October 16, 2008 Leadership Tip
Be a Brand
Your brand is how people think of you. Tom Peters says that “a brand is a trust mark, it’s shorthand, it’s a sorting device.” Think of the well known brands – Coca Cola, Pepsi, Dell, Mac, or iPod. All of them are shorthand for a product. People can be brands, too. Here are several things you can do to ensure your brand is one of high integrity:
1) Be direct. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Nothing so astonishes men as common sense and plain dealing.” Astonish people with your straightforward communication style.
2) Admit your mistakes. We all make mistakes. When you own up to yours, you’ll gain a reputation as a straight-shooter – someone who is as honest with himself or herself as he or she is with others.
3) Deliver. Become trusted by doing what you say you’ll do.
4) Keep confidences. Earn trust by being trustworthy. Avoid gossip. Respect privacy if someone entrusts you with personal information.
5) Give credit. Do your job and give credit to others for doing theirs.
6) Choose associates carefully. Join only those organizations and associate only with those people whose values are in line with your own. If you aren’t comfortable with your surroundings, you’ll have a hard time making a positive personal impact.
Tip excerpted from Straight Talk for Success: Common Sense Ideas That Won’t Let You Down by Bud Bilanich
October 16, 2008 Top 5 Most Anticipated Reliability Centered Maintenance and Root Cause Analysis Sessions At IMC-2008
The team at Reliabilityweb.com and Uptime Magazine have been busy gearing up for this year’s highly anticipated International Maintenance Conference (December 8-11) in Bonita Springs, Florida.
Early bird discounts, spouse meal pass, hotel savings and Certificate workshops are still available.
Find out more about the top five Reliability Centered Maintenance and Root Cause Analysis sessions available exclusively at IMC-2008 that we’re most looking forward to.
Top five Reliability Centered Maintenance and Root Cause Analysis sessions
October 16, 2008 Precision Alignment Tip
It has been reported in the TAPPI journal that precision alignment resulted in extending bearing life by a factor of eight in a large class of rotating machines. Other reported benefits were a seven percent savings in overall maintenance costs and a twelve percent increase in machine availability. Machine breakdowns attributed to misalignment were cut in half.
Another benefit of precision alignment is a power saving. A recent study documented an average of eleven percent power saving by precision alignment in a group of simple pump-motor assemblies. This is because less power is expended in flexing the coupling, vibrating the machine, and heating the bearings. The dollar saving in this case due to reduced power consumption was more than twice the maintenance costs on these machines!
Tip excerpted from Introduction to Machine Vibration by Glenn White
Get a copy of Introduction to Machine Vibration by Glenn White
October 16, 2008 Download a Root Cause Analysis template in Excel
This no cost download contains a worksheet for each part of a complete root cause analysis using the Cause Mapping method.
Learn more about the advantages of leveraging your root cause analysis approach across your organization using Microsoft Excel.
October 16, 2008 Reliability Reporting Tip
It is always a good idea to report on the top number of downtime instance by equipment fleet as it is not always the oldest equipment causing the most downtime instances.
Even newer equipment can be at the top of the list for frequent downtime events, which can disrupt the production process and erode ROA (Return on Assets).
Reader Tip provided by Jerry Peterson
Director, eMESA Services
Dimension Technology Solutions
October 16, 2008 Predictive Maintenance (PdM) Management Tip
Predictive Maintenance (PdM) does not only deal with historical data, although this information is important. PdM deals with predictions of future equipment condition based on the analysis of historical data. Maintaining the data in an organized fashion is important to permit retrieval and analysis. The analysis and interpretation should be retained for future analysts’ reference. The criteria which are developed for decision making and recommendations should also be recorded. As criteria are changed or exceptions made, it is important to record the rationale for the record.
In this way each succeeding analyst will be able to understand what has happened in the past and what and become prepared to deal with the future much more rapidly than by personal experience alone.
Tip excerpted from Predictive Maintenance Management by Jack Nicholas Jr. and R. Keith Young.
October 16, 2008 Are you compliant with NFPA 70E?
Arc Flash is a serious issue.
In today’s environment, you need to identify electrical issues quickly in order to avoid downtime, and safely to protect your workforce.
October 16, 2008 Motor Testing Tip
Low Load and High Current Imbalance
An unloaded motor can create a 10-15% current imbalance yet be perfectly healthy. This is a normal design response caused by an unbalanced saturation of the core iron between phases at low loads. When performing power or current analysis on three-phase induction motors, verify the percent load at which the motor is operating. If possible, increase the load on the motor to determine the validity of a high current imbalance. A current imbalance of
Tip provided by PdMA MCE Division
Tel: 813-621-6463
http://www.pdma.com
