Which Predictive Maintenance Technology Is The Best?

Which Predictive Maintenance Technology Is The Best?
by Terrence O'Hanlon, Publisher and CEO Reliabilityweb.com and Uptime Magazine

I participate in many MaintenanceForum.com and LinkedIn discussion groups and I learn a lot from them.  Recently I was involved in a discussion that I hope was much more theoretical than practical.

The question posted was something like “If you could only choose one predictive maintenance (PdM) technology (I assume from the big 5 PdM technologies Vibration Analysis, Infrared Thermal Imaging, Airborne Ultrasound, Electric Motor Testing and Oil Analysis) which one is the best?”

Click here for Vibration Analysis articles and video tutorials

Click here for Infrared Thermal Imaging articles and video tutorials

Click here for Airborne Ultrasound articles and video tutorials

Click here for Electric Motor Testing articles and video tutorials

Click here for Oil Analysis articles and video tutorials

If you are involved with Predictive Maintenance, perhaps a better question is “Which PdM technology should we begin with?”

There is NO one predictive maintenance technology that does everything (even if the sales rep tell you differently!).

All 5 of the primary predictive maintenance technologies work together well – much like a doctor would use a stethoscope, a thermometer, collect blood and urine samples for analysis and possibly conduct more specific tests like a Doppler or EKG to make a diagnosis based on as much information as possible.

It would be nerve wracking to hear your Doctor ask – which diagnostic instrument is best – a stethoscope or a thermometer? 

Imagine the lack of confidence you would have if your Doctor said “Well Tom, your temperature is running pretty high so I think we should remove your gall bladder.”

Yikes – you probably agree with me that your life and health are worth finding a doctor who uses all available technologies to assess your condition.

It is fine to begin with one predictive maintenance technology but it not fine to end with only one.  Prove the worth of having the ability to detect potential failures further in advance, then use that benefit to justify adding more technologies to improve your failure detection capabilities.

Passion For Maintenance Reliability

Passion For Maintenance Reliability
by Terrence O'Hanlon, Publisher and CEO Reliabilityweb.com and Uptime Magazine

I have been thinking a lot about the different people and the different maintenance reliability programs I come into contact with.  What are the differences between a high performance program and one that is not?

Many winning programs have one or more passionate and driven people who are involved with leading the program.  They may or may not be the managers but they are most certainly leaders.  They are empowered people who know what actions to take to move the company forward.  They are passionate about improving company performance, sometimes in spite of the fact that the company may not want to do some of the things they must to improve reliability performance.

These individuals are also passionate about improving themselves – which is why I get to meet them.  Regardless of how experienced or seasoned they are, they are active participants in learning and networking events like the International Maintenance Conference, the Reliability Centered Maintenance Managers’ Forum or the Predictive Maintenance Technology Conference.    We consider ourselves lucky that these leaders join our events each year and that drives us to deliver high quality sessions.

Find more maintenance reliability conferences here

Find out if you have a high performance maintenance reliability program

They attend these conferences, not because they are missing knowledge, but because they tend to keep their minds open and fresh for new ideas, approaches and strategies.  Even though they already have high performance reliability programs, they wake up early, they attend keynote sessions, they sit through workshops, they ask questions during presentation sessions and they network with other attendees.

In other words, their passion drives them to improve themselves so they can improve their company.

Are you passionate and driven to improve yourself?

What would your CEO say (or even know) about reliability?

What would your CEO say (or even know) about reliability?
by Terrence O'Hanlon, Publisher and CEO Reliabilityweb.com and Uptime Magazine

At the IMC-2010 The 25^th  International  Maintenance Conference we were fortunate to have a special keynote presentation from Robert Buker Jr., CEO of US Sugar, the largest Sugar company in the domestic US.

Mr. Buker spoke about the business transformation made at this 70 year old company and the role that Reliability played in the result.

As you watch the International Maintenance Conference video, imagine your company CEO speaking about reliability

Please take an hour and watch this special video presentation here

Watch more reliability videos here

International Maintenance Conference web site here

Is there a reliability intelligence failure at your organization?

Is there a reliability intelligence failure at your organization?
by Terrence O'Hanlon, Publisher and CEO Reliabilityweb.com and Uptime Magazine

I just finished reading an article that reported on a recent Pentagon study about our battlefield effectiveness and performance in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The report states, “that U.S. troops didn’t understand the basic realities of society, culture and power structures in Iraq and Afghanistan, and couldn’t explain what they were doing to skeptical populations.”

“We were slow to recognize the importance of information and the battle for the narrative in achieving objectives at all levels,” according to a May 23 draft of the study.”

“In operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere,” the report reads, “a failure to recognize, acknowledge and accurately define the operational environment led to a mismatch between forces, capabilities, missions and goals.”

The report considers these issues less a strategy failure than an intelligence failure.

Think about that.  The United States military arguably has the best strategies, techniques, technologies and tools available yet by ignoring things as important as the local culture and history, they were not able to use the resources to their advantage. They suffered intelligence failures.

In addition, the U.S. soldiers and leaders were unable to effectively “tell the story” of the mission to the locals in a way that they would not only stop them from undermining U.S efforts but might actually get them to “buy-in” and “support” the mission goals.

The Pentagon thinks that understanding culture and using an effective narrative is so important that one solution you will likely see in the future will be a sociologist embedded with U.S. forces in order to get a better understanding of local culture.

Does any of that sound familiar to you?

While your maintenance reliability program likely does not enjoy the level of resources available to the U.S. Military, you probably have a good strategy, good techniques, good technologies and tools.

Do you have a full understanding of the workforce culture? 

Are you and your team members able to tell the story (the narrative) of your reliability mission so that operators, purchasing and management “buy-in” and “support” the goals? 

As a maintenance reliability leader, you must be an effective Reliability Sociologist to ensure you understand the culture of the workforce you will be working with and the story that your own team is telling.  That is how you will win the battle and the war!

Please comment on these points.

Do I have any Klout?

Do I have any Klout?
by Terrence O'Hanlon, Publisher and CEO Reliabilityweb.com and Uptime Magazine

No I do not mean clout – which is my influence in the real world.  I mean Klout  -my influence in the digital world. 

That is right, there is online influence tracking service – whether you want it or not – that tracks your influence over others.

I am not sure exactly how it knows my influence but it seems to have something to do with my use of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and my Maintenance Talk Blog.

Are they serious?  Yes.  Should you care?  Maybe. 

Admit it, we all love ranking and I will wager that more than a few of the people who read this post will visit Klout to see if they are ranked and if so – what their ranking is.

I have even read a Wired Magazine article where a person has lost a job opportunity simply because his Klout Score was too low. 

Here is what I have to say on the subject.

If you have something valuable to say and you have an audience to say it to, then you have Clout (and possibly some Klout).

If your messages are simply promoting, selling and marketing oriented, you may earn some Klout but you do not really have Clout!

Adventures in Piping Analysis

Adventures in Piping Analysis


This article is a vibration case history using Operating Deflection Shape (ODS), Experimental Modal Analysis (EMA) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) tools and computer animation techniques to solve difficult rotating machinery problems.

Disclaimer

Based on my experience there are very few experts that specialize in vibration analysis of piping and plumbing line applications. At Full Spectrum Diagnostics we get our share of piping problems, but we really can’t consider ourselves experts. With piping problems we delve into a world of “rules of thumb,” “trial and error,” and “tribal knowledge.” Now, with that said, let me set the table with some of the complexity associated with this type of analysis.

First of all, piping and plumbing lines will vibrate.

Read "Adventures in Piping Analysis"

Reliability Leadership and Maintenance Culture

Leadership and Culture
by Terrence O'Hanlon, Publisher and CEO Reliabilityweb.com and Uptime Magazine

I happened on a great interview about how important company culture and leadership is from the NY Times today with Mike Sheehan (whom I had never heard of before today).

It caught my eye because Reliability Leadership and Culture is the theme for IMC-2012 the 27^th International Maintenance Conference being held December 4-7, 2012 at the beautiful Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort on Bonita Springs Florida.

Find out more about IMC-2012 here

Join the LinkedIn Group for IMC-2012

You can read the article titled Yes, You’re Smart, but What About Your Topspin? here but these are 2 excepts I found very useful

Sheehan on leadership:

I saw leaders who were good role models, too. I liked the leaders who pushed very hard, and they could get the best out of you without being overly tough. They corrected you, but there was just a positiveness to how they approached everything that attracted me to them as leaders.

I’ll never forget that. They’d be very tough on you, but they knew when to take a little bit of a break and maybe whisper something or just let you know that they were empathetic. They knew when they’d pushed too far and they knew how to pull back.

They were a great example of a saying that I use all the time: “You treat people well, they will return the favor. And if you treat them poorly, they will return the favor.”

Sheehan on culture:

I think there are two kinds of cultures, and then you can subdivide them after that. One is based on a foundation of insecurity, fear and chaos, and one is based on a firm platform where people come to work and they’re worried about the work itself. They’re not worried about things that surround the work and are not important. I’ve tried to make Hill Holliday that kind of environment, where people come to work and they’re not worried about their peers shooting them. If leadership doesn’t provide a forum for that kind of behavior, it dies quickly. People forget about it and they just focus on doing their job.

You don’t want a conflict-free zone, but you want the conflicts to be about the work itself. Sometimes you have to dig a little bit and talk to people, but if you find out the conflict is about the work, then that’s good, because it’s healthy. I think that in a lot of workplaces it’s the opposite — people have to come to a consensus on the work, and so all the conflicts are political.

That’s one thing that the founder, Jack, instilled in the culture. It’s not a democracy. You’ve got to make tough decisions and then you’ve got to move on. “The enemy’s out there,” he would say. “The enemy’s not in these four walls.”

I hope you find this as interesting and valuable as I did

~Terry O

A New Era: Wear Particle Analysis/ Ferrography

Wear particle analysis, or ferrography, is a technique that is growing everyday. With industrial needs for reliability and higher productivity to compete in the world market, techniques such as wear particle analysis become vital in making diagnostic and specific recommendations regarding potential machine problems.

Find more articles on Oil Analysis

Find more video tutorials on Oil Analysis

Having wear particles provide evidence of machine problems depends on the industrial application from a clean environment to a dirty one. However, showing photographic proof and describing the surface texture, size, shape, and morphology of the particles gives us evidence that something is potentially wrong with the machine prior to major damage. This article will describe improved ferrographic instrument design utilizing the new ASTM Standard description for wear particles. Additionally, we will review the basic operating process for utilizing ferrography to pinpoint any machine condition issues.

Read Now: A New Era: Wear Particle Analysis/ Ferrography

That is the way we have always done maintenance around here

That is the way we have always done it around here

How many things, tasks, and activities are you doing because that is the way things have always been done?

Are you simply accepting that there must be a reason to be completing these tasks? Surely someone (much smarter than you) thought there was enough reason to begin the tasks in the first place.

Make sure that you take the time to do a periodic review of your maintenance tasks and ensure that each is designed to:

1. Prevent a failure
2. Detect a failure
3. Comply with a law or regulations

There are many methods you can use including Reliability Centered Maintenance, PM Optimization, Maintenance Task Review and more to ensure your efforts are aimed toward the right targets.

Find articles on this topic here

Find video tutorials on this topic here

As for the third justification for maintenance tasks – that it is somehow regulated or required by an external authority even if it is not adding value – can be a lucrative opportunity for improvement during a review process.

Because the consequences for violating a regulation or law can be significant, most people will simply accept “we cannot change it because it is required by (insert the name of the authority here).”

Are you sure?  Who says so anyway?  Have you done a review to verify if the procedure is actually required and can be traced to a specific regulation or is it an internal process that gained validation by claiming to meet an unspecified regulation?

You may find some tasks, processes and procedures that can be eliminated.   If they were not adding value – then you are getting a great deal of return for having taken the time to verify and validate that there is or is not a reason to be conducting them.

Do yourself a favor and schedule a maintenance task review as soon as possible. 

Here is a semi-related article from the brains at Harvard Business Review titled

Learned Helplessness in Organizations.  I hope you find some value in reading it.

A Cradle to Grave Approach - Motor Management at Its Best

A Cradle to Grave Approach - Motor Management at Its Best


Ask a motor manufacturer how long one of its motors is expected to live, and the response will be something like, “20-plus years in the right environment.” Ask the same question in a facility that uses such a motor and the answer is more likely to be, “If we get five years out of it, we’ll be happy!” Why does this discrepancy exist? Why do motors die of an infant mortality instead of living to the ripe old age for which they are designed and built? The answer has to do with the failure to optimize motor management and maintenance.


Read more at http://reliabilityweb.com/index.php/articles/a_cradle_to_grave_approach_-_motor_management_at_its_best/

Operational Readiness: Bridging the Gap Between Construction and Operations for New Capital Assets

Operational Readiness: Bridging the Gap Between Construction and Operations for New Capital Assets


It traditionally has been the case that significant leakage of anticipated project value occurs during the turn-over/commissioning and ramp-up periods of the new asset lifecycle. 


Case studies have measured this leakage to be as much as 30% of the value that was anticipated during the early stages of the total lifecycle.


The early stages consume the first three to five years and include the engineering, design, construction, commissioning and ramp-up phases. The ramp-up phase is usually the first year after commissioning-often a painful period of unstable operations, with significant lost revenue and profit opportunities due to unexpected and extended downtime. 


Of equal and often greater significance, the actual operations and maintenance costs (O&M) of the assets during the longest portion of the total asset lifecycle-the operate/maintain stage (often 30 years or more)-typically are 1% to 2% higher (conservatively speaking) than the expected total lifecycle costs assumed in the initial business case-and this does not include the operability value destroyed because of poor design choices, unprepared operators and maintainers, antiquated maintenance strategies and a lack of necessary documentation. 


Choices made during the early design and construction phases set in place the long-term operating performance, as well as the long-term operations and maintenance costs for the more than 30-year life of the asset. 


Poor choices can doom the organization into incurring unnecessary lifecycle costs, reaching into the hundreds of millions of dollars for some large projects.


Read more at   
http://reliabilityweb.com/index.php/articles/bridging_the_gap_between_construction_and_operations/ 

Uptime Magazine June/July 2012 Issue on online

Uptime Magazine June/July 2012 Issue on online 

The latest issue of  Uptime^® Magazine is now posted online featuring:

• Bridging the gap between construction and operations
• Pump improvement opportunities increase uptime
• Maintenance reduction with a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS)
• Implementing Electrical Signature Analysis as part of your Predictive Maintenance (PdM) program
• Motor performance management
• Using metrics to influence maintenance planning and scheduling
• Business excellence
• Eliminating lubrication cross contamination
• Oil Analysis: Journey to discovery
• A toothpaste factory had a problem
• OEE Goals based on Customer Takt Time
• Way of life at Luminant
• Interpreting Vibration Analysis Faults
• Level 5 Leadership at Work
• Much more…

Get the digital issue at http://www.uptimemagazine.com

Uptime Magazine Best Maintenance Reliability Program Awards 2012

Uptime Magazine Best Maintenance Reliability Program Awards 2012

Do you think enough of your organization's maintenance reliability program to enter the Uptime Awards for 2012?

We have added a more comprehensive first round assessment that will provide you with value simply from completing the process of entering.

There is no cost for entering so why not give it a try?

Find out more at http://www.uptimeawards.com