Plant Services - July 2008 - (Page 45)

CATEGORY Subcategory • Environmental: Pollution leaching through concrete. • Compliance issues • Loss of work time Immediate action Also known as the Band-Aid approach, immediate action isn’t necessarily applicable to every problem. It might include shutting down an area to maintain worker safety or product quality until the root cause can be identiﬁed, or it might require shutting down production altogether. Interim action Take temporary measure(s) until the problem cause can be solved, such as installing metal ﬂoor plates to cover damaged areas; eliminating potential health, safety and welfare hazards; or repairing the ﬂoor with a concrete repair kit until you can implement a long-lasting solution. Root cause identiﬁcation Discover what can be changed to make the problem go away forever. It’s the most critical step. If your supplier gets it wrong, the solution will most likely be wrong. e quality approach to decision-making saves you time and aggravation, and precludes the quick result that leads to preconceived solutions based on assumptions instead of facts. Perfect planning and execution can’t make up for a wrong initial decision. An thoughtful root cause analysis eliminates jumping to conclusions, wild speculation, more possibilities than probabilities and ineﬃcient investigation. Your product supplier needs to coordinate your problemsolving team to better analyze the ﬂoor problem root cause. A typical team includes the product supplier, along with top management in your organization. is includes an operations supervisor who has knowledge of practices and the authority to direct the workforce, along with a manufacturing engineer with knowledge of facility equipment and authority to modify tooling and work methods. Lastly, another important member of this team is a trained installer, recommended by the manufacturer, who has extensive knowledge of the J product being applied and years of application experience. It’s also a good idea to include an independent quality engineer who has the inspection and testing knowledge and expertise for proper substrate analysis. In the absence of such an engineer, the installer should perform the testing and inspections and, therefore, should have the expertise and knowledge to use the most current test standards, such the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards, the standards of choice for a diverse range of industries. Among the many considerations to address during a root cause discovery are substrate properties – concrete, tile, wood, steel, bituminous covering or an old coating system that needs to be replaced. e substrate’s properties and its treatment are highly dependent on the nature of the substrate. For example, compressive strength of a concrete ﬂoor determines how it supports shocks and impacts that can delaminate the ﬂooring. Another consideration is the substrate moisture level. Most ﬂooring systems have low vapor permeability and act as a barrier to moisture. Vapor pressure buildup often destroys the surface treatment. Calcium chloride testing reveals the presence of moisture emissions in the slab, as well as osmotic groundwater pressure. If moisture can’t be prevented, you’ll need a vapor-permeable system. e substrate’s current environmental exposure and usage are relevant to eﬀective root cause research. Analysis might include inspection and testing for dirt, oil or chemical contamination; concrete defects and damage; ground movement or settling; structural or substrate failure; oil or hydraulic ﬂuid penetration, or form-release agents in concrete; alkaline silicate reaction (ASR), which causes cracking and expansion in concrete slabs; and improper design or construction of the substrate on which materials are applied. No test can reveal everything that should be considered deciding about ﬂoor coating or resurfacing system installation. Test results only provide a snapshot of the slab condition at a particular time. Solution implementation After completing a successful problem diagnosis, the manufacturer must decide on a product and its application to 45 .PLANTSERVICES. http://www.PLANTSERVICES.com

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Plant Services - July 2008 Contents From the Editor Letters The PS Files Up and Running Crisis Corner Asset Manager Technology Toolbox Cover Story Compressors Power Transmission Flooring Web Hunter In the Trenches Product Picks Classifieds Energy Expert

Plant Services - July 2008

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