operators need for intense process vigilance and the possibility for human error.
It was found that Instrumentation could cause up to 75% of process trips in complex production systems. Reducing unnecessary instrumentation & making it less sensitive in non-critical areas improved process reliability & plant uptime.
Plant capacity or availability is often not challenged but taken for granted as “what is designed-in cannot be undone”, but this is not necessarily the case if we look at the whole production system, identify ‘weakest link’ elements causing unavailability or bottlenecks and apply the right mix of maintenance, component replacements and operating controls. Using this technique the throughput of a gas plant was improved by 3%.
Your operators will know their plant inside out, consultants can train and facilitate your operators to pool their accumulated knowledge in focused ways to solve production problems, The Japanese have used these techniques for many years under labels such as Kaisan, TQM, TPM & RCA etc. which, if operators are enabled to apply them, can trigger a change from operating in a “Vicious Circle” into a “Virtuous Circle”.
The message- it is not just the large elements of process systems which can make a difference it is understanding the influence of the smaller elements and getting these running better where real gains can be made and use the knowledge of your workforce in structured ways to do it.
Tip provided by Tom Brown, The Woodhouse Partnership Ltd.
http://www.twpl.com
iPresentation Invitation: PAS 55 Asset Management Specification
September 28, 2006 Maintenance Cost Saving Tip
Looking for cost savings?
This may seem too simple but the easiest waste to clean up comes from two areas.
1) What part numbers consume the most money annually?
To find out just multiply the part cost times the annual usage.
Sort the list in descending order. Use the top 5% of the parts for this analysis.
Create a team from different disciplines to discuss solutions to the usage of each part.
2) What repetitive repairs consume the most money annually?
Most maintenance activity consists of repairs that have been done before. Choose the top repairs in terms of annual money consumed. Have your team look for ways of fixing the asset permanently.
Key: When the team cannot make a concrete suggestion for improvement or test (to gain knowledge) within 30 minutes go to the next one. Don’t get bogged down!
I did a longer version of the exercise in a school district with the trades people themselves. In 3 sessions they identified US$750,000 in savings!
Good hunting
Joel Levitt, Author - 20 Steps to World Class Maintenance
