Reality Maintenance 2009

By: Jim Hudson Director of Engineering Services, Trico Corp. We are inundated by reality television shows in our society. I must confess that I have watched my share of them as well. One of my favorite reality shows is Discovery Channels Survivorman. The premise is fairly simple; drop a guy in the most naturally hostile places on earth and see if he can survive for a period of time using only his knowledge, wits, and limited resources. The ability to survive in a harsh environment with the threat of failure always looming on the horizon seems to strike a common chord in our culture. This sounds very similar to being in a position of leadership in a manufacturing or industrial environment in North America. With the approaching changes in the economic landscape, maybe maintenance professionals should take a few pages from the survival guide of Les Stroud. Understand the Terrain The first step is to understand where you are. By surveying the terrain and getting your bearings you can begin to plan for your immediate survival and your ultimate escape to safety. In industry the terrain is a combination of the equipment, and the people. The equipment is made up of shafts, bearings, gears, windings, etc. Just as the wilderness expert can recognize dangers in the surroundings it is imperative that maintenance quickly identify the equipment that is a danger to the success of the facility. The operative word here is quickly. Elaborate methodologies and exhaustive data analysis can be performed to identify the 20% of equipment that causes 80% of the maintenance costs and production loss. This plan works well if you are safe and sound and have few time constraints, but those who are struggling to survive need something more immediate. This brings us to the people. The key operators and maintenance mechanics in your facility can easily and quickly tell you what pieces of equipment are endangering the profitability of the facility. Ask these folks to list the top five pieces of equipment that are killing the operation and you will have begun the first step toward your survival. Many facilities perform comprehensive weekly and even daily inspections on equipment that are not threats to the facilities success. This type of over inspection ties up valuable resources that could be used elsewhere. This also de-motivates the inspectors who begin to realize that inspections on non-critical equipment are nothing more than busy work. Once the list of at risk equipment has been developed, an analysis of the methods of failure can give direction on improving reliability. Unfortunately in many older facilities, process systems are more a product of evolution than engineering. Pumps that were designed to run at their best efficiency point when the plant first started up are now pumping well off the curve to keep up with production increases that have occurred over the years.

Use your Resources Now that you have identified the problem equipment it is time to take actions to give you the best chance of survival. Take stock of what resources you have available to you. As we mentioned the seasoned operators, mechanics, and supervisors are invaluable resources for your success. Also, suppliers to your facility have a large stake in your success and are willing to help with technical research and assistance. The first step is to begin or increase surveillance on the critical equipment to identify failures before they become catastrophic. But just as the Survivorman has limited resources, so do you. The key is to use the technologies and personnel you have. Visual inspections by a trained operator while on shift with a $70 infrared temperature gun can be the key to your survival. Just as a mother can tell when her children arent feeling well, your operator can tell when the equipment is performing abnormally. The key to these basic care inspections is training of the inspector. If we took our temperature with a thermometer and found that it was 102 degrees Fahrenheit we would know that we were getting sick and would take actions to get our fever down. Unfortunately, equipment inspectors dont always know what equipment temperature constitutes an alarm. Also, they dont know what actions to take when the alarm situation is discovered. The solution is training and documentation. General temperature alarm limits can be established based on historical norms or industry best practices. For example any bearing operating at or above 170 degrees Fahrenheit can be considered abnormal. A fifteen minute discussion with the crews in the control room at the beginning of their shifts may be all the training needed to begin a successful surveillance program. Documentation and repeatability of data is the next step to survival. By marking the inspection points on the equipment and producing a simple one page step by step inspections sheet, consistent data can be collected that will indicate when the equipment is moving toward failure. This document can also provide some basic actions to be taken to remedy the situation or instructions on contacting other facility resources. Be careful not to fall into the trap of investing in expensive technology instead of investing in training plant personnel. Twenty operators who have been trained to use their senses and some simple tools will catch more problems than one highly trained vibration technician. Finally, just as water is critical for a person to survive so too is proper lubrication. Often overlooked, proper lubrication can be the key to the survival of critical equipment. Visual inspections to determine proper levels combined with basic oil analysis can significantly improve equipment life. Also, as mentioned earlier, lubrication programs have been the product of evolution not engineering in many facilities. By revisiting the original equipment manufacturers

manuals and industry best practices the proper lubricant can be determined for each piece of equipment at its current operating parameters.

Dont Panic Every day we are bombarded with economic news that makes us fear the future. It is important to not panic during these economic times. Just as Survivorman always seems to have a plan you too must have a plan. The plan should entail retaining your key personnel, reducing waste, and fully utilizing all the skills and talents of your existing workforce. During difficult times communication becomes critical. If the rumor mill is working overtime in your facility it is an indication that the lines of communication to the shop floor need improving. The good news is that improving communication doesnt cost anything but time and effort. It is important to paint a real picture of the situation for everyone. Budget cuts and layoffs will no doubt be a reality for many in manufacturing in the coming year. But it is important to convey the message that equipment reliability is the key to everyones survival. It is also important to frame reliability improvement not as a project but as a lifestyle. Projects have an ending date, but reliability improvements must continue throughout the life of the facility.

About the author Jim Hudson, Director of Engineering Services, Trico Corp / Predict Inc. Jim has over twenty years of experience in the manufacturing industry developing and implementing maintenance programs that encompass operator basic care, lubrication, condition monitoring, and precision maintenance. With a degree in mechanical engineering, he has used his skills in the roles of project engineer, planner, supervisor, reliability engineer, and maintenance manager in all areas of an integrated pulp and paper mill. For the past five years Jim has aggressively pursued a culture change to structured reliability that significantly minimized downtime in a plant with over 15,000 pieces of equipment. He used the plants limited resources to gain considerable improvements and cost reduction through reliability techniques such as Condition Based Monitoring and Vibration Analysis. In addition he implemented the design maintenance software application MAINTelligence to integrate monitoring, inspection, and asset management into one database. Jim is well known in equipment reliability management for the pulp and paper industry as an author and presenter of numerous technical papers and presentations.