Up Time Magazine- August/September 2008

10 the vast majority are with the right technologies employed – and new technologies are being developed every day. PdM is not “magic”; it’s hard science. The warning signals are real if we are perceptive enough to listen. Applying the right technology to the right equipment and potential failure mode will give you the ability to determine equipment health and increase your confidence that you can make plans with your family that won’t be interrupted. 2. Costs Cannot Be Permanently Reduced Without Making Work Go Away We live in a global economy. Most North American industries compete with companies in countries that have significant business advantages, such as lower taxes, lower labor costs, or government subsidies. There is tremendous pressure to cut costs to keep market share, and maintenance costs are typically a big target. In fact, it’s really easy to cut maintenance spending – just lay off maintenance crafts people and decide not to do routine maintenance. You’ll be a hero– for a little while. However, sooner or later, neglect will come back to haunt you. The only true way to permanently reduce maintenance costs is to permanently eliminate work. There are several ways to do this. Make sure the basics of cleaning, lubrication, and contamination control are in place. Implement a precision maintenance program to make equipment last longer (point 5). Use PdM to reduce the scope of repairs by correcting incipient problems before failure (point 9). Avoid unnecessary “open and inspect” intrusive maintenance that usually causes problems due to contamination and reassembly errors. Ensure that the craftspeople have sufficient skills and procedures to do the job right the first time (point 4). Carefully assess all work requests from the field to determine if it truly adds value and should be done – otherwise, reject it. Deferring maintenance spending is a shortterm fix that has long-term implications. If you have not changed the “system” (see point 6) by any of the above techniques, expect the costs to rise six to twelve months in the future – and they will keep rising. Sustainable maintenance cost reduction is a result of doing the right things to make the work go away, not because of some misguided attempt to stop spending money. C. Bruce Hawkins is a Senior Consultant with MRG, Inc., with over 30 years experience in implementing systems and processes targeted at improving machinery reliability. He has extensive experience at helping companies achieve improved operating results while reducing costs. An accomplished public speaker and educator, he has taught over 100 courses in Maintenance and Reliability Management as well as in Reliability Centered Maintenance and Root Cause Analysis techniques. Bruce has installed maintenance and reliability manage- ment systems in chemical plants, pharmaceutical operations, facilities, utilities, food products manufacturing plants, and many other industrial and government operations. He is the co-author of Lean Maintenance: Reduce Costs, Improve Quality, and Increase Market Share (2004) and of Maintenance Planning and Scheduling Handbook: Streamline Your Organization for a Lean Environment (2006). He earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University. He is Past Chairman of the Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals Certifying Organization (2003) and a past member of the Board of Directors of the SMRP. References 1. . www.uptimemagazine.com 43 http://www.barringer1.com/oct97prb.htm http://www.filterelement.com http://www.reliabilityweb.com/art05/procedure_based_maintenance.pdf http://www.uptimemagazine.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Up Time Magazine- August/September 2008

Up Time Magazine- August/September 2008 Contents Upfront Upclose Information Technology Lubrication Infrared Maintenance Management Motor Testing Precision Maintenance Reliability Ultrasound Vibration Upgrade

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