A brief discussion on plant loss analysis by George Williams.

In all the years of facilitating RCFA, what seems like the easiest part has proven to be one of the most challenging.  Documenting the problem statement.  It is human nature is to immediately develop an opinion and provide a solution.  When a group of people are put in a room together for an RCFA they immediately believe they are there to solve THE problem.  This leads to a focus on solutions to the event as it occurred.  The team gathers in the room and the facilitator asks what the problem statement is, and the replies tell it all.  “Jane, the operator, hit the wrong button.”  “The technician didn’t know how to install the bearing.”  “Poor lubrication.”  Sound familiar?

One can read thousands of books on leadership and maybe even train and practice enough to gain skills that help them influence others or manage people but does that make them a leader? Classes I’ve taken, books I’ve read, and approaches I failed at have all served me well in gaining understanding but to say doing these things can “make” a leader is something else entirely. Many of the folks who lead others are neither in leadership roles or qualified, whatever that means. They are people who think and act genuinely without hesitation because it’s simply who they are at the core. [Read more…]

6 Principles for Continuous Improvement

Today, I believe that we seem to overcomplicate certain elements of growth and improvement. Continuous improvement is one of those things. We repackage and rebrand things to create the perception that without us, it can’t be done. This is the consulting world in general. Is this really the case? I believe with these few principles and actual execution, your organization can see improvement. Below are a few of those principles: [Read more…]

The awareness gap results from management having limited or no knowledge of the maintenance function and its ability to contribute to the manufacturing process; and maintenance personnel, managers included, having a limited understanding of the business side of manufacturing. The result is that management and maintenance are often unsure about how they together contribute to the company’s success. [Read more…]

In many dealings throughout my career, including myself, it seems commonplace that people do not want to admit they need help. From physically, mentally, in life, or in business, our egos seem to always keep us from reaching our full potential. [Read more…]

Product demo of Fluke ii900 Sonic Industrial Imager. This unit combines the ultrasound and the visual spectrum to allow the user to see compressed gas leaks. This product demo includes and unboxing, review of features, a test, and review of pros and cons. [Read more…]

We review the purpose of and how to use the Notification or Service Request applications of your CMMS [Read more…]

CMMS Work Order Priorities explained. [Read more…]

Basic overview of how long description text is managed in most CMMS systems. Tips on why you should avoid using the long description to store valuable information. [Read more…]

We discuss calibrated instruments, calibrations, and test standards. For more information on calibration management visit our friends at http://calopex.com [Read more…]

Let’s take a look at how to understand the PM compliance metric. [Read more…]

Part 2 of our discussion with Sunil Kamerkar from AssetAnalytix. In this segment we discuss the culture of excellence needed to apply analytics and IIoT. [Read more…]