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Editorial
	Editors Column
	Giving thanks and receiving praise
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Paul V. Arnold, Editor • Editorial|Editors Column
	Paul V. Arnold announces that Reliable Plant has won six awards from the business press industry.

	The Exponent
	The real value of the plant you're buying
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Drew D. Troyer, CRE, CMRP • Editorial|The Exponent
	Drew Troyer outlines maintenance and reliability's impact on plant valuation.

Features
	Advisors
	The emperor's new clothes
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Tor Idhammar • Features|Advisors
	Tor Idhammar says maintenance needs to speak up and not accept inefficient or incorrect decisions.

	Is It OK to break the schedule?
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Doc Palmer • Features|Advisors
	Doc Palmer explains that both the schedule itself and the priorities of individual work orders are important.

	To grease or not to grease
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Mark Barnes • Features|Advisors
	Columnist Mark Barnes outlines the rights and wrongs of lubricating electric motors.

	How good is your infrared program?
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Andy Page • Features|Advisors
	Columnist Andy Page wants you to take a close look at your infrared thermography program.

	An interview process that really works
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: John Ha • Features|Advisors
	Too many organizations miss the most critical point in interviewing. John Ha explains.

	Building allies and fostering success
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Tim Goshert • Features|Advisors
	Cargill's Tim Goshert admires Ben Franklin for realizing the importance of alliances.

	Applied Reliability
	Precision shaft alignment is possible
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: David Zdrojewski • Features|Applied Reliability
	David Zdrojewski provides expert insight and advice on the real state of industrial alignment practices.

	News and Analysis
	Diverse stakeholders fuel reliability
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Drew D. Troyer and Stacey McCauley • Features|News and Analysis
	SMRP must diversify its membership to include participation from all the functional pros that influence reliability.

	Reliability Forum
	Proper lubing keeps bearings rolling
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author:  • Features|Reliability Forum
	Timken outlines common mistakes end-users make when lubricating bearings.

	Reliability In Action
	Persistence leads to hot-spot solution
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author:  • Features|Reliability In Action
	A western U.S. electric company found hot spots on isophase bus tube ducts. A recent outage revealed the root cause.

	Special Report
	Improve through wireless monitoring
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Jim Ralston • Features|Special Report
	Advancements in vibration monitoring and data analysis have led to condition monitoring systems that can accurately detect a problem before failure.

Web Exclusives
	None
	Measuring maintenance effectiveness: The bulls and the bears
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Ralph D. Hedding, SAMI • Web Exclusives|None
	Today’s environment requires maintenance measurements that can predict outcomes, not just measuring outcomes themselves. We need to be able to affect the final outcomes for the month by measuring interim indicators. Measuring maintenance is like investing in the stock market. Our investments should be geared to high-value returns that are provable.

	Beyond the tag: Finding RFID value in manufacturing
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Intermec • Web Exclusives|None
	This white paper from Intermec describes how companies can use internal radio frequency identification systems to reduce costs and improve efficiency, and explains how the lessons learned can be applied to a variety of industrial operations. RFID delivers tremendous value and control for product genealogy and lifetime traceability, material management and replenishment, especially in just-in-time and kanban environments, asset tracking, warehousing and yard management processes.

	Ford advances eco-friendly fumes-to-fuel technology
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author:  • Web Exclusives|None
	Ford Motor Company is advancing its commitment to eco-friendly manufacturing technology by installing the third generation of its patented Fumes-to-Fuel system at its Oakville Assembly Plant in Ontario. The industry-leading pollution-control system converts emissions from the plant's paint shop into electricity to help power the plant.

	Do your meetings sabotage your company's profits?
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Don Schmincke • Web Exclusives|None
	It’s yet another weekly management meeting. Everyone shows up, sits down and takes their turn in reporting progress on assigned projects. At first glance, this looks like a great way to ensure accountability for performance. However, it could be sabotaging your company’s future success.

	Why good employees leave – and how to retain more of them
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Gregg Gregory • Web Exclusives|None
	Why do good employees leave your company? Often times, it’s difficult to get a direct answer. However, each person who moves on can tell a story, and it’s important to build as much of the story as possible. This information can be gleaned from an effective exit interview.

	Enhancing proactive maintenance with real-time lubrication monitoring
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: A.J. Rein • Web Exclusives|None
	Proactive and predictive lubrication management is rapidly emerging as one of the most important contributions that can be made toward improved machinery, vehicle and equipment reliability. To prevent equipment breakdown, it’s critical that key parts are properly lubricated in order to minimize metal-to-metal contact and subsequent wear. A new on-site analytical technology, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, is now able to monitor the condition of lubricants used in heavy machinery.

	Combining Design for Manufacturability, lean and Six Sigma
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Darren Dolcemascolo • Web Exclusives|None
	Some have the perception that tools such as Design for Manufacturability, lean and Six Sigma are mutually exclusive. Others think that they are all synonymous buzzwords. The truth, in fact, is that each one is unique, and together they can make for a very powerful combination. This article by Darren Dolcemascolo will give you a practical example of the application of these tools in combination.

	We’re only as good as our supply chain
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Mike Wroblewski • Web Exclusives|None
	The best winning strategy for the future does not stop at our plant walls. Even if we are the most efficient manufacturer in our industry with the hottest products, our business will fail if we have a weak supply chain. We must extend our improvement efforts to include our supply chain. Columnist Mike Wroblewski explains.

	How to get a raise
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: David R. Butcher, ThomasNet.com • Web Exclusives|None
	It may not buy happiness, but more money can certainly rid you of some aggravations standing in the way of happiness. Negotiating and getting a raise, however, are not the simplest of tasks.

	Why people fail to achieve their goals
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Douglas Vermeeren • Web Exclusives|None
	Most people claim to understand the importance of goal setting in order to attain a better life, but in fact, approximately 80 percent of people never set goals for themselves. Even more surprising, of the 20 percent of the population that does set goals, roughly 70 percent fail to achieve the goals they have set for themselves.

	A letter on good and bad kaizen practices
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Jim Womack • Web Exclusives|None
	Lean guru Jim Womack ponders whether some companies' kaizen efforts are analogous to old-fashioned end-of-the line quality inspection in mass production organizations. In these cases, the practices of Toyota and other lean pioneers are being misunderstood.

	Honda’s Marysville plant at age 25: Historic yet 'new'
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author:  • Web Exclusives|None
	It’s been nearly 25 years since Honda became the first Japanese company to build a car in the United States. The site of that achievement, the company's plant in Marysville, Ohio, has evolved into a wonder of technology.

	Error-proofing: Tips for tightening and testing
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Fred White, ThomasNet • Web Exclusives|None
	Even the smallest errors in aerospace projects can prove expensive, or worse, fatal. Overtorquing or undertorquing can easily lead to malfunctions and failure, and high shaker forces caused by overtesting can damage expensive payloads. This article examines this topic from a Six Sigma perspective.

	The emotional side of lean
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Mike Wroblewski • Web Exclusives|None
	By recognizing the emotional side of a lean transformation, we take the time to help employees mentally and emotionally embrace the lean approach. Some people easily embrace the lean approach while others struggle to accept it. Columnist Mike Wroblewski explains in this excellent column.

	Institute a sense of urgency in your work
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Charles E. "Tremendous" Jones • Web Exclusives|None
	Charles Jones believes that the fires of greatness in our hearts can be kept aglow only after we develop a sense of urgency and importance for what we are doing. By that, he means a sense of urgency to the extent that we feel it is a matter of life and death.

	Toyota and Total Productive Maintenance
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: David McBride • Web Exclusives|None
	One of the most recognizable symbols in modern manufacturing is the “TPS House” diagram. This is a simple representation of the Toyota Production System that Toyota developed to teach their supply base the principles of TPS. The foundation of the house represents operational stability and has several components, one of which is Total Productive Maintenance. In lean production, when an operator shuts down production to fix a problem, the line will soon stop producing, creating a crisis and a sense of urgency. A properly implemented and maintained TPM system will provide the needed stability for lean production.

	Guidelines to prevent forklift fatalities
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: David R. Butcher • Web Exclusives|None
	Each year, tens of thousands of injuries related to powered industrial trucks, or forklifts, occur in workplaces nationwide. Such accidents also kill more than 100 workers a year. Ensure that your company doesn’t add to these statistics. Information in this article will show you how to identify hazards and employ appropriate safety rules.

	Recruitment: Your plant's No. 2 priority
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Michael Guld • Web Exclusives|None
	While continual recruitment of talent should be a top priority – even when your company doesn't have immediate openings – it should still be considered priority No. 2. At the top of the list should be employee retention because while good people are hard to find, great people are much harder to replace.

	Tracking the elusive shipping container with asset tagging
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Newswise • Web Exclusives|None
	The Marine Asset Tag Tracking System (MATTS) is a miniature sensor, data logging computer, radio transceiver and GPS tracking system integrated into a compact and inexpensive black box, about the size of a deck of cards. Affixed to a shipping container, MATTS can use its on-board GPS chip to estimate its location at any time and anywhere.

	Confidently make decisions on demand
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Francie Dalton • Web Exclusives|None
	Your plant's management ranks are brimming over with action-oriented, quick-thinking individuals who are ready, willing and able to dispense decisions on demand. More challenging, though, is knowing whether or not a decision should be made on demand.

	How to implement Total Productive Maintenance
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: David McBride • Web Exclusives|None
	The old saying in auto racing is: "If you can't finish, you can’t win." Achieving 100 percent reliability takes discipline and teamwork. Organizations that want to compete and become "world class" need to successfully implement Total Productive Maintenance programs. This article from David McBride offers a 12-step approach to realizing the benefits of TPM.

	An inside look at Toyota's lift truck plant in Indiana
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Mike Wroblewski • Web Exclusives|None
	Columnist Mike Wroblewski recently spent a day at the Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing facility located in Columbus, Ind. He wrote this report on some of that plant's best lean manufacturing practices.

	The China supply chain bottleneck
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: David R. Butcher, ThomasNet.com • Web Exclusives|None
	Many companies have looked to Asia for product sourcing in the pursuit for lower costs. Yet as they rush to source from China, companies in North America and Europe could be walking into a strategic trap with higher overall costs and reduced profitability, according to a recent report. What can businesses do?

	Why good ideas don't make it and bad ideas do
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Garrison Wynn • Web Exclusives|None
	Why is it that some of the best ideas are never considered and idiotic concepts that we know will fail are? The issue is that some of us are just much better at getting people to agree with us than others. Author Garrison Wynn provides some solutions.

	Business travel made easy
	• Issue: 9/2007 • Author: Christi Youd • Web Exclusives|None
	Christi Youd says that most business travelers are unprepared for even the smallest of travel glitches. Prepare yourself for the upcoming professional organization conference season (SMRP's big event is October 7-10) by reading this interesting article.