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M-News Edition 54
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M-News - the Maintenance Newsletter

Edition 54, November 2005

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Contents

In this edition...
Introduction
Feature Article - Condition Based Maintenance: Use Real-Time Equipment Data to Reduce Downtime
Feature Article - Investigating Material and Component Failure
Feature Article - Beyond the Usual Applications for Infrared Thermography
Feature Article - Vibration Monitoring of Rolling Element Bearings
Feature Article - C’mere, Kid!
Upcoming Maintenance Events
2005 Maintenance Salary Survey - Results
Book Review - Effective Maintenance Management - Risk and Reliability Strategies for Optimizing Performance
Recommended Books
New Books
On the Lighter Side - Engineering Humor


If you wish to receive notification of future copies of this newsletter by email, please register at www.plant-maintenance.com/registration.shtml. If you have any feedback on the newsletter, or have something to contribute, please send me an e-mail.


IIR Conferences This edition of the M-News newsletter is sponsored by IIR
Maintenance Management 2005, IIR’s popular and respected annual Middle East forum, is now in its 11th year. At this vibrant industry gathering (10-14 December - Dubai, UAE), you will address the issues of vital importance to maintenance managers, reliability engineers, and operations and production professionals. Visit www.iirme.com/maintenance/ for more details.

Introduction

Sorry folks - another long delay between issues. The Operations and Maintenance consulting business that I run has been consuming large quantities of time - leading up to us being recognised as one of Australia's 100 fastest growing companies for the second year in a row. Hopefully, I am on track, however, to resume the normal schedule for issue of these newsletters.

In the meantime, we haven't been standing still. We have added hundreds more links, and cleared out dozens of dead links so that the content remains fresh and current. Our article library now contains links to 1,400 maintenance-related articles. We now have over 7,000 total links on the site - so keeping these up to date is a never-ending task. And all of this comes free of charge to you, courtesy of our advertisers and sponsors. Please support them.

We are working on other initiatives to make our site even more user-friendly, and to create a collaborative on-line Maintenance community. Our discussion forum is one way that we achieve this, but we are working on others. I look forward to bringing you more news on developments in future newsletters.

In the meantime, enjoy five new, high quality articles, and the (long overdue) results of our 2005 Maintenance salary survey.

Till next time....

Alexander (Sandy) Dunn
Webmaster, Plant Maintenance Resource Center
webmaster@plant-maintenance.com


Feature Article - Condition Based Maintenance: Use Real-Time Equipment Data to Reduce Downtime

Industry Pacesetters use real-time equipment data to prioritize and optimize their maintenance resources. The process is straightforward in concept: simply use real-time data to determine the equipment health, but only inform the Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) when maintenance is actually necessary. This article, contributed by Matrikon. discusses the practicalities of making this happen. You can read this article by visiting http://www.plant-maintenance.com/articles/CMMS--IntegratingReal-TimeInformationforCBM.pdf. You will require the free Adobe Acrobat reader to be able to view this file.


Feature Article - Investigating Material and Component Failure

This white paper provides an extensive study into the different types of material and component failures observed in industrial enterprises. This white paper also provides solutions to manufacturing problems and advises towards selecting the appropriate materials to improve overall product quality, reduce costs, and enhance customer satisfaction. It also discusses welding problems and offers solutions to improve the weld process. It is contributed by Rohit Bafna of TCR Engineering and can be read at http://www.plant-maintenance.com/articles/tcr-whitepaper-failure-analysis.pdf. You will require the free Adobe Acrobat reader to be able to view this file.


Feature Article - Beyond the Usual Applications for Infrared Thermography

Think of the world as a radiator.infrared thermographers do. Thermal energy travels at the speed of light in all directions. An infrared (IR) camera detects this [heat] energy and converts it into pictures or thermographs of heat. This article discusses possible applications for Infrared Thermography that you may not have considered. It was contributed by Gregory R. Stockton, of Stockton Infrared Thermographic Services, Inc.and can be viewed at http://www.plant-maintenance.com/articles/beyond_thermography.pdf. You will require the free Adobe Acrobat reader to be able to view this file.


Feature Article - Vibration Monitoring of Rolling Element Bearings

There are many various signal processing techniques implemented for the vibration diagnosis of bearings on rotating machines. This short article from Mukesh Shah provides an introduction to three main categories of signal processing techniques: Frequency methods, Time methods or Statistical methods, and Filtering methods applied to time signals. You can read more at http://www.plant-maintenance.com/articles/bearing_vibration_monitoring.pdf. You will require the free Adobe Acrobat reader to be able to view this file.


Feature Article - C’mere, Kid!

Mark Goldstein can be whimiscal and controversial at times. We are glad to include his articles in this newsletter, and hope to bring you additional articles over the next few months. This month's article considers what will happen as our most experienced managers, supervisors and technicians leave our workplaces over the next few years, as baby boomers reach retirement age. It can be read at http://www.plant-maintenance.com/articles/cmerekid.pdf. You will require the free Adobe Acrobat reader to be able to view this file.


EZ Maintenance (CMMS) maintenance software

This edition of the M-News newsletter is supported by Impaxion
EZ Maintenance CMMS Software. Total Equipment and Vehicle Maintenance in One Software Package.
$1,495.00 Complete; Nothing Extra To Buy! Network/Multi-User Ready. Click here for more details.


Upcoming Maintenance Events

The Plant Maintenance Resource Center is pleased to be the media partner for the following Maintenance conferences coming up later this year:

  • Engineering Congress 2005 - Mumbai, India - November 15-16, 2005
  • Rotating Equipment 2005 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - November 29-30, 2005
  • Shutdowns & Turnarounds Middle East - Dubai, UAE - December 5-6, 2005
  • Shutdowns & Turnarounds Conference - London, UK - December 7-8, 2005
  • Maintenance Management 2005 - Dubai, UAE - December 10-14, 2005

If you plan on attending, let them know that you heard about the event from us!


2005 Maintenance Salary Survey - Results

Better late than never, we have compiled the results of the 2005 salary survey in our most comprehensive analysis yet. The key findings from this years survey are:

  • After a number of years of steady growth, average salaries remain unchanged from 2004 to 2005.
  • In $US terms, the best paid countries for Maintenance workers are Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom with the United Sates coming in fourth position.
  • Experience and Education continue to have an impact on salaries in the Maintenance sector. The more you have of each of these, particularly experience, the greater your salary is likely to be.
  • Consulting Engineers and Management Consultants appear to be paid more highly than Maintenance Managers and Superintendents.
  • Larger organizations, combined with medium sized organizations appear to be paying better than smaller organizations.
  • the most highly paid industries on average were Oil and Gas Extraction, Mining – Coal, and Mining – Metal Ore.

For more information, and to read our 23 page analysis of the survey results, visit www.plant-maintenance.com/articles/salarysurvey05.pdf. You will need to have Acrobat Reader installed to view this file.


Book Review - Effective Maintenance Management - Risk and Reliability Strategies for Optimizing Performance

The Author has nearly 40 years experience in Maintenance and Project Management, gained primarily in the process industries, including eight years as the head of the Maintenance Strategy Group at Shell UK Exploration and Production. This book reflects the wealth of this experience. The phrase "bridging the chasm between theory and practice" very well summarises the intent of this book. While it covers many areas of theory, it does so in an easily accessible form, and would be a useful reference book for any maintenance manager or engineer. There is a wealth of information contained in what is a relatively slim, and very readable text. To read our full review, visit http://www.plant-maintenance.com/books/0831131780.shtml.


New Books

There have been a number of new Maintenance books released since our last edition. We plan to bring reviews of these to you over the next few issues. In the meantime, you might want to find out more by following these links.

Get more information on these and other books at http://www.plant-maintenance.com/maintenance_books.shtml.


Recommended Books

Here are ten Maintenance-related books that we have reviewed recently, and strongly recommend:

Get more information on these and other books at http://www.plant-maintenance.com/maintenance_books.shtml.


On the Lighter Side - Engineering Humor

There was a mine in a small town that completely collapsed. One of the Engineers who miraculously survived the disaster went into the local watering hole. The bar was empty except for one lonely soul at the other end of the bar. "Hey bartender" said the Engineer, "I'll have a beer and pour another one for my friend down at the end there." The bartender responded, "I'm sorry sir but that guy's a drunk and we don't serve his kind around here."

"Well, you'd better because if it weren't for that guy, I wouldn't be here. You remember that mine that caved in, well I was in that mine and so was that guy. When the last of us were escaping, he held the roof of the mine up with his head! So get him a beer and if you don't believe me, look at the top of his head and you'll see that it's flat from holding the roof up."

The bartender skeptically served the drunk his beer and then came back to talk to the Engineer: "I saw the flat spot on his head but I also couldn't help noticing the bruising under his chin. What is that all about?" the Engineer responded: "Oh...that's where we put the jack."



I hope you have enjoyed this newsletter. All feedback, comments and contributions to future editions are very welcome (as are enquiries about contributions to, and sponsorship of, this newsletter).

Alexander (Sandy) Dunn
Plant Maintenance Resource Center
webmaster@plant-maintenance.com
http://www.plant-maintenance.com


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