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Electronic Data Collection: The Bridge to the Connected Plant

Electronic Data Collection: The Bridge to the Connected Plant

Guest post by Ken Latino

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has created immense excitement and promise for industrial facilities. Having connected assets that continuously monitor their own health and feed that information back in a way that is timely and actionable will drive business outcomes and help organizations achieve loftier goals. The challenge today is that many of our assets are not yet “connected” or “intelligent,” meaning that they are not yet outfitted with the health monitoring instrumentation that provides the live, automated data feed directly to a centralized repository of data. Yes, critical assets like turbine generators, boiler feed water pumps, highly critical motors and the like are indeed outfitted with modern instrumentation and fail-safe solutions. However, in most industrial facilities throughout the world, this is a very small population of assets.

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World Economic 2021 Forum Global Risk Report

World Economic 2021 Forum Global Risk Report

Guest Post by Patrick Ow (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

The World Economic Forum has conducted a Global Risk Survey since 2006. This is the fifteenth survey. The responses are from 650 members of the World Economic Forum. In the preface to the 2021 Global Risk Report it is noted that: “In 2006, the Global Risks Report sounded the alarm on pandemics and other health-related risks.” (1) With this context in mind, the 2021 risk analysis “centers on the risks and consequences of widening inequalities and societal fragmentation. In some cases, disparities in health outcomes, technology, or workforce opportunities are the direct result of the dynamics the pandemic created.” (2)

This piece will review the results of the 2021 Global Risk Survey. It will also discuss some of the issues surrounding the survey.

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Win the World Cup with Plant Wellness Way

Win the World Cup with Plant Wellness Way

CHANGE THE GOALS CHANGES YOUR GAME

Let a Plant Wellness Way EAM System-of-Reliability End Your Business Risks Forever

In the Plant Wellness Way EAM system-of-reliability methodology you set world class performance targets for every work task. You do that so the people doing the job know what world class work looks like. Then you ask them to find new, successful ways to deliver world class outcomes in the tasks they do. That way you guarantee world class success.

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Forecast Parts’ Demands, Without Life Data, for a Nonstationary Process

Forecast Parts’ Demands, Without Life Data, for a Nonstationary Process

In the 1960s, my ex-wife’s father set safety stock levels and order quantities for Pep Boys. He used part sales rates and the Wilson square-root formula to set order quantities. 

Why not use the ages of the cars into which those parts go, to forecast part sales and recommend stock levels? Imagine you had vehicle counts (year, make, model, and engine) in the neighborhoods of parts stores, catalogs of which parts and how many go into which cars, and store sales by part number.

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What is Probability?

What is Probability?

with co-author Mark Fiedeldey

The definition of the term “reliability” begins by specifying that reliability is a probability.  Therefore, the concept of a probability, while sometimes intimidating to reliability practitioners, is fundamentally important.

Probability can be defined as the extent to which an event is likely to occur. Just as an average is a measure of central tendency, probability is a measure of uncertainty in a particular event or outcome. That’s all … Nothing intimidating here.

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Product Reliability: Selection and Control

Product Reliability: Selection and Control

In a recent Accendo podcast, Chris Jackson and Fred Schenkelberg discussed who is responsible for producing a reliable product, which included designers and suppliers. I’m going to weigh in.

The reliability of any product depends on the reliability of the individual components and joints within the product. That is, the ability of the components and joints to withstand exposure to stressors without degrading to the point that they fail, resulting in the product no longer performing as required. Stressors, which include corrosion conditions, fatigue, and wear, were discussed in an earlier article.

Whether individual components and joints have the reliability required boils down to two basic aspects of engineering – selection and control. The appropriate form (i.e. shape, dimensions, features) and materials for components and joints must be selected during product design. Then, systems must be put in place to control fabrication of components and joints, ensuring their form and materials are as specified. This will enable the components and joints to consistently meet performance and reliability requirements.

So, who’s responsible for this selection and control?

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Effectively Integrating Your CMMS with Current Systems

Effectively Integrating Your CMMS with Current Systems

Maintenance management software increases uptime and productivity, lowers maintenance costs and extends the life of equipment and optimizes inventory usage—provided that it integrates seamlessly with existing systems. One of the toughest aspects of managing this software is CMMS integration. If your CMMS doesn’t communicate smoothly and easily with your accounting, inventory, human resources, purchasing, and other systems, it can reduce response times and lead to an increased chance of error. [Read more…]

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Two Methods of Quick Mating Part Location and Alignment

Two Methods of Quick Mating Part Location and Alignment

Error Proof Quick Mating Part Location And Alignment. For speedy and easy maintenance it is best to design equipment with a means to insure accurate and exact location of contacting parts. This removes the opportunity for alignment errors during rebuilds and speeds-up maintenance overhauls. In this article is a sketch of two common methods used to provide positive and certain location and alignment between mating parts.

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Humans Have New Roles in this Digitally Disrupted World

Humans Have New Roles in this Digitally Disrupted World

Guest Post by Patrick Ow (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

While there is oftentimes a “generational war” between the young and the old in the workplace, where the divide is created by the younger generation’s familiarity with technology and the older generation’s aversion to it, the multigenerational concern that plagues all age groups is that technology will outpace humans, leaving many unemployed.

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RAGAGEP

RAGAGEP

RAGAGEP stands for Recognized And Generally Accepted Good Engineering Practices.

Specifically, OSHA 29 CFR 1910.119 (D)(3)(ii) states:The employer shall document that equipment complies with recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices.

EPA RMP also refers to RAGAGEP in 40 CFR 68.73:Inspection and testing procedures shall follow recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices. [Read more…]

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A Practical Approach to Plant Reliability?

A Practical Approach to Plant Reliability?

Guest post by Ken Latino

Have you ever thought about all the many elements of a successful maintenance/reliability initiative? It is the alphabet soup of acronyms. RCA, RCM, FMEA, ODR, CMMS, EAM, BOM, KPI, MRO, PdM, PM, IIoT … The list goes on and on. The problem is that while many of these elements are critical to implementing a successful asset performance management (APM) initiative, it is overwhelming for those tasked with doing it at the plant level. There is a tendency to want to apply all these tools and technologies to all areas of the plant at the same time.

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Unfit for Purpose – revised

Unfit for Purpose – revised

I approach problems with computer systems in a fairly critical way, but I am not anti-CMMS/EAM technology. I am, however, anti-waste. All too often I see a lot of time, effort, and money going into technology that simply doesn’t provide a return on the investment. When it comes to Maintenance data – it is often problematic and unfit for many of its intended purposes. Aside from helping to administer work orders, these systems often provide little business value. Does a small saving in administrative cost and time really justify the millions often spent on these systems?

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