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www.reliableplant.com July - August 2008 1
Volume 4 Issue 4 www.reliableplant.com
CONTENTSJULY - AUGUST 2008
39
FeaturesCover Story6 HEAVY-DUTY PERFORMANCE
An innovative business teams structure is drivingmaintenance and operations excellence atNavistar’s engine plant in Huntsville, Ala. Readwhat makes this site so special.
Applied Reliability32 UNDERSTANDING THE LUBE
REQUIREMENTS OF COUPLINGSTo maximize the life of components such as bear-
ings and shafts, flexibility must be built in to absorbthe residual misalignment that remains after allpossible adjustments are made. Proper lubrication ofcouplings is critical to their performance.
36 A COMPARISON, EXAMINATION OF SELF-LUBRICATING BEARINGS
Self-lubricating plain bearings offer plant-floordecision-makers maintenance-free options to maxi-mize productivity and minimize costs.
Editorial2 EDITOR’S COLUMN
Paul V. Arnold says networking and match-making help solve industrial problems.
4 THE EXPONENTDrew Troyer wants you to manage the vectors
within your organization.
18-28 ADVISORSOur dream team of subject matter experts provides
guidance on issues important to you and your plant.
Maintenance management with Tor Idhammar 18Planning and scheduling with Doc Palmer 20Machinery lubrication with Mark Barnes 22Condition-based maintenance with Andy Page 24People management with John Ha 26Leading plant reliability with Tim Goshert 28
6
14 Show Stoppers29 Product Spotlight30 Supermarket38 News and Analysis39 Safety Report40 Safety Notes
Departments
36
HEAVY-DUTY PERFORMANCENavistar’s engine plant in Alabama is uniquethanks to folks like plant manager Chuck Sibley.
2 July - August 2008 www.reliableplant.com
I like to think of myself as a match-maker. My job as editor of ReliablePlant is to bring together people who
have information and great ideas with otherpeople who are looking for information andgreat ideas. I make the introduction, start theconversation flowing and step back.
The match might be sparked by a coverstory, column or technical article in themagazine. It may stem from an article on ourWeb site or inside one of our e-mail newslet-ters. Or, it could be the result of a case studypresentation at one of our conferences.
I get the most enjoyment out of theconference matchmaking because I get tofacilitate a face-to-face meeting. An attendeewill come up to me after a speech and say,“That plant is doing some incredible stuff.We need to emulate them. How can I learnmore?” At some point during the conference,I will bring the attendee over to the speakerand start the introduction process.Handshakes are exchanged. Business cardsget swapped. More times than not, I’ll see thetwo later in the day talking shop at the samelunch table or in the hotel bar. Weeks later,I’ll get an e-mail from the attendee statingthat he or she is heading up a benchmarkingtrip to the speaker’s plant.
The best matches occur when there is anequal exchange of ideas and solutions. Eachparty is a role model, excellent in some facetof plant performance, and each party islooking for help in another area. A few yearsago, I facilitated a meeting between anattendee (a plant-floor leader at a Fortune500 defense industry company) with aspeaker (a plant-floor leader at a Fortune500 auto manufacturer). It eventually led tothe defense company sending two dozenrepresentatives 1,500 miles to learn safetybest practices from the automaker. The carplant then sent nearly as many people tolearn lean concepts from the defense firm.
Subsequent benchmarking trips haveoccurred between the companies. To thisday, the two plant leaders keep in touch. Forme, that’s a good conference.
I had plenty of matchmaking opportuni-ties at Noria’s recent “Lean, Reliable andLubed” conference in Nashville. I brought inleaders from companies such as Bridgestone,Boeing, Ford, BMW, Whirlpool, Rio Tinto,Regal-Beloit, Clorox, The Stanley Works,Weatherford International and BatesvilleCasket to share their best practices and visionon the topic of lean reliability. The responsewas fantastic as measured by the amount ofnetworking that took place.
I’ll have another big chance October 6-8when I bring my Lean Tools for Maintenance& Reliability conference to Chicago.
The three previous Lean Tools events(Cleveland in 2005, Las Vegas in 2006 andCleveland in 2007) featured plant and corpo-rate leaders from Harley-Davidson, Toyota,Alcoa, Cargill, Raytheon, Honda, EastmanChemical, Intel, Coors, Nordson, Energizer,Ford, Autoliv, AstenJohnson, InternationalPaper, ABB, Karl Schmidt Unisia and the U.S.Postal Service. More great case studies arecoming this year. The firms I’m inviting topresent include heavy-hitters such as Toyota,GE, Harley-Davidson, Dell, Lockheed Martin,Honda, Baxter, Delphi, Solectron, Anheuser-Busch, 3M, DuPont, Abbott Labs, Plexus,Rockwell, Kohler, Caterpillar and Chrysler. Iexpect plenty of introductions, handshakes,business cards and idea sharing.
Full information will be found onwww.reliableplant.com, in the Reliable PlantMail and Lean Manufacturing Journalnewsletters, and on the conference Web site,www.lean2008.com.
This matchmaker is looking forward to theevent. I’ll bring the knowledge resources.Let’s strike up some conversations.
Paul V. Arnold, RP editor
EDITOR
PUBLISHER Mike RamseyGROUP PUBLISHER Brett O’Kelley
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Paul V. ArnoldCHIEF TECHNICAL Drew Troyer
EDITOR CRE, CMRP
SENIOR DESIGNER Ryan KikerGRAPHIC ARTS Matt Randolph
Kam-Yin Stinnett
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Reliable Plant is published bimonthly by Noria Corporation., 1328 E. 43rd Ct., Tulsa, OK 74105. Copyright © 2008 NoriaCorporation. Noria, Reliable Plant and associated logos are trade-marks of Noria Corporation. All rights reserved. Reproduction inwhole or in part in any form or medium without express writtenpermission of Noria Corporation is prohibited. Reliable Plant is anindependently produced publication of Noria Corporation. NoriaCorporation reserves the right, with respect to submissions, torevise, republish and authorize its readers to use the tips, articlesand case studies submitted for personal and commercial use. Theopinions of those interviewed and those who write articles for thismagazine are not necessarily shared by Noria Corporation.
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Volume 4 Issue 4 www.reliableplant.com
CONSIDER ME AMATCHMAKER
4 July - August 2008 www.reliableplant.com
The problems you have inmanaging the reliability of yourmanufacturing plant or processes
are cross-functional – so, too, must be yoursolutions. For too long, we’ve attempted tomanage plant reliability entirely bychanging the way in which we maintainequipment. Not coincidentally, our resultsto date have been limited. The problem, asI’ve stated in previous columns, is that reli-ability, and hence prof itability, can becompromised by so many factors (supplychain quality and dependability, designingor selling a product or packaging solutionthat exceeds the capabilities of the manu-facturing plant, etc.). We must addressreliability cross-functionally, which bringsme to today’s topic: the organizationvectors that prohibit cooperative behavior.
Most organizations have a missionand/or vision; it usually has something todo with maximizing shareholder returndoing whatever it is the organization does.The problem occurs when the functional
teams responsible for serving the missioninterpret it in different ways and createindependent goals and objectives forserving it within the vacuum of theirrespective organizational silos. This createswhat I call organizational vectors.
In engineering terms, a vector is a forcethat has both direction and magnitude.For instance, in aviation, a pilot isinstructed by the control tower to vector toa particular compass and altitude positionat a particular speed, which causes theplane to arrive at the designated positionat the designated time. This is importantfor ensuring air safety. In physical terms, ifyou have a vector of X force traveling dueeast (on a two-dimensional plane) and avector of identical force traveling due west,the physical result is zero – the forcescancel one another – creating homeostasis,the fancy word for stuck! At an organiza-tional level, failure to align the vectorsdriving the different functional groupswithin the organization creates a certainorganizational “stuckness”, which is verycostly. Organizations possess many ofthese vectors (Figure 1), which are often inconflict with one another.
From the experiences I’ve gainedconsulting to manufacturing companies,I’ve concluded that the functional groupsdo a very good job of optimizing theiractivities relative to the goals within theirfunctional silo. The problems – and theissues of waste – occur when we fail toachieve vision alignment. I think that mostwaste occurs between the functional silos,not within them. For example, consider thecommon scenario where the sales andmarketing team elects to offer a particularproduct or packaging solution that it feels
THE EXPONENT
BY DREW D. TROYER, CRE, CMRP
MANAGING THEVECTORS WITHIN YOUR ORGANIZATION
Drew D. Troyer is a champion of effective reliabilitymanagement and passionate about helpingcompanies find hidden profits inside their plants.As a highly sought consultant to Fortune 500manufacturing f irms, award-winning columnistand teacher, he understands both managementexpectations and plant-floor realities. Troyer
is a Certif ied ReliabilityEngineer (CRE), a CertifiedMaintenance and ReliabilityProfessional (CMRP), andchairs the standardscommittee of the Society for Maintenance andReliability Professionals(SMRP). Contact Drew at800-597-5460.
DREW TROYER
will create a competitive advantage. However, if the manufacturingsystem isn’t set up to create that solution, we’re left with thefollowing options:
A) Withdraw the offering from the portfolio, which may bediff icult if the marketing team has already committed to deliverthe offering to a customer or to the market in general.
B) Manufacture the product or packaging solution using theexisting processes and machines, which often leads to compro-mised availability, speed and/or quality – the three elements ofoverall business effectiveness/overall equipment effectiveness(OBE/OEE).
C) Purchase a bespoke machine or manufacturing system todeliver the product/packaging solution, increasing the net oper-ating asset in place (NOAP), driving down asset utilization andpotentially reducing return on net assets (RONA).
Functionally, where did things go wrong? In my view, the twofollowing underlying organizational root causes lead to this verycommon scenario where sales and marketing oversells the manu-facturing capabilities of the plant:
1) Focused on driving top-line revenue and/or market share, the sales and marketing team develops and/or offers aproduct/packaging solution that lacks manufacturability. Theirvector: increase sales and market share, period.
2) Focused on minimizing cost, the manufacturing process andequipment design team lack the vision to build manufacturing flex-ibility into the process. Their vector: get currently requiredmanufacturing capability installed fast and with the lowest up-front purchase price.
Clearly, communication is our dilemma. However, I believecommunication suffers because functional groups are often
focused on the wrong objective within their silo. Irrespective ofhow they are written, all mission statements require the organiza-tion to create value. Very few functional groups pursue valuecreation within their silo. Some are focused on driving top-linerevenue, while others are focused on cost containment. Theproblem is that you can increase revenue and decrease contribu-tion margin. Most organizations have product SKUs and/orcustomers that are prof it-losers because of excessive manufac-turing costs, excessive customer support costs, etc. Also, it’s veryeasy to reduce operating costs and simultaneously destroy prof-itability. Many procurement teams, for instance, focus their effortson reducing the cost of raw materials, which is great, unless thecost savings reduce manufacturing effectiveness – affecting avail-ability, yield and/or quality.
What is the moral to the story? Get your organizational vectorsaligned. The key to success is to create business processes and aculture (a.k.a. behaviors) that drive and encourage cross-func-tional communication and to carefully focus the actions of eachfunction on the overall organizational mission, which must beexpressed in the form of value creation and contribution marginfor the profit-seeking entity. This changes the direction of the orga-nizational vectors back toward the mission (Figure 2).
This sounds easy, but it’s not. Functional groups tend to focuson revenue maximization or cost minimization because they areboth much easier to measure than value. Measuring value requiresthat we consider the impact other functional groups have on theequation, which requires communication. Do you see my point?The value-seeking organization works hard to blur the barriersbetween the functional groups instead of blurring the functionsthemselves. This requires communication and enables valuecreation, which serves the mission!
www.reliableplant.com July - August 2008 5
Figure 1. When visions aren’t aligned among the functionalplayers in the organization, each functional group, operating withina silo, pursues its own objectives, which can create problems forother groups.
Figure 2. When functional groups align their goals to the missionof the organization, the wasted profits associated with functionalvectors can be eliminated. Under this model, the goal is to “blurbarriers, not disciplines.”
Mission
Accountingand Finance
ProductEngineering
ProcessEngineering
Sales andMarketing
SupplyChain
ManufacturingOperations
ManufacturingMaintenance
TalentManagement
Mission
Accountingand Finance
ProductEngineering
ProcessEngineering
Sales andMarketing
SupplyChain
ManufacturingOperations
ManufacturingMaintenance
TalentManagement
They came from big plants and smallones, gargantuans to garages, fromauto companies and f irms that
made everything from compressors tocarbon, textiles to toilet seats and every-thing in between. They were manufacturingmutts, hybrids, odd fellows, non-conven-tional thinkers.
“When we started in 2002, we were thekids from down in the Sticks who (industryfoes) believed didn’t know how to buildengines,” says plant manager Chuck Sibley.
Six years later, they are among the motormanufacturing sector’s best stories andtoughest competitors, depending on whatside of the corporate fence you dwell. The360 men and women of Navistar Diesel ofAlabama LLC, a Huntsville-based subsidiaryof horsepower heavyweight NavistarCorporation, build elite-class engines (V6and V8 mass-movers for commercial and
consumer trucks). Best-built engines havecome from the manner in which these mold-busters built their plant work structure.
“Navistar didn’t bring people here from itsother plants to start this up. Almost every-body came from outside of the company,”says Sibley, who signed on from Gabriel RideControl Products. “It was decided that wewould put together a workforce from a varietyof different backgrounds and experiences andform the best possible culture that we could.”
No templates. No paradigms. No rules. “I wanted one time in my career where I
didn’t have to break the paradigms andtraditions of the past 10 or 20 years,” hesays. “We started this plant from scratch inthe manner that we thought it would runthe best and be the most reliable and themost f lexible and the most eff icient. We were given tremendous amounts ofautonomy to do what we felt was right.”
Today, an innovative business teamstructure drives the 650,000-square-footNavistar Diesel facility. It’s an approach tooperations, maintenance and engineeringthat feels more community based and“small plant” than that found at mostFortune 500 manufacturers. Focus andfunction are housed inside three mainplant-floor teams overseeing the Assembly,Machining and Manufacturing Servicesvalue chains.
Blended roles and blended best practiceshave elicited success at the business teamand overall plant levels. Heavy-duty team-work enables heavy-duty machines.
WHERE’S MAINTENANCE?If you are looking for the maintenance
manager at the Navistar plant in Huntsville,you won’t find him (or her). The positiondoesn’t exist. The maintenance department?
BY PAUL V. ARNOLD
www.reliableplant.com July - August 2008 7
There isn’t one, per se. Forty-twopeople are employed as full-timemaintenance workers. Morethan 200 others perform similarduties on a regular basis. This isnot your traditional setup.
“The other Navistar plantshave centralized maintenanceand the normal departmenttitles and roles,” says Sibley.“We didn’t go that route.”
Maintenance is a compo-nent and function of eachplant-f loor business team.Each team has multi-skilledhourly technicians, a planner/schedulerand engineers. They are located in the workarea, stationed alongside their operationsbrethren who share in the responsibilitiesthat improve reliability, eliminate down-time and (most importantly) get engineorders out the door.
“The object is to provide every humanresource that a team needs in order tosucceed. By doing that, there aren’treasons for not succeeding,” says assistantplant manager Mike Regula, a formeremployee of Cummins Inc. “There’s toomuch f inger-pointing that goes on whenyou operate in a silo based on function. Inthat world, life becomes a series of howyou explain failures, not how you obtainsuccesses. You have it all; now f igure itout. In the business team structure, theyeither totally succeed together or totallyfail together.”
The resources are there. The Assemblybusiness team includes more than 175operators, 11 maintenance technicians,one maintenance planner and six manu-facturing engineers. Machining includes46 operators, 16 technicians, seven engi-neers and a planner. ManufacturingServices includes a facilities segment withsix techs, a planner and four engineers. Ineach team, members report to a resourceleader who oversees a segment of the valuechain. Each team has a business teamleader that manages the performance andoutcome of a unit.
Resource leaders, business team leadersand planners handle many of the tasks of atraditional maintenance manager, be it big-picture thinking, policy and philosophydevelopment, project planning, capitalinvestment, technology procurement anddeployment, staff ing and training issues,
COVER STORY
8 July - August 2008 www.reliableplant.com
ABOUT NAVISTAR DIESELCompany: Navistar Diesel of AlabamaLLC, a subsidiary of NavistarCorporation. Focus plant: The NDA engine plant,located in Huntsville, Ala., housedpower generation equipment manufac-turer Onan Corporation from 1972 to1997. The site was purchased byNavistar in 1999 and completely gutted.Navistar reopened the 650,000-square-foot plant for production in 2002. Itcurrently runs product 10 hours a day,four days a week. Friday and Saturdayare reserved for necessary maintenancework. A 300,000-square-foot plant to make “Big Bore” engines wasconstructed 1 mile away. Production isslated to begin in late July. At fullvolume, it will employ 175 workers.Plant employment: A total of 360 non-union employees (75 salary, 285hourly), including 42 maintenanceworkers (36 hourly technicians, threefacilities engineers and three mainte-nance planners).Plant products: The plant builds 94models of V6 and V8 engines for ninecustomers (four Ford plants and f iveNavistar plants) on one assemblyline. The current assembly rate is 480per day.FYI: The plant is divided into three main“business teams” – Assembly, Machiningand Manufacturing Services.
Assistant plant manager Mike Regula(center) gets feedback from assemblyworkers.
Scott Seals is the facilities resourceleader for the Manufacturing Services busi-ness team.
Photos by Dennis Keim
and budgeting (each business team has itsown separate maintenance budget).
“I used to be the maintenance managerof a plant that makes toilet seats. I hadeverything related to maintenance,” saysScott Seals, who today is the resource leader for the facilities segment of theManufacturing Services business unit. “Iprefer this setup. There’s much less pressureon everyone because the responsibilities forthis plant are divided up.”
Resource leaders and planners take thebusiness team leader’s maintenance (andproduction) vision and drive the resourcesin their area to achieve results.
“I have all of the resources I need at myfingertips. Therefore, it’s very easy to aligneverybody in the business team toward ourgoals,” says Machining business teamleader Lance Fulks. “The last plant Iworked at (Copeland Compressors) wasset up with a manager of production, amanager of maintenance, a manager ofmanufacturing engineering, and there weresome conflicting goals. What was impor-tant in one area may have beencounterproductive in another area. Here,that is eliminated because those depart-ments are consolidated into one businessteam. Everyone is on the same page.”
Sibley says it takes a special person to bea BTL. He believes the leader must excel atpeople management, project manage-ment, business management and, in effect,maintenance management.
“You are running the maintenancegroup along with your team,” he says.“You must understand the technical side ofthe business and everything that influencesreliability from a mechanical perspective.”
COVER STORY
10 July - August 2008 www.reliableplant.com
WHAT DRIVES NAVISTAR’S PLANT IN HUNTSVILLE?
Here is the mission statement forNavistar Diesel of Alabama’s plantin Huntsville:
“Recognizing the strengths of ouremployees as our greatest asset, we believe that our commitment to ‘Blended Best Practices’ and‘Empowered Teams Exceeding
Expectation’ will maximize productvalue. We also believe that thisapproach will foster the level oftrust and respect for the individualthat is necessary for Navistar Dieselof Alabama LLC to excel and berecognized as the local employer of choice.”
Ricky Helms is a manufacturingengineer who handles facilitiesplanning and scheduling.
Machining business team leaderLance Fulks checks over an enginewith operator Heath Dorning.
STILL ON THE LOOKOUT FOR BEST PRACTICES
At Navistar Huntsville, blended bestpractices continue to this day. Goodideas come from new employees. Theyalso come from benchmarking relation-ships with industry peers.
“On the road to continuous improve-ment, you’re never ‘there’. It’s anongoing process,” says assistant plantmanager Mike Regula. “You’re alwayslooking to tomorrow and the next level.What can we do differently in order toimprove? Who can we learn from to helpus get better?”
The plant regularly exchanges tours withfellow members of the Alabama AutomotiveManufacturing Association, includingToyota, Honda and Nissan. It has made anespecially good connection with Nissan.
“Nissan has been open and shared,”says plant manager Chuck Sibley. “We’vegotten to know them and they havegotten to know us. It helps that we don’tdirectly compete in the same market.”
Adds Regula, “Not everything they dois applicable to us, but we can definitelytweak some of their best practices.”
BTLs lead the way, but the plant’s open,empowerment-heavy culture allowsfreedom to find methods that achieve thevision. It goes back to the employees’ roots.Diverse personal experiences allow theplant and its teams to implement some ofthe best ideas in industry.
“Reliability of the equipment and howwe monitor it and how we check for it hasbeen basically the same as everything elsehere – it’s the blended best practices fromeverywhere that we’ve been,” says Regula.“How did you do it at your plant? Whatworked there? What didn’t? What was awaste of time? What did you measure?How did you measure it, and why?”
One technician may have come from a80-person plant that developed an innova-tive way to increase the life of its pumps (orbearings or gearboxes). Another may haveseen superior practices for lubrication (orelectrical safety or belt repairs) at a 700-employee site. Yet another may havecreated a neat way to ensure shaft align-ment at his former f ive-man shop.Communication brings these best practicesto light.
COME TOGETHERThe Navistar plant has seen numerous
benef its by physically locating mainte-nance resources inside of an assembly lineor group of machining cells.
One is a closer technician-operator rela-tionship than you f ind at plants with adichotomous, “we/they” structure.
“There is more communication here,” saysAssembly business team technician JimmyJones, another ex-Copeland Compressorsworker. “That leads to more trust and under-standing. We look out for one another.”
Sibley tightens the bonds by bringing co-workers together outside the plant. Theplant has a city league softball team (28players are on the roster), bass f ishingtournaments and golf scrambles.
Communication leads to less downtime.“You hear about issues before they
lead to problems,” says Jones. “If I waslocated at the other end of the plant, theoperator may not bring it up. That
perceived ‘little’ noise may be somethingimportant and we missed an opportunityto address it. But because I’m right here,they bring things to my attention and Ican check it out.”
Other benefits include quicker responsetime than you’d find at a traditional largeplant, and a deeper level of ownership andknowledge from the maintenance group.
“These are my babies,” says Jones aboutthe equipment in his area. “I know thesemachines like the back of my hand.”
All of this contributes to minimal down-time. Most plant areas have uptime figuresexceeding 90 percent. When a breakdowndoes occur, the impact is, more often thannot, minimal.
“We’re pretty fast,” says Sibley. “It’sreally, really major for us if we lose 20minutes on a problem. It’s the quickresponse and reaction that sets us apart.”
HANDS-ON OPERATIONSThe unique method of maintenance
doesn’t stop with the technicians.Operators play a sizable role in machineperformance and reliability. This goes waybeyond the traditional Total ProductiveMaintenance tasks of operators cleaningequipment and reading gauges.
At the Navistar facility in Huntsville,operators can take on any maintenance jobthat they have the time and skills to do.That job list includes preventive, predictive,proactive and reactive maintenance.
In the Machining business team,planner Chris Glasscock (a formerWolverine Tubing Company worker)prints out a list of work orders each dayfrom the plant’s Avantis.PRO computer-ized maintenance management softwaresystem. He hands them out to theresource leaders, who then deliver them totechnicians and operators.
In between running two machines on theline, operators perform daily, weekly,monthly, quarterly and/or semi-annual PMjobs. They grease and lubricate, f illhydraulic systems, change tooling, removemetal chips and do many additionalpreventive tasks.
Work orders are completed, given to atechnician for sign-off and returned toGlasscock for closing in the CMMS.
Similarly, in Assembly, operators dopredictive work such as executing auditchecks on the torque consistency of DCtools, performing tests for leak and pres-sure decay, and using ultrasonic tools toconfirm the integrity of bolts, multi-spin-dles and critical joints.
“The person doing the work has theresponsibility of tracking the data andlooking at what the data is telling us,” saysRegula. “We want to identify an anomalybefore it becomes an issue.”
If an equipment breakdown occurs, theoperator does not holler for a technicianand then go on break. If the operator’s skillset, experience and classroom trainingallow, he or she may personally handle amore minor fix and get the equipment backup and running.
In general, as Sibley says, “There are norules that say who can’t do this.” However,there are some def ined boundaries.Operators can’t open electrical panels,fiddle with automation equipment or workon the mission-critical IQA (integratedquality assurance) machines.
“Complex machines and devices aremaintenance’s specialty,” says Regula. “Ifsomething is wrong with that machine, theoperator will quickly get a maintenanceperson to come help solve that issue. Itdoesn’t mean that the operator is excludedfrom the problem-solving process, becausehe or she is an important part of theprocess. That is above what we expectstandard assembly operators to haveknowledge on.”
If the operator isn’t taking the lead roleon a breakdown, he or she plays the part ofa surgical room nurse.
“You take your direction from the main-tenance folks,” says Regula. “It’s ‘hold thisin place’, ‘grab that part from the cart’ or‘help me with this or that.’”
Operators also work to make mainte-nance more proactive within their team by:
• systematically tracking downtime to iden-tify trends;
www.reliableplant.com July - August 2008 11
• performing Pareto analyses to identify thebiggest and most harmful sources ofdowntime;
• using an eight-step methodology to iden-tify root causes of problems;
• working with maintenance personnel on“reverse FMEA” projects.
In the case of a reverse failure modes andeffects analysis, operators are asked to list
every way possible to screw up a station,machine, etc. “Operators know everythingthat can go wrong,” says Sibley.
Process steps and product solutions(error-proofing devices, software) are putin place to eliminate the chance of afailure. The activity improves quality, relia-bility and productivity, but can alsopositively impact things such as safety andergonomics.
THE APPRENTICEHuntsville is the only Navistar site that
allows its operators such maintenanceresponsibilities.
“We try to use the operator for every-thing possible. Whatever we can use themfor, we will,” says Sibley. “That’s one of thereasons why we have 36 maintenancepeople instead of 150. We have never gonethe contract route for maintenance. That’sbecause we always felt like the ownershipof that was important.”
What do Huntsville technicians think ofall this?
“The maintenance guys here have doneoperations work before, so they have seenboth sides of the fence,” says Regula.“They were actually the first operators onthe line. They can run all of the machines.When we started, we thought that was veryimportant. We wanted them to know thepain that the operator goes through. Theyknow how to think like an operator andknow what’s good and what’s bad.”
It also goes back to the plant’s roots.“Many of us came from small companies
where you wore many hats,” says Sibley. “Itwasn’t new to us to set up a plant whereeverybody is going to wear many hats.”
Adds Seals, “There is one goal – to getthe engine out the back door. Whatever ittakes to make that happen, that’s what youhave to do.”
Indeed, it’s a blurry line between opera-tions and maintenance. Perhaps nothingis a better example of that than the plant’s maintenance apprentice program.Apprentice candidates take an exactingwritten test. Those with the highest scoresthen go to any of three local technicalcolleges and work to obtain a two-yeardegree in maintenance technology.Graduates then must work 8,000 hours atthe plant as a maintenance apprenticebefore earning the right to be a full-f ledged, certif ied technician.
The apprentices traditionally have beenoperators within the Assembly orMachining business team. Heath Benson isone example. After coming to Navistarfrom a carbon fiber plant, he worked twoyears as an operator and then two years asa group leader (one rung below a resource
COVER STORY
12 July - August 2008 www.reliableplant.com
SHARING TOYS ACROSS THE BUSINESS UNITSThe Navistar Diesel factory has three
main plant-f loor business teams whichoversee the Assembly, Machining andManufacturing Services value chains. Ineffect, each runs as its own mini-busi-ness. Even so, plenty of sharing andcollaboration does occur. For mainte-nance, there’s a centralized tool crib anda central shop that houses community-use items such as a lathe, drill press andbelt grinder.
But, what happens when one of thebusiness teams wants to invest big moneyin, for instance, a new predictive mainte-nance tool?
“Each business team has its own sepa-rate maintenance budget, but we don’thave the money as a plant to buy threedifferent infrared cameras,” says ScottSeals, the facilities resource leader in
Manufacturing Services. “The businessunit proposing the purchase will take thelead, but it will work closely with theother two.”
Machining led the charge for IR. “They worked with the guys in facilities
and Assembly,” says plant manager ChuckSibley. “They asked them, ‘How would youuse it?’ They justif ied the purchase andput forth the appropriation. Whoevertakes the lead makes sure the other guysget in on the training. We did the samething with laser alignment equipment onshafts. Facilities led that one. We boughtthe equipment and then they set up whoneeded to get trained across the businessteams. We keep the equipment in the criband you check it out.”
Says Seals, “Everyone lets each otherplay with their toys.”
The Navistar plant in Huntsville, Ala., builds approximately 480 engines per day.
leader). He earned his two-year degreefrom Calhoun Technical College and hasspent the last 3.5 years as an apprentice.He will reach the 8,000-hour mark laterthis year.
“It was a logical step for me,” he says.“Operators here do a lot for themselves.They diagnose problems. They can tellwhat’s going with their machines. I wantedto work in maintenance because I wasinterested in the hands-on work. Bybecoming a technician at this plant, I willbe able to apply everything that I’velearned.”
FLEXIBILITY PAYS OFFFlexibility from a staffing, workload and
career perspective is critical for the plant’slong-term success.
The automotive business is cyclical involume. Components manufacturers needto be able to take their organizations upand down, depending on the order volume.A flexible workforce helps factories avoidbeing overstaffed or understaffed. You canmove around with the volume and thedemands of the business.
“Considering the number of plants thatwe support, we are very f lexible,” saysSibley. “We have to change schedulesconstantly, almost daily. We don’t freezeour line schedules at all. The big differencebetween us and most plants is that we runa wide array of product (4.5-, 6.0- and 6.4-liter engines, 94 different models). Wemight start the morning with engines forthe Navistar bus plant and the next one isdifferent after that. We don’t care. We canmix it up. We constantly change up tosupport what the customer needs. We canreact very quickly.”
Other measures of plant success broughtabout by the business team structure are:
Hours per unit: “This shows just howeffective we are,” says Fulks. “If we have thelabor but the equipment is not running,that number gets larger. So, the metric isclosely tied to operations and mainte-nance. We are looking to minimize thatnumber.”
Huntsville leads Navistar’s three U.S.engine plants in hours per unit.
On-time delivery: The plant has missedtwo orders in the past six years. That spansmore than 650,000 engines.
Parts per million defective: The site istaking aim at the 200 PPM quality f igureachieved by a Nissan engine plant inAlabama and is looking further down theroad to a goal of 100 PPM.
Uptime: This metric has steadilyincreased over the past few years. Today,the factory exceeds 90 percent. For “facili-ties essentials”, what plant leaderscategorize as electricity, compressed air,coolant systems, waste managementsystems, and the fuel and lubricationsystems, uptime exceeds 99 percent.
Proactive vs. reactive maintenance:Proactive maintenance work comprises 80percent of the overall workload. Of thattotal, 80 percent can be defined as preven-tive maintenance work and 20 percent aspredictive work.
Lost-time accidents: The plant recentlysurpassed 1.5 million hours without anlost-time injury or illness.
Absenteeism: Its daily rate of 1.5 percentis less than half the industry average.
Employee turnover: This f igure is lessthan 1 percent.
“When Toyota came to Alabama andstarted engine production in 2003, we
worried about losing employees to them,”says Sibley. “However, we haven’t lostanyone to Toyota. In fact, we’ve got peoplefrom Toyota. I think people enjoy theculture that we’ve put in place here.”
So much so that when the plant took outa classified ad for 56 new jobs in 2007, itreceived more than 1,500 applications.
BUSINESS TEAMS, PART 2Navistar Diesel of Alabama has truly
taken a non-conventional approach tomaintenance, operations and engineering.Its business team structure has provedbeneficial to Navistar Corporation and anequalizer in the competitive global motormanufacturing industry. Sibling Navistarplants have explored adopting some of theconcepts related to operator involvementin maintenance. One plant, though, will befully following the blueprint.
Navistar Diesel of Alabama is putting thef inishing touches on a second plant,located less than a mile away. The300,000-square-foot factory, which isslated to begin production in late July, willmake 11- and 13-liter engines for tractor-trailers. At full volume, it will employ 175highly flexible employees.
“We’ll run it as an extension of thisplant,” says Sibley. “Our intention is tohave the same DNA that’s in this plant overin the new plant.”
Maintenance workers and engineers areensuring a foundation of success byutilizing design for manufacturing anddesign for maintenance and reliability prin-ciples for all new equipment purchased andinstalled at the site. Technicians also haveplayed principal roles in the run-off of eachpiece of equipment.
“We want to learn from all of our pastexperiences in order to help us make thebest decisions now and in the future,” saysmaintenance planner Glasscock.
Blended roles. Blended best practices.Navistar is using these within its businessteams to achieve heavy-duty performance.
That’s something special no matter whatsize plant or what side of the fence youcome from.
www.reliableplant.com July - August 2008 13
FOCUS ON THE COREWhile leaders at the Huntsville plant
encourage a multi-skill, multi-tasking envi-ronment, they also know when it’s best topush away. It comes down to determiningcore competencies.
“One of our missions is to stay true toour core competencies,” says plantmanager Chuck Sibley. “Let’s do what wedo best – build engines. We farmed outsome of the things that we didn’t like. Thetool crib was one of them. (It’s mannedon an integrated supply basis by GMSupply Company of Indianapolis.) Wedidn’t want to take away from theresources that we did have. We alsofarmed out some of our tool grinding. Wealso have Castrol in here to manage thelubrication system. They do all of the lubeanalysis, as well.”
This year’s Show Stoppers are an eclectic mix of prod-ucts from the expo floor of our huge show inNashville, Tenn. Some are brand new; others boastinteresting, recently introduced new features or tech-nologies; while others are tried-and-true tools with amarket following. All of these product have one thingin common: They provide functionality that helpsprofessionals be more productive.
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SHOW STOPPERS
14 July - August 2008 www.reliableplant.com
LUBRICATION PROCESS DESIGNIs your lubrication program costing you millions of dollars in lossand unexpected downtime or saving you millions of dollars eachyear? Lubrication is the cornerstone of an effective reliabilitymanagement program and one of the easiest cost categories tostreamline and control. Lubrication Process Design addresses thethree critical areas of lubrication excel-lence: machinery lubrication,contamination control and oil analysispractices. It takes a holistic approach todesigning world-class lubrication prac-tices for your unique operatingconditions and environment. Noria’steam will help you get your companyto preferred practices and guide yourprogram to world-class excellence!
Noria Corporationwww.noria.com800-597-5460
EQUIPMENT RELIABILITYMADE VISUALCreate visual equipment controls onsite and on demand withBrady’s™ Markware Lean Tools Software and GlobalMark®
Industrial Label Maker!Markware software simplifies thecreation of multicolor gaugelabels, oil level indicators, drivetension guides, and other equip-ment visuals, making it easy todetect abnormal operatingconditions at a glance. Ideal forautonomous and condition-based maintenance systems.
Brady Worldwide Inc www.bradyid.com/visualworkplace888-250-3089
NATURAL LINE OF ABSORBENTPADS INTRODUCED AT LEAN,RELIABLE, AND LUBED 08 BY OIL EATERKafko International Ltd. has introduced an eco-friendly line of OilEater absorbent pads made of natural plant by-products. Featuringwoven construction, the pads are designed to provide a safer andcleaner workplace and help companies to meet OSHA and EPArequirements. The line includes: Oil Only pads and rolls which soakup oil yet repel water; Universal pads and rolls which soak up oil,water and other liquids; Absorbent Socks which control larger spillsand protect drains. The pads will absorb up to 20 percent morethan meltblown polypropylene pads, yet cost less. All are availablein a variety of weights and finishes. Product sizes range from 16inches x 18 inches to28 inches x 150 feet(rolls). Weights includelight, medium andheavy. Applicationsinclude productionlines, industrial andmaintenance facilityfloors, loadingdocks and others. Callfor free samples.
Kafko International800-528-0334www.oileater.com
ARGO-HYTOS CONTINUOUS OILCONDITIONING MONITORINGArgo-Hytos presents the new LubCos H2O+ lubrication conditionsensor for continuous oil monitoring. It offers theopportunity to prevent machine failures as well asprolong maintenance and oil change intervals bymeans of appropriate measures. The LubCosmeasures and documents changes inhydraulic fluids and lubricants. Thesensor records four different phys-ical oil characteristics as well asits periodic change: tempera-ture, relative oil humidityand water activity, relativepermittivity, andconductivity of the fluid.
Argo-Hytos Inc.www.argo-hytos.com419-353-6070
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www.reliableplant.com July - August 2008 15
HARVARD FILTER SYSTEMSHarvard’s f ilter systems are designed and built with quality mate-rials and craftsmanship to provide years of trouble-free service.Filter elements for viscosity ranges from fuels to gear oils (ISO1000). Customers report clean f luids to ISO 13/12/8 in opera-
tion. Contaminate capacity perelement is about four pounds. Theproduct has demonstrated the ability
to remove one gallon of waterfrom oil. Water has been demon-strated down to 21 ppm intransformer oils, or a dielectric
strength of more than 40,000volts. Filter carts can be made to your specif ications.Configurations and elements formetalworking f luid are alsoavailable. Additional optionsinclude a magnetic pre-f ilter andparticle monitor.
Harvard Corporation www.harvardcorp.com
800-523-1327
AIR SENTRY® MODEL X-100GEARBOX BREATHER“THE FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE”X-100 desiccant breathers feature moisture removing silica gel, 2-micronsolid particle filtration and pressure-relievingcheck valves. Its dual design blocks outsidecontaminants from entering gearboxes,while eliminating excessive expansion andcontraction pressure. X-100 blockscontamination from entering the gearbox,while capturing built-up condensationinside, leaving lubricants clean and dry.Check valves open on demand duringheating and cooling cycles to provide infi-nite pressure relief to gearbox seals. Air Sentry® is “The First line of Defense” incontamination control.
Air Sentry®
www.airsentrybreathers.com800-699-6318 ext. 278
LEAN PLANT RELIABILITYTRANSFORMATIONThe aviation industry has a zero percent failure policy. Why shouldyour company be any different? Drew Troyer has combined the relia-bility engineering tools used in aviation specifically for yourapplication in the manufacturing industry. Reliability-centeredmanufacturing is the most direct path to improving financialreturns. Drew will change the way you think,plan, manage and operate yourplant during Noria’s exclusive LeanPlant Reliability Transformation.This revolutionary process willunlock your hidden potential bycreating a strategic plan driven bycreating financial returns. So invest inyour future today, and begin your LeanPlant Reliability Transformation.
Noria Corporationwww.noria.com800-597-5460
GREASE SAMPLINGAND ANALYSISRepresentative and trendable in-service grease samples are now beingtaken with the Grease ThiefTM. This breakthrough provides the oppor-tunity to obtain results from as little as 1 gram of grease. Motor-
Operated Valves and other critical gearboxesare being sampled with the Grease ThiefTM.
The use of the Grease ThiefTM in theplace of motor bearing drain plugsallows for proper grease purging, whilealso capturing any purged grease foranalysis. Reliability Engineers finallyhave a tool to meet the task of diag-
nostic monitoring for grease lubricatedequipment - the Grease ThiefTM.
MRG Power Labswww.mrgcorp.com
717-699-2908
NEW ENTRY-LEVEL INFRAREDCAMERA FROM ELECTROPHYSICS The innovative EZTherm™ 880 infrared camera is the perfect toolfor inspecting electrical systems, electro-mechanical equipment,moisture surveys, energy audits and mold remediation. TheEZTherm features accurate temperature measurement, a light-weight ergonomically designed housing and free report writingsoftware. The camera is easy to use and includes a 1 GB SDmemory card and runsfor five hours on a singlecharge. Three modelsare available withfeatures such as anintegrated visible lightcamera for accuratearchiving of images, motor-ized objective lens for trueone-hand operation, telephotolens and a protective lens shieldfor dirty environments. The 880 isbacked by our comprehensive two-year warranty. If you’ve decidedyou’re ready to get an infrared camera,check out the EZTherm 880 today!
Electrophysicswww.electrophysics.com973-882-0211
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16 July - August 2008 www.reliableplant.com
MACHINEIQMachineIQ is a cost-effective, easy-to-use, customizable datacollection system that can be economically deployed department-,plant- or corporate-wide to identify equipment subcomponents,rebuild timelines and other maintenance issues to reduce down-time. It provides an industrial strength read/write solution designedto survive harsh environments. The system easily allows theexchange of information quickly around the world to improve effi-ciency and productivity across theentire company. This advanced hard-ware/software solution is an innovativetool that seamlessly provides datatransfer, mobility and robustness thateach company and department canuse for its unique needs.
Noria Corporationwww.noria.com800-597-5460
PORTABLE OILDIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMIntelligent and robust, the HIAC Portable OilDiagnostic System (PODS) measures, storesand reports oil condition parameters essen-tial for reliable hydraulic systems operation.
The PODS analyzes fluids and lubricants inonline or bottle sampling modes to determinethe machine’s operating condition immediately.
This instant analysis is as accurate and preciseas traditional laboratory analysis that normally
takes weeks. Thus, providing a real-time assess-ment of the oil under operating conditions..
Hach Ultrawww.hachultra.com
800-866-7889
ONE EYE INDUSTRIES ADD-VANTAGE 9000 FILTER MASTERYour equipment works hard everyday to earn you a living, and youwork hard to keep itin top workingorder! The FilterMaster workshard, too, to keepyour importantequipment going.From scrapers,loaders and back-hoes to rigs andfarm implements,The Filter Masterextends the life oftheir mechanicalsystems! Introducing the ADD-Vantage 9000 Filter Master reusablefilter for heavy-duty fluid filtration.
One Eye Industrieswww.oneeyeindustries.com877-888-TRAP
DES-CASE’S REBUILDABLESTEEL: BIGGER AND BETTERDes-Case’s new rebuildable steel breathers offer greater durabilityand protection for your oil, helping you keep contamination undercontrol. This rugged line is well suited for large applications orchallenging environments and is available in 10 different sizes. Theeasy-to-replace desiccant bags remove moisturefrom the incoming air, while areplaceable filter removesparticulates to 1-micronabsolute. The resilient newintegrated standpipe offersan oil-coalescing function,and the unique sightglassallows for better moni-toring of your system.
Des-Case www.descase.com615-672-8800
PARKER PVS PORTABLE OILPURIFICATION SYSTEMThe PVS works off-line to reduce both free and dissolved water,solid contamination and entrained air or gases. By controllingand/or eliminating these harmful contaminants, you can expectreduced downtime, lower component replacementcosts, reliable system performance and an overallreduction in oil consumption. ThePVS is also a low-maintenance PMtool to add to your arsenal in thewar on system contamination. Onceoperational, the system will rununattended. The control panel offersself-diagnosing indicator lights thatinform the operator of a shutdowncondition, as well as the specificcause. Another feature of theproduct is portability. Units arefabricated with casters and fork-lift guides as standard. Liftingeyes and even trailer mountingare available options. Thesefeatures allow for easy reloca-tion from one system reservoirto another.
Parker Hannifin Corporation www.parker.com/hydraulicfilter800-253-1258
PAID ADVERTISING
www.reliableplant.com July - August 2008 17
ULTRAPROBE® 3000 DIGITALULTRASONIC INSPECTIONINSTRUMENT The Ultraprobe 3000 is an energy-saving instrument that providescost-effective ultrasound inspection for compressed air and steamtrap surveys. This digital inspectionsystem is fully equipped todetect energy waste, locatemechanical and electrical problems.With many features that will help youinspect in the most challenging environ-ments, the Ultraprobe 3000 makes it easy.Let UE help you get started. Please call andask for a free Energy Guide.
UE Systems Inc. www.uesystems.com800-223-1325
HYPERION™ UB: BIODEGRADABLE HYDRAULIC FLUIDHyperion™ UB is a premium-quality, environmentally responsiblehydraulic fluid designed to provide exceptional performance in bothindustrial and mobile hydraulic systems. This vegetable-basedformulation meets or exceeds the performance requirements of mosthydraulics manufacturers,while satisfying rigorouscriteria for biodegradabilityand toxicity. Hyperion™ UBhas the necessary anti-wearcharacteristics for hydraulicsystems operating underhigh load and high pressure.It is also treated with addi-tives that protect againstrust and corrosion.
The Whitmore Manufacturing Companywww.whitmores.com800-699-6318
TESTMATE™ CONTAMINATIONMONITORThe TestMate Contamination Monitor optically measures solidparticle contamination in hydraulic and lubricating fluids. The TCMis among the newest generation of particle monitors that continu-ously measure solid contamination in fluid. Enclosed in a4-inch-diameter case, the TCM utilizes an optical sensor and meas-ures particles in four sizes: >4, >6, >14 and >21 microns.Measurement results can be output as acontamination code according toISO 4406:1999 or SAE AS 4059(D). The TCM is designed forconnection to hydraulic andlubrication lines with pressuresup to 1450 psi (100 bar) andviscosities up to 4635 SUS(100 cSt). A small flow of oil(between 30 ml/min and 300ml/min) is diverted for meas-urement purposes.
Schroeder Industrieswww.schroederindustries.com800-722-4810
VIBRATION ANALYZERAFFORDABLE ENOUGH TO BUY,EASY ENOUGH TO ACTUALLY USEThe Datastick® VSA™-1215 Vibration Spectrum Analyzer saves timeand money while giving you all necessary functions for vibrationdata collection and analysis. Collect and display waveforms andacceleration, velocity, displacement, and vibration dB FFTs up to
3,200 lines, level alerts,harmonic cursor, averaging, and
automatic peak detection. Learn touse it in two hours. Included PC software is non-proprietary — Excel2003/2007 compatible. Share files with anyone: If you don’t havein-house vibration analysts, you can use any consultant you want.
Datastick Systems Inc.www.datastick.com888-277-5153408-987-3400
ONLINE TRAINING FOR LEAN BASICSOnline training is an effective way to build awareness and under-standing for lean across a broad employee base. The TBMLeanSigma® Institute has the most comprehensive online trainingprogram for essential lean learning. The curriculum is rooted in
Toyota Production System principles and isdesigned to ensure understanding, applica-tion and retention of basic lean concepts.
Twelve progressive modules designed specif-ically for adult learners. Web-based,self-paced, easily deployed from any Webbrowser. Go to www.tbmcg.com/ELL to
learn more.
TBM LeanSigma Institutewww.tbmcg.com
800-438-5535
Twelve to 48 months ago, youstarted a reliability and mainte-nance improvement initiative, and
now the cost crunch is on. We’ve seenheavy downturns in the housing andbanking industries, and the crunch is nowat your doorstep. Your company hasdecided to cut cost because sales are downand/or the price of your product is down.In this situation, you’ll f ind out if yourplant and company are serious or notabout improving reliability.
Companies tend to cut cost short term,which, in many cases, increases the costsignificantly over a two- to six-year period.This depends on how cost is cut. But typically(depending on current equipment condition),it takes 18 to 24 months for the short-term,erroneous cost cutting to show up asincreased cost in the balance sheet, whileequipment reliability usually takes nine to 21months to show in production numbers.
If you are unlucky, costs are even highertwo to six years from now and the sametype of cost cutting takes place again withnew management (the old managers mayhave been promoted because they did sucha good job cutting cost for 12 months).
Which cost is cut?: When we decide to cutcost in a plant or company, panic spreads.Typically, the cuts hit, in order: 1) Any type oftravel; 2) Training; 3) Unavoidable mainte-nance jobs (they get postponed); 4) Externalresources (usually hired to help improve andcut cost long term); 5) Overtime; 6) Hands-on external resources; and, 7 to etc.)Anything visible (books, filtered water, freehats, lunches, etc.).
An interesting note is that an extensionof six hours to a shutdown due to poorplanning may cost a plant $100,000, butit’s seldom questioned. Meanwhile, bookpurchases are f iercely shut down. Thedifference? Books are a visible cost whilethe shutdown extension is a hidden cost.
To cut or not to cut?: Should we not cutcost? No, you should. My point is thatfocusing on cost itself rather than focusingon what drives cost will give you the wrongresults such as short-term cost savings witha long-term cost increase.
Example 1 – Let’s assume your size ofplant should have 95 hourly maintenancepeople. Always be careful where thesenumbers come from, but let’s assume thenumber is correct or at least believed to becorrect. You have 110 people. It may seemlogical to immediately reduce the hourlyworkforce. But, it’s often the wrong thingto do. If you cut 15 people from your crewwithout changing the way you workBEFORE you do the cut, less preventivemaintenance (PM) and corrective mainte-nance (CM) work will be completed. Withless PM and CM, reliability will falter. Theexception would be if your backlog is zeroand/or the people you are about to lay offnormally don’t produce.
A commonly used misconception is thatif we lay off people, the remainingemployees will pick up the slack. Thecontrary is most commonly true due to
worsening plant morale and a lack ofincentive to pick up more work or do workbetter.
Instead, focus on the things that drivecost down in order to reduce the totalworkforce and other costs long term.Improved reliability will reduce the need forspare parts and CM work. With increasedreliability, you can look at reducing theworkforce by attrition.
Example 2 – The other desperate cost-cutting measure is to defer maintenance.What works against this logic is that a validmaintenance job can’t be avoided; it canonly be delayed. Unfortunately, a delayedmaintenance job will 99 times out of 100be more expensive if it is executed laterrather than sooner.
Plant management never talks aboutdeferring maintenance. That would bepolitical suicide as soon as we have down-time. Instead, the talk centers aroundreducing overtime, contractors and people– as if we currently spend money on thoseitems today as a luxury.
What do we do?: Cut cost the right way.Stick with your initiatives (assuming theyare good). Increased reliability will drivedown cost. You may have to slow downoutside support and training, but don’tstop it completely. Stopping an initiativecompletely will send the wrong message tothe organization. If you stop it, your initia-tive will be seen as another managementfad that failed.
Call your reliability process lean, SixSigma, TPM, asset management, TQM orsomething else; you’ll f ind that it comesback to the same things we discussed in the1970s and earlier. Improved reliability andreduced costs come through the interplayof these words/actions: prevent, inspect,prioritize, plan, schedule, execute well,record, analyze and improve.
THE CRUNCH: TOUGH TIMES CAN LEAD TO MISGUIDED CUTS
18 July - August 2008 www.reliableplant.com
ADVISOR
MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT
Torbjörn (Tor) Idhammar is partner and vicepresident of management consultant f irmIDCON Inc. IDCON specializes in reliability andmaintenance management. He is responsible forall IDCON projects and consultants, includingtraining and implementation support for reliability management assessments, preventivemaintenance, operator-based reliability, planning
and scheduling, materialsmanagement, and rootcause problem elimina-tion. He is the author of“Condition MonitoringStandards” (volumes 1through 3). Contact Tor at800-849-2041 or [email protected]. Also,visit www.idcon.com.
TOR IDHAMMAR
While working this April inHolland, I saw a plant utilizing a marvelous Dutch phrase: “Ja,
maar”, which means “Yes, but ...” Seeing itfirst-hand helps me understand a principleof successful planning. Many plants can’timplement successful planning becausethey assign the planners many worthwhileactivities that are not planning. “Yes, plan-ning is supposed to really help us, but weneed the planner to do this other thing thatreally helps us.” Ja, maar.
What is planning? Planning establishesinitial job plans for maintenance work andimproves these plans over time using feed-back. The craft and time estimates allowscheduling a goal of work for each weekmatching available crew labor hours. Thisgoal greatly improves productivity. Thus,planning provides a huge boost to crewproductivity through helping better coordi-nate maintenance work.
The caveat, of course, is that a plant canonly realize the benef it of planning if itallows planners to plan. Many plantscreate and staff a planner position andfind the planner to be the ideal person to
do a variety of activities helpful to mainte-nance. These activities do indeed helpmaintenance improve. Yet, they aren’tplanning activities.
Consider the typical curve of improvingmaintenance effectiveness with a planner(Figure 1). A plant takes a competentcraftsperson out of the workforce to staff aplanner position. Area A illustrates the work-force losing overall effectiveness because ithas lost a resource. Yet, the new plannersoon develops considerable skill in utilizingthe plant’s CMMS, purchasing bureaucracyand inventory system. Mechanics on thecrews leverage the planner’s ability to findinformation and help them more quicklyresolve problems for jobs they already havein progress. Yet, this workforce improvementcan only go so high, as Area C shows.Furthermore, using planners to help resolveproblems for in-progress jobs is not evenplanning. I call the principal activity of plan-ners in this area “Chasing Parts” becausethey typically help craftspersons f ind andprocure spare parts not identified in advanceon a job plan. Many of those in-progressproblems aren’t even new. They are reoccur-rences of typical problems encountered onthose particular machines. This leads to theneed for planning.
By considering past maintenance activi-ties on particular machines, planners canplan to avoid specific problems previouslyencountered – but only if they are allowedtime to plan. It takes time to file job feed-back and improve job plans. It takes timeto figure out plans for work not yet begun.If planners can plan, they can take theorganization to levels of effectiveness indi-cated by Area E. I call this area “PlanningFuture Work” because the primary duty ofthe planner should be to head off prob-lems, not help resolve them as they occur.
My main intent in this article is to shedsome light on Area B. The chasing partsactivity is worthwhile. It does help accom-plish work more effectively. We do need toresolve problems as they occur on jobs inprogress. Other activities that managementmight assign planners also help improvemaintenance effectiveness. These mightinclude substituting for supervisors on vaca-tion, participating on root cause teams,researching ideas for new equipment modif ications, supervising contractors oreven writing follow-up work requests fromPM inspections. Yet, they sidetrack good planning.
This is why planning has a hard timegetting off the ground. When planners tryto plan future work, they have no time. “Ja,maar” strikes. “Yes, but” the other activitiesare important. Area D even shows an initialdip in overall effectiveness if the plannerswere to stop chasing parts to concentrateon planning future work.
Management must decide if it wants todo planning or not. If other activities areimportant, assign other resources toaccomplish them, not the planners. A plantcan’t achieve the higher levels of perform-ance without planners planning.
‘JA, MAAR’ MENTALITY CAN SIDETRACK PLANNING
20 July - August 2008 www.reliableplant.com
PLANNING AND SCHEDULING
Doc Palmer, CMRP, has nearly 25 years of indus-trial experience as a practitioner within themaintenance department of a major electricutility. From 1990 through 1994, he was respon-sible for overhauling the existing maintenanceplanning organization. The resulting successplayed a role in expanding planning to all crafts
and stations owned and oper-ated by the utility. PublisherMcGraw-Hill subsequentlysought out Palmer to authorthe “Maintenance Planningand Scheduling Handbook”,f irst published in 1999 andnow in an expanded secondedition (2006). E-mail him at [email protected].
DOC PALMER
ADVISOR
Figure 1. When utilized correctly,planners improve effectiveness over time.
Effectiveness
Time
ChasingParts
PlanningFutureWork
E
C
D
B
A
ADVISOR
Routine, time-based preventive maintenance is a fact of life forproduction-critical equipment. But,
who should decide how often these tasks areperformed? Should it be the maintenanceteam (led by the maintenance manager) orthe production manager and the operationsgroup? While the question may seem odd(maintenance people should decide when itswork gets done, right?), many plants allowproduction to define maintenance sched-uling by default.
Let me explain. In many plants, productionoccurs 24/7, 52 weeks a year, perhaps withthe exception of a one- or two-week mainte-nance shutdown. Under these circumstances,careful planning needs to occur so thebacklog of maintenance tasks that can’t bedone with machines running can becompleted in the allocated outage period.But when it comes to lubrication, many taskssimply can’t wait a year (or longer) betweenintervals. Take, for example, regreasing bear-ings. With the exception of small and/orlow-speed element bearings, logic dictatesthat bearings be regreased more frequently –in some cases, as often as once per shift. Butunless the bearing is accessible during normaloperation, as opposed to being hidden
behind guards or machine interlocks, the onlytime the bearing will be greased is whenproduction makes the machine available tomaintenance. In this case, production sched-ules drive maintenance decisions.
The same logic applies to oil changes.Consider a small yet critical centrifugalpump. Many pumps of this type contain justa few gallons (or less) of oil. But, changing oilcan be a real problem if the pump can’t beshut down without taking down production;and while some may advocate doing an oilchange “on the fly”, it’s not recommended orthe preferred course of action. Of course withcirculating systems, larger oil volumescoupled with the ability to “sweeten” the oilthrough bleed and feed (draining a smallamount of oil from the reservoir andreplacing it with an equal volume of new oil)makes this less of a problem.
What about f ilter changes? Most circu-lating systems have inline filters on the supplyside and, in some cases, return line filters. Butunless these filters are arranged in a duplexconfiguration with the ability to valve off oneof the filters with the machine running, filterchanges won’t be determined by oil analysisor differential pressure as best practicedictates, but instead by machine availabilityas determined by production schedules.
So, how can we avoid these problems?We’re not about to advocate modifyingproduction schedules except in the mostexceptional cases. Instead, we must modifythe way we maintain our machines.
The place to start is during the design andinstallation phase. In past columns, I’vetalked about “maintainability” – havingmachines designed and installed in such away that tasks like regreasing bearings orchanging f ilters can be done without theneed for intrusive system access.Maintainability needs to be built in from theoutset, during equipment design. While it’spossible to modify in-service equipment toallow better intrinsic maintainability, it often
takes signif icantly more time, effort andmoney to do this after the fact than it doesfrom the start.
The second consideration is in the selec-tion of lubricants and accessories (f ilters,breathers, etc.). If accessibility to a machine islimited to a year (or longer), the plant shouldconsider using premium lubricants such assynthetics that will generally last longer thanconventional mineral-based lubricants andmay indeed last a year or longer without theneed for an oil change. Where contaminationis the driving force for a shortened PMinterval, consider using better breathers,mechanical seals or large filters with greaterdirt-holding capacity. Or, perhaps equippingthe machine with quick connects to allow aportable filter cart to be used to decontami-nate the oil while the machine is running is allthat’s required.
The final consideration is in efficient plan-ning and scheduling. When outages andproduction schedules dictate PM intervals,resource requirements will f luctuate fromperiods of low demand to “all hands ondeck” when the machine becomes availablefor maintenance. But when maintainability isused, coupled with the appropriate use ofpremium products and accessories, the highsand lows of maintenance resource schedulingare less pronounced. Likewise, through theuse of appropriate software tools thatprovide for options such as job kitting,dynamic job planning and current machineoperating status, maintenance can takeadvantage of “golden opportunities” – timeswhen the machine is unexpectedly down forproduction.
A common complaint I hear from mainte-nance people is: “Production won’t let ushave the machines in order to properly main-tain them.” While there’s a measure of truthto this statement, there’s plenty we can do toinsure that the maintenance team fulfills itsmandate to deliver reliability and availabilityto the operations team.
WHO SHOULD DECIDE THE RIGHT FREQUENCY FOR PM TASKS?
MACHINERY LUBRICATION
22 July - August 2008 www.reliableplant.com
Mark Barnes is vice president of Noria ReliabilitySolutions. In this role, he and his team work onnumerous and varied projects in the areas ofplant audits and gap analysis, machinery lubri-cation program design, oil analysis programdesign, lube PM rationalization and redesign,lubricant storage and handling, contaminationcontrol system design, and lubrication and
mechanical failure investiga-tions. As a Noria consultant,his client list includes Cargill, Alcoa, InternationalPaper, TXU, SouthernCompanies, Eaton, BCHydro and Southern CalEdison. Contact him [email protected] or604-736-6243.
MARK BARNES
ADVISOR
For some time, a considerableamount of confusion has existedover the appropriate way to inspect
for the presence of a given failure mode.Should I perform some type of sensoryinspection? Should I perform some type ofquantitative inspection? Should I apply oneor more condition-monitoring technolo-gies? Should I apply some combination ofthese techniques to maximize the condi-tional probability of f inding the defect?Essentially, how do I identify the presenceof a defect in such a way as to maximize theamount of time my planning departmenthas to effectively and eff iciently developthe job procedures, order the parts, andschedule and complete the work before theconditional probability of failure becomestoo high? An explanation of the types ofinspections and how they complement oneanother goes a long way toward clarifyingwhich ones are most appropriate.
Sensory inspections have long beenconsidered the backbone of any goodinspection program. It was believed thatsending someone around often enough toinspect for problems with machinery wouldresult in identifying defects in plenty of time
to effectively mitigate unplanned down-time. The inspector would use sight, soundand touch to determine if anything hadchanged since the last inspection. Anychange would be recorded, reported andinvestigated by a craftsperson on the nextscheduled outage. While there is a tremen-dous amount of benef it to sendingsomeone around to perform inspections,there are so many holes in this strategy thatit should never be considered the backboneof the inspection program. Sensory inspec-tions typically only identify the mostobvious and drastic of problems. It is allbut impossible for a sensory inspection toidentify early, internal defects in machines.
Enhanced sensory inspections f ill thatgray zone. They are both a sensory inspec-tion and a quantitative measurement with condition-monitoring characteristics.These inspections utilize instruments likespot radiometers, strobe lights, handheldvibration pens and simple ultrasonicmeters to detect defects further up the P-Fcurve. While these tools multiply the powerof the human senses, they have their limit.These simple tools do allow for differentfailure modes to be detected, but theyshouldn’t replace a comprehensive condi-tion-monitoring program.
Quantitative inspections can provideuseful information when it comes to gener-ating data for trending and determiningthe characteristic life of a failure mode.Quantitative inspections require someoneto measure something. Very commonquantitative inspections include measuringthe temperature of a seal on a pump ormeasuring the backplate clearance on apump impeller. These measurementsprovide data to the planner and engineerand help determine the need for furthermaintenance action. When designed prop-erly, a quantitative inspection proceduredetails limits and typically expected meas-
urements. Any inspection that requiressomeone to measure something shouldhave the minimum, maximum and typicalvalues, with conditional tasks defined forwhen the limits are exceeded. But a quanti-tative inspection performed at the properinspection frequency rarely will have ameasurement that exceeds the limits.
Condition monitoring, also known aspredictive maintenance (PdM), is the appli-cation of condition-based monitoringtechnologies, statistical process control orequipment performance for the purpose ofearly detection and elimination of equip-ment defects that could lead to unplanneddowntime or unnecessary expenditures.And generally speaking, you must conductthis while the equipment is in normal oper-ation, with little to no process interruption.The purpose of these tools (vibrationanalysis, infrared thermography, motorcircuit analysis, etc.) is to find defects notpossibly found through previously availableinspections methods, specifically while themachine is in normal operation.
Taking advantage of the available tech-nology lets you accurately assess thecondition of parts and the presence ofdefects heretofore impossible to detect. Anexample of the advantage these tools have inthe area of quantitative inspections orsensory inspections is the use of vibrationanalysis to determine the presence of adefect on a rolling element bearing.Previously, mechanics and millwrights reliedon “lift checks” to determine the amount ofclearance in a bearing. Unfortunately, thistechnique is only valid for bearing defectsthat resulted in the removal of material fromthe raceways of the bearing; this bearingwould be pretty bad off to have thou-sandths of inches of play in it. Sub-surfacefatigue is easily seen with vibration analysisand at this point in the failure propagationhas resulted in no removal of material from
PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCEVS. PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE
CONDITION-BASED MAINTENANCE
24 July - August 2008 www.reliableplant.com
Andy Page is the director of Allied Reliability’straining group, which provides education in reli-ability engineering topics such as root causeanalysis, Reliability-Centered Maintenance andintegrated condition monitoring. He has spent15 years in the maintenance and reliability field,holding key positions at Noranda Aluminum(maintenance engineer) and Martin Marietta
Aggregates (asset reliabilitymanager). Andy has an engi-neering degree from TennesseeTech and is a CertifiedMaintenance and ReliabilityProfessional (CMRP) throughthe Society for Maintenanceand Reliability Professionals(SMRP). Contact him [email protected].
ANDY PAGE
the raceways. This is the most commonexample of the advantages of condition-monitoring technologies.
In summary, there are different types ofdefect inspection techniques that can bebrought to bear on a machine, and eachhas its advantages and disadvantages.However, these techniques aren’t neces-sarily exact replacements for each other.Each determines the presence of thedefect at different places along the P-Fcurve and, as a result, each gives the plan-ning function different amounts of time torespond to the defect.
A failure modes, effects and criticalityanalysis (FMECA) can help you determinewhich inspection techniques should beapplied, how often and with what degreeof redundancy. Remember, the trick is tobalance risk with rigor. How much riskyou are willing to take with a given failuremode coupled with how much you arewilling to pay for the inspection deter-mines the appropriate strategy.
ADVISOR
How critical is your job? Is it viewedas a key position? If you left thecompany or all of a sudden got hit
by that proverbial bus that seems to begoing around the world taking people out,would the company be able to keep movingforward without losing a step? Have youeven thought about it?
If you don’t know whether or not a posi-tion (whether it’s yours or one that reportsto you) is key, I recommend that you startwith an analysis of positions that if leftvacant would not allow you to meet yourbusiness needs. Ask yourself these ques-tions about positions you believe could be“key”:
1) Does this position require scarce,specialized skills to deliver a product orservice?
2) Does this position have critical influ-ence over operations or strategy?
If the answered “yes” to either question,it’s probably a key position. As a result, youneed to think about an appropriate succes-sion plan for that post.
But is succession planning really impor-tant? Is it worth the time and effort? Isn’t
succession planning built into the organi-zation already? Isn’t that why you have vicepresidents, directors and managers inplace or, as is often the case with smallbusinesses, a son or daughter waiting totake the wings once dad retires (or gets hitby that bus)?
All you have to do to understand thevalue of succession planning today is lookat Wall Street. More and more, Wall Streetanalysts are putting true market value on acompany’s succession plan. GE, PepsiCoand IBM are just a few of the companiesthat have benefited in the market due tostrong recognized succession plans at the“C” level. And while large companies haveset the pace for formalizing successionplans, it’s really the small to medium-sizedcompanies that need it the most.
So, what does a successful succession planlook like? Once you identify an heir, are youdone? Of course, the answer is “no”.Succession planning is a dynamic initiativethat can change quickly with the naturalmovement of employees. In fact, successionplanning is more than a plan, it’s a systematicprocess. The reality is that most companiesdo not have a sufficient process in place toensure that succession planning is alwayscurrent and relevant. These companies endup going through a tumultuous time whenkey positions turn over.
Companies that have the right plan inplace share the following qualities.
MAKE A COMMITMENTLike any initiative, success is unlikely
without commitment. Leaders must becommitted and willing to put in the neces-sary time and energy to properlyimplement the system. Problems withcurrent practices must be analyzed, theneed must be demonstrated, and a system
with specif ic guidelines and policies mustbe developed.
COMPETENCY ANALYSISLeaders must analyze the competencies
of both the key positions and the currentworkforce so they can understand whatgaps exist today and in the future.Behaviors, abilities, skills and knowledgerequirements must be def ined in the joband assessed in the individuals.
DEVELOP YOUR TALENTAs managers, nothing is more important
than developing the necessary talent aroundyou. Developing talent is more than justsending them to training classes. The realfoundation for talent development is foundin the daily activities of management. Theseactivities consist of the following: 1) Assesswhat people need in order to develop; 2)Give them experiences that will develop theirtalent while, at the same time, getting thework done; and, 3) Provide them withuseful, specific and timely feedback – statedin a tactful and positive way – that will givethem the value of your input in doing itbetter while also showing that you appre-ciate their best efforts.
CONTINUOUSLYIMPROVE
Succession planning isn’t a static event. It must be continuously evaluated andimproved to ensure you are fully preparedand that it is working. Leaders who have theirsuccession plan locked away in a drawer untilit’s needed are doomed to failure.
Finally, you need to ensure that yoursuccession planning is aligned with yourmission and core values so that you identifysuccessors who are on the same page withyour company strategy and culture.
EVALUATING THE NEED FOR SUCCESSION PLANNING
26 July - August 2008 www.reliableplant.com
PEOPLE MANAGEMENT
John Ha is the president of Reliability Careers, aprovider of workforce solutions for the reliabilityand maintenance industry. This business not onlyprovides traditional recruiting and sourcing serv-ices for companies but is dedicated to helpclients with overall talent management, includingrecruitment and selection, performance manage-
ment and coaching, andemployee developmentand training. For indi-vidual career-seekers, thef irm f inds top-f lightopportunities in the reliability and mainte-nance field. Contact Johnat 918-388-2438 or [email protected].
JOHN HA
ADVISOR
Imagine having to deal with a lifef illed with setbacks and so-calledfailures. What would you do if your
resume read as follows?:“He failed in business in ’31. He was
defeated for state legislator in ’32. He triedanother business in ’33. It failed. His fiancéedied in ’35. He had a nervous breakdown in’36. In ’43, he ran for Congress and wasdefeated. He tried again in ’48 and wasdefeated again. He tried running for theSenate in ’55. He lost. The next year, he ranfor vice president and lost. In ’59, he ran forthe Senate again and was defeated.”
With these setbacks, it is easy to under-stand why someone would want to give upand not keep trying.
The above partial resume (taken from aSuccessories motivational poster) listedsome of the real events in the life ofAbraham Lincoln. These events happenedbefore he was elected as the President ofthe United States in 1860. This is quite asurprise since many historians and othersbelieve Abraham Lincoln was one of themost successful and influential presidents
in U.S. history. There are hoards of bookswritten regarding his life and presidency.His diligence and persistence in leadershipoversaw the nation through a tumultuousperiod in American history – the Civil War.Even in the darkest days of the war,Lincoln never lost hope and never gave up– whatever the odds were or what othersdid or said. He is credited in history forsaving the United States as one nationduring this period.
Leading a maintenance and reliabilityimprovement effort in any facility, businessor company requires a large amount ofpersistence and perseverance – probablynot as much as exhibited by Lincoln in hislife, but it is needed nevertheless. Theculture change required to transcend anorganization from reactive to proactivehabits is enormous. There will be manysuccesses and signif icant positive resultsand rewards along the way; however, therealso will be setbacks and difficult periodsthat will challenge you.
There will be challenges, some of which Iwill elaborate upon. I have been called a“Reliability Zealot” and other namesmaybe not so complimentary. I’ve beentold that I may, at times, come on toostrong using too much logic in myresponses. It has been explained to me that“we cannot afford to do it right and bebest-in-class.” M&R leaders have beenasked “to cheapen it up” by ignoringknown-best practices and principles. Manyoutsiders have argued that “we’re different,and this does apply our business.” We havemade decisions that did not result inexactly the outcome we wanted. We usedthese as learning experiences on what notto do. These situations and many othershave occurred for the last 15 years,
continue today and most likely willcontinue in the future.
So, how do you combat these and otherchallenges? There are many ways anddifferent methods. I will highlight mythoughts with the following list:1)Stay focused on the final vision and goal
or “end in mind”. Envision the rewards foreveryone involved when the final goal orvision is achieved.
2)Stay well-grounded in M&R principlesthrough continual education.
3)Teach others these principles. This activitysolidif ies your knowledge and ability tocommunicate the principles and bestpractices simply to others.
4)Benchmark with other facilities internaland external to your company. Externalbenchmarking with different industries ismost important. Do not become inwardlyfocused.
5)Network with other M&R professionals atevery opportunity.
6)Develop and build allies within the M&Rfield and in other disciplines.
7)Use your network for help and reinforce-ment. Attend industry conferences. Joinprofessional organizations such as theSociety for Maintenance and ReliabilityProfessionals.
8)Adhere to the foundational M&R princi-ples. Do not waver when challenged orattacked.
Therefore, the next time you encounter asetback or so-called failed endeavor,remember that such events are a normalpart of life and not a reason to give up.Think about Abraham Lincoln’s life and hisoverwhelming persistence and persever-ance to inspire you to continue the M&Rimprovement journey.
PERSISTENCE AND PERSEVERANCE
LEADING PLANT RELIABILITY
28 July - August 2008 www.reliableplant.com
Tim Goshert is the worldwide reliability andmaintenance manager for Cargill, one of theworld’s largest food and agricultural processingcompanies (more than 1,000 facilities worldwide). He is responsible for the company’s global reliability and maintenance initiatives and is chairman of the company’s WorldwideReliability and Maintenance Steering
Committee. Tim is an activemember of the Society ofMaintenance & ReliabilityProfessionals (SMRP) andserves on its board of directors. Contact him [email protected] [email protected].
TIM GOSHERT
PRODUCTSPOTLIGHT
TIMKEN TAPEREDROLLER BEARINGSTimken tapered roller bearings consist of a cone assembly and a cup.They are usually fitted as one of an opposing pair. During equipmentassembly, single-row bearings can be set to the required clearance(endplay) or preload condition to optimize performance. Single-rowtapered roller bearings have positive roller alignment that ensures truerolling motion and generates a “seating force” that pushes the rolleragainst the cone large rib. This seating force prevents the rollers fromskewing off apex, thereby keeping them positively aligned and locatedagainst the cone large rib. Products are availablewith inside diameters ranging from 7.937to 863.6 millimeters (0.31225 to 34inches) and outside diametersranging from 31.991 to 1,060mm (1.2595 to 41.7323inches).
The Timken Companywww.timken.com330-438-3000
SKF CYLINDRICALROLLER BEARINGSSKF cylindrical roller bearings feature unique logarithmically“crowned” rollers which provide improved contact geometrybetween roller and raceway. This roller profile reduces stresses underhigh loads, enables excellent performance even under misalignedconditions, and promotes cooler running to allow for high-speedoperation and longer bearing life. Their precision-honed inner andouter ring, raceways, and rollers additionally improve lubricanteffectiveness to contribute quieter, cooler and reliable service. Thebearings are offered in single-, double- and multiple-row designsthat differ in the arrangement, design and construction of retaining
flanges. Available bore sizes range in diam-eter from 25 to 1,000 millimeters
(0.9843 to 39.3701 inches).
SKF USA Inc.www.skfusa.com
800-440-4753
MRC MARATHON BEARING UNITSMRC brand Marathon series prelubricated mounted bearing unitsoffer sustained maintenance benefits by eliminating the need forregreasing. The USDA H1-approved high-quality synthetic grease isodorless, tasteless and approved for use in all food processing andbeverage industry applications. Among other benefits, the greaseimparts excellent internal and external bearing protection, high agingresistance for extended lubricant life, and high load-carrying capacity,which helps to prevent premature bearing wear. The Marathon seriesincludes heavy-duty, extreme-duty and composite versions incorpo-rating high-quality, corrosion-resistant insert bearings (coated orstainless). Available in a range of sizes, standard housing stylesinclude pillow block, two- or four-bolt flange, or tapped base.
SKF / MRCwww.skfusa.com/mrc800-440-4753
IGUS SLEWING RING BEARINGSSlewing ring bearings from igus use two self-lubricating, low-frictionpolymer sliding elements in place of ball bearings. The cost-effective,low-noise “PRT” modules are highly wear resistant, easy to installand completely maintenance-free. The slewing rings are also robustand have a high load capacity. The PRT slewing rings have aluminumhousings and use stainless steel screws. The polymer sliding elementsare made from igus’ high-performance iglide J, which contains asolid lubricant. This material also boasts a low coefficient of friction,chemical resistance, low moisture absorption and good vibrationdampening properties. These slewing ring bearings are suitable forall environments, in particular semiconductor and cleanroom appli-cations, assembly lines, production facilities and robots.
igus Inc.www.igus.com800-521-2747
www.reliableplant.com July - August 2008 29
SUPERMARKET
30 July - August 2008 www.reliableplant.com
SKF @PTITUDE SYSTEMThe SKF @ptitude Asset Management System brings together thehardware and software offerings from SKF Reliability Systems, andprovides solutions to optimize machine and process reliability andproductivity. Together, they form the basis of an integrated andscalable approach to condition monitoring. The system includesSKF Multilog onlinesurveillance andprotection systems,SKF Microlog andMarlin portable moni-toring solutions, andthe SKF @ptitudeMonitoring Suite(Analyst, Inspectorand Observer soft-ware modules).
SKFwww.skf.com/aptitude858-496-3400
DONALDSON FLUID ANALYSIS KITDonaldson’s new portable fluid analysis kit allows operators andinspectors to easily conduct on-site particulate and water analysis.Using the patch test method, the kit allows for the quick and reliableassignment of a three-digit cleanliness code per ISO 4406-1999 to agiven fluid sample. Samples arecollected in a 25-milliliterfluid sample bottle througha patch membrane filter. Theoil sample particle distribu-tion can be comparedwith the Fluid CleanlinessComparison Guide(included) to assign anISO code.
Donaldson Companywww.donaldson.com/en/ih800-846-1846
INTERTHOR ROTATOR MODELSInterthor unveiled a new Rotator material handling solution with a largercapacity of 2,200 pounds. The Rotator is available in two models: withmulti-purpose carriage or with forks. The Rotatorwith forks can tilt crates and boxes so thatthe user can reach the contentswithout stretching and straininghis or her back. The productcan turn a box 180 degreesto fully empty thecontainer. On theRotator with a multi-purpose carriage, it ispossible to fix and rotatedifferent items, including tools.
Interthorwww.interthor.com708-345-1270
FLUKE 113 UTILITY MULTIMETERFluke Corporation introduced a utilitymultimeter designed to help utilityworkers, linemen and electricians quicklydiagnose electrical problems. The Fluke113 multimeter gives utility users themeans to quickly and easily do basic meterset and reconnect testing. It delivers morecapabilities for the dollar, combined withthe accuracy, durability and safety thatmake Fluke tools famous. The Fluke 113comes complete with TL75 test leads, one9-volt battery and a printed users manual.
Fluke Corporationwww.fluke.com888-308-5277
LOCTITE 2033 GEL THREADLOCKERLoctite 2033 medium-strength gel threadlocker from Henkel isformulated for use on assemblies with coarse, wide, deep or largethreads sized one-quarter to 1 inch. This productcures when confined in the absence of airbetween close-fitting metal surfaces, andprevents loosening from shock andvibration. The easy-to-use, 35-milliliterbottle features two dispense heads –pinpoint and flat-top – that ensureapplication accuracy and fingertipcontrol. The productresists temperaturesto 150 degrees Celsius
Henkel Corporationwww.henkelna.com/mronew800-502-8483
TUNNEL VISION SWEAT GUTRTunnel Vision created an innovative Sweat GUTR (GUTR) sweat-band that provides clear vision to industrial workers’ who struggleto keep sweat out of their eyes. Unlike most sweatbands that try toabsorb sweat, the GUTR product works by diverting sweat awayfrom the eyes and glasses. It never saturates and is basically dryafter use. The GUTR is comfortable, saturation proof and reusable.The product also works well with hard hats, caps and safety glasses.
Tunnel Vision Inc.www.sweatgutr.com
866-457-0150
www.reliableplant.com July - August 2008 31
KAESER BOOSTERCOMPRESSORSProviding pressures to 650 psig and flows to 685 cfm fad, boostercompressors from Kaeser are a convenient, economical way to boostexisting plant pressure while eliminating the need for expensive, separatehigh-pressure systems. Mounted on heavy-gauge base plates with anti-vibration pads, Kaeser boosters eliminate the need for specialfoundations and fastenings. This product line includes standard N Series
high-pressure compressors and BoosterExtra Pressure (EP) compressors.
KaeserCompressors
www.kaeser.com800-777-7873
A2 EXOSCANFTIR SPECTROMETERThe innovative Exoscan Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometerfrom A2 Technologies is made for non-destructive on-site surface and
bulk analysis applications.Weighing less than sevenpounds, the Exoscan featuressuperior ease of use, coupledwith analytical performancethat rivals far larger and more
expensive traditional analyticalFTIR spectrometers. The
product is also capable ofhandling Attenuated TotalReflectance (ATR) applications.
A2 Technologieswww.a2technologies.com
203-312-1106
OIL EATER NATURAL LINEOil Eater introduced an eco-friendly line of absorbent pads made ofnatural plant by-products and featuring woven construction. Designedto provide a safer and cleaner workplace, they help companies meetOSHA and EPA requirements. The line includes Oil Only Pads and Rolls,Universal Pads and Rolls and AbsorbentSocks. The pads absorb up to 20percent more than melt-blownpolypropylene pads, yet costless. Product sizes rangefrom 16 inches x 18inches to rolls that are28 inches by 150 feet.
Kafko Internationalwww.oileater.com800-528-0334
OEI BYPASS FILTRATION SYSTEMWhen portable or stationary bypass f iltration is required, OneEye Industries’ kidney loop system cleans all types of f luids andviscosities for almost every f ilter configuration. All of OEI’skidney loop units are self-contained, environmentally friendly anddesigned for operator safety. They come with high-eff iciencyreusable f ilter elements and OEI’s patented magnetic f iltrationtechnology. The units are capable of removing ferrous contami-nates down to submicron levels and similar-sized non-ferrousparticles.
One Eye Industrieswww.oneeyeindustries.com
877-888-8727
BALMAC V-ALERTVIBRATION METERBalmac’s Model 240 V-Alert vibration metertakes the guesswork out of deciding whetherfan vibration is acceptable or excessive. Evenan operator with limited vibration experiencecan use the V-Alert because a green LED willilluminate when vibration levels are accept-able or a red LED will alert the operator tohigher-than-acceptable vibration levels. The V-Alert uses an industry-standard 0.2 ips RMSlimit for acceptable vibration. It automaticallyholds a displayed reading for up to 30seconds.
Balmac Inc.www.balmacinc.com614-873-8222
DONALDSONTRIBOGUARD FILTERSDonaldson improved thecompany’s state-of-the-artTriboguard line of industrialhydraulics filter elements toprovide 73 percent higherdirt-holding capacity and47 percent lower initialpressure drop than tradi-tional filters. TheTriboguard line wasredesigned by adding wiremesh to the media packconstruction; this increased structural strength and media area. UsingDonaldson’s Synteq filter media, these filters allow higher initial clean-liness and provide superior system protection.
Donaldson Companywww.donaldson.com/en/ih
800-846-1846
In an ideal world, multiple components could be producedin a single piece, or coupled and installed in perfect align-ment. However, in the real world, separate components
must be brought together and connected on-site. Couplings are required to transmit rotational forces (torque)
between two lengths of shaft, and despite the most rigorousattempts, alignment is never perfect. To maximize the life ofcomponents such as bearings and shafts, flexibility must be builtin to absorb the residual misalignment that remains after allpossible adjustments are made. Proper lubrication of couplings iscritical to their performance.
MISALIGNMENTMisalignment can occur as either an offset or angular displacement
on two of the three possible axes (Figure 1). The third axis, in the longi-tudinal direction, is not commonly measured, though errors in thisdirection can result in excessive thrust loads in a system. For majorinstallations, such as large compressors, wire alignment methods areused. Smaller applications have traditionally used rim-and-face dialindicator readings to quantify and correct misalignment, thoughoptical laser indicators have grown in popularity due to their ease ofuse and accuracy.
In pace-setting maintenance organizations, efforts are also made tocompensate for thermal growth that occurs in equipment duringoperation. All materials (except water) expand a small amount whenheated; the amount by which they do so is governed by the material’scoefficient of thermal expansion and the degree to which it is heated.A machine that is brought into alignment at ambient temperature willcreep into a position of misalignment as the machinery materialsclimb or fall to operating temperature.
Attempts are made to preheat or cool equipment to normal oper-ating conditions before performing alignment checks. Alternatively,calculations of anticipated thermal growth can be used to intention-ally misalign the drivetrain at ambient temperature so that it may growinto alignment. Whatever precautions are taken to make alignmentsas precise as possible, some amount of residual misalignment willinevitably remain. Misalignment forces rigid machine componentssuch as shafts to deflect in order to effectively become aligned. Thisdeflection stresses the components, causes vibrations, and distributeshigher and uneven loads on the structures that support theseelements, such as bearings. These stresses waste energy and candramatically reduce equipment life and reliability.
Designed properly, couplings can absorb misalignment forces sothat more expensive, critical and sensitive components may be saved.While rotating shafts appear sturdy, the bearings which support themare some of the most sensitive precision components in the drivetrain.
TYPES OF COUPLINGSCoupling designs may be divided into four principal categories,
each having several specific designs. Solid and magnetic couplingsdo not require lubrication, but are included here for completeness.
APPLIED RELIABILITY
UNDERSTANDING THE LUBEREQUIREMENTS OF COUPLINGS
32 July - August 2008 www.reliableplant.com
Figure 1. Types of Misalignment
Solid couplings are fundamentally rigidstructures that do not compensate formisalignment, but do allow two shafts tobe joined for the purpose of transmittingtorque. Bolted hubs keyed onto shafts arean example of a machine with magneticcouplings. Magnetic couplings allow shaftsnot in direct contact to be driven togetherusing powerful permanent or electricalmagnets. A sealless magnetic drive pump isa common example.
Other coupling types are f lexiblecouplings and fluid couplings. Many flex-ible couplings use f ixed-position f lexiblemetallic, rubber or plastic elements, suchas discs or bushings, that rotate with theshafts and absorb misalignment. Designsof this type do not require lubrication.Others such as geared, chain, grid and
universal joints do require lubrication forperformance and longevity. Fluid couplingsinclude torque converters and torquemultipliers. These couplings are filled withlubricating fluids that rely on the fluid totransmit torque.
FLEXIBLE COUPLINGSGear couplings (Figure 2) compensate
for misalignment via the clearance betweengear teeth. Shaft-mounted external gearteeth on both shafts mate with internalgear teeth on a housing that contains alubricant. Other designs mount externalteeth on only one shaft, mating withinternal teeth mounted to the other shaft.Acceleration or deceleration can result inimpacts between gear teeth due to back-lash from the clearance being taken up onopposite sides of gear teeth. Misalignmentwill result in sliding relative motion acrossmating teeth as they pass through eachrevolution.
Chain couplings (Figure 3) operate simi-larly to gear couplings. Sprockets on eachshaft end are connected by a roller chain.Clearance between components and clear-ance in mating the chain to the sprocketscompensate for the misalignment. Loadingis similar to that of geared couplings.
External grid couplings (Figure 4) use acorrugated steel grid that bends tocompensate for loading induced bymisalignment. Grooved discs attached tothe ends of each shaft house the grid,which transmits torque between them.Low-amplitude sliding motion developsbetween the grid and grooves as the griddeforms under load, widening in somelocations and narrowing in others overeach revolution.
Universal joints are used for maximumallowable misalignment up to 20 to 30degrees, depending upon the design. Theyare used extensively for the drive shafts ofvehicles to allow the wheels to move withthe suspension system. Universal joints usea four-spindled component called thespider to connect two shafts terminating inyokes or knuckles at right angles (Figure 5).Each of the four spider journals issupported by a bearing or bushingcontained in one of the knuckles, whichallow articulation.
www.reliableplant.com July - August 2008 33
Figure 2. Gear Couplings
Figure 3. Chain Couplings
FLEXIBLE COUPLING LUBES
Both lubricating oils and greases can beselected to lubricate f lexible couplings.Unless specif ically noted by the couplingdesigner, couplings for the majority ofindustrial components are grease lubri-cated. Coupling components are protectedprimarily by an oil f ilm which bleeds fromthe grease thickener and seeps into theloading zone.
Lubricated f lexible couplings requireprotection from the low-amplitude relativemotion that develops between compo-nents. Other concerns include centrifugalstress on the lubricant (particularlygrease), which causes premature separa-tion of the oil from the thickener, poor oildistribution within the housing and oilleakage from the housing.
The motion’s low amplitude, articula-tion speed and tendency toward a slidingrather than rolling action inhibits the devel-opment of hydrodynamic (full-f ilm)lubrication. Greases made with high-viscosity base oils, anti-scuff (EP) andmetal-wetting agents are recommended to
overcome the boundary (mixed-f ilm)conditions that often exist in f lexiblecouplings. High oil viscosity also slows theleakage rates.
Centrifugal forces in f lexible couplingscan be extreme, becoming greater withincreased distance from the rotational axis.Even moderately sized couplings cangenerate forces thousands of times greaterthan gravity (referred to as Gs). Greasemakers put a high priority on formulationsthat resist premature separation of oil andthickener due to the high G forces.
FLUID COUPLINGSFluid couplings transfer momentum
from the input shaft to a fluid and then tothe output shaft when transmitting torque.Misalignment is accommodated solely byclearances between the moving parts. Thesmall clearances don’t provide much roomfor error in alignment. However, it ispossible to effectively compensate forshock loading and high-torque startingloads as there is no solid connectionbetween input and output shafts.
In fluid couplings, an impeller attachedto the input shaft accelerates fluid withinthe coupling as it spins, much like in acentrifugal pump. This fluid then hits thevanes of the output shaft’s runner, trans-ferring its momentum as the runneraccelerates. It will accelerate until itapproaches the speed of the input shaft,but will never actually reach it. The differ-ence in speed between the input andoutput shafts is known as slippage. Ofcourse, frictional and viscous drag must beovercome before the output shaft canrotate. The minimum input speed requiredfor this condition is known as the stallspeed. Equipment with large static loads,such as a steam or gas turbine, would use afluid coupling to minimize the initial stresson the driving shaft.
Shock loads on the input side, such asstarting torque, are never created. Thespeed of the input shaft is never restrained.When the stall speed is exceeded, theoutput shaft will begin to accelerate, butwill do so at a constrained rate due to itsmoment of inertia (resistance to angular
acceleration). Slippage is created as therunner accelerates to the speed of theinput, dissipating excess energy throughviscous heat generation in the f luid.Output side shock loads will be similarlydissipated, even if the output shaft shouldcompletely stall.
Torque converters and multipliers arespecial applications of fluid couplings thatallow the input torque to be modif iedbefore transmission. These designs operatefundamentally by the same principles, butare mechanically much more complex.
FLUID COUPLING LUBESThe dissipation of energy that makes
f luid couplings so tolerant of shockloading creates the potential for rapid andextreme increases in fluid temperature. Theenergy dissipated during stall and slip isconverted to heat through the viscousshearing of the f luid (f luid internal fric-tion). In extreme applications, the f luidtemperature can rise above the normal200-degree Fahrenheit operating tempera-ture in less than a minute.
Oxidation and thermal degradationresistance are important qualities of oilused for f luid couplings because of thepotential for drastic temperature increases.Similarly, a high viscosity index (VI) is alsouseful to prevent severe decreases in oper-ating viscosity at temperature spikes andexcessively high operating viscosity at low-temperature conditions.
Low-viscosity f luids are ordinarily usedin these applications to reduce the powerlost to heat due to f luid friction. Fluidcoupling viscosities may fall between 2.5 to72 centistokes (cSt) at 40 degrees Celsius.For fluid couplings designed to operate athigh temperatures, viscosity limits may begiven at 100 C.
These f luids must also resist foamingdue to the severe agitation caused by theimpeller’s movement and its impact uponthe runner vanes. Rust-protective proper-ties help preserve the coupling’s metalcomponents. Hydrocarbon-based f luidsare superior in this regard to other fluids,but their performance can be improvedthrough rust-inhibiting additives. Seal
APPLIED RELIABILITY
34 July - August 2008 www.reliableplant.com
Figure 4. Grid Coupling
Figure 5. Universal Joint
compatibility is also important for long-life usefulness.
RECOMMENDATIONSAcceptable life can be expected from any
of these devices only if proper maintenanceis performed. Lubricant levels and qualitymust be verified through periodic checks.Additional lubricant may be needed tocompensate for leakage. Periodically flushand change the lubricant to removeharmful by-products of lubricant break-down, to replace oil-depleted grease or torefresh the additive population. Gearcouplings require perhaps the most main-tenance. Typical relubrication intervals aresix months to one year, depending uponapplication severity and experience.
All maintenance tasks must beperformed with attention paid to contam-ination control. The sliding contactsuffered by many couplings indicates thatabrasive three-body wear caused by partic-ulate contamination could be particularlydamaging. Improper removal of solventsused to clean couplings during inspectionsand flushing operations can lead to signif-icant viscous thinning of the lubricant inoperation or detrimental reactions withgrease-thickening materials.
Couplings will endure when thedemands placed on them are reduced.Consider the f irst line of defense to be aminimization of shock loading, includinghard starts and sudden load reversals.Sometimes operational demands makethis impossible. The principal source ofloading in coupling systems can becontrolled to a great extent, however.Proper alignment is considered a high-priority, precision maintenance functions.Use vibration analysis or thermographyduring operation to identify couplings thatare not in alignment, as even the sturdiestfoundations shift over time. Certainly,check for proper alignment whenever intru-sive maintenance or repairs are performedon the coupled components.
This article appeared in Noria’s MachineryLubrication magazine. Visit www.noria.comand www.machinerylubrication.com to learnmore.
www.reliableplant.com July - August 2008 35
These days, maintenance departments do not need tospend time and money lubricating bearings on the plantfloor. Bearing lubrication technology has overtaken tradi-tionally accepted procedures still practiced in many
industrial facilities. Self-lubricating plain bearings offer plant-floordecision-makers maintenance-free options to maximize produc-tivity and minimize costs.
There are three types of self-lubricating plain bearings used today.Oil-filled sintered bronze bearings were first conceived in the 1930s,with self-lubricating metal-polymer bearings developed around 1950and lubrication-free solid polymer bearings appearing in the 1960s.Wear rate and operation under specific loads, temperatures andspeeds are all important considerations when selecting the bestbearing for your application. The effects of dust, dirt or chemicals onthe bearing are also often decisive factors, as well as noise levels andperformance alongside different shaft materials.
Oil-impregnated, sintered bronze bearings rely on a capillary actionto create a lubricating oil film. Benefits include a low coefficient offriction, high precision and rotational speeds up to 1,200 surface feet per minute (sfm). Critically, however, high speed and rotational motion are both required to draw the oil out and maintain a full film of lubricant. Shaft oscillation, slow speed and
intermittent use can all inhibit this process. If movement stops, the oilon the surface of the bearing dries up; this can lead to squeaking andan increase in the coefficient of friction. In addition, high tempera-tures can break down the oil. Further disadvantages with this type ofbearing include low chemical resistance and sensitivity to dirt, edgepressure and impacts.
Metal-polymer solutions consist of a metal backing and a thinpolymer (such as PTFE) liner. This plastic liner contains a solid lubri-cant which is displaced from the bearing onto the shaft duringmovement. The advantages conferred by this self-lubricating layerinclude a low coefficient of friction and high load capacity — up to36,260 pounds per square inch (psi) compared to the 1,450 psiachievable with sintered bronze bearings. The bearings are also suit-able for high temperatures. However, they are very sensitive to dirt,susceptible to corrosion and do not readily absorb vibrations. Thepolymer liner can’t withstand high edge loads or oscillating move-ments and is gradually stripped off.
The third, lubrication-free option is to use injection-molded solidpolymer bearings. These bearings are made with a mixture of thermoplastic materials, embedded reinforcing fibers and solid lubri-cant. The fiber-reinforced materials maintain the bearing’s strengthand resistance to high forces and edge loads.
Self-lubricating plastic plain bearings offer technical advantages incomparison to metal or metal-backed bearings. A low wear rate, supe-rior chemical resistance and low noise are a few examples. Solidpolymer bearings are also impervious to corrosion and have a highload capacity. They are usually underestimated at high temperaturesbecause they are made from plastic, yet short-term temperaturesgreater than 572 degrees Fahrenheit and long-term temperatures of482 F are possible.
The dry-running nature of these bearings means dirt particles donot stick to the surface, but instead deflect off it. For this reason,optimal performance can be maintained even in extremely dirtyenvironments.
After the plain bearing itself, the shaft is the most importantparameter for a bearing system. This is because it is in direct contactwith the bearing and is affected by relative motion. The shaft surfaceis critical due to the fact a shaft that is too rough acts like a file and,during movement, separates small particles from the bearing surface.On the other hand, shafts that are too smooth can lead to higher wearbecause not enough lubricant can be transferred onto the shaft to
APPLIED RELIABILITY
A COMPARISON, EXAMINATIONOF SELF-LUBRICATING BEARINGS
36 July - August 2008 www.reliableplant.com
Figure 1. The benefits of solid polymer bearings include resistanceto dirt and impact.
have an effect. Sintered bronze bearingsfunction best on very hard, expensive preci-sion-ground shafts. In contrast, solidpolymer bearings have the ability to run onall types of shafts.
Finally, a predictable wear rate is extremelydesirable for maintenance professionals.Users should choose a bearings manufac-turer with the ability to accurately calculatebushing lifetime in a specif ic applicationbased on an extensive tribological test data-base. Currently, this technology is onlyavailable with injection-molded, self-lubri-cating polymer bearings.
One fork truck application has had thelatter integrated into its gearshift lever. Theplastic bearings withstand 30-pound loads,oscillating movements, 10 cycles per minuteand ambient temperatures up to 170 F. Theyare quieter and cheaper than sintered bronzealternatives and suffer minimal wear. Theyare also vibration dampening, easy to installand impervious to dirt.
In another application, a swinging hingeassembly used to support PVC swingingstrip doors — used for quick loading bayaccess — has been using maintenance-free,all-plastic plain bearings since 1998 withno problems. The bearings are resistant toshocks and edge loads. They replacedexpensive and corrosion-prone needlebearings and steel washers.
This article was provided by igus Inc., aRhode Island-based manufacturer of self-lubricating iglide polymer bearings. To learnmore, visit www.igus.com, call 800-521-2747or e-mail [email protected].
www.reliableplant.com July - August 2008 37
Figure 2. This split image compares abronze and a polymer bearing.
Industrial professionals from around thenation and around the world packed theNashville (Tenn.) Convention Center May19-22 to attend “Lean, Reliable andLubed,” Noria’s international conferenceand exhibition. Attendees spent the weekgaining information, ideas and productsolutions at the three co-located tradeshows: Lean Manufacturing 2008,Reliability World 2008 and LubricationExcellence 2008.
The heavy attendance continued a streakof fantastic turnouts for this event. TheNashville conference and exhibitionmarked the eighth year of LubricationExcellence, the fourth year of ReliabilityWorld and the third year of LeanManufacturing.
“The continued growth of our event isattributable to three words: Knowledge ispower,” said Paul V. Arnold, the editor-in-chief of Noria Publishing, which producesReliable Plant, Machinery Lubrication andPracticing Oil Analysis magazines. “Plantand department leaders attend our confer-ence and exhibition because of theintellectual payback. The case studies,workshops, training, networking, newproducts and more provide these peoplewith the knowledge and tools they need tomake a difference at their company. Byattending, they can turn information intoideas and ideas into action.”
Highlights of the Nashville eventincluded keynote speeches by:
- Mark Emkes, the chairman and chiefexecutive off icer of Bridgestone AmericasHolding Inc. and chairman and CEO ofBridgestone Firestone North American Tire(“Where the Rubber Meets the Road:Innovation, Reliability and Lean as Viewedby Bridgestone’s CEO”).
- Noria CEO Drew Troyer (“Diversify:Get the Entire Team on Board to Createyour Lean, Reliable and Lubed Plant”).
- Boeing Seattle Site facilities leaderMark Calkins (“How Boeing Does LeanMaintenance”).
- Shingo Prize executive director Dr. RossRobson (“Process-Centered vs. Person-Centered Lean Leadership”).
- Schonberger & Associates president Dr.Richard Schonberger (“The Confused Stateof Lean: Comparing Regions, Industries,Companies”).
During the three main days of theconference, May 20-22, more than 120sessions, case studies and white paperswere presented.
Lean track presentations were deliveredby leaders from the following companiesand groups: Boeing, Ford Motor Company,Whirlpool, BMW Manufacturing, Clorox,The Stanley Works, Rio Tinto/KennecottUtah Copper, Batesville Casket Company,Regal-Beloit Corporation, WeatherfordInternational, TBM Consulting, LeanManagement Solutions, the University ofKentucky Center for Manufacturing, AlliedReliability, Inventory ManagementServices, Aveus and the ManufacturingManagement & Technology Institute.
Reliability World presentations were delivered by leaders from: Eli Lilly, ABB,
SKF, Arnold Engineering DevelopmentCenter, General Physics, Noria, FLIR,IDCON, Life Cycle Engineering, UE Systems, Allied Reliability, CenTec, SPM Instrument,Management Resources Group, ProaxionTechnologies, Vesta Partners, ReliableProcess Solutions, Progressive MaintenanceTechnologies, Windrock, The Force,Conexo, Inventory Management Analysis,Caribbean Analytical Services, and ServiciosTecnológicos Corporativos.
Lubrication Excellence presentations weregiven by leaders from: Noria, Eli Lilly, JohnDeere, Rio Tinto Minerals, Chevron, Trico,Des-Case, Donaldson Company, EmersonProcess Management, Clarion Boards, FluidAssets, Insight Services, Fluitec International,EPT, Maintenance Reliability Group, A2Technologies, Kittiwake, Allied Reliability,McGill University, Pall Corporation, FocusLab, Condition Monitoring International,One Eye Industries, Thermal-Lube, Bel-Ray,UDRI, Intellistick, Wooton Consulting, Allen Filters, Progressive MaintenanceTechnologies, The Hurt Company andResource Recovery Systems.
At the expansive exhibition hall, more than150 suppliers featured new products andindustry solutions.
Workshops and several certification examswere held on May 19.
“Lean, Reliable and Lubed” was sponsoredby Air Sentry, Chevron, COT-Puritech, Des-Case, Emerson Process Management,Lubrication Engineers, MP Filtri, Shell, SKF,Snap-on Industrial and Trico. It was endorsedby the International Council for MachineryLubrication, the Independent LubricantManufacturers Association, the NationalLubricating Grease Institute and theVibration Institute.
Noria’s 2009 conference and exhibition willbe held April 28-30 in Columbus, Ohio. Tolearn more about this and other events, visitwww.reliableplant.com or www.noria.com.
38 July - August 2008 www.reliableplant.com
‘LEAN, RELIABLE AND LUBED’
NORIA EVENT DRAWS CROWD
NEWS ANDANALYSIS
Bridgestone CEO Mark Emkes wasamong the speakers in Nashville.
SAFETY REPORT
Cut resistance is a material prop-erty def ined by the amount ofenergy or force required to cut
through a material using a moving blade. Itis often the only factor considered whenselecting gloves for cut protection becauseit can be readily measured using standardtest methods and devices. The mostcommon test for cut resistance in the U.S.is ASTM F1790, which, along withANSI/ISEA glove selection criteria, providesa convenient rating scale for cut resistanceranging from zero to 5. While this ratingsystem is useful for comparing the cutresistance of products, it alone is notenough to truly predict the level of cutprotection offered by a product.
The challenge with cut testing is thatlaboratory tests may not adequately simu-late on-the-job conditions. Factors such asthe profile of the cutting edge, the magni-tude of forces involved in the test andenvironmental conditions will all affect themeasured cut resistance. In addition, cutprotection goes beyond a simple measureof a material’s cut resistance and is influ-enced by many other factors – some relatedto other material properties and productattributes and others to workplace condi-tions. When selecting gloves for cutprotection, consider all the requirements ofan application, not just cut resistance.
Cut hazards are as prevalent at the endof a shift as at the start, so it is importantto consider the abrasion resistance anddurability of a product when making aglove selection, especially when gloves willbe worn all day or reused for many days.Some gloves may provide excellent protec-tion initially, but this may diminish as theglove is worn and abraded or when it isexposed to degrading environments suchas high temperatures or chemicals.
Dexterity is essential for applicationswhere workers handle small, sharp objects,
and comfort is important when glovesmust be worn for extended periods of time.Since a glove is only effective when it isworn, dexterity and comfort are alsoimportant for ensuring compliance. If aworker must remove a glove because ofdiscomfort or interference with job func-tion, the risk of cut injury signif icantlyincreases regardless of the level of protec-tion offered by the glove.
Handling sharp objects and tools is acommon hazard, and without a sure grip,those objects and tools are prone to slip,which can lead to serious cut injuries.Gloves with enhanced grip provide workerswith more handling control and dexterityand can help prevent these slippage cuts.Enhanced grip has also been shown tosignif icantly decrease the force requiredduring handling, which further reduces therisk of cut injury. Environmental factorssuch as temperature, moisture and lubri-cants can signif icantly affect grip andshould also be considered when selectinggloves for cut protection.
Glove selection is just one component ofa hand protection program, and otherfactors not related to gloves such asmachine guards, workplace setup, lighting,worker experience and training are alsoimportant. Sleeves and aprons may berequired to protect other parts of the body,and, in some applications, workers mayrequire protection from other hazards suchas chemicals, electricity or high tempera-tures in addition to cut protection.
Workers should keep in mind that glovesclaiming cut resistance or cut protectiondo not completely prevent or eliminate thepotential for cuts and are not intended for use near powered blades or otherrotating equipment. Individuals shouldalways exercise caution when handling any sharp object and be alert to theirsurroundings.
Jeff Moreland, the author of this article, is atextile technologist for Ansell Healthcare Inc., aleading provider of workplace hand andclothing apparel. For more information, visitwww.ansellpro.com or call 800-800-0444.
CUT RESISTANCE VS. CUTPROTECTION IN WORK GLOVES
Consider a variety of factors when selecting gloves for cut protection.
www.reliableplant.com July - August 2008 39
SAFETY REPORT
40 July - August 2008 www.reliableplant.com
More than 15,000 industry leaders areslated to attend the National Safety Council’s2008 Congress & Expo, which will be heldSeptember 19-26 at the Anaheim (Calif.)Convention Center.
Congress, the event’s educationalprogram, features nearly 140 sessions,ranging from broad-based to industry-specif ic topics.They are offeredto both the seasoned professional andnewcomers to the safety and health field.
“Arc flash safety”, “lift truck safety”, “fallprotection” and “electrical safety require-ments for manufacturing plants” are amongthe technical sessions. Keynote sessionsinclude speeches by NSC chairman Joseph J.Ucciferro and executives from BahrainPetroleum, Industrial Scientific Corporationand ExxonMobil.
Expo, on September 22-24, features morethan 800 exhibiting companies showcasingproducts and services to improve the safety,
health and environmental needs of industrialfacilities.
To learn more about the event, visitwww.congress.nsc.org. � Simple work schedule adjustments might
promote health and help shift workers strike abetter balance between work and personallife, according to a new review of evidence.
Every workplace has its own definition ofshift work, but it generally includes nighttimeemployees as well as anyone who worksoutside the traditional 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.workday. Previous research has establishedthat shift workers are vulnerable to certainhealth and social problems includingsubstance abuse, sleep disturbances, absen-teeism, injuries and accidents.
Many shift workers have frequentlychanging schedules. Instead of a permanentnight shift, for instance, some workers clockin at night for several days and then rotate toafternoons for several days. According to thereview, forward-rotating shifts that follow the
logical order of the day seem to be lessdamaging to health and easier on the body.
“A forward rotation would be a shift in themorning, then the afternoon and then maybea night shift later. That is less harmful topeople’s health than starting at night,” saidlead author Clare Bambra, a lecturer atDurham University in England.
The review also found that rotating workersthrough shift changes more quickly — perhapsevery three or four days vs. every seven days —is better for health and work-life balance.� Honeywell recently agreed to acquire
Norcross Safety Products LLC for around$1.2 billion. Norcross manufactures personalprotective equipment (PPE), including airpurifying respirators (APRs), footwear, head-gear, f irefighter turnout gear, high-voltagesleeves and gloves, and arc flash protection.Norcross will be integrated into HoneywellLife Safety, part of Honeywell’s Automationand Control Solutions group.
For more safety-related news and notes, visitwww.reliableplant.com.
SAFETY’S BIG SHOW COMING IN SEPTEMBER
SAFETY NOTES
