Reliable Plant November 2006

Augusta, Ky., is a quiet, laid-back city (population 2,000) on the Ohio River that's best known as the hometown of actor George Clooney; his late aunt, singer/actress Rosemary Clooney; and Miss...

Condition monitoring (CM) is not a life-extending activity. Life-extending activities are things such as lubrication, alignment, balancing and operating procedures. It's very important to keep this...

This column continues the discussion of how many hours a planner should plan each week. In the final analysis, the planner must vary the level of detail in job plans in order to keep up with the...

Most, if not all, companies use computerized maintenance management software (CMMS) systems to oversee their maintenance activities. From home-grown systems to complete enterprise resource planning...

If you want to transform your condition-based maintenance program, it's not about buying the hottest gadget, software or computer system. It's not about the latest fad, gimmick or scheme which will...

How often have you heard that the only thing constant is change? It really is true, yet most people seem to struggle with change. We have all heard that the natural tendency for most people is to...

For the past decade, I've been involved in benchmarking activities. In my role as Cargill's worldwide reliability and maintenance manager, my colleagues and I have traveled the globe to many of our...

Anyone familiar with lean manufacturing is familiar with the 5-S approach - a lean trademark. Seiri (tidiness), seiton (orderliness), seiso (cleanliness), seiketsu (standardization) and shitsuke...

The possibility of achieving zero downtime increases by using lean manufacturing principles in conjunction with technologies that automate the management of assets, service and equipment...

This is the first in a series of articles addressing the application of modern infrared cameras to in-plant thermography. This particular article answers the question "What is the difference between a...

At the installation of a new 150-gallon-per-minute centrifugal pump driven by a 125-horsepower motor, high vibration levels were found immediately upon first start. After several days of alignment...

Pay to maintenance employees at American manufacturing facilities increased an average of 2.9 percent this year, an improvement from the 2.32 percent average increase received in 2005 but still a...