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Departments
	Advisors
	Defining, clarifying 'reliability'
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: Tor Idhammar • Departments|Advisors
	The purpose of this column is to raise questions and challenge plant leadership on strategy, vision and execution of reliability and maintenance management. Since the name of this magazine is Reliable Plant, I think it would be interesting for my first column to challenge you on the meaning of the term “reliability.”

	What kind of job plan is that?
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: Doc Palmer • Departments|Advisors
	Although planning and scheduling is somewhat of an intricate process that we will spend future issues of Reliable Plant examining and discussing, I wanted to spend this very first issue going right to the area of frustration within many existing planning programs. The key frustration comes ultimately from crew supervisors being told not to work unplanned jobs.

	Workforce shortage: Acceptance is the first step
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: John Ha • Departments|Advisors
	Baby Boomers are going to retire soon. There won’t be enough skilled labor to fill all the jobs. Employers aren’t prepared to handle the labor shortage. It goes on and on. So, is this workforce shortage thing for real? Well, YES!

	Lubrication Lessons
	Hey, aren't machines supposed to wear out?
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: Jim Fitch, Noria Corporation • Departments|Lubrication Lessons
	The old expression is that death and taxes are the only certainties in life. Some suggest that the same applies to machinery. We know that if a machine generates a profit, taxes are levied on that profit. But how about death? Is machine mortality also inevitable?

	News and Analysis
	Noria annual conference sets attendance record
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author:  • Departments|News and Analysis
	More than 1,200 industry professionals attended Noria Corporation’s 2005 Lubrication Excellence and Reliability World conference and exposition, held April 25-29 at the Henry Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio.

	Rexnord to Buy Falk for $295 Million
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author:  • Departments|News and Analysis
	A pair of century-old Milwaukee industrial firms will become one after 114-year-old Rexnord Corp. recently agreed to buy 113-year-old Falk Corp. for $295 million. The transaction is expected to be completed this summer.

	Reliability Forum
	Banter on bearings
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author:  • Departments|Reliability Forum
	In the Reliability Forum department of Reliable Plant, suppliers provide their insights to a question posed by editor Paul V. Arnold. This issue, the question went out to bearing manufacturers: “If you could give one piece of advice that would increase our readers’ bearing life and/or performance, what would it be, and why?”

	Reliability in Action
	The fur flies when problems arise
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author:  • Departments|Reliability in Action
	The Reliability in Action department features case studies submitted by our readers. To have your case study considered for inclusion in an upcoming issue, e-mail it to parnold@noria.com or mail it to Reliable Plant, P.O. Box 87, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538. If we publish your case study, we’ll send you an official Reliable Plant T-shirt.

	Safety Report
	Lost-worktime data revealing
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author:  • Departments|Safety Report
	Safety scores at U.S. manufacturing plants continue to improve.

	Find a better word than 'carelessness'
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: TrainingOnline.com • Departments|Safety Report
	The key is to avoid repetition in safety incidents.

Editorial
	Advisors
	Transforming maintenance into predictive reliability
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: Dr. Jay Lee • Editorial|Advisors
	For years, maintenance has been treated as a dirty, boring and ad hoc job. It’s critical for productivity but isn’t recognized as a key component of revenue generation. The simple question is often, “Why do we need to maintain things regularly?” The answer is, “To keep them as reliable as possible.” But the real question is, “How much change or degradation has occurred since the last round of maintenance?” The answer is, “I don’t know.”

	Editors Column
	Introducing Reliable Plant
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: Paul Arnold • Editorial|Editors Column
	Paul V. Arnold introduces you to Reliable Plant magazine.

	The Exponent
	Reliability: It Ain't All About Maintenance!
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: Drew Troyer, Noria Corporation • Editorial|The Exponent
	Drew Troyer says altering your approach to plant reliability begins with a change in attitude.

Features
	None
	RONA and OEE
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: Tom O'Reilly • Features|None
	Impact profitability by leveraging these asset utilization tools.

	Bearing up
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: Daniel R. Snyder • Features|None
	Tips to extend the service life of bearings in electric motor applications.

None
	The Exponent
	Zen and the Art of Operator Maintenance
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: Drew D. Troyer, CRE, CMRP • None|The Exponent

Web Exclusives
	None
	Properly aligning projects to corporate strategy
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: Michael Stanleigh • Web Exclusives|None
	Corporations throughout the world are losing billions of dollars in wasted project spending, and this waste is being carefully hidden from management and investors.

	The totally responsible individual: Dealing with chaos
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: Jim Dawson • Web Exclusives|None
	A chaotic or traumatic event can happen to anyone at any time or place. Would you be ready if it happened to you?

	Where are the holes in disability coverage?
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: Jeanne Lazo and Carol J. Amato • Web Exclusives|None
	When Tom Larsen had a heart attack, he wasn't worried about disability coverage. He had always participated in his employer's disability insurance plan. After recovering, he returned to work. The next year, he began working for a new company where he also participated in the disability insurance plan.

	Become a more powerful leader: Steps to achieve clarity in the face of tough decisions
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: Luda Kopeikina • Web Exclusives|None
	Every day, business leaders make decisions that impact hundreds, even thousands of people. While this seems like a daunting task, the good ones make it look easy. These leaders can make million-dollar decisions based on the information presented to them and their own gut feelings. What you can’t see behind these seemingly effortless decisions is the discipline to continuously scrutinize their decisions and the commitment to continuously improve from what they’ve done in the past. These leaders, through practice, possess a clarity that allows them to make powerful decisions with ease.

	Planning, visualization and improving results
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: Jim Murphy • Web Exclusives|None
	It might seem odd to say that visualization is a business tool, but indeed it is, and a powerful one at that.

	Five keys to keeping your passion at work
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: Mark Sincevich • Web Exclusives|None
	I could hear my father’s voice saying, “What are the lessons of driving in a rundown neighborhood?”

	Oil skimming: Forging a cleaner operation for transmission parts maker
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author:  • Web Exclusives|None
	Ease and efficiency are important factors in running a smooth manufacturing operation. As Metaldyne Corp., a Michigan-based manufacturer of driveline and transmission products discovered, oil skimming could improve the company’s already smooth-running manufacturing processes.

	Custom design adds to the bottom line - How Georgia Pacific is saving thousands per month in energy costs
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: Angela Kelly • Web Exclusives|None
	Processing 5.5 million square feet of paper per day into corrugated containers requires a lot of equipment … and a lot of compressed air. And when you’re the person responsible for making sure there’s enough compressed air to keep all the process running smoothly, you need reliable equipment operating at maximum efficiency.

	Operator-driven reliability: Who owns your mill’s equipment?
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: Chris Hykin, International Paper • Web Exclusives|None
	Today’s paper industry is far different than the industry we knew even five years ago. Increased foreign competition and a slowing domestic economy have fueled the consolidation of the U.S. paper industry.

	Maintenance planning and scheduling: The new profit center
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: Chris Hykin, International Paper • Web Exclusives|None
	As an industry, we are facing vastly different circumstances than we ever have before. New low-cost producers and an ever-shrinking world market have left the old, dominant mills fighting for survival. No stone is being left unturned in the search for improvements that will allow a mill to stay economically viable in these difficult times.

	Proactive shutdown approach cuts Potlatch maintenance costs
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: Dave Krings • Web Exclusives|None
	Low-cost maintenance shutdown management techniques focusing on type, quality and timing of work contribute to an 83 percent drop in maintenance cost per ton at Potlatch Corporation’s pulp and paper mill in Cloquet , Minn.

	Valve manufacturer finds productivity gains, inventory reductions
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author:  • Web Exclusives|None
	Ross Controls, headquartered in Madison Heights , Mich. , has been a manufacturer of pneumatic valves since 1921. It has grown into a global supplier involved in all industries. Since every piece of equipment that moves has a valve on it, chances are excellent that the valve is produced by Ross Controls.

	R&M at UPM-Kymmene: An educational journey
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: Ian Farrell • Web Exclusives|None
	The concept of best practice is easy to describe and discuss. The more difficult part is determining your path toward reliability and maintenance best practice and, more importantly, sustaining standards and developing a continuous improvement culture.

	Connecting business strategy and operations
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: Michael Donovan • Web Exclusives|None
	Most companies have a strategic plan. However, over the years I have seen it time and again. Strategy, although perceived by some as defined, is largely misunderstood across the organization, not tied-in to operations and therefore poorly executed in operations and as a result ignored as the hour-to-hour, crisis-to-crisis mode of management becomes more firmly entrenched. Does your company have an operations strategy developed and being executed to carry the strategic plan? In all likelihood, the answer is no.

	In search of high-performance manufacturing
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: R. Michael Donovan • Web Exclusives|None
	The seemingly endless search for the most elegant solutions to solve the day-to-day operating problems in manufacturing goes on and on. Today, an all-too-common mind-set is that elegant solutions mandate large investments in complex technology as the first step on the path to high performance. Unfortunately, the complexity of the elegant solution, and the diversion of resources required to implement it, can blur the real opportunities for improvement.

	Inventory efficiency in the supply chain
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: R. Michael Donovan • Web Exclusives|None

	Inventory reduction: Getting results . . . and fast
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: R. Michael Donovan • Web Exclusives|None
	This column is devoted to a discussion about the Inventory Quality Ratio (IQR) methodology, which is supported by a software product that I believe you should be aware of. Keep in mind, as you read this, that I am totally familiar with the methodology and have very successfully applied it on numerous occasions.

	Lean manufacturing: Guidelines for success
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: R. Michael Donovan • Web Exclusives|None
	Lean manufacturing, while known by many names, allows manufacturers to be fast and nimble enough to quickly react to changes in customer demand and do it with little inventory. Gone are the days when companies could stockpile large quantities of raw materials, load-up production with work-in-process and pack warehouses with finished goods.

	Lean manufacturing as a competitive strategy
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: R. Michael Donovan • Web Exclusives|None
	The business model of “we make it, you buy it and we deliver when we can” collapsed long ago. Now customers not only evaluate product design, quality and price; they are emphasizing two additional performance dimensions:

	Are you getting lean fast enough?
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: R. Michael Donovan • Web Exclusives|None
	Manufacturers today must become faster and more nimble than was needed in the past. Offshore competition is getting fierce and customers have become much more demanding and have higher expectations than in the past. Many companies are feeling the pressure to more aggressively pursue lean manufacturing processes to avoid the risk of losing business to lower cost and faster performing competitors.

	Lean manufacturing can save American manufacturing
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: Jack Rink • Web Exclusives|None
	A decade ago, the debate about manufacturing leaving the U.S. focused on the “giant sucking sound” of jobs being pulled into Mexico. Today, the sound is louder and more urgent than ever, but its source is no longer just south of the border.

	Lean manufacturing: Is it really worth it?
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: R. Michael Donovan • Web Exclusives|None
	Long production runs, big backlogs and long lead times are fast becoming operating styles of the past. Flexibility and quick response must become the norm. The driving force behind this need is customers who increasingly expect short lead times for products configured exactly as specified and delivered on time, every time.

	Performance measurement: Connecting strategy, operations and actions
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: R. Michael Donovan • Web Exclusives|None
	A strategic plan must specify goals, strategic objectives and actions, and the final performance measures by which management and the stockholders will gauge success. Top management’s performance can usually be measured in terms of sales volume, market share, cash flow, profit, ROI, dividends and market value.

	Reduce inventories and improve business performance
	• Issue: 7/2005 • Author: R. Michael Donovan • Web Exclusives|None
	Companies today must be fast and nimble enough to react quickly to changes in customer demand and do it with little inventory. Gone are the days when manufacturers could stockpile large quantities of raw materials, load up the shop floor with work-in-process and pack warehouses with finished goods. The old ways caused erratic and long lead times, high costs and required too much cash for working capital.