Satisfied customers come back for more, they spread your name around with their friends and colleagues and talk about you in that bright eyed way a teenager talks about their first love. While it would be fantastic if this feeling of mutual admiration could last a lifetime, the reality is in the service and consulting business the average relationship between a customer and a client is somewhere between 5 and 7 years. [Read more…]

by James Kovacevic 2 Comments

Leading & Lagging KPIs, What Is The Difference?

Using Leading & Lagging KPIs Can Make The Difference In Driving Performance, By Allowing You To See Into The Future.

This is the second part of a mini series on Key Performance Indicators. If you haven’t already please read the first post of this series on KPIs.

KPIs are often used to measure the past performance of a process, but did you know that they can be used to see into the future and predict the performance of the organization?

KPIs can be used to measure past performance, or predict future performance. This is because there is a cause and effect relationship between leading and lagging KPIs. When a process is measured, it will in turn effect another process which is also being measured, providing insight to future performance. [Read more…]

by Mike Sondalini Leave a Comment

Magnetic Flow Meters

Mag-flow meters are used to measure the flow velocity of conductive liquids. In a magnetic flow meter an electromagnet placed either side of the bore creates a magnetic field when the power is turned on. As the conducting liquid flows through the magnetic field a voltage is developed across the liquid. Insulated electrodes flush mounted in the wall of the meter detect the voltage. The magnitude of the induced voltage is proportional to the liquid velocity, the length of the meter and the strength of the magnetic field.

Keywords: electric current, isolation flanges, calibration. [Read more…]

by Doug Plucknette Leave a Comment

10 Things A Reliability Engineer Can Do Today To Improve Reliability

20 years ago, I began my first assignment as a Reliability Engineer at Eastman Kodak’s Photo Chemical facility in Rochester, New York. Now, I understand that I just lost several people who began reading this article by using the words “photo” and “chemical” in the same sentence, but 20 years ago, most photography was still a chemical process.

When I started in this job, the position of Reliability Engineer was a new thing to our company. As a result, I got little direction regarding what a Reliability Engineer should or could do to improve reliability in the area I was assigned. 20 years later, I would like to share a list of the 10 things any Reliability Engineer can do to improve reliability at their site. [Read more…]

by James Kovacevic Leave a Comment

What Is A Key Performance Indicator (KPI)?

Identifying the Right KPI for Your Business is Critical to Managing the Performance of the Business (Part 1)

“What gets measured, gets done” and Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are critical to measuring the performance of the organization and business. So what specifically is a KPI? According to the The Professionals Guide To Maintenance And Reliability Terminology, a KPI is a vital indicator which is used to evaluate process performance. KPIs are used to represents a measure (or set of metrics) focusing on those aspects of organizational performance that are the most critical for the current and future success of the organization. [Read more…]

by Mike Sondalini Leave a Comment

Equipment Identification Tags Save Time

Equipment Identification tags save time. Identifying equipment for operators and tradesmen will save time, reduce errors and promote accurate record keeping. Equipment identification involves putting a unique number and a unique written description onto a machine.

Keywords: CMMS, computerised maintenance management system, planning, breakdown repair, reporting faults, equipment tags, catalogue. [Read more…]

by James Kovacevic 1 Comment

Quantify Your Improvements with Maintenance Planning & Scheduling

Being able to communicate the improvements with Maintenance Planning & Scheduling with finance and senior leaders can be difficult. The maintenance team sees a high PM Compliance, or more work being complete, but what does that mean for the business in tangible benefits? This is where the communication between maintenance and finance breakdown. By being able to identify and link the maintenance improvements to financial returns, maintenance will be able to generate support for current and future projects. [Read more…]

by Mike Sondalini 3 Comments

Experiences with Magnetic Drive Pumps

Experiences with magnetic (magdrive) pumps. Magnetic drive pumps come in three varieties – canned motor pumps, all metal pumps and plastic lined metal pumps. They are sealless and cannot leak into the environment. Long, repair- free service life depends on recognising the limitations of these pumps. This article covers issues with using direct mounted, lined magdrive pumps experienced ‘in the field’.

Keyword: separation liners, chemical compatibility, sediment, particulate. [Read more…]

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The Top 5 Tips to Implementing a Successful Maintenance Planning & Scheduling Process

Implementing a Maintenance Planning & Scheduling process can be trying, difficult and downright frustrating. How would you like to dramatically reduce the stress involved and see results quicker? By utilizing these 5 tips, you will be able to build a robust, highly efficient and effective process with reduced effort. [Read more…]

by Mike Sondalini Leave a Comment

Shaft Coupling Selection Issues

What readers will learn in this article.

The purpose of shaft couplings and how they work.
What to consider when selecting shaft couplings.
Maintenance issues with using couplings.

[Read more…]

by Doug Plucknette Leave a Comment

That Won’t Work Here! How to Overcome the Top 5 Excuses

One of the most challenging aspects of being a consultant is addressing the musings of those who have accepted defeat.

With a smile of course; and friendly reassurance that you have in fact worked with companies who were worse off and with some training, confidence and a sound business plan they were able to turn things around to a point where people actually enjoyed coming to work. [Read more…]

by James Kovacevic Leave a Comment

See How Easily You Can Plan a Successful Shutdown

Using the Critical Path to Guarantee a Successful Shutdown

Shutdown, Turnaround, Outage are all the same thing. An extended planned downtime event, in which a tremendous amount of resources are utilized to ensure the site will be able to achieve its business goals. Whether the shutdown involves overhauls, CAPEX or a combination, the successful completion of the shutdown depends heavily on the planning and execution of it.

Shutdowns are resource intensive and often under compressed timelines. This unique situation requires a different approach to planning, scheduling and executing work, than the typically Maintenance Planning & Scheduling process. [Read more…]

by Mike Sondalini 1 Comment

Separation and Segregation of Dangerous Goods

Many of the chemicals we deal with each day are dangerous and need to be handled correctly and safely. Safe use of dangerous goods includes recognising when situations can arise where the consequence of a failure or error will result in danger to life, property or the environment. One of the methods used to minimise risk when dealing with dangerous goods is by separation and segregation.

Keywords: Hazard, storage facility, control, emergency plan, MSDS, material safety data [Read more…]

by Doug Plucknette Leave a Comment

Things I Learned by 50!

It’s Friday so I thought I would go back in the archives and find something light and meaningful. Enjoy 🙂

Old is relative.

I can remember thinking my dad was old when he turned 50. While I might look old to my kids I don’t feel old. When I look in the mirror each morning I still see the person I saw yesterday and he doesn’t look any older than he did the day before. [Read more…]

by James Kovacevic Leave a Comment

What Everybody Ought to Know About Work Order Closeout

How Capturing the Right Information Will Improve Your Job Plans, Increase Reliability and Improve Your Profitability

One of the most important, but often the least effective parts of the Maintenance Planning & Scheduling process, is the work order close out step. Here critical data is supposed to be captured and used to improve the job plan, identify future work and improve reliability. All of these add up to improve the profitability of the organization. [Read more…]