Plant Services - November 2007 - (Page 11)

BACKTALK Lack of quality control pressures industry T his is my ﬁrst response to any editorial I have ever read and it is in regards to “Quality Fade” (September, page 9, www.PlantServices.com/articles/2007/197. html). My opinion is that quality fade in this country is a result of the lack of quality control on the imports into this country over the past decade. Roger Hill, supervisor is lack of quality control has placed additional pressure on American industries to compete with oﬀshore companies that don’t care about the quality of their products. I’m not defending the American companies that practice this, only voicing my opinion as to why this is happening. Invented Mechatronics Sheila Kennedy’s article “Mechatronics redux” (September, page 35, www.PlantServices.com/articles/2007/193.html) mentions that the term mechatronics was invented in Japan. It was done by a Yaskawa engineer. We have many products that are used in mechtronics applications. Yaskawa Sigma Servos have long lead the way in power density and capabilities. e IndraDrive from Bosch is in many ways inspired by what Yaskawa has done. Also SERCOS is just one motion network. Mechatrolink (www.mechatrolink.org) is another that has more than 500,000 nodes in operation. Hopefully in the future you will consider Yaskawa in your articles about mechatronics, motion control, VFDS and robotics and Mechatrolink when you are considering motion control networks. Andy Urda, director, Channel & Industry Marketing Yaskawa Electric America Inc., Waukegan, Ill. Sheila Kennedy responds: ank you for the added details. I just looked up your company on Wikipedia and saw that you have a trademark on the Mechatronics name. It pays to know beans David Berger’s article “Counting the maintenance beans” (parts one and two, May and June, page 33, www.Plant Services.com/articles/2007/091.html and www.PlantSer vices.com/articles/2007/122.html) has a lot of merit. Unfortunately, most companies opt for an ERP because the accounting folks can’t understand a CMMS and its functionality at a corporate level. Everything is the bottom line. It’s not just the bottom line in maintenance but the knowledge, control and organization that eﬃciently runs the department. e best way is with a CMMS. I’ve seen as much as a 25% reduction in costs at several facilities. As far as tracking the hours and assigning the estimated hours, it’s diﬃcult but each facility is independent of anN other, from my 20 years experience, based on technician knowledge, equipment age and production schedules. Most CMMS programs I’ve used incorporate scanning technology, which allows the department to track task hours, whether emergency or not, by bar code. In the implementation phase of a CMMS, it’s easily tracked for the ﬁ rst year and solid estimates can be derived for each speciﬁc facility. It takes at least one year to two years, depending on the size of the facility and manpower, for a CMMS to be implemented and running well. Understanding this from a management and accounting position can be diﬃcult. But as time goes by, the costs start to drop as CMMS reports are implemented and used. ey help determine the highest-cost locations, equipment and services that can be scrutinized for reduction. Lastly, I see the ERP systems incorporating the CMMS for tracking maintenance with work orders and part usage tracking like SAP does. I think there’s a merging of tracking systems, which will probably lead to buyouts and partnerships to get the “total package.” at would probably be the best future scenario for both maintenance and accounting. I now teach what I practiced and managed for many years. I will use the article as a reference in my future instruction. Sam Ajlani, industrial engineer Industrial System Technology, Lanier Technical College, Oakwood, Ga. TELL US WHAT YOU THINK Write to Plant Services, 555 W. Pierce Road, Suite 301, Itasca, IL 60143 or e-mail: pstudebaker@putman.net. Include your name, job title, name, job title, company name and location (city/state). Submissions will be edited for clarity and available space. .PLANTSERVICES. 11 http://www.PlantServices.com/articles/2007/197.html http://www.PlantServices.com/articles/2007/197.html http://www.PlantServices.com/articles/2007/193.html http://www.mechatrolink.org http://www.PlantServices.com/articles/2007/091.html http://www.PlantServices.com/articles/2007/091.html http://www.PlantServices.com/articles/2007/122.html http://www.PlantServices.com/articles/2007/122.html http://www.PLANTSERVICES.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Plant Services - November 2007

Plant Services - November 2007 Contents New Tools Letters Let Us Know Where to Put the Gas Up and Running How are you Fighting Crisis? What Works Why is the Best Practice Transfer so Hard? Who are you Going to Call? Chained to Power Mobile Mindset Making Money in the Lube Lab Grabbing a Moving Target Bagging the BTUs Keeping Mellow Preserving Health and Safety The Power of Reliability Excellence

Plant Services - November 2007

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