Reliable Plant Home Page

Prolonged bearing life through effective grease lubrication

2010-10-21T16:55:55-05:00

Grease lubrication knowledge is vital for a bearing company. SKF is putting its knowledge of this area into creating new products and services that contribute to sustainability, energy efficiency and extended bearing life.

How to achieve vertical shaft plumbness using laser alignment

2010-08-18T14:06:57-05:00

Achieving plumbness in vertical hydro shaft applications is essential for proper operation. Precision plumbness helps reduce bearing temperatures, reduces shaft movement, reduces vibration and improves efficiency. From a scheduling perspective, achieving this accurately in the least amount of time is essential in saving money.

BMW: The ultimate reliability machine

2007-03-09T00:00:00-06:00

The global chairman of the board is a big proponent of effective plant maintenance.

Plant production, engineering and logistics workers say with a straight face, "I don't remember us having any downtime in 2006" and "the equipment isn't a stumbling block for us."

Targets for overall equipment effectiveness exceed 90 percent (world class is considered 85 percent). Plant leaders say the marks are achievable or already have been surpassed.

Uptime nears 100 percent in some mission-critical areas.

Maintenance attention is equally focused on the past, the present and the future (up to seven years down the line).

Reactive work in some areas comprises less than 5 percent of the overall task load.

Impossible? A pipe dream? A distant goal? Nope. That is the current state of reliability at BMW Manufacturing Company's plant in Spartanburg, S.C.

Electrivert Introduces Manufacturing System Analysis

2012-02-09T10:26:54-06:00

Electrivert Inc. recently introduced a new cabling and termination (C.A.T.) scan process to help customers achieve increased efficiency, reliability and serviceability.

The four-phase process is an in-depth analysis of a company's machines, systems and processes that identifies opportunities for improvements in the following key areas:

Cabling selection and consolidation
Connector selection and consolidation for a more modular design
Streamlined build processes
Reduced manufacturing and installation costs
Increased reliability
Greater serviceability
Modifications to meet UL and NFPA regulations

"The Electrivert C.A.T. scan enables us to help our customers streamline their designs, reduce costs and improve overall efficiencies," said Jody Williquette, Electrivert’s business development manager. "Our services identify ways to improv

HELLA to Build to New Plant in Mexico

2012-02-07T11:09:01-06:00

HELLA Lighting plans to break ground on a new 215,000-square-foot facility to produce automotive headlamps and rear lighting systems in Irapuato, Mexico, later this spring.

Located in the state of Guanajuato, the new plant is scheduled to open in June 2013 with an annual capacity of approximately 1.2 million headlamps and 1.5 million rear combination lamps. HELLA plans to invest more than $97 million in the new facility.

The company also is expanding its facilities in Guadalajara, Mexico. A new 9,000-square-foot design and development center for lighting technology is expected to open this March. In addition, HELLA is scheduled to complete a 15,000-square-foot expansion of its Guadalajara manufacturing complex in June.

The new manufacturing facilities will increase HELLA's annual production capacity in the Americas for headlamps from 3.7 million to 4.9 million. Production capacity for rear combination lamps will grow from 2.5 million to 4 million.

Volkswagen to Add 200 Jobs at Tennessee Facility

2012-02-02T08:28:33-06:00

Volkswagen Group of America, Chattanooga Operations, LLC recently announced the company is creating 200 new jobs at its Tennessee manufacturing facility. The positions are needed as Volkswagen Chattanooga increases production capacity from 31 to 35 cars per hour. The new jobs will be integrated into Volkswagen's current two-shift operation and filled by full-time Volkswagen employees.

"We have had good success hiring local people who can work together as a team to build our cars safely and with the highest quality," said Hans-Herbert Jagla, executive vice president of human resources, Volkswagen Group of America, Chattanooga Operations, LLC. "Now, we are excited to have 200 more people join our team."

The Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga currently employs more than 2,500 people, about 2,000 by Volkswagen and additional 500 by Aerotek, the company's staffing partner.

"These 200 new positions are all full-time Volkswagen jobs,&quo

Daimler Adds 1,100 Jobs at North Carolina Plant

2012-01-31T09:50:29-06:00

Daimler Trucks North America has announced the addition of a second shift and plans to ramp up production at its Freightliner Truck manufacturing plant in Cleveland, N.C., creating more than 1,100 new jobs by the end of 2012. The additional workers represent a 72 percent increase in personnel at the plant and will include approximately 1,072 shop employees and an additional 29 engineering and support positions to facilitate increased production.

A majority of the positions will be filled with recalled workers who were laid off in 2009.The ramp-up will nearly double the daily production rates at the Cleveland plant by October 2012. The increase in production capacity and hiring comes in response to demand growth, which has created backorders as long as six months for the Freightliner Cascadia model.

The Cleveland plant currently employs approximately 1,400 shop employees and 72 engineers, managers and support staff. As the largest Freightliner Trucks manufacturing plant i

Briggs and Stratton to Consolidate Facilities

2012-01-27T16:45:09-06:00

Briggs and Stratton Corporation has announced that it will move existing manufacturing from its Newbern, Tenn., facility to its McDonough, Ga., facility. The company will also close its Czech Republic plant, shifting production to its Murray, Ky., facility. In addition, Briggs and Stratton will continue reducing capacity by reconfiguring and idling certain assets at its Poplar Bluff, Mo., facility.

These changes will result in the closing of the company’s facility in Newbern Tenn., affecting approximately 240 regular employees and 450 temporary employees. Additionally, the closing of the Czech Republic facility will affect approximately 77 regular employees. The company does not anticipate significant employment changes at its Poplar Bluff, Mo., facility.

“The actions announced today to consolidate our manufacturing footprint further will better align our production capacity to the markets we serve,” said Briggs and Stratton CEO Todd Teske. &ldqu

Ultrasound World VIII to be Held in Florida

2012-01-26T08:46:59-06:00

Ultrasound World, a forum for ultrasound technology, has been scheduled for May 14-17, 2012, at the Clearwater Hilton in Clearwater Beach, Fla. Entering its eighth year, Ultrasound World has grown into one of the top conferences for reliability and energy conservation. This year’s program will feature presentations and short courses by users of ultrasound technology and will cover a wide range of topics for condition monitoring and energy conservation.

Among the presentations offered include “No More Equipment Failures! Can You Say That?” by Todd Fraser of Procter and Gamble, who will describe how his department dramatically reduced bearing failure incidents using ultrasound technology. The short course “Clean, Green and Reliable” will explain how equipment reliability delivers low-cost, energy-efficient assets at plants around the world. Other important topics, such as effective energy conservation practices and detecting and a

Colfax Corporation Acquires ESAB

2012-01-24T08:24:25-06:00

Colfax Corporation recently acquired Charter International, owner of ESAB Welding and Cutting Products.

Located in Ireland, Charter International was the parent company of ESAB, a global leader in the welding products industry, and Howden, a manufacturer of heavy-duty air and gas handling equipment.

“We are very excited about this acquisition,” said Andrew Masterman, president and CEO of ESAB North America. “Colfax Corporation is a leading manufacturing company with a proven operating system – the Colfax Business System – and is solidly focused on customer needs and the development of strong brands. This is a perfect fit for ESAB, as we are a world-class leader in the welding industry – a position we have attained by building strong partnerships with our customers and by creating a brand that is trusted worldwide.”

ESAB employs more than 8,500 people worldwide and is one of the top manufacturers in the welding industry

Case IH Plant Receives Energy Efficiency Certification

2012-01-20T08:33:21-06:00

The Case IH tractor plant in Racine, Wis., was recently accredited with ISO 50001 certification for energy management. The certification is intended to provide organizations with the framework for integrating energy practices into their management procedures.

To achieve ISO 50001 certification, the Racine tractor plant was audited by a third-party firm, UL-DQS, which recommended the plant to the American National Accreditation Board (ANAB). Under its current energy management system, the plant will continue to improve its energy efficiency and has formalized its process, tools, roles and responsibilities to ensure the system’s sustainability.

“This accreditation for ISO 50001 recognizes the Racine plant’s continuous improvement in energy efficiency and Case IH&rsqu

Solar Power Plant to be built on Arizona State Campus

2012-01-19T08:29:10-06:00

Salt River Project (SRP), Arizona State University (ASU) and SunPower Corporation have announced an agreement to build a 1-megawatt solar photovoltaic power plant at ASU's Polytechnic campus in Mesa, Ariz. The 1-megawatt facility will be the first commercial deployment of SunPower C7 Tracker technology, a solar photovoltaic tracking system that concentrates the sun's power and is designed to achieve the lowest levelized cost of electricity for solar power plants.

SunPower will engineer and construct the plant on the southeast corner of the ASU Polytechnic campus and will operate and maintain it. Under a purchase-power agreement, SRP will buy the entire output of the solar plant from SunPower, while ASU will purchase all of the energy attributable to the plant for use at its Polytechnic campus. The plant is expected to produce energy equal to that needed to serve about 225 SRP customers' homes. It will require minimal water use and will support ASU's renewable energy

Nissan, Daimler to Produce Engines at Tennessee Plant

2012-01-16T16:17:15-06:00

Nissan and Daimler recently announced that they will produce Mercedes-Benz four-cylinder gasoline engines together at Nissan’s powertrain assembly plant in Decherd, Tenn. Production will begin in 2014, with installed capacity of 250,000 units per year.

“This is the newest milestone in our pragmatic collaboration and our most significant project outside of Europe so far,” said Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn. “Localized capacity reduces exposure to foreign exchange rates while rapidly enabling a good business development in North America – a win-win for the Alliance and Daimler.”

The collaboration marks the first production of Mercedes-Benz engines in the North America Free Trade region. The Tennessee plant’s strategic location and logistics links ensure a direct supply of engines starting in 2014 for the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, built at Daimler’s vehicle plant in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

“In the co

Alcoa to Close Tennessee Smelter

2012-01-13T08:47:19-06:00

Alcoa has announced plans to permanently close its smelter in Alcoa, Tenn., which was curtailed in 2009, along with two of the six idled potlines at its smelter in Rockdale, Texas. These closures will reduce Alcoa’s global smelting capacity of 4.5 million metric tons per year by 291,000 metric tons or about 7 percent.

Additional curtailments, which will be announced in the near future, will reduce Alcoa’s global smelting capacity by an additional 240,000 metric tons or about 5 percent.

“These are difficult but necessary steps to improve Alcoa’s competitiveness, preserve and grow shareholder value and protect jobs in the rest of the Alcoa system,” said Alcoa chairman and CEO Klaus Kleinfeld.

In addition to the curtailments, the company will accelerate actions to reduce the escalating cost of raw materials.

Kleinfeld added that Alcoa will work with all affected communities to explore ways to redeve

Chrysler to Reopen Detroit Plant, Add Jobs

2012-01-12T08:33:36-06:00

Chrysler Group LLC is strengthening its ties with the city of Detroit by adding a third crew and 1,100 new jobs at its Jefferson North Assembly Plant (JNAP), expanding the Jeep Grand Cherokee lineup to include a diesel version for North America in the city and reaffirming plans to add 150 jobs by reopening its Conner Avenue Assembly Plant for production of the SRT Viper.

Through its new commitments in the Motor City, Chrysler Group is embracing its Detroit heritage and weaving it into its future plans, which include producing fuel-efficient, environmentally clean vehicles. By adding 1,250 jobs at its two downtown Detroit manufacturing plants, Chrysler Group is demonstrating its belief in the passion, skill and dedication of the Motor City to build luxurious, high-quality, state-of-the art vehicles.

"We are pleased to have Chrysler Group acknowledge the contributions of the UAW here in the Motor City by relying on our workforce to produce two of its most acclai

GE to Build New Pennsylvania Remanufacturing Facility

2012-01-10T09:13:21-06:00

GE Transportation recently announced plans to establish a new production facility in Grove City, Pa., to meet accelerating demand for remanufacturing services. The company will invest approximately $35 million to build capacity at a new diesel engine remanufacturing plant, along with an additional $37 million in the existing plant, for a combined investment of $72 million in manufacturing in Grove City.

The new facility will be located at an existing site where GE anticipates employing up to 250 employees by early 2013, including approximately 100 current GE employees who will transfer from the current Grove City facility. Production is scheduled to begin by the end of 2012.

GE Transportation expects demand for remanufacturing services to increase significantly in coming years. This increase will be

Boeing to Close Wichita Facility

2012-01-06T08:36:44-06:00

The Boeing Company recently announced that the Boeing Defense, Space and Security (BDS) facility in Wichita, Kan., will close by the end of 2013. The facility currently employs more than 2,160 employees.

"The decision to close our Wichita facility was difficult, but ultimately was based on a thorough study of the current and future market environment and our ability to remain competitive while meeting our customers' needs with the best and most affordable solutions," said Mark Bass, vice president and general manager for BDS' Maintenance, Modifications and Upgrades division. "We recognize how this will affect the lives of the highly skilled men and women who work here, so we will do everything possible to assist our employees, their families and our community through this difficult transition."

Boeing Wichita is the base for the company's globa

AOC Earns LEED Silver Certification

2012-01-04T09:10:52-06:00

AOC LLC has earned LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for the design, construction and operation of its world headquarters in Collierville, Tenn.

LEED certification is an internationally recognized standard for green building. Factors like site sustainability, water and energy efficiency, materials, waste management, indoor environmental quality and design innovation earn points for a LEED candidate during evaluation.

AOC's LEED Silver qualifications include:

A geothermal HVAC system
Building materials with recycled or renewable content
Regionally produced construction materials and certified wood
Pollution prevention during construction
Low-emitting sealants, paints and construction materials
A reflective roof which eliminates heat buildup
Maximum use of ambient lighting
Increased ventilation and outdoor air

Patti Engineering Completes Automation Project at Inman Mills Plant

2011-12-30T08:56:44-06:00

Patti Engineering Inc. has announced the successful completion of an automation project at the Inman Mills plant in Inman, S.C., which manufactures a wide variety of yarns and fabrics. This is the sixth textile manufacturing facility Patti Engineering has modernized with custom-designed automation technology.

Inman Mills purchased a pre-owned Autoflow system (conveyors, motors and control panels), including an obsolete electrical-control system. Inman hired Patti Engineering to design and install a state-of-the-art electrical-control system.

The latest PC hardware, Phoenix Contact’s Steeplechase Visual Logic Controller (VLC) and Iconics Graphical User Interface (GUI) software were used to build a fully integrated electrical-control system. In addition to the design and installation, Patti

Tremco Wins 5 Excellence in Design Awards

2011-12-29T10:51:17-06:00

Tremco Roofing and Building Maintenance recently announced that it has won five 2011 RoofPoint Excellence in Design Awards.

The RoofPoint program from the Center for Environmental Innovation in Roofing (Center) is a voluntary, consensus-based green rating system developed to help building owners and designers select non-residential roof systems based on long-term energy and environmental benefits. The Excellence in Design Awards were established as a way to recognize exceptional projects that meet RoofPoint’s mission and criteria. In the inaugural year for the awards, there were 10 categories, and more than 40 entries were submitted. Tremco projects won awards in four categories, as well as an honorable mention.

In the excellence in life cycle management category, Tremco earned the award for efficient re-use of original roofing materials at the Sam Nunn Federal Center in Atlanta, Ga.

Tremco’s winning entry in the excellence in innovation category w

Crown Equipment Earns Recognition from National Safety Council

2011-12-22T09:31:30-06:00

Crown Equipment Corporation recently announced that eight of its facilities have received lift-truck operator awards from the National Safety Council for outstanding safety practices. The award recognizes forklift operators for operator excellence in lift-truck operations by operating lift-truck fleets without recordable or lost-time injuries. The seven manufacturing facilities and one distribution center are all located in Ohio and support Crown’s global business.

This is not the first time Crown and its facilities have been recognized by the National Safety Council. In 2010, the company received an Occupational Excellence Achievement Award for its achievements and implementation of effective safety programs and initiatives. In that same year, the company’s manufacturing facility in Greencastle, Ind., was recognized for achieving 1 million consecutive man-hours (10 years) without a lost-time injury.

“At Crown Equipment, we take great pride in safety ex

Jacobs Awarded Honeywell Contract for Baton Rouge Plant

2011-12-20T09:04:50-06:00

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. was recently awarded a contract from Honeywell to provide engineering services for the expansion of its Baton Rouge, La., manufacturing facility. Jacobs will execute the work from its offices in Mount Laurel, N.J.

The expansion enables the Baton Rouge facility, which is one of the leading refrigerant suppliers in the United States, to produce Honeywell's new low-global-warming-potential (GWP) blowing agent and propellant (HFO-1234ze) on a commercial scale. Production of HFO-1234ze is scheduled to begin in late 2013.

"We are pleased Honeywell selected Jacobs to be part of this cutting-edge project, especially since the investment will use next-generation technology to improve the energy efficiency for a multitude of applications," stated Jacobs vice president Bob Pragada.

Jacobs is one of the world's largest and most

Lockheed Martin Awarded Operations and Maintenance Contract

2011-12-16T10:50:19-06:00

Lockheed Martin has been awarded work by the U.S. Army's Product Manager, Joint-Automatic Identification Technology organization to provide operations and maintenance for the Radio Frequency In-Transit Visibility (RF-ITV) system. If all options are exercised over the course of five years, the contract is valued at $126 million.

RF-ITV sites exist worldwide in support of combatant commands and must be maintained at optimal levels of operational readiness to support joint forces. Through RF-ITV technology, the system provides last-known locations and in-the-container visibility for shipments that have active RF tags attached to pallets, containers or equipment.

"With the government's and Lockheed Martin's focus on affordability, the RF-ITV system is critical to manage military shipments such as cargo, supplies and unit movement," said DeEtte Gray, Lockheed Martin IS&GS-Defense vice president for enterprise IT solutions. "The Lockheed Martin t

NMHG Facility Named Top Plant

2011-12-15T09:06:17-06:00

NACCO Materials Handling Group (NMHG) Inc.’s Berea, Ky., manufacturing facility has been honored with Plant Engineering’s 2011 Top Plant Award. The award recognizes manufacturing facilities in North America that achieve outstanding operational results through application of engineering disciplines.

"The NMHG Berea facility is elated to receive this accolade," said John Gardiner, NMHG’s vice-president of manufacturing. "Our motto not only at the Berea plant but throughout all of our manufacturing facilities is that our workforce is our strongest asset. In order to empower our associates, we encourage open communication. The free-flow of communication in a cross-functional environment promotes innovation, which helps us reach common goals."

"NMHG Berea has an excellent record of safety, energy management and community involvement," said Bob Vavra, Plant Engineering’s editor and content m

Nice-Pak/PDI Converts Manufacturing Plant to ‘Zero Landfill’

2011-12-13T09:27:30-06:00

Nice-Pak/PDI has announced the transformation of its Orangeburg, N.Y., manufacturing plant into a "zero landfill" facility. The wet-wipe manufacturing plant now sends more than 2,000 tons of non-recyclable waste per year to a waste-to-energy facility in Peekskill, N.Y., where it provides fuel for electricity generation.

"Over the past several years, we have worked hard to maximize our in-plant recycling rate," said Adam Lurie, vice president of operations at Orangeburg. "Now we are using the small percentage of waste that is non-recyclable to produce cleaner electricity. Every year, this eliminates approximately 250,000 cubic feet of landfill, replaces 10 railcars of coal that would otherwise be burned to generate that same electricity and reduces greenhouse gas production by 1,967 metric tons of CO2-e (carbon-dioxide equivalent). That's like removing 380

Honeywell Adsorbents Used to Remove Radiation at Japanese Nuclear Plant

2011-12-09T09:52:36-06:00

UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, recently announced that its adsorbent ion-exchange products are successfully being used by Toshiba Corporation and Shaw Global Services LLC for the cleanup of radiation-contaminated water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan.

The Simplified Active Water Retrieve and Recovery System (SARRY) is utilizing UOP IONSIV Ion Exchangers to remove and reduce radioactive materials in the contaminated wastewater. The wastewater at Fukushima Daiichi was contaminated after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan earlier this year.

"Our thoughts are with those who have been affected by this disaster," said Mike Millard, vice president and general manager of Catalysts, Adsorbents and Specialties for Honeywell's UOP. "Honeywell's UOP is proud that our advanced ion-exchange products are successfully supporting the efforts to tre

Corporate Culture Cited as Root Cause of Mine Disaster

2011-12-08T13:28:53-06:00

The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) recently announced that it has imposed a fine of more than $10 million following its investigation into the April 2010 explosion at the Upper Big Branch-South Mine, which was operated by Performance Coal Co., a subsidiary of Massey Energy Co.

The explosion killed 29 miners and injured two, making it the worst U.S. coal mining disaster in 40 years. A report concluded that Massey's corporate culture was the root cause of the tragedy. MSHA has issued Massey and PCC 369 citations and orders.

"The tragic explosion at Upper Big Branch left dozens of families without husbands, fathers, brothers and sons," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "I made a pledge to the families of those we lost and the entire mining community to conduct the most complete and thorough investigation possible in order to find the cause of this disaster. The results of the investigation lead to the con

Caterpillar to Expand Operations in India

2011-12-06T08:34:10-06:00

Caterpillar Inc. has announced that it will build a new state-of-the-art $150-million engine manufacturing facility in India that will produce Perkins-branded 4000 Series engines. The company will also invest an additional $62 million in its off-highway truck manufacturing facility in Chennai. The new investment to expand truck capacity in Chennai is in addition to a $108-million investment for Chennai that Caterpillar announced last year. These new investments are part of the company’s goal to be the industry leader in India.

Caterpillar president Rich Lavin and Caterpillar India and ASEAN country manager Kevin Thieneman announced the new investments during an event celebrating the 40th anniversary of Caterpillar's manufacturing facility in Thiruvallur, India.

"The government of India has embarked on an aggressive plan to accelerate road construction and overall infrastructure development, and Caterpillar and our dealers are continuing to make investments

Toyota Plant Earns Environmental Excellence Award

2011-12-02T16:57:47-06:00

Toyota recently announced that its Columbus, Ind., manufacturing plant, Toyota Industrial Equipment Mfg., Inc. (TIEM), was awarded the Indiana Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence in the “Five Years of Continuous Improvement” category. This marks the third time the award has been bestowed on TIEM for implementing exemplary environmental projects with measurable results.

“By seeking out and utilizing innovative environment practices, TIEM has reduced waste, saved money and contributed greatly to Indiana’s environmental protection efforts, benefiting the health and welfare of the state’s communities,” said Indiana Department of Environmental Management commissioner Thomas Easterly.

“One of TIEM’s management pr

Frito-Lay Facility Earns LEED Gold Certification

2011-11-29T13:00:38-06:00

Frito-Lay's new distribution facility in Oahu, Hawaii, has earned the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED gold certification. The 55,000-square-foot design is Hawaii's first industrial "new construction" gold site. LEED certification is awarded from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). LEED is a nationwide program for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings.

Frito-Lay’s building design incorporated LEED requirements such as energy-efficient construction. Some features of the building and construction include an energy-management system to control facility equipment, photovoltaics to generate 10 percent of the facility's electricity, parking on the roof to reduce the amou

Toyota Opens New Mississippi Plant

2011-11-22T08:27:00-06:00

Toyota recently opened a new $800-million manufacturing plant outside of Tupelo, Miss., to assemble the Corolla. As the company’s 14th North American plant, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Mississippi (TMMMS) will have the annual capacity to produce 150,000 vehicles and will employ nearly 2,000 people.

"Building vehicles where we sell them helps us be even closer to our customers," said Toyota Motor Corporation president Akio Toyoda. "The U.S. market remains a key to Toyota’s overall success, and Toyota Mississippi will play an important role for us here."

"Toyota chose Mississippi for its dedicated, talented workforce, and I know they will enjoy great success at their newest facility," said Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour. "We are proud to be the home of Toyota, and we look forward to a long and successful relationship with our newest corporate partner."

"Mississippi has provided us with a great workforce

Modal Shop Releases Portable Vibration Calibrator

2011-11-17T11:20:46-06:00

The Modal Shop’s new 9100D portable vibration calibrator promises fast and simple field calibration for various types of accelerometers, velocity transducers and proximity probes. The rugged design makes it ideal for use on the plant floor and for traveling between multiple worksites, while a simplified user interface makes calibration an intuitive process. With calibration capabilities ranging from 7 Hz to 10 kHz over an amplitude range of up to 20 g, the vibration calibrator can be a powerful and versatile calibration tool for test engineers and technicians.

Whether being used to confirm alarm trip points in the plant or to verify sensors in a lab, the simplified navigation and quick four-step calibration process make the 9100D easy to learn and operate. To ca

Kimberly-Clark Receives American Business Ethics Award

2011-11-15T11:53:02-06:00

The Foundation for Financial Service Professionals recently announced Kimberly-Clark Corporation as the large company recipient of the 2011 American Business Ethics Award (ABEA). Kimberly-Clark was recognized at a special award ceremony at its headquarters in Dallas, Texas.

“We are heartened by the many examples of strong business ethics we have had the privilege of seeing through the ABEA program,” said foundation chairman R. Clifford Berg Jr. “We hope that in honoring companies such as Kimberly-Clark that adhere to the highest ethical standards in their dealings with employees, customers and stakeholders, the ABEA provides a beacon that guides others to choose the high road in all their business practices.”

Kimberly-Clark provides essentials to enhance the health, hygiene and well-being of 1.3 billion consumers around the world every day. These products include brands such as Kleenex, Huggies, Pull-Ups, Scott and Depend. Chairman and CEO Thomas

Involve the Right People for Effective Change

2012-02-08T10:05:42-06:00

In “Alice in Wonderland,” the white rabbit is eternally behind schedule and skittishly hyperactive. What is easily overlooked is his firm grasp of the subtle intricacies of effective change management. For example, he off-handedly advises Alice, “Don’t just do something, stand there!”

Although this statement initially appears counterintuitive – after all, much of formal change management is getting individuals to actually do things differently – the change will only be effective when the right people do the right things.

Oftentimes during change, so much emphasis is placed on end results that we take shortcuts on the way those end results are achieved. For instance, during a recent engagement, a client was implementing a new process for the operators to follow. To meet the expectation of a speedy implementation, the area manager intended to provide the process training to the operators. On the surface, that might not sound like a

Reliability Reduces Waste of Time, Talent and Resources

2012-02-06T08:45:11-06:00

Waste is seen in many different forms in manufacturing. Some of these wastes include physical, time and talent.

Physical waste is anything that is left over from the process that has to be discarded, recycled or sold. For every process, there is an expected amount of waste that is unavoidable. However, the waste that we will focus on is the excess waste that is produced because of equipment or process reliability issues. There are many processes that are a one-shot process, where if it is interrupted during the process, all of the materials become waste.

Time waste also directly relates to equipment and process reliability. Any time that the system is down for unplanned maintenance, that means there is extra time required to make up the work, idle manpower and manpower required to correct the deficiency. In many cases, the extra time required to make up the work falls into overtime or extra shifts.

Talent waste is the use of time and education to repair or cor

Using Orbits for Condition Monitoring

2012-02-03T08:32:41-06:00

Orbits have historically been used to measure relative shaft movement within a journal-type bearing. The shape of the orbit told the analyst how the shaft was behaving within the bearing as well as the probable cause of the movement. This was accomplished using proximity probes usually mounted through the bearings with a 90-degree separation and a tip clearance set to around 0.050 inches. With today’s modern analyzers, it is possible to also collect an orbit using case-mounted velocity probes or accelerometers to see how the machine housing is moving. Another way of putting it would be the orbit represents the absolute path in space that the machine housing moves through (see Figure 1).

How to Use Key Performance-based Metrics

2012-02-01T08:38:35-06:00

In today’s competitive global environment, we are constantly being asked to do more with less. Now more than ever, companies are asking their employees to become more productive, more efficient and more “lean.”

Strategic planning, value stream mapping, reliability engineering, loss elimination – these phrases have become popular from the boardroom to the shop floor. But where does their value really lie? How do we make decisions that uncover value, eliminate loss and allow for proper strategic planning for the future?

The answer lies not in the decisions we make but in the data we use to make those decisions. Good, strong data is key to making good, strong decisions. We are all familiar with the axiom of “garbage in, garbage out.” So what kind of data should we use? What metrics give us the best snapshot of our current levels of performance?

Asset utilization (AU) and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) are key performance

Get More Maintenance Work Done with Proper Planning

2012-01-30T11:43:23-06:00

Famous financier Bernard Baruch was often quoted as saying, “Two and two still and always will equal four.” This, some would say, quaint concept has fallen out of favor more and more in recent years, as clearly the restrictiveness of basic arithmetic is not something that should continue to bind us in today’s brave new world.

It’s much more useful if two and two can equal:

Whatever analysts are expecting it to be (or better).
Whatever your boss wants it to be.
Whatever will make this current project justifiable.

Keeping this in mind, some odd-looking math that actually works in plant maintenance is the rule that:
“10 minus 1 equals 16.5.”

This rule is a huge help with another rule that is always pretty much true:
“In most plants, there are never enough maintenance people.”

If I have 10 maintenance mechanics and

Lessons to prevent deaths during hot work in, around tanks

2010-03-31T10:04:45-05:00

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board has identified more than 60 fatalities since 1990 due to explosions and fires from hot work activities on tanks. This article summarizes 11 accidents – nine of which the agency has investigated – to highlight seven key lessons that were found to be applicable to all or most of the incidents, especially the need for effective hazard assessment and proper monitoring of potentially flammable air concentrations in work areas.

Hand tools deserve respect for safety sake

2007-03-28T00:00:00-05:00

Hand tools are extensions of our hands. When we misuse our hands, we experience pain. When we misuse hand tools, the possibility of injury to ourselves or people working around us increases considerably. Furthermore, using a tool incorrectly can damage the tool or even cause the tool to fail. Here are some guidelines for hand tool safety.

Use the Right Tool for the Job

Using the correct tool for the job is the first step in safe hand tool use. Tools are designed for specific needs. That’s why you’ll find screwdrivers with various lengths and tip styles and pliers with different head shapes. Using any tool inappropriately is a step in the wrong direction. To avoid personal injury and tool damage, select the proper tool to do the job well and safely.

Quality professional hand tools will last many years if they are taken care of and treated with respect. Manufacturers design tools for specific applications. If you use your screwdriver as a chisel o

The keys to lockout/tagout

2006-05-31T00:00:00-05:00

Picture yourself performing maintenance inside of a huge machine. Suddenly, the machine springs to life, powerful metal gears grinding around you, placing you in mortal danger. That is exactly the sort of terrifying scenario that lockout/tagout is meant to prevent. Lockout/tagout is a procedure to disable equipment to protect workers from either an unexpected release of energy or an accidental start-up while performing job activities.

When the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently revealed the 10 most-violated OSHA standards, based on citations issued from Oct. 1, 2004, through Aug. 30, 2005, lockout/tagout was the fifth-most-cited standard.
“Obviously, companies should comply with lockout/tagout regulations so they don’t receive citations and fines from OSHA,” says Benjamin Mangan, president of MANCOMM and American Safety Training Inc., two companies that align to provide OSHA compliance products and safety training. “But most impor

5-S, lean activities and leading by example

2009-05-27T00:00:00-05:00

“Preach the gospel at all times; only if necessary use words.”
- Saint Francis of Assisi

It is not what we say, it is what we do. Leading by example is a powerful method for success on our lean journey and in life – probably our most powerful. It removes doubt, builds trust and strengthens our message. It helps others to better understand and inspires action. It even helps us gain a deeper understanding. It shows what is important.

Can you guess who is shown in the picture above? This is the president of a company in Japan participating in the site’s daily 5-S activities. Each morning, the entire salaried management team works side by side to clean and organize the plant. From washing floors and trimming hedges to cleaning bathrooms, no task is left undone.

5-S, lean activities and leading

The kaizen 30-day homework list

2008-10-22T00:00:00-05:00

At the end of a fast-paced, energy-draining, week-long kaizen event, despite all the improvements achieved, our teams always end up with tasks that they did not complete during the event. Even with a well-defined scope and dedicated kaizen team, some items from our kaizen newspaper still remain open. During the kaizen “report out”, these items show up on our kaizen 30-day homework list.

Some things to think about …

Are kaizen 30-day homework lists considered good or bad?

Can we complete a kaizen event without having a 30-day homework list? Should we?

What does this say about the ef

Air kaizen: Re-examining your equipment

2008-07-08T00:00:00-05:00

Are you in the air business? I’m not referring to filling up tires, the airline industry, the medical gas industry or Michael Jordan shoes. My question is about the plain, simple air around us. To put it another way, do you press, push, drill, turn, paint, move or ship air?

For example, at one of our recent kaizen events, we found that we are pushing air at one of our presses. In this process, parts are loaded onto a feed table to the side of the press while the machine is cycling. Once the press finishes its cycle, the completed parts are automatically pushed out of the press by the new parts being pushed in from a pusher. The only problem is the distance or gap between the staged parts going into the press and the press opening is more than 24 inches. That’s a lot of air being pushed as the parts travel across the feed table before they actually enter the press.

Why Vibration Troubleshooting Instruments are Inadequate for PdM

2011-11-07T09:51:41-06:00

This video explains the difference between troubleshooting instrumentation and the types of instruments and software that are used to implement predictive maintenance programs. Often providers of troubleshooting instruments confuse the industrial market as to the differences between their capabilities and true condition monitoring.

Reliable Plant 2011 Conference and Exhibition

2011-02-13T16:35:54-06:00

The Reliable Plant 2011 Conference and Exhibition is coming to Columbus, Ohio on April 19-21, 2011. Get the details at Conference.ReliablePlant.com. This brief video shows highlights from the 2010 conference.

Philadelphia area manufacturing activity continues to expand

2011-01-21T08:41:36-06:00

Results from January's Business Outlook Survey suggest that the Philadelphia regional manufacturing activity continues to expand. The diffusion index of current activity edged down slightly to 19.3 in January from a revised reading of 20.8 in December. In the special questions, firms were asked about the factors that are influencing their hiring plans.

Educating corporate executives on importance of SMRP

2011-01-20T09:03:08-06:00

This video was made to attract corporate executives to the Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals and its Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professionals exam.

Former ThedaCare CEO on learning from manufacturing leaders

2011-01-20T08:57:28-06:00

Dr. John Toussaint, former CEO of ThedaCare, talks about how he learned from and was mentored by leaders from industry.

Solving Maintenance Problems with Mobile Collaboration

2012-01-25T08:41:27-06:00

Time is money. For companies with operations spread across the globe, delays in equipment maintenance issues or production line problems can kill the bottom line. If the most skilled engineer is located in New York or Detroit and the most important machinery is in Mexico or China, costs mount quickly when decisions are delayed. Typically, the expert (or a whole team of experts) would board a plane to go and try to solve the problem, causing further delays and incurring expensive travel costs. With mobile collaboration, no one leaves their desk, let alone the country.

Secure Mobile Video

The standard form of video collaboration facilitates face-to-face meetings in video-conferencing boardrooms. However, for manufacturers, the heart of their business is often the plant floor —

Share the Responsibility for PM Attainment

2012-01-23T08:28:43-06:00

Preventive maintenance (PM) is a cornerstone of reliability-based maintenance. It’s no surprise then that PM attainment has become a key performance indicator (KPI). However, it may surprise you that in many organizations, maintenance is not primarily responsible for this KPI.

Maintenance always has an important role, of course. It must create the PM program. It must generate, schedule and plan PMs. It also must have staff with enough skill to accomplish the PM. If maintenance is missing any of these things, it has a lot of work to do. But if PM attainment is already one of your current KPIs, these steps are probably already being done.

Yet if those planned PMs are not being accomplished, there is another likely reason besides maintenance capability. The most common reason for scheduled PMs not being accomplished is a change in the production schedule removing access to equipment and lines that were scheduled for work.

This doesn’t absolve maintena

Know Where You Are Going for Successful Change

2012-01-18T08:44:14-06:00

Early in his change-management career, Yogi Berra was advising a professional sports organization in New York on some of the finer points of managing change. At the executive briefing, Berra delivered his change-management theory overview, which he summed up in this single statement: “You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might end up someplace else."

Apparently, the executive board was impressed because they extended his engagement an additional 14 years. Although his actual change consulting career was short lived, Berra did highlight one of the most critical aspects of successful change – knowing where you’re going. In organizational change, where you’re going is usually summed up in business terms: lower cost, higher quality, greater customer satisfaction, etc. These objectives, however, are the results of specific, repeated behaviors. How change truly occurs is by getting people in the org

Creating an Environment for Planning and Scheduling Success

2012-01-16T08:47:43-06:00

Too many times and in too many organizations, we send people off to training with high expectations that they will lead change and improvement upon their return. We hope that overnight they have become equipped with the skills and knowledge to effectively start doing their new work. Unfortunately, weeks later, the trainee and his or her organization are frustrated with the lack of progress.

Where did we go wrong? Let’s take a recent case that I had the opportunity to witness. ABC Company chose to send its new planner/scheduler off to be trained in the proper procedures for planning and scheduling work. The planner came back to the site with his newly learned planning skills and attempted to plan and schedule work. On the first day back, he attended the normal morning meeting where the issues of the last 24 hours are reviewed and any items left uncorrected are assigned for the day. After the first hour was spent in the meeting, the planner headed off to his office only to be s

4 Steps to Learn New Skills in Less Time

2012-01-11T08:55:22-06:00

Business changes require that we effectively learn new processes and skills in less time. With the influx of a new workforce and the imminent exit of our most experienced workers, we need to document expertise so that it can become institutional knowledge. In this article, we explore a four-step kick-start that can help you capture the critical elements needed for a course in minimal time. After completing the four steps, a learning organization can prioritize development without losing vital intellectual capital.

The Life Cycle Institute believes that learning is a process of alignment, assimilation and application — alignment on learning goals and documenting expectations, participation in a learning event designed and delivered for how adults learn, and application of learning on the job. The four-step process described in this article is used to help ensure that the assimilate phase results in learning transfer and leads the learner to apply new understanding and to

Answering Common Maintenance Planning Questions

2012-01-09T09:07:39-06:00

At a recent conference, a number of questions came up that were never properly answered, so I thought I would try to address some of these. The questions involved getting maintenance planners to focus on planning, getting them focused on future work and allowing time to plan.

First, let’s look at roles. The planner should be strategic and focused on future work (i.e., next week and beyond). The supervisor, team leader or lead person should be tactical or focused on today and this week. If parts are needed this week, it’s not the planner but the supervisor who should be dealing with it. The same goes for emergencies; we can’t plan and schedule them, so they should not normally involve planners.

The planning group should be a separate group. The planners should have craft skills; often, they are some of your best craftspeople. However, if you have your planners attending the production meeting where the last 24 hours are reviewed, shame on you. How can th

5 Time Wasters for Reliability Engineers to Avoid

2012-01-05T08:19:19-06:00

You’ve heard the catch phrases. You’ve read the success stories. You’ve seen the return on investment (ROI) calculations and the positive trending that reliability engineers bring. You’ve even lobbied upper management. Your argument has been so convincing that you’ve secured approval in this year’s budget to hire a reliability engineer. The hiring process has begun, and you can’t wait for the results: more reliable equipment, fewer failures and increased availability and production.

If only it were that easy. Building a reliability program led by competent professionals takes work. It requires setting expectations properly. Most of all, it requires time. How do you accelerate the process to ensure the maximum benefit in the shortest time? Avoiding these top five time wasters could help.

Lack of Vision

No, we aren’t talking about whether your reliability engineer could have been a fighter pilot or whether

Surge protector: Superconductor cable prevents grid blackouts

2010-07-19T13:29:13-05:00

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is supporting a technological advance that could reduce the chances of blackouts. The Directorate's Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency helped fund the development of an electrical cable that could be used to link substations, providing backup sources of electricity in the event part of the grid experiences an outage.

Cook Composites and Polymers pursues energy efficiency

2010-03-24T10:54:48-05:00

Cook Composites and Polymers, a world leader in synthetic resins, is one of five plants that partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy's Industrial Technologies Program to participate in a pilot project that tested the criteria and assessment methods for a voluntary energy-efficiency certification program for manufacturing plants.

Cool software tools for managing industrial energy use

2009-05-13T00:00:00-05:00

Industrial system assessment software tools from the DOE’s Industrial Technologies Program demonstrate that tools do have the power to shape the way we conduct our business. Using these powerful software tools to find ways to reduce your industrial energy use can be a good first step on the path to developing a long-term energy management plan.

ITP’s software tools – for compressed air, pump, fan, motors, process heating and steam systems – were developed to meet industry’s need to measure and reduce energy use. Over time, these tools have laid the foundation for a variety of ITP activities, including end-user and specialist qualification training and Save Energy Now energy assessments.

Since 1

Cutting costs with energy auditing

2008-11-14T00:00:00-06:00

University helps to green the pharmaceutical industry

2007-10-25T00:00:00-05:00

Working under U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grants of more than $200,000, Rowan University’s College of Engineering (Glassboro, N.J.) is expanding its work in “green engineering” with several regional pharmaceutical companies. Green engineering is the design, commercialization and use of processes and products that are feasible and economical while minimizing the generation of pollution and risk to human health and the environment.

Led by project director Dr. C. Stewart Slater, a Rowan chemical engineering professor, with co-directors and chemical engineering professors Drs. Mariano Savelski, Brian Lefebvre and Robert Hesketh, the project team is composed of faculty, undergraduate and graduate students from Rowan and engineers from pharmaceutical firms.

Case studies in data analysis through predictive maintenance

2010-02-20T11:26:39-06:00

The case studies provided in this article are actual data analyzed by the author. The case studies representing vibration analysis will present examples and comparisons of bearing faults, unbalanced conditions and impact testing for natural frequencies. Each example will be represented as a spectrum and, in some cases, a timewave form which will provide evidence of a fault that is present in the particular segment of data.

Oil reports will also be presented to give conclusive evidence of a dirty oil condition, with the target ISO cleanliness level identified for reference.

Oil cleanliness is critical in eliminating premature component failure and extending equipment life. It enables maintenance departments to work toward increasing uptime and machine availability.

Infrared thermography is represented by thermal images of equipment components with temperature variations. Even slight temperature variations can indicate a potential problem in a machine component.

Dealing with a reduced maintenance staff

2009-02-11T00:00:00-06:00

The economic downturn is, or will soon, affect every one of us, which means we, once again, are going to be asked to do more with less. As maintenance departments lose personnel, decisions will have to be made on how to continue to keep operations running smoothly with fewer and fewer people. A shortsighted option is to drop condition monitoring (CM) programs entirely and let machines run to failure, leading to unforeseen machine failures and production difficulties – probably around the same time the economy begins to pick up and the plant is ready to return to full production! A better solution is to combine technology with strategic partnerships to streamline operations, reduce costs and keep the plant running smoothly. Fortunately, the trend toward outsourcing non-essential maintenance functions, including condition monitoring, began some time before the current economic downturn and the technology and procedures are already well developed to facilitate remote monitoring services.

Centralized vs. decentralized maintenance

2008-12-02T00:00:00-06:00

Companies often ask if maintenance planning and scheduling will work if they have a decentralized maintenance organization. Yes, it will. In fact, they need planning and scheduling just as much as a centralized shop. Let's review why.

Centralized maintenance organizations excel at planning and scheduling - to a fault if they don't give adequate attention to operations' concerns. The operations group may feel there is a "maintenance black hole." "Work orders go in, but don't come out." Or, they say, "I have to make maintenance do it today or promise to do it tomorrow; otherwise, they will never do it!" So, we decentralize maintenance to provide each area with its own maintenance force. The decentralized units may report to a single maintenance manager, but they are primarily responsible for maintenance in their assigned areas. The units may even report to an operations manager. Either of these variations may coincide with each individual on the crew being responsible for a particular mac