| Special Focus MAINTENANCE AND RELIABILITY Since equipment failures can result in expensive unit or total plant shutdowns, best-of-class companies maintain the mindset that spending to improve reliability and equipment conditioning is beneficial to the organization. These programs also create value and should not be viewed as services, but rather as equal partners of operations in the creation of business value. This month's Special Focus explores innovative methods and programs to keep facilities operating at optimal performance. Photo: Personnel conduct a safety walk at BASF's 90,000-tpy acetylene plant inside the company's Ludwigshafen Verbund site. Photo courtesy of BASF.