Reliable Plant January 2008

We hear much about how important process reliability is to achieving our objective of lean manufacturing, but what about the sometimes contrary goal of flexible manufacturing? As a consultant...

A good plant maintenance department, in some respects, is like a good professional football referee. "If we do our jobs right, nobody knows that we even exist." So says George Doll, the...

Some organizations still view operations as the customer and maintenance as the supplier. In my opinion, a customer-supplier relationship between operations and maintenance undermines equipment...

My preceding Reliable Plant columns presented the six principles of planning and then started presenting the six principles of scheduling, now to arrive at the fifth scheduling principle. These...

In his groundbreaking book "Good to Great", author Jim Collins takes a critical look at companies that have evolved to become great based on their share price performance relative to both the...

Quite a bit of confusion exists on the subject of motor circuit analysis. The confusion is centered on two issues: The very name of the technology. What this technology...

Have you ever run into an old friend you haven't seen in 10 or 20 years? Was that person dramatically different from what you remember? Maybe you recently attended a high school reunion and saw...

In the past decade, plants have seen maintenance and reliability improvement as one of the best areas to improve profits. This has led to a proliferation of consultants, training companies,...

The main purpose of the materials management organization is to provide the "right parts in the right quantities at the right time." But where do those material requirements come from? Whether or...

Named for a technique commonly used on failing pumps, "percussion maintenance" - where a technician beats on the pump's stalled motor with a hammer or rubber mallet - often indicates motor...

Brian Kenny, the plant manager of Paulco, teetered on the middle of a big picket fence. When does a career-making challenge turn into a career-limiting problem? Recently, he and plant lean...

The Reliability in Action department features case studies submitted by our readers. To have your article considered for inclusion in a future issue, e-mail it to parnold@noria.com. This issue's...

In this installment of Reliability Forum, Noria chairman Jim Fitch provides his insights on the topic of machinery lubrication. He writes: Lubrication requires constant attention. Vigilance is...