Get lubed, reliable and lean

Paul V. Arnold, Noria Corporation
Tags: maintenance and reliability

As the editor of Noria Corporation’s Reliable Plant magazine, I want to personally invite you to attend our annual international conference and exhibition May 16-18 in Columbus, Ohio.

This event, located at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, is informally titled “Lubed, Reliable and Lean” because it unites three very strong education and exhibition programs:

This is annually one of the most in-depth and forward-thinking events for manufacturing pros. More than 1,200 industry leaders from 50 states and 27 countries attended the 2005 conference and exhibition in San Antonio. This year, we anticipate more than 1,500 attendees from more than 30 nations.

Here are a few reasons why you should attend “Lubed, Reliable and Lean”.

Learn from the best: More than 120 case studies, industry reports and keynote addresses will be presented in the three program tracks.

The lean manufacturing track already has speaking confirmations from plant leaders at Owens Corning, Kennametal, Webster Plastics/Parker Hannifin, Rockwell, Timken and Kennedy Manufacturing. Goodyear, Coors, Dofasco, Cargill, Energizer, Oracle and Southern Companies are among the companies on board for the reliability track. Experts from Noria, ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil highlight the lubrication track.

Raytheon vice president Rusty Patterson and Allen-Edmonds Shoe Corporation president John Stollenwerk are among the confirmed keynote speakers.

Last year, keynoters included top executives from Cargill and Alcoa, as well as Hall of Fame basketball coach Jim Boeheim. Leaders from DuPont, General Motors, Eastman Chemical, Weyerhaeuser, Smurfit-Stone and Eli Lilly were just a few of the case study presenters.

Workshops and professional certification: Pre- and post-conference workshops provide how-to details on topics such as: equipping machinery for reliability and maintainability, reducing electric motor failures, strategically setting oil analysis alarms and limits, and implementing a cost-effective operator-driven reliability system.

Industry-leading organizations also offer a host of certification exam opportunities. This year, exams will be proctored by the Society for Maintenance & Reliability Professionals (Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional); the Vibration Institute (Vibration Analyst, categories I through IV); Snell Infrared (Thermographer, levels I and II); and, the International Council for Machinery Lubrication (Machine Lubricant Analyst, levels I and II; Machine Lubrication Technician, levels I and II; and Laboratory Lubricant Analyst, Level I).

Check out the latest plant solutions: The enormous exhibition hall will feature products and services from more than 150 companies, with suppliers available to answer your questions and demonstrate solutions to your particular plant problems.

It’s time well spent: Whether you’re a company executive, plant manager, maintenance leader, maintenance technician, lean director or production/operations leader, attending this event will help you and your plant(s) continuously improve in this hyper-competitive global environment. Since manufacturing excellence is a collaborative process, consider sending a full team.

For an up-to-the-minute list of keynoters, presenters, sponsors and exhibitors, for links to certification information, or to register for this event, please visit the conference Web site at www.driveyourplant.com.

I hope to see you in Columbus on May 16-18 for “Lubed, Reliable and Lean.” Paul V. Arnold, editor