The bottom line in a successful maintenance and asset reliability program is that people make all the difference. People make a program succeed or they make a program fail. That is why Steve Toth, Vice President of Maintenance/Asset Reliability for Covanta Energy, a company specializing in Energy from Waste (EfW) at over 30 facilities worldwide, works to ensure the people on his team have the resources to be proactive problem solvers.

The bottom line is also what Mr. Toth is responsible for. Not just bottom line reliability – but the real deal - bottom line financial enhancement. That is correct – a Vice President of Maintenance/Asset Reliability who has been charged with bottom line responsibility to enhance company financial performance and Covanta shareholder value. Toth is also a firm believer that EVERY member of the over 450 Covanta Maintenance/Asset Reliability professionals does have the ability to impact the bottom line.

Energy from Waste is a process that takes municipal solid waste, i.e. household trash, and transfers it into combustion chambers where it is burned at high temperatures and reduced to 10% of its original volume. The heat generated is used to produce steam that is sent through a turbine to generate electricity.

Covanta EfW highlights…

• Produce electricity with less environmental impact than almost any other source of electricity
• Covanta produces 10% of non-hydro renewable energy in the USA
• Covanta EfW facilities prevent 15 million tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere
• Covanta facilities recover and recycle 360,000 tons of metal each year

Covanta just added a 3rd unit at the Lee County Energy from Waste facility and tour participants will learn how this unique facility is maintained.

Bus transportation and lunch are provided

Limited space so sign up today. Please call a Reliabilityweb.com conference specialist toll free (888) 575 1245 or…

Register for IMC-2008 or find out more online

Beyond a 50% increase of PM Effectiveness, this unique process drives all waste from the PM Program resulting in:
40% Reduction in PM Labor Hours
36% Reduction in Scheduled Downtime
60% Reduction in PM Spare Parts

Watch an introductory video explaining the tremendous impact on Maintenance Capacity.

Find out more about 3-Dimensional PMOptimization

Short Flex versus Spacer Tolerances

All true flexible couplings have two flex planes. This means that when an alignment to short flex coupling tolerances is difficult to achieve, you may be able to take advantage of spacer coupling tolerances instead, even if the coupling you are dealing with is of a short flex type.

The criterion to make the determination of whether this is worthwhile or not in your particular situation is this: If the axial span between the flex planes is larger than
the diameter of the flex planes, you can safely apply spacer shaft tolerances.

You do not have to have a spacer shaft or spool piece to apply spacer tolerances if your application meets the above criterion.

Tip provided by LUDECA, INC.
ALIGNMENT * VIBRATION * BALANCING
http://www.ludeca.com
305-591-8935

Watch our Short Flex and Spacer Shaft Tolerances iPresentation Tutorial

Maintenance and Reliability for Managers 4-part Series is the professional training that provides you with a competitive edge in maintenance and reliability excellence. Move ahead with People and Processes, Inc.

Find out more about Maintenance and Reliability for Managers 4-part Series

What to do first?

Well, when it concerns motor alignment I’d say first of all make sure it is the right motor. Beyond that there are many “firsts” that could more accurately be called prerequisites that seem to evolve one by one until the motor is aligned.

Tip excerpted from A Millwrights Guide to Motor/Pump Alignment 2nd Edition by Tommy B. Harlon

Find out more about A Millwrights Guide to Motor/Pump Alignment

Leverage your existing ERP investment with eMESA, a simple-to-use alternative user interface that integrates with your existing EAM / CMMS system to provide proven, drastic increases in user acceptance and planned work, and ultimately—valuable cost savings for your operation.

To learn more about how eMESA can help balance your work execution equation, call toll-free 866.515.3874

Find out more about eMESA

In these tough economic times many of us are faced with cutbacks to our Training & Development budgets. Before the accountants come with their new plans for your Training program, start to look at your training as an investment as opposed to a cost.

Have your training people get with the maintenance organization and look at what improved training can do to improve the business and add value. In our organization, we are looking at No Defect Found (NDF) work orders and we are finding that training can actually reduce this number, and the cost associated with it. In our industry (passenger rail transportation), NDF work orders account for millions of dollars that are spent every year. We are now taking our training program to reduce this number with training that is zeroed in on the faults that our technicians are having trouble isolating.

We are quickly finding that the ROI is significant, and training is not just “delivering training”, but actually saving our industry money!

Reader tip provided by Keith Sheardown
General Manager - Technology Solutions
Bombardier Transportation
Mississauga ON Canada

Thanks Keith - your stainless steel, diamond plate, Reliabilityweb.com coffee mug is on the way!

Send a Tip and get your own Stainless steel diamond plate Reliabilityweb.com coffee mug

A word of advice:

If the company is struggling with hiring a Reliability Engineer and might never hire one, then identify the smartest maintenance technician and provide training as follows:

• Reliability Centered Maintenance Training
• Maintenance Best Practices
• Key Performance Indicators
• Six Sigma

Also consider CPMM Training and Certification
(available at http://www.afe.org)

Reliability engineering technicians can have a dramatic impact on the reliability of an organization.

Tip excerpted from “Rules of Thumb for Maintenance and Reliability Engineers” by Ricky Smith and R. Keith Mobley

Find out more about Rules of Thumb for Maintenance and Reliability Engineers