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M-News Edition 56
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M-News - the Maintenance Newsletter

Edition 56, February 2006
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Contents

In this edition...
Introduction
Feature Article - The Age of the RCM Analyst
Feature Article - CMMS Software - Selecting the Right CMMS
Feature Article - Alarm Management Blunders - Avoiding 12 Costly Mistakes
Feature Article - Suppose
2006 Maintenance Salary Survey
Upcoming Maintenance Events
Top-Selling 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.

Maintenance Experts

This edition of the newsletter is sponsored by Maintenance Experts
Reduce downtime, increase efficiency, and take control of your maintenance environment with MEX Maintenance Software.
Over 4,000 users worldwide. For a FREE trial copy, please visit www.mex.com.au or email sales@mex.com.au.  Ph:  +61 7 3392 4777

Introduction

A belated Happy New Year to you all!

Four more high quality articles for you this time, plus we open our 2006 Annual Maintenance Salary Survey.

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

Feature Article - The Age of the RCM Analyst

One response to the perceived resource heavy nature of implementing Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM) has been the increased use of sole analysts to conduct the analysis work. Sole analysts are generally people with a high level of technical expertise coupled with a high degree of knowledge regarding the RCM process and its application. This article, contributed by Daryl Mather of Strategic Advantages. argues that while the use of sole analysts in the RCM does allow for easier and more rapid implementation, it also has inherent problems.Of particular note is the lack of ability of one person to have all of the information that is required to perform analyses to an adequate level. However other issues involve the lack of auditing processes and abilities, the lack of knowledge transfer to the organization as a whole, and the vulnerability of the organiza-tion if this one person should decide to leave.

You can read this article by visiting http://www.plant-maintenance.com/articles/RCMAnalyst.pdf. You will require the free Adobe Acrobat reader to be able to view this file.

Feature Article - CMMS Software - Selecting the Right CMMS

With the explosion of the maintenance software industry in recent years, selecting your software has become a complex task. This article, from Erin Ouellette of COGZ Systems, LLC explains that some of the most important issues to consider when deciding which CMMS is right for you are cost, stability of the vendor, program features, fast implementation, support availability, and last but not least availability of a demonstration program.You can read the full article at http://www.plant-maintenance.com/articles/CMMS_selection.shtml.

Feature Article - Alarm Management Blunders – Avoiding 12 Costly Mistakes

Ineffective alarm systems pose a serious risk to safety, the environment, and plant profitability. Alarm systems are the primary tool for identifying abnormal situations and helping plant personnel take timely, appropriate action to move the process back to operational targets. As alarm management solutions become more common, our understanding of the factors that impede their success has grown. This article, contributed by Michael Marvan of Matrikon discusses these factors, and can be viewed at http://www.plant-maintenance.com/articles/AlarmManagement.pdf. You will require the free Adobe Acrobat reader to be able to view this file.

Feature Article - Suppose

Another thought-provoking article from Mark Goldstein. "The subject of this meeting is something that these people sarcastically refer to as Bean Counting. This isn't a nightclub act; we don't need these comedians in this room?" The treasurer agreed, and excused them from the meeting. Those dismissed from the meeting had made light of the solution to a problem, one both advanced and pervasive. They had made light of quite a bit of plant maintenance's serious business, in and out of GM. Now they were no longer part of the improvement process. They had been put out in the hall, where they belonged. Read more at http://www.plant-maintenance.com/articles/IDreamt.pdf. You will require the free Adobe Acrobat reader to be able to view this file.

This edition of the newsletter is supported by Assetivity
Assetivity has been one of Australia's 100 fastest growing companies for the last two years. Find out why by visiting http://www.assetivity.com.au.or giving us a call.

2006 Maintenance Salary Survey

Once again, we open our annual Maintenance Salary Survey. This aims to be the most comprehensive survey of Maintenance Salaries. All responses are completely confidential. You can submit your details, and view the results to date, at http://www.plant-maintenance.com/survey.shtml. Please pass this on to all your colleagues and friends who work in Maintenance. The more people that respond to the survey, the more meaningful the results will be. The survey will remain open until May 30, 2006, after which time, detailed analysis of the results will be presented in this newsletter.

Upcoming Maintenance Events

The Plant Maintenance Resource Center is pleased to be the media partner for the following Maintenance conferences in coming months:

  • Process Industry Reliability & Maintenance - Shanghai, China - February 27-28, 2006
  • Plant Reliability & Maintenance Conference - Manila, Philippines - April 3-4, 2006
  • Best Practice Management Skills for Maintenance Professionals - Auckland, New Zealand - April 6-7, 2006
  • Manufacturing & Operational Excellence 2006 - Manila, Philippines - April 24-25, 2006
  • Reliability & Maintenance Congress - Singapore - April 25-28, 2006

If you plan on attending, let them know that you heard about the event from us! To view even more Maintenance Conferences and Training Events, browse our comprehensive listing here .

Top-Selling Books

Here are the top ten most popular Maintenance-related books, according to our sales statistics through amazon.com:

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

On the Lighter Side - Engineering Humor

A tourist walked into a pet shop and was looking at the animals on display. While he was there, another customer walked in and said to the shopkeeper, "I'll have a CAD monkey please." The shopkeeper nodded, went over to a cage at the side of the shop and took out a monkey. He fit a collar and leash, handed it to the customer, saying, "That'll be $5000." The customer paid and walked out with his monkey.

Startled, the tourist went over to the shopkeeper and said, "That was a very expensive monkey. Most of them are only a few hundred pounds. Why did it cost so much?" The shopkeeper answered, "Ah, that monkey can draw on CAD very fast, clear layout, no mistakes, well worth the money."

The tourist looked at the monkey in another cage. "That one's even more expensive! $10,000! What does it do?" "Oh, that one's a Design monkey; it can design structures, lay out projects from scratch, mark-up drawings, write specifications, even do some calculations. All the difficult, really useful stuff," said the shopkeeper.

The tourist looked around for a little longer and saw a third monkey in a cage of its own. The price tag around its neck read $50,000. He gasped to the shopkeeper, "That one costs more than all the others put together! What on earth does it do?" The shopkeeper replied, "Well, I haven't actually seen it do anything yet, but it says it's a project manager.


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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