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#10 From: "Business Industrial Network" <bin95@...>
Date: Sun Oct 29, 2006 12:18 pm
Subject: All about RFID systems
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Pharma Industry Report ...
All about RFID systems for pharmaceutical distributors and the FDA
regulations.
By Sangeeta of Abhimas Software



Abstract:

The US FDA has decided to implement the "Pedigree provisions" of the
Prescription Drugs Marketing Act after December 2006, when the
current stay on it expires. There is a lot of concern that many
pharmaceutical supply chain participants, may not be able to meet
this deadline and hence risk non compliance with the provisions of
the act. This pharmaceutical article is excerpts from the RFID
technology white papers written by Sangeeta of Abhisam Software. The
RFID technology white papers attempts to present an RFID Systems
solution to ensure timely compliance and get added side benefits in
the process.

Problems with the present pharmaceutical supply chain:
There are two major problems with the present pharmaceutical supply
chain model of the pharma industry, as it exists today. The first one
is not of counterfeiting, but of diversion. More details will be
explained in in the background information below and in Sangeeta's
RFID technology white papers, but some highlights are below.

Drug diversions can be of two types.
Drugs meant for Medicare or Medicaid programs, public hospitals or
charitable institutions, are diverted to the open market.
Unscrupulous persons sell prescription drugs or "controlled"
substances to consumers, without proper prescriptions.
Counterfeiting (by FDA definition)
Dummies/ Placebos, which means that there is no active ingredient at
all
Products with a lesser quantity of active ingredient than stated
Products with the wrong active ingredient
Products with a packaging that wrongly suggests that it was made by
an FDA approved manufacturer
To give you an idea of the scale of the counterfeiting just one of
these cases involves $42 million of counterfeit Lipitor. Other high
value cases include a case involving a $200 million nationwide drug
diversion conspiracy and a $45 million Medicaid fraud involving
diversion of blood products.

The FDA's solution to the problem:
The FDA's vision of a safe and secure pharmaceutical supply chain is
based on transparency and accountability by all participants in the
(prescription drugs) pharmaceutical supply chain. The FDA had
nominated a task force to study whether this system could be
implemented with the currently available state of the technology.

They came to this conclusion after studying the various technologies
currently commercially available, which could meet the pedigree
requirements, including RFID or Radio Frequency Identification
technology. Amongst all technologies studied including bar coding,
RFID seemed to be the most promising and the committee felt that the
pedigree requirement could be met by easily leveraging something that
is readily available. (More details in the complete RFID technology
white paper "RFID-FDA-Regulations.pdf" referenced below)

How the pharma companies can approach this issue:
The million dollar question is "Who can ensure an ROI on this RFID
technology, especially after millions have already been spent?" Even
if a full scale RFID implementation were done now, how can it be done
fast, before the December 2006 deadline?

Rather than resist implementation of a pedigree system built on RFID
systems , pharmaceutical supply chain participants must realistically
estimate the costs of investment in the technology, the real cost of
counterfeits and the returns on a foolproof RFID based "track and
trace" system. The RFID systems will virtually eliminate the
counterfeit pharmaceutical market at one go. Secondly, it can ensure
that drug recalls can be done swiftly without any ambiguity. This has
been demonstrated many a times. Thirdly, the RFID systems need not
cost too much.

How wholesalers and traders can implement track and trace:
Ditto for other pharmaceutical supply chain intermediaries. They can
simply join the same global system outlined in the RFID technology
white paper that is currently in place and implement the electronic
pedigree system easily. The only investment would be in the RFID
readers and middleware. Even these can be bought in bulk by their
associations at negotiated prices and implemented. This solves the
issue of RFID standards too, since all participants would be using
similar kinds of RFID readers and RFID software.

Beneficial Side effects of the implementation:
In addition to combating pharmaceutical counterfeiting and diversion,
pharmaceutical wholesalers, traders and retailers, get the added
benefit of looking into their businesses and track the movement of
prescription drugs with full transparency. This will no doubt yield
added benefits of inventory optimization, demand forecasting and
increasing their knowledge of what is selling and how fast.

RFID Implementation issues:
  To implement this system fast, before the deadline of December
approaches, it is essential to train all stakeholders (pharmaceutical
company personnel, wholesalers, traders, retailers and others) fast
but, at a competitive cost. However, the present cost of classroom
based training is expensive, besides having other related costs like
travel and hotel stay. A better system would be to go for a vendor-
neutral e-learning program, which can be deployed immediately and
across several locations simultaneously. See:
http://www.bin95.com/BarCode_RFID.htm

This has the effect of bringing up all staff, to a level necessary
for them to implement an RFID based pedigree system. The e-learning
program should cover all aspects of the RFID technology including the
history, advantages over traditional automatic identification like
bar codes, practical RFID systems, RFID standards and middleware as
well as other issues like RFID privacy and RFID security. It should
ideally also offer a self assessment and a glossary. We believe, that
deploying such a program, across many companies is the only option to
effectively train hundreds of people, in a cost-effective manner, so
that the actual implementation of the system can be done smoothly. It
is essential to bring all people on board, make them understand this
RFID technology better and only then talk of implementing it.

Conclusion:
  RFID track and trace is a technology whose time has come. It not
only will meet the FDA requirements for compliance but also prevent
pharmaceutical counterfeiting (lost opportunity sales of genuine
drugs), prevent diversion, optimize pharmaceutical supply chains as
well as fulfill social responsibilities of the pharmaceutical
industry fraternity.

Training large numbers of people in a short time, is not a problem at
all since a vendor-neutral, technology and implementation focused e-
learning program is now easily available.

By Abhisam Software


----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------

Some Additional Background Information ...

Pharmaceutical distributors Background :
The Prescription Drug Marketing Act (PDMA) was signed as a law, as
far back as 1998 but a number of amendments introduced later,
finalized the pedigree requirements only in 1999.

The pharmaceutical industry, essentially requesting them to the
act "put on hold" , citing several reasons for this, one of them
being "the technology required for this system is unproven and not in
place." The FDA patience finally wore thin. Therefore it was decided
that they will allow the current stay on this act, to expire in
December 2006.

This may not be a big problem for the pharmaceutical manufacturers,
but it could be a really big problem for supply chain intermediaries
like distributors, pharmaceutical wholesale suppliers and traders,
who may not know much about "electronic track and trace" technology,
which is necessary for the compliance. Sangeeta's RFID technology
white paper attempts to explain how this RFID track and trace system
can be implemented and how it will be beneficial in the long run to
all sections of society- pharmaceutical companies as well as
intermediaries and ultimately the end users.

Understanding the pharmaceutical supply chain:
The lay reader may assume that it is like any other supply chain,
which brings goods from the manufacturers' factories to the retail
shelves, but it is not so. The pharmaceutical supply chain is
inherently different in its organization. For the pharmaceutical
business, the pricing for each end user is different. Therefore a
typical hospital gets these drugs at lower rates than does a corner
pharmacy. There are programs like Medicare and Medicaid where the
procurement prices are different than for someone who buys the same
drug at a corner pharmacy. The pharmaceutical distributors diagram to
the right shows some of the various flows of prescription drugs
through the pharmaceutical supply chain. (More details in Abhisam
RFID technology white papers like "RFID-FDA-Regulations.pdf")

#9 From: "Business Industrial Network" <bin95@...>
Date: Fri Apr 7, 2006 1:05 am
Subject: New newsletter due May-2006
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Just wanted to let everyone know, a very, very special newsletter will be out in May. It will be well worth the wait. Much new, unique, valuable and free information will be provided. This has been in the works since the beginning of the year.

Thank you for your patience.;)


#8 From: "Business Industrial Network" <bin95@...>
Date: Mon Dec 26, 2005 5:37 am
Subject: Hazardous Area Training - The Maintenance War Newsletter , Volume 15
bin95us
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-(   The Maintenance War Newsletter   )-

Feed Forward Publications

Volume 15

Web site www.feedforward.com.au

Merry Christmas.

If you like what you read in this newsletter, please pass it onto others inside and outside of your organization, whom you think will find value in it.  If you have any comments to make, please send them to us. An easier to read version of this newsletter is online at http://www.feedforward.com.au/free-email-newsletters.htm

You can publish anything that is in this newsletter.  All I ask is that you recognize the copyright, keep the name together with the article and include our website address www.feedforward.com.au

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*** Topics from the front line. ***

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Topic: "Hazardous Area Training"

2. Featured Articles: Keys for Effective Troubleshooting - By Warren Rhude

  • Hazardous Area Installation Management - By Abhisam Software
  • How to Troubleshoot like an Expert – a Systematic Approach - By Warren Rhude
  • Plant Maintenance Management of your PLC - By Don Fitchett

3. Reader Feedback: "Just Kudos."

4. Technical Help:

  • "How to Troubleshoot like an Expert "
  • "SOP to reduce risk to our plants, bridges and water systems..."
  • "High Demand Training"

5. Management Help: "Alternate Fuel Resources"

6. Reliability Engineering: "The Accuracy Controlled Enterprise"

7. The World Wide Web:

  • "What is Value Management? Value Engineering? Value Analysis?"
  • "Some TDC and OEE resources online ..."

8. Industrial News: "eBooks, Training Workshops, Company News and New authors"

____________________________________

*************  RE: Hazardous Area Training *****************

__________________________________________

 Welcome to the 15th issue of our Feed Forward Newsletter; "The Maintenance War Newsletter". This first area of the newsletter is for introductions and commentary. Remember, the website has many new items added each month. So please browse around to find quality maintenance and engineering information. 

              Online version at  www.feedforward.com.au


I would also like to wish everyone a Safe and Happy Holiday Season.

With the new year coming all is a buzz around here as we have many new products and information scheduled to release the first part of 2006. We have not waited until the New Year to start delivering though, since the last newsletter we have already released a lot of great new products and many articles.

Be sure and review our industrial news area this issue, as we have changed the approach. Typically we forward on to you world news in that area, this time we have used the news area for all our own related industrial news.

http://www.feedforward.com.au/News/Feedforward-industrial-news-vol20.htm

The theme this issue is targeted towards our readers from the more hazardous industries and mission critical industries. All of our readers can benefit from the best in class standards those industries are required to maintain, whether it be by law or just by the very nature of the processes they require. 

Hazardous Areas are typically found in large facilities like chemical processing plants, oil production platforms, tank farms, refineries, storage tanks, ships, grain silos, warehouses and other similar areas, which have the risk of explosion or fire due to explosive mixtures of vapors or dusts. While most technical personnel, who work in such facilities or help in designing these installations, are fairly aware of hazardous areas and the risks involved, the report of a recent study carried out by the Health and Safety Executive, UK, is surprising, as well as shocking. It points to the fact, that many so called hazardous area installations, were not up to the standard and some were downright unsafe.  Learn more in the article ...

Hazardous Area Installation Management

http://www.feedforward.com.au/hazardous_area_installation.htm

I think those in chemical processing plants, oil production, refineries, rubber and plastic manufacturing, transportation manufacturers, food industries, power generation facilities and other similar areas will find this volume of our newsletter of particular interest.

__________________________________________

********** FEATURED ARTICLES **************

__________________________________________

Keys for Effective Troubleshooting - By Warren Rhude

http://www.feedforward.com.au/electrical_training.htm

 

Hazardous Area Installation Management - By Abhisam Software

http://www.feedforward.com.au/hazardous_area_installation.htm

 

How to Troubleshoot like an Expert – a Systematic Approach - By Warren Rhude

http://www.feedforward.com.au/electrician_training.htm

 

Plant Maintenance Management of your PLC - By Don Fitchett

 http://www.feedforward.com.au/plant_maintenance_management.htm

_____________________________________________

*********   READER FEEDBACK  ****************

_____________________________________________

 Kudos:

A terrific amount of well presented info on your site.

Greg (Tekdraulics)

__________________

SUPER INFO. SITE

Murry (January Building Inspections)

__________________

A unique site worth visiting for unique programs.

Laxton (MIT Associates)

__________________

Perspective CMMS just launched the latest version of their website with a new, easy to navigate layout and additional content. Pay them a visit at ... http://www.pemms.co.uk

____________________________________________

************  TECHNICAL HELP ***************

____________________________________________

 How to Troubleshoot like an Expert - a Systematic Approach

The approach described here is a logical, systematic approach called the 5 Step Troubleshooting Approach. It is a proven process that is highly effective and reliable in helping to solve electrical problems.

The 5 Step Troubleshooting Approach consists of the following:

Preparation
Step 1 Observation
Step 2 Define Problem Area
Step 3 Identify Possible Causes
Step 4 Determine Most Probable Cause
Step 5 Test and Repair
Follow-up

Take a look at these in more detail, see Warren Rhude' s article How to Troubleshoot like an Expert.

http://www.feedforward.com.au/electrician_training.htm

 

SOP to reduce risk to our plants, bridges and water systems...  

A complete PLC policy and procedure manual is out of the scope of this area. However, hear are a few random items below to get you started.

1. Write PLC policies and procedures into your existing maintenance policy and procedures. (SOP) 

2. All personnel working with PLCs will be trained on that PLC equipment. 

3. Backup copies of the PLC programs will be made every 6 months regardless of change status. 

4. If a PLC program has been changed ... 

  a. It will be documented in the software copy, in the printed copy and in the CMMS program. 

  b. Copies of the PLC program will be stored on a media more reliable than floppy disk (CD, USB, etc.). 

  c. Multiple copies will be stored on laptop, maintenance manager's office and off site (corporate). 

  d. If available, EEPROM will be updated with new changed program. 

 Note: If outside vendor changes, a-d will be performed by maintenance personnel 

Please read our article to see more recommendations for SOPs related to future equipment purchases and more tips ... 

Maintenance Management your company's PLC 

http://www.feedforward.com.au/plant_maintenance_management.htm

 

 

High Demand Training

 

For a long time now, our main company Business Industrial Network (BIN), has had many request for two more advanced topics.

 

* HMI Training (Panelview)

http://www.bin95.com/Saint-Louis_HMI_Panelview.htm

 

* PID Process Control Training

http://www.bin95.com/PID_Process_Control_Saint-Louis.htm

 

BIN plans to release information about the two new training workshops early in 2006. But before we release the details to the general public, we would like to give our readers and present customers first shot at registering. 

 

As the seating is limited, due to the training equipment required for these hands on workshops.

 

Remember, you heard it here first. just click on the links above to learn more... literally.

 

 __________________________________________________

*************** MANAGEMENT HELP ******************

__________________________________________________

Alternate Fuel Resources:

Developing Unconventional Resources
Producing The Previously Unproduceable
March 21 - 22, 2006 ·  The Millennium Britannia Mayfair, London, UK

Why should you attend?
Working with unconventional resources can ensure that you remain competitive in a highly pressurised market
Exploring and producing unconventional resources is more attractive in today's economic climate but how clear are the benefits and what exactly are the actual costs? We all need and want answers. Whether you're looking at oil and tar sands, heavy oil, shale or tight gas or coal bed methane you need clearer understanding of the following key issues:

  • How pursuing unconventionals fits with your global portfolio
  • How to make products marketable and establishing the potential routes to market
  • Technical understanding of the different processes that are required
  • Exact costs, risks and rate of return to calculate accurate ROI

Don't miss this event because...
At Developing Unconventional Resources get answer key questions and explore the challenges specific to you and your organisation as you seek to determine whether moving into unconventional resources is viable and opportunistic.

http://www.iqpc.co.uk/cgi-bin/templates/document.html?topic=229&event=9284&document=67463&slauID=2&

____________________________________________________

************** RELIABILITY ENGINEERING **********************

____________________________________________________

 The Accuracy Controlled Enterprise: 

accuracy controlled enterprise Moving from Quality Conscious to Accuracy Controlled Production and Maintenance

 Moving from Quality Conscious to Accuracy Controlled Production and Maintenance. Highly reliable equipment is necessary to reduce production costs and maximize production throughput. High reliability from operating equipment requires high quality reassembly, coupled with the correct operating practices. You can guarantee correct maintenance and proper plant operation by specifying a target and tolerance in maintenance and operating procedures. Having a target and tolerance sets the recognized acceptance criterion.

A simple proof-test will confirm if it has been met. Specifying a mark and tolerance range changes the focus from one of simply doing the job; to now doing the job accurately. This results in high quality trades' workmanship and sound equipment operator practices that deliver reliable equipment performance. Those organizations that use `target, tolerance, proof-test' methodology in their procedural tasks move from being a quality conscious operation to being an Accuracy-Controlled Enterprise (ACE). To read more of Mike Sondalini's article, see Accuracy in Production and Maintenance.pdf

http://www.feedforward.com.au/Accuracy%20in%20Production%20and%20Maintenance.pdf

___________________________________________________

**************  THE WORLD WIDE WEB *****************

____________________________________________________

What is Value Management? Value Engineering? Value Analysis?

Equally important as the internet being a tool to network knowledge, is it's value to network people. I was exploring a new contact at "www.Linkedin.com" (a site designed to help you build new contacts in business), of which I have been a member for years. A new friend I made had such an interesting site, I thought I should share it with my readers.

Wixson Value Associates, Inc. (http://www.srv.net/~wix/wvahomep.htm)

I read the content of his site for about an hour, initially just wondering, what exactly is "Value Management"? But after a few minutes it became a quest for me to evaluate how the True Downtime Cost  methodology could be used as a tool to solidify and justify Value Management.

In an email reply to me, Jim explains ...

" I haven't heard of TDC, however, it's possible it could enhance Value Management. True downtime cost could probably be used assist with evaluating the functions of a system that needs improvement. VE stands for Value Engineering. VA is for Value Analysis and VM encompasses both. VE is the term used when the methodology is used in the design phases of a product/process/service. VA is the term used for improving and existing product/process/service."

"Cost usually is an important element when trying to improve value. When cost data is available for a VA/VE study, it is used to determine where improvements should be made and to quantify these improvements. However, in my experience, many times cost data is not available. So then the things you mentioned such as RCA and other techniques such as FMEA are used. In these cases, the emphasis is on improving quality, reliability, or solving root cause problems with the system. VA/VE is a systems approach, using and interdisciplinary team, to problem solving. This is the primary focus of most of my studies. It seems that in the nuclear industry and environmental industries that I have worked in the past 15 or 16 years, these are more important than cost."

Jim was very detailed in his respond, as the conversation went on about one of his articles that provided a case example. My realization of the need to sense a condition in an airplane with total solid state equipment instead of using a micro hole in a diaphragm, who's quality is detrimental to the sensing. As we all know, most failures are mechanical in nature.

Point being, network with some people this season!

 ____________________________________________________

************** INDUSTRIAL NEWS *****************

____________________________________________________

FeedForward Industrial News:

See also our software area for many new releases in 2006: Computer Based Training CD (CBT) Software and Power Point presentations (We are giving away a free Electrical Troubleshooting Skills Training Series CBT (DEMO CD) with any other CD order from this website for the every month.

http://www.feedforward.com.au/maintenance_management_software.htm


Feed Forward Publications and Company News, Week Ending Dec 25,2005 for professionals worldwide.

Please forward this to a colleague. 

Bhagwati Prasad Gupta releases his Second Technical Reference

===== EBOOKS =====

>> Operational Integrity Management (OIM) ebooks

Description:  

OIM is a business process management system that can be applied to operational risk management and process safety management. Industrial management examples with project deliverables. (PSM, HSE, RAM, Six Sigma, ISO 9000/14000)

Ian Sutton is in the process of writing and publishing a five-volume set of books covering the topic of Operational Integrity Management (OIM). The five volumes are supplemented by examples of Project Deliverables and Checklists. To see a complete table of contents of these downloads go to http://www.feedforward.com.au/OIM_management.htm 

This demonstrate how Feed Forward Publications is willing to work with authors and support their new ideas. 

>> Mike Sondalini to Published another Industrial Management Book.

Mike Sondalini's will publish another industrial management book, " True Downtime Cost eBook - 2nd Edition " in January. This new release is a joint project between Mike Sondalini and Don Fitchett. This makes 6 industrial management titles in a row for Mike.

The Goldmine in your Maintenance Work Order System eBook

Production Risk Management Using Equipment Criticality Analysis

Business Strategy Management with KPI eBook

Employee Training and Development with SOP eBook

The Industrial Asset Management and Equipment Reliability Toolkit ebook

 

===== TRAINING WORKSHOPS =====

>> New 2006 HMI to PLC Training Workshop

Business Industrial Network will be hosting this two day training seminar on Allen-Bradley's Panelview (HMI-OCS) and Panel Builder software in Saint Louis, Missouri - March 21-22, 2006. This will be a hands-on workshop with PanelView 550 and PanelView 300 as well as the SLC 500 PLC and Micrologix ™ PLC to work with. Details can be found at HMI to PLC Training Workshop .

http://www.bin95.com/Saint-Louis_HMI_Panelview.htm

>> New 2006 PID - Process Control Training Workshop

Business Industrial Network will be hosting this two day training seminar on PID - Process Control in Saint Louis, Missouri - March 23-24, 2006. This course, will give you a firm foundation in Process Control and PID control tuning utilizing special training software designed specifically to simplify the learning process. Details can be found at PID - Process Control Training Workshop .

http://www.bin95.com/PID_Process_Control_Saint-Louis.htm

Both of these related Phase II training courses are being held back to back so attendees can register for the combined 4 day Phase II course. Already know your HMI inside and out? You can register for the PID training only if you like. Every one can learn from this course, even if it is just a refresher for you.

===== COMPANY NEWS & BRIEFINGS =====

>> Business Industrial Network Partners with Control Station, Inc. to Provide PID Control Seminar

We're pleased to host Control Station and offer Practical Process Control to our base of industry practitioners," stated Don Fitchett, President of BIN95. "Training is critical to maintaining a sustainable competitive advantage. By equipping engineering staff with essential knowledge and skills, we empower them to positively impact their plant's performance."

"The link between training and competitiveness is clear – Companies that invest in the training of their staff consistently outperform the competition," commented Doug Cooper, Control Station's Founder and Lead Instructor. "By equipping employees with the knowledge and skills they need to make informed decisions, we are empowering them to optimize the means of production. BIN95 shares that perspective and applies a similar hands-on approach, assuring a high-impact, high-value learning experience."

Don goes on to state, "Both companies look forward to a long and lasting relationship with many new products resulting in the near future."

===== NEW AUTHORS =====

>> Bhagwati Prasad Gupta releases his Second Technical Reference eBook

Bhagwati Prasad Gupta has spent more than 35 years in the field of maintenance, and has been exposed to various industries in India, Russia, Germany and Switzerland. Bhagwati just released his new technical reference eBook, "Industrial Hydraulic Systems and Circuits ". Some of you may already be using his  first technical reference eBook he published with us, "Precision Machining Equipment Maintenance Handbook ".

http://www.feedforward.com.au/hydraulic_control_system.htm

http://www.feedforward.com.au/machining_equipment_maintenance.htm

Bhagwati's eBooks are a great example of the convenience PDF eBooks provide as a technical reference. You can have a copy handy on your computer and quickly search thru the hundreds of pages. When you find the technical reference you need, you can print the page and take it out on the shop floor. Get the page dirty, no problem, print another the next time you need to. The original stays safe and protected from the elements, protecting your investment in the reference material.

__________________________________

Best regards and thanks for being a subscriber to this newsletter.

Don Fitchett

Managing Editor

Feed Forward Publications

http://www.feedforward.com.au

 


#7 From: "Business Industrial Network" <bin95@...>
Date: Sat Jun 25, 2005 6:45 pm
Subject: Feed Forward Newsletter "The Maintenance War" Vol 14
bin95us
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
-(   The Maintenance War Newsletter   )-
Feed Forward Publications
Volume 14
Web site www.feedforward.com.au


(Note: You will only receive this newsletter once a month or less
frequent, no other email.)

If you like what you read in this newsletter, please pass it onto
others inside and outside of your  organization, whom you think will
find value in it.  If you have any comments to make, please send them
to us. An easier to read version of this newsletter is online at
http://www.feedforward.com.au/free-email-newsletters.htm

You can publish anything that is in this newsletter.  All I ask is
that you recognize the copyright, keep the name together with the
article and include our website address www.feedforward.com.au

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*** Topics from the front line. ***
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Topic: "Lubrication and PLCs"

2. Featured Article: "OEE Analysis at Toyota Motor Manufacturing"
-
Reader Responds

3. Reader Feedback: "Downtime related to market and supplier
limitations."

4. Technical Help: "Automatic Lubricator"

5. Management Help: "OEE is a Benchmark Tool"

6. Human Resource: "What are SOP's, Procedures and Work Instructions?"

7. The World Wide Web: "What is a hot topic in our industry?"

8. World Industry News.

_________________________________________________

*************  RE: Lubrication and PLCs *****************
_________________________________________________

  Welcome to the 14th issue of our Feed Forward Newsletter; "The
Maintenance War Newsletter". This first area of the newsletter is for
introductions and commentary. Remember, the website has many new
items added each month. So please browse around to find quality
maintenance and engineering information.
               Online version at  www.feedforward.com.au


In line with the theme of this issue, we are giving away a free
Bearing Lubrication Simulation Software CD with any CD order for the
entire month of July. (Limit one free CD per customer.)
http://www.feedforward.com.au/Bearing-Lubrication/index.html

We will also have 5 drawings for a free "Pocket Maintenance Advisor -
hard copy" at the end of July. To qualify you need only make a
purchase during the month of July.
http://www.feedforward.com.au/maintenance-reference-book.htm


Watch our site in July, as several new books will be released and
also three new troubleshooting CBTs that are not only educational,
but a lot of fun. (If you love to troubleshoot as  I do.:>)

I would also like to take this opportunity to tell you about the
new 'Kaizen Corner' area of a website by Author - Larry Bush
www.reliability-consultant.com/Kaizen_Corner.htm

My personal favorite out of the 8 Kaizen listed so far, is the one
titled "THE NON-WRAPPING STRETCH WRAP MACHINE" . What an excellent
example of not only the cost of not updating your PLC equipment, but
also the cost of not training your people on the PLC equipment.
Working with a PLC without really understanding what you are doing
can cost much downtime. Also typical, the failure occurs on an off
shift, when the OEM is not available. (What really hurts is when you
find support is even more difficult to find because the OEM for the
outdated equipment, is out of business.)
http://www.reliability-consultant.com/Problem-stretch_wrap_machine.htm

Yes, another example too, the value of performing a plant wide PLC
assessment of your equipment. You can download this PLC assessment -
free spreadsheet we use to collect vital info on the PLCs in a
facility. (So why not take pro-active action today!)
  http://www.bin95.com/Download/PLC-Audit.zip

__________________________________________

********** FEATURED ARTICLE **************
__________________________________________

  "OEE Analysis at Toyota Motor Manufacturing" - Reader Responds
http://www.feedforward.com.au/OEE_Analysis.htm

"A reply to one readers inquiry for help doing an OEE analysis of a
well-established automotive industry automotive plant, Toyota Motor
Manufacturing."

This article is about measuring overall equipment effectiveness as a
basis for increasing the productivity of manufacturing process. It is
delivered as a reply to one of our readers. He was doing a three
month research at the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia and
focused on a production line of it's stamping plant.

The question was "where should I start to analyze the examined data
(OEE, availability, performance rate, and quality rate figures also
all the losses) and how to analyze them?"

Don's Reply:
First of all, the purpose of OEE is to benchmark either equipment
utilization or production efficiency or both.

See http://www.downtimecentral.com/oee_teep.htm

For OEE or any benchmark to be a tool, it must be acted on. I like to
use the terminology, `Closed Loop'. :>) You take the lines
first OEE
measurements, maybe several for accuracy. Either Daily, weekly or
monthly with the best being automated collection of data daily, then
averaged for weekly, monthly, annual.

The start of constant improvement:

Now for the acting on OEE information. You must first make the daily
or weekly OEE number know to all involved. Not just management, but
the operators too. A campaign to Improve (make the OEE percentage
higher) must be implemented from top management on down to line
supervisors.

What must be done:

You analyze each of the three OEE factors individually to see how to
improve the OEE. (Availability, Performance Rate, and Quality) This
should be done by a TEAM made up of operators, maintenance,
engineering and management.

For each of the three factors, the team brain storms one the most
cost effective ways to improve (Minimum cost with maximum gain in
percentage.) The you start with changes to which every factor
(Availability, Performance Rate, and Quality) has the greatest
opportunity for improvement and the lowest cost and work your way up
the list implementing the recommended changes and recalculating the
OEE after each change.

For example:

Before any change, you find 50% Availability (0.5) X 70% Performance
Rate (0.7) X 20% Quality Reject Rate (results in 80%(0.8) acceptable)
= 28%OEE

If you calculate Availability on a 24/7 time table (equipment
utilization method), increasing availability may be a simple as
increasing from a two shift operation to a 3 shift operation. Which
in the above example would result in about a 16% increase in
availability which would bring our OEE up to 37%

If you calculate Availability on a scheduled time table (operating
efficiency method), increases in percentage are smaller. It may be
reducing excessive downtime by increasing PMs or making parts more
available to feed the line or reducing change over time for products.
You may see only a 1% or 2% increase in availability.

Your team may decide that the operating seep of the machine is the
first factor to work on because it is the most cost effective. In the
above example the line is only running at 70% of it's designed
capacity. You may have the OEM come in and tune it up for free, and
see a 10% increase in the Performance Rate factor. There by
increasing the OEE from the first measured 28% to 32%.

After both the above factor changes where implemented, the total OEE
would be 42.2% OEE. That's a 14% increase on Return On Investment
(ROI) for company stock holders.

The same would be for the third factor, Quality. The team may find
adding an extra employee pre-inspecting raw material feed to the line
increases the quality factor of OEE by 7%. The increased company
profit amortized over a year, this may justify the additional quality
employee.

I could go on with hundreds of examples, but don't have the time.
Just remember, no body is perfect, so your should never reach 100%
OEE. The goal is through constant improvement to keep striving to get
close and closer to 100% OEE. The closer you get the smaller the
percentage gains will be.

Implementation should start with the machine, line, facility in a
company that measures the lowest OEE but shows the greatest
opportunity for improvement with the lowest cost to implement that
improvement. Until you have worked your way thru the entire company.
So the start is to measure all OEE for all equipment, Lines,
Facilities in the company so you can see the big picture as to where
the best place to focus improvement is.

When you are analyzing cost to implement improving OEE and savings
seen by improved OEE, TDC is a valuable tool to realize more accuracy
and reality in coast analysis.

www.DowntimeCentral.com

_____________________________________________

*********   READER FEEDBACK  ****************
_____________________________________________

  Subject: Downtime related to market and supplier limitations.

Dear sir,
How do you consider equipment downtime due to market limitations in
downstream or supplier limitation in upstream?
Sanjeev, Senior Manager - Corporate Quality
__________________
Dear Sanjeev:
Those who read my works know I am a big advocate of asset utilization
(bottom line) focus as opposed to those who's primary focus is
production schedule (operating efficiency).
With the above in mind, my opinion if market limitation can not be
resolved by putting more into sales (product competitiveness and
marketing) then capital assets should be adjusted accordingly. Either
way reducing downtime due to market limitations.
As for supplier limitations, in most cases, it is possible to obtain
zero downtime due to lack of supply. Many lessons can be learned from
JIT management who require their suppliers to be JIT also (Like the
big three automotive manufacturers).
On a final note, even piece work manufacturers like machining
operations should strive for zero downtime on each machine. If you
have a machine down because you can not find enough customers to keep
production demand up, you have a machine not giving you the full
return on the capital investment. (Think diversification, outsourcing
and out of the box. :>)

Kudos:
Just a quick feedback on the site... Excellent. Easily navigated and
very informative. Covers many of the issues I face in my working
life. Had an informative and enjoyable visit. Thanks
Mark (Engineering Manager of a Packaging Plant)
__________________
Thanks for free subscription to such great newsletter. I really was
looking for such situation. And I've read the volume 13. It was good.
Sepideh (Senior of Industrial Engineering)
Thank you Mark and Sepideh, your comments inspire us to keep the
newsletters going. :>)

____________________________________________

************  TECHNICAL HELP ***************
____________________________________________

  Automatic Lubricator Tip

Selecting Sprockets for Gearbox Design
Good practice is to always have your smallest sprocket with 19 teeth
or more to reduce wear rates (Use odd numbered teeth if possible as
it allows the chain to run better over the sprocket).
Mike Sondalini
www.lifetime-reliability.com

Automatic Lubricator
This reader having designed an automated lubricator that sprays a
constant mist instead of typical drops, has a maintenance tip for us.
Most equipment has an existing plc which this lubrication unit could
be interfaced with or a suitable control circuit can be built. This
would solve many existing real world obstacles to properly
lubricating machinery that use compressed air.

The reader highlights some of the major obstacles ...
Lubricators are often behind panels that seldom are opened.
Lubricators are seldom "set" to the proper drip rate. It can take
over 1/2 hour to adjust properly manually due to different machine
use, cyclic nature and dwell time. Sometimes the lubricators are
filled, turned off for various reasons.

With automatic lubricators interfaced to PLC, proper control can be
obtained quickly, be consistent and PLC can warn plant personnel when
not operating properly.

Thanks Bruce of www.autolubricator.com

Oil and Wear Particle Analysis

Both Oil and Wear Particle Analysis have the distinction of being
able to detect oncoming problems before any damage occurs. Early
warning signs of abnormalities will show up in oil long before the
equipment heats up or starts to vibrate.

To learn more visit ...
Lubrication-FluidPower.com

PLC Discussion Forum

I started up a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) Forum. Please stop
by and help me out with a post of your own.

PLC Discussion Forum
http://www.idcon.com/toastforum6503/toast/toast.asp?
sub=show&action=topics&fid=10

Thanks, Don

Control System Design and Layout

Put a line filter in line with the 110v control voltage for PLCs. To
read more control system and layout tips, see our maintenance and
engineering articles article area.
http://www.feedforward.com.au/articles_maintenance_engineering.htm

  __________________________________________________

*************** MANAGEMENT HELP ******************
__________________________________________________

OEE is a Benchmark Tool

One reader asks: "We have tube making lines running 24hrs a day, 5
days a week."
We work our OEE out by the simple formula
(Best Practical Speed per minutes) x 60min x 24hrs x 5days.
If we run nonstop at best speed all week (unlikely) then we get 100%
OEE
But we find that several factors impinge on our formula:-
1) Different jobs run at different speeds
2) Sometimes a line is planned to be off for a day
To keep things simple we continue to use our OEE formula but I do
wonder if we should be varying the parameters such as best line speed
and actual running days. The issue is with several lines this gets
very difficult to track. Any thoughts that might help. Regards, Dean"
Hi Dean:
Your answer is definitely, 'Yes'. The primary purpose of OEE is to be
a Benchmark tool to compare Apples to Oranges. :>) Now the above is a
general answer, to do the best you can, my answer would provide a
little more detail. :>)
The secondary goal of using OEE to is to drive one to get the most
value out of company equipment/facility as one can. To better reach
this goal, some of the fortune 500 companies have developed a second
benchmarking measurement tool daubed, 'TEEP'.
Please see http://www.downtimecentral.com/oee_teep.htm  for more
detail.
If you have the same equipment running different products which each
product runs at different speed, you want to use OEE to show you what
is your most profitable product. (IE: if equipment is designed to run
30 pieces per minute, and one product requires you to slow equipment
to 15 pieces per minute to maintain quality, that product process
needs analyzed to improve speed.)
As a side note, maybe after much study, the speed for the slower
product could not be improved. Then that lower OEE may be a
consideration when pricing that more costly to produce product.
Where TEEP comes into play is that it uses scheduled production time
not 24/7.
I noticed you did not mention quality in your original question, but
you being Six sigma, I am sure you intended that quality being used
in the OEE was assumed. :>)
So in summary, I would recommend both OEE (24/7) for equipment
utilization (ROA) and TEEP for weekly benchmark (setting speed factor
by product) for operating efficiency.
My Quote "Nobody runs 100% OEE, because nobody is perfect. There is
always room for improvement."
Also see OEE analysis for more insight and read "What is the True
Downtime Cost (TDC)?" or download the book.
http://www.feedforward.com.au/OEE_Analysis.htm
http://www.feedforward.com.au/True_Downtime_Cost.htm
http://www.feedforward.com.au/lean-manufacturing.htm
Hope this helps

____________________________________________________

************** HUMAN RESOURCE **********************
____________________________________________________

  What are SOP's, Procedures and Work Instructions?
  Reader Kon S. ask "What are the differences between SOP's,
Procedures and Work Instructions?"
Don's Reply:
SOP's are Standard Operating Procedures. Which are procedures
(written work instructions) that all follow to give more consistency
and control to the process.
Kon elaborates...
"I have seen companies call there documentation work instructions,
other companies call them procedures and other companies call them
SOP's."
Don further replies ...
I believe I will stick with my first opinion. They are all basically
the same and left up to the interpretation of the one's requesting
them to be written.
In many cases, "work instructions" may be just a 'How to' with less
focus on standardization by the author. A less formal version of the
SOP. The use of just the word "procedures" being somewhere in the
middle, with "SOP" being the most detailed version with the most
focus on standardization.
You will probably find the more formal (and descriptive)
terminology "SOP" used more in cases where ISO certification and
Corporate guidelines are involved.
Hope this helps
Don

Employee Training and Development with SOP eBook By Mike Sondalini -
Discover how to realize and release the continuous improvement power
of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
http://www.feedforward.com.au/sop_training.htm

___________________________________________________

**************  THE WORLD WIDE WEB *****************
____________________________________________________

You can pick up the news paper or a trade magazine and read the front
page news or cover story of what that establishment feels is a hot
topic. The truth is you may get an impression of what is a hot topic
in our industry, but in actually, the topic decision was biased, paid
for, or just one editor's opinion.
The internet has some excellent tools for finding out what is truly
the hot topic of focus for our industry, and it will be completely
unbiased. Take for example Overture's "What's most search for" tool.
Below are fairly new topics that are being most searched for by
individuals from around the world in our industry. You might find
them informative and interesting.
shanghai automotive industry corp
automotive closing general motor plant
industrial air compressor
And it is always interesting to know what topic (relevant to our
industry) is the 'most search for' in the basic categories of
industrial, engineering and maintenance. This gives you a sense of
what relevant topic mater has the most internet presence. (law of
supply and demand.)
Overture Google (will have "xx.x mil")
  36275  industrial supply
  14788  industrial equipment
  11346  telegraph service commercial industrial
  21.2mil  industrial design
  19 mil  industrial engineering
  11346  industrial alliance
  23004  engineering services
  21276  civil engineering
  19932  mechanical engineering
  22.4 mil  engineering companies
  15 mil  engineering projects
  11.8 mil  engineering council
  14793  maintenance software
  12174  maintenance management
  10479  aircraft maintenance
  21.7 mil  maintenance management
  19.1 mil  maintenance software
  14.2 mil  maintenance manager
____________________________________________________

************** WORLD INDUSTRY NEWS *****************
____________________________________________________


ARCwire for the Week Ending June 10,2005 reaching over 60,000
professionals worldwide.

Please forward this to a colleague. Anyone can sign up for a free
subscription on their Web site at http://www.ARCweb.com

Wireless Devices in Process Manufacturing
Pressure Transmitter Market in China to Grow 11% Annually
Invensys Process Systems Opens Technology Center in Beijing
Business Industrial Network Offers New Training Solution in Most
Major US Cities
Schneider Electric to Acquire Invensys Advanced Building Systems in
EMEA

===== ARC BENCHMARKING SURVEYS =====
>> Wireless Devices in Process Manufacturing
Wireless devices are of interest to many process manufacturers,
because they offer the ability to easily add remote or incremental
functionality to existing installations without significant
installation cost. However, growth in this area is thwarted by
numerous detractors, including concerns over susceptibility to
interference and security issues.

This survey is designed to gauge current and future acceptance of
wireless devices in process manufacturing in light of these issues,
as well as manufacturer perspectives on applications,
standardization, and other market dynamics.

All responses will remain confidential, and a free Executive Brief
summarizing the results will be sent to all participants. To take the
survey, please go to: www.arcweb.com/ss2/wsb.dll/ARC/wirelessproc.htm

===== INDUSTRY TRENDS =====
>> Pressure Transmitter Market in China to Grow 11% Annually
The demand for pressure transmitters in China remains strong as
efforts to build infrastructure and a manufacturing base continue.
This growth is expected to be strongest early in the outlook period
as the government feverishly prepares to host the 2008 Olympic Games.
The product mix of pressure transmitters is changing as conventional
transmitters slowly give way to more intelligent devices. This trend
is expected to continue as China transforms itself from a big
manufacturing country to a strong one.

===== COMPANY NEWS & BRIEFINGS =====

>> Invensys Process Systems Opens Technology Center in Beijing
Invensys Process Systems announced the opening of a new technology
center in Beijing, People's Republic of China. The new facility
includes well-equipped technology demonstration, customer training,
and technical support areas, as well as offices for local sales and
engineering staffs.

Staffed by approximately 15 full-time specialists, the new Beijing
technology center complements Invensys' existing presence in China,
which includes the Shanghai-Foxboro Company Limited facility in
Shanghai, with its manufacturing, sales, customer support, training,
and engineering capabilities.

Houghton LeRoy, ARC Advisory Group, commented, "Major companies such
as Invensys are focusing on improving customer value in China and
other Asia Pacific countries. Expect Invensys to focus on plant to
business interoperability with strong asset performance management
capabilities."

>> Business Industrial Network Offers New Training Solution in Most
Major US Cities
Business Industrial Network announces they now offer over 150
training locations in most major US cities to hold their customized
industrial training classes at . The New Service will be launched at
the St. Louis location ("The Microsoft Building"), with the
June PLC
Training Seminar.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/4/prweb232964.htm


===== ACQUISITIONS & PARTNERING NEWS =====
>> Schneider Electric to Acquire Invensys Advanced Building Systems
in EMEA
Schneider Electric announced that it will acquire Invensys Advanced
Building Systems operations in Europe and Middle East (ABS EMEA). ABS
EMEA, owned by Invensys plc, is a provider of building automation
solutions and services (regulation, monitoring and control of all
technical equipment in buildings) in the UK under the Satchwell brand
name and has a strong presence across the rest of Europe and in the
Middle East. The company generated revenues of $168 million for the
fiscal year ended March 31, 2005, with a restated operating profit of
$12.3 million. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals.

Dave Clayton, ARC Advisory Group, commented, "Schneider Electric's
acquisition of Invensys ABS EMEA will significantly strengthen the
company's offerings for Building Automation equipment. Previous
Schneider Electric acquisitions in the BAS market have focused mainly
on intelligent Building Automation System controllers and
workstations. The acquisition of Invensys ABS EMEA will allow
Schneider Electric to offer customers more complete building
automation solutions, especially in the HVAC market."


Best regards and thanks for being a subscriber to this newsletter.


Don Fitchett
Managing Editor

Feed Forward Publications
http://www.feedforward.com.au

www.feedforward.com.au teaches your maintenance crew engineering and
asset care knowledge so that they can solve more problems, become
more knowledgeable, make better decisions and your plant runs more
reliably!

#5 From: "Business Industrial Network" <bin95@...>
Date: Wed Nov 3, 2004 2:12 pm
Subject: Feed Forward Newsletter "The Maintenance War" Vol 13
bin95us
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
-(   The Maintenance War Newsletter   )-

        Feed Forward Publications
              Volume 13

      Web site www.feedforward.com.au

Hi, you are receiving this newsletter because you registered for it
at our yahoo group "FFPnewsletter".  If you no longer wish to receive
this newsletter, please let us know by logging into the group and
changing your email settings. (Note: you will only receive this
newsletter once a month or so, no other email.)

If you like what you read in this newsletter, please pass it onto
others inside and outside of your organization, to those who you
think will find value in it.  If you have any comments to make,
please send them to us. An easier to read version of this newsletter
is online at http://www.feedforward.com.au/free-email-newsletters.htm

You can publish anything that is in this newsletter.  All I ask is
that you recognize the copyright, keep the name together with the
article and include our website address www.feedforward.com.au

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*** Topics from the front line. ***
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Topic: "Electric Power"

2. Featured Article: "M2M Device Networking"  - by Marty Huff

3. Reader Feedback: "Anti friction bearing Clearance Adjustments".

4. Technical Help: "Indirect Addressing - A PLC Programming Tip"

5. Management Help: "Indirect labor hours"

6. Human Resource: "Let's Talk Human Resource"

7. The World Wide Web: "Recommendations"

8. World Industry News.

_________________________________________________

*************  RE: Electric Power *****************
_________________________________________________

  Welcome to the 13th issue of our Feed Forward Newsletter; "The
Maintenance War Newsletter". This first area of the newsletter is for
introductions and commentary. Remember, the website has many new
items added each month. So please browse around and find yourself a
gold nugget.
               Online version at  www.feedforward.com.au

Since our last issue we have started to deliver Palm / PDA software
products and power point presentation products. We started out with
one new product for each new media type. We are actively working on
developing and finding you more of those type products.

Be sure to download the free trial Electronic and Electrical
Calculator Palm Software. Our first power point to offer is
titled "Maintenance Management Guide".

http://www.bin95.com/palm/Free_Palm_Software_downloads.htm
http://www.feedforward.com.au/Maintenance_Management_PPT.htm

Our newest Ebook title is by Larry Bush. Be sure to browse the free
samples of his Ebook, "How to Purchase, Setup and Maintain Emergency
Diesel Electric Generators"
http://www.feedforward.com.au/emergency_power_generator.htm

We have also added a couple new Computer Based Training (CBT) CDs. If
you have experienced our award winning PLC Training CBT, you will
want to see our new Control Logix CBT. We have also recently added a
Measurement Methods CBT.

http://www.feedforward.com.au/plc_trainer_rslogix.htm
http://www.feedforward.com.au/controllogix_rslogix_5000.htm
http://www.feedforward.com.au/precision_measurement.htm

Also the very detailed M2M Device Networking article by Marty Huff is
new on the site.

http://www.feedforward.com.au/Preventive_Maintenance_Technology.htm

  The  article is about how the ability to extract raw data from a
device, machine, or appliance, and convert that data into useful
information, transforms the decision-making from an art to a science.

  In the last issue of "The Maintenance War Newsletter", we started an
initiative dubbed "Change the world". One submitted article stands
out as being in line with the initiative's goals.

  Frank Lincoln donated the white paper "Electronic Electricity
Repository (EER)", about a new approach to storing electricity. While
we are not validating his theories by publishing them, our hat is off
to Frank for his thought provoking article and his intentions to make
the world we live in a better place to live.

http://www.feedforward.com.au/Electronic_Electricity_Repository.pdf


You never know, Frank's article may spawn the next invention to make
our appliances even smaller and consume less energy. :>)

Also if you have had past interest in our ebooks, CDs etc. I should
let you know until Dec 25th, a Christmas gift icon will be appearing
by various products on the website, indicating temporary discounts up
to 70% !! Happy Holidays.
__________________________________________

********** FEATURED ARTICLE **************
__________________________________________

  Enabling New Possibilities for Preventive Maintenance
  By Marty Huff

Today, most businesses rely on networks for sharing information among
employees and customers. Yet this is only a small piece of the
information that can be shared. Machines and appliances - essentially
any electronic or electro-mechanical device with a sensor, controller
or microprocessor - contains a great deal of information about its
status, performance and usage.

The ability to extract raw data from a device, machine or appliance
and convert that data into useful information transforms the decision-
making from an art to a science. You can now leverage Internet, Wi-Fi
and Cellular technologies to relay information anywhere, anytime.
This unique combination of factors has converged into a powerful new
paradigm known as M2M (machine-to-machine, machine-to-man and machine-
to-mobile).

M2M constitutes the next notable phase in preventive maintenance, a
phase that opens up a whole new world of possibilities including:

*  The ability to know the status of a piece of equipment no matter
where you are, by having alerts sent to a web browser, PDA, pager or
cell phone.

*  The potential to know which part needs repair or replacement
before you dispatch a technician, which can save time and money.

*  Enhanced tools that provide the ability to analyze and track a
machine's history, in order to spot trends and more accurately
predict maintenance requirements well in advance.

For those industries such as wastewater, where accurate regulatory
reporting is key, M2M strategies can create and deliver periodic
reports automatically and help reduce the likelihood of fines.

For example, a central server can monitor several remote cell phone
towers via the Internet. Let's say the beacon light on one of the
towers fails. The application running on the server recognizes the
failure which triggers a local alarm, sends an email alert over the
Internet to the FCC, and forwards a cell phone message to a
technician.

At that point, the technician can browse to a Web page through a Web-
enabled cell phone in order to acknowledge the alarm and enter an
estimated time for the repair. Knowing at this point the nature of
the repair, the technician responds with the correct parts in hand to
repair the light. To top it off, all of this information can be made
available to an enterprise software application or authorized company
staff.

Using simple plug-and-play modules, you can now connect devices
directly into legacy systems and create peer-to-peer device networks,
even with many types of equipment that have overlooked in the past.
In many cases, it is possible to connect to a single machine and gain
access to a majority of facilities equipment.

With M2M device networking, intelligent devices, however remote, are
capable of relaying data and sending alerts, alarms, and commands to
cell phones, PDAs, databases and other intelligent devices. Devices
can also be "Web-enabled" and accessible using a standard Web
browser.

This article outlines the components required for an M2M system,
demonstrating how easy it is to implement an enhanced maintenance
management system with just a few basic requirements. For OEM's, an
M2M system can provide an incredible opportunity to provide enhanced
customer service and distinguish their products from the competition.

M2M Components:

There are basically four components in an M2M system:
1) the intelligent device (machine or appliance) where the data
originates,
2) the gateway that extracts and translates data,
3) the network which serves the data and
4) the remote client which ultimately receives the data. M2M software
applications are optional but can facilitate communications, enable
Web access and provide the user interface.

Please See the following pages to continue with this Preventive
Maintenance Technology Article...

The Intelligent Device: Where The Data Originates
http://www.feedforward.com.au/DeviceNet.htm

The Gateway: Translates and Passes The Data To The Network
http://www.feedforward.com.au/ethernet_gateway.htm

The Network: The Connectivity That Serves Data To The Remote Client
http://www.feedforward.com.au/ethernet_gateway.htm#The Network

The Remote Client: The Destination Of The Information
http://www.feedforward.com.au/industrial_application.htm

Marty Huff  - MSI Tec, Inc.
http://www.msitec.com/

About the Author: Marty Huff is an IT professional with MSI Tec and
can be reached directly at 720-875-9835 or by email at
mailto:martyh@.... MSI Tec is a provider of intelligent
machine control components and systems, and the value adding
engineering resources for the successful identification and
implementation of their use.

Marty is responsible for M2M systems design, programming and
installation and is available for dedicated training programs and
seminars on the subject of M2M.

Don Fitchett, Business Industrial Network, contributor to this
article.
http://www.bin95.com/

_____________________________________________

*********   READER FEEDBACK  ****************
_____________________________________________

  Subject: Anti friction bearing Clearance Adjustments

Dear sir ,
Could you provide me some technical literature on " Anti friction
bearing Clearance Adjustments " or with some information covering
Anti friction bearings in detail .

Regards, Asif

__________________

Dear Asif:

'Anti-friction bearings' are your plain and simple roller bearings.

Yes they may need to be set up with some clearance for growth in hot
conditions. As they get hotter the parts expand and the clearances
reduce to the right 'hot running' clearance for the bearing. Most
roller bearings are made with a range of clearance options to select
from to suit shaft diameters, temperatures and loads.

In some situations the bearing is pre-loaded with a force to insure
race and rollers are touching. This tends to reduce noise when the
bearing is under operating conditions and provide more accurate
locating.

The best place to get detailed advice on bearing clearance is from
the bearing supplier. They know what clearances to set their bearings
to. FAG, SKF, Timken, etc all have detailed catalogues giving much
information on setting up bearing clearances.

Best regards, Mike Sondalini

____________________________________________

************  TECHNICAL HELP ***************
____________________________________________

  Indirect Addressing - A PLC Programming Tip

Example:  B3:0/[N7:0]

A typical internal (PLC relay) output address for an Allen Bradley
PLC would be B3:0/5 and would be described as the 6th bit (output) in
word 3.

When you use B3:0/[N7:0] in a rung as an output, the actual B3 bit
level address that will be output is dependent on what value is
stored in memory location N7:0 at the time the rung was scanned.

If N7:0 has a value of 6 in it, then B3:0/[N7:0] is actually B3:0/6

N7:0 = 13 then

B3:0/[N7:0] = B3:0/13

So to show how indirect addressing can save a PLC programmer both
development time and PLC memory resources, I use the following
example.

Say we wanted to activate in sequence, 16 outputs, each for one
second, one after the other. Typically that would take 16 rungs and
16 timers as well as conditions for each rung that ties it to the
previous.

With indirect addressing, you could do the same with 2-3 rungs and 1
timer. You would start with N7:0 = 0 for B3:0/0 output, then after a
1 second timer, add 1 to N7:0, so now output B3:0/1 is activated.

After timer times up, again add 1 to N7:0 so now B3:0/2 activates,
etc. etc. There is a little more to it than this newsletter has room
to explain, but you get the basic idea.

As a special offer to our existing customers, we will give you a free
copy of our example program BIN95-L531 just for asking. This example
SCL500 program has other examples on how to capitalize on the
capabilities of the SLC 500 5/03 processor.

(This free gift to existing customers has sold for $45 and requires
RSLogix 500 to view, a SLC 500 if you want to experiment with it and
learn even more.)
__________________________________________________

*************** MANAGEMENT HELP ******************
__________________________________________________

Indirect labor hours

One reader asks: "What's the best possible way to reduce cost when
direct labor hours utilized are far less then the indirect labor
hours"?

From the limited information I would speculate your area of greatest
cost savings would be to focus on reduction of the support
personnel's hours.

This would consist of incorporating many lean methodologies to the
areas of their responsibility. An example would be the task of
changing light bulbs in the facility. Typically, a light bulb burns
out, someone is called to change it. A lean analysis of the task at
hand goes something like this...

1) A phone call to maintenance.
2) A work order generated.
3) The task is scheduled.
4) A person gets the ladder out and a light bulb from stock.
5) A person changes it.
6) A person puts back the ladder
7) The work order is updated and closed.

The above seven items equals the man-hours to change a light bulb.
The larger the facility, the more a scenario occurs where the
maintenance person returns to the same general area again in that
week to replace another light bulb. It has been proven in large
office buildings that a huge savings in man hours can be seen by
changing all light bulbs in a given area at one time whether they are
burnt out or not. (You save the time it takes for 6 of the 7 steps
above, multiplied by the amount of light bulbs in that room. Then
multiply that savings multiplied by the amount of rooms responsible
for maintaining to see an annual savings.)

Basically light bulbs of the same model number will all last the same
amount of hours. Therefore if you change them all in a room at the
same time, when one burns out the next time, it will be time to
change them all out as the others are soon to burn out.

This is just one of thousands of lean ideas that can be applied to
reduce support man hours. If you are using a work order/CMMS system,
you may be able to identify the areas of greatest cost and focus on
them first with lean ideas.

Hope this helps

____________________________________________________

************** HUMAN RESOURCE **********************
____________________________________________________

  Below are some great resources to exchange ideas with your fellow
maintenance managers. Swap ideas with others, now that is a human
resource that isn't used enough. (Sites that were email only have
been excluded.)

Also we would be grateful to hear your ideas on how the maintenance
manager can better utilize their company's human resource department.
Email us your thoughts and we may use it for the next newsletter.

The Toast Forum at Idcon - over 100 topics, over 300 registered
members. On the Maintenance and Reliability Discussion Forum, the
general maintenance management section topic and the Computerized
Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) topic are the most popular.

http://www.idcon.com/toastforum6503/toast/toast.asp


Reliability Magazine® Message Boards  - over 5000 topics, over 60,000
posts, leans more towards the mechanics of managing a maintenance
department with the hot topic being the Alignment/Balancing/Vibration
Forum.

http://www.reliability-magazine.com/ubb2000/cgi/Ultimate.cgi?
action=intro

MaintenanceForums.com - almost a 100 topics, over 700 registered
members. Their most popular topic is the Machinery Condition
Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance topic.

http://maintenanceforums.com/eve/ubb.x

Even industry specific forums can surprise you with a wealth of
information and peers to network with. Take Saferpak Discussion
Forums for example, over 3000 posts,  and 541 registered members.
Their focus is the Food [Packaging] Safety, Quality Management &
Business Improvement topic discussions.

http://www.saferpak.com/forum/index.php

Yahoo groups.

Science > Engineering > Industrial
http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/dir/Science/Engineering/Industrial

Google news groups.

sci.engr.manufacturing
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&group=sci.engr.manufacturing

sci.engr
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&group=sci.engr

___________________________________________________

**************  THE WORLD WIDE WEB *****************
____________________________________________________

Below are some websites I recommend you see ...

Mega-zine - active ezines accessible via the WEB and E-mail.
http://www.eplanetnews.biz/

Aerostrip Australia - national distributor for a range of
environmentally friendly products.
http://www.sea2skyglobal.com/

Insider Secrets to Hydraulics - trouble shooting on hydraulic pumps
http://www.insidersectretstohydraulics.com/

____________________________________________________

************** WORLD INDUSTRY NEWS *****************
____________________________________________________


ARCwire for the Week Ending October 29,2004 reaching over 60,000
professionals worldwide.

Please forward this to a colleague. Anyone can sign up for a free
subscription on their Web site at http://www.ARCweb.com

*  Significant Asset Management Trends
*  Electric Power Industry Capital Expenditure Shows Stark Regional
Contrasts
*  New European Standard for RFID in UHF Frequencies
*  Apriso Advisory Council Meeting
*  SAP and HP Offer Hosted Solutions
_______________________________________

===== ARC BENCHMARKING SURVEYS =====
>> Significant Asset Management Trends
The Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) market is reaching maturity
making it more difficult to differentiate between products. Recent
ARC research has identified a number of important new asset
management trends that provide opportunity for product
differentiation, offer attractive value propositions, and have strong
potential for driving future EAM market growth. Your participation in
this ARC survey will help to qualify the real value and importance of
each of these identified asset management trends.

Those who take the survey will receive a copy of the results for
FREE. To take the survey, please click here:
www.arcweb.com/ss2/wsb.dll/ARC/EAMTrends.htm

===== INDUSTRY TRENDS =====
>> Electric Power Industry Capital Expenditure Shows Stark Regional
Contrasts
Worldwide capital and operational expenditures for plants in the
electric power industry, which totaled more than $374 billion in
2003, will exceed $453 billion by the end of 2008, expanding at a
Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of just under four percent.
While China strains to grow a reliable power infrastructure in
support of rapid industrial growth, North American spending continues
to decline as the recent bulge of generation development, combined
with higher natural gas prices, create both a glut of generating
capacity and a squeeze on operating margins.

>> New European Standard for RFID in UHF Frequencies
The use of RFID tags in the European Supply Chain has taken a great
step forward with the approval by the European Telecommunications
Standards Institute (ETSI) of a new standard for the use of RFID in
UHF frequencies. This news has even greater impact now that the
Frequency Management Working Group of the European Conference of
Postal and Telecommunications Administrations has approved the
recommendation to make the frequency band associated with this
standard available in their 46 Member countries.

The ETSI Technical Committee - Electromagnetic compatibility and
Radio spectrum Matters (ERM), has delivered a two part Standard (EN
302 208) that gives the industry much needed guidance on the minimum
characteristics considered necessary to make the best use of the
available frequencies for RFID. This new standard will allow
companies to market High Power RFID tags and readers in all national
markets of the European Union and EFTA, by showing compliance with
the European Union Radio & Tele-communications Terminal Equipment
Directive (R&TTE Directive).

===== COMPANY NEWS & BRIEFINGS =====

>> Field Report: Apriso Advisory Council Meeting
By Greg Gorbach, ARC Advisory Group

The recent Apriso Advisory Council Meeting was not your typical
User's Group meeting. It was more of an intense working session among
partners. Led by Apriso, the group tackled some weighty questions
about product roadmaps and company direction. The activities ranged
from helping contribute to and refine Apriso's mission statement, to
some very detailed product functionality areas. It is clear that
Apriso highly values the contributions of the group - and for good
reason.

Key topics addressed included manufacturer's needs for collaborative
Operations Management solutions at the multi-plant level, and the
growing demand for Plant to Business (P2B) Interoperability. For
obvious reasons I will not go into details about all of the subjects
discussed, but suffice it to say that with this kind of a group in
place, Apriso will be a force to be reckoned with.

===== ACQUISITIONS & PARTNERING NEWS =====
>> SAP and HP Offer Hosted Solutions
SAP America, Inc. and HP introduced new managed solutions for midsize
companies that provide software, services and support through a
single point of contact at a fixed total monthly cost. The managed
solutions will include software and implementation services from SAP.
HP offers operations, infrastructure hosting, storage-on-demand,
business recovery solutions, managed Web solutions and security
services.

"This announcement is quite significant," states John Moore, ARC
Advisory Group. "First, SAP, which has not been a big supporter of
the hosted software subscription model appears to have acquiesced to
a growing industry trend (and possibly a competitive threat), which
has seen particular traction in the SMB market, for which this
solution is targeted.

Secondly, SAP is not only working with HP, but it is also working
closely with some of its smaller partners to provide industry
specific solutions in such verticals as food & beverage, hi-tech
electronics, and oil & gas distribution. This is a savvy move by SAP
as one of the main detractors to hosted solutions provided by other
suppliers has been their one size fits all approach.

By providing more specific vertical industry functionality, an
adopter of one of SAP's vertical solutions will receive a certain
level of customization not currently found in competing offerings."

______________________________________________________________________


Best regards and thanks for being a subscriber to this newsletter.


Don Fitchett
Managing Editor

Feed Forward Publications
http://www.feedforward.com.au

Email: info@...

Tel : (573) 547-5630

www.feedforward.com.au teaches your maintenance crew engineering and
asset care knowledge so that they can solve more problems, become
more knowledgeable, make better decisions and your plant runs more
reliably!

#4 From: "Business Industrial Network" <bin95@...>
Date: Wed Jul 21, 2004 6:16 pm
Subject: Feed Forward Newsletter Vol -12 "The Maintenance War"
bin95us
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
-(   The Maintenance War Newsletter   )-
        Feed Forward Publications
              Volume 12

Web site www.feedforward.com.au

Hi, you are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to Feed
Forward Publications news feed (RSS).  If you no longer wish to
receive this newsletter, just unsubscribe. (Note: you will only
receive this newsletter once a month, no other email.)

If you like what you read in this newsletter, please pass it on to
others inside and outside of your organization, whom you think will
find value in it.  If you have any comments to make, please send them
to us. An easier to read version of this newsletter is online at
http://www.feedforward.com.au/free-email-newsletters.htm

You can publish anything that is in this newsletter.  All I ask is
that you recognize the copyright, keep the name together with the
article and include our website address www.feedforward.com.au

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*** Topics from the front line. ***
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. RE: The Challenge OF Change

2. Featured Article.
HOW TO REDUCE DOWNTIME AND INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY - by Larry Bush

3. Reader Feedback.
`Kind words'.

4. Technical Help.
Boiler energy efficiency tips and a belt length formula tip.

5. Management Help.
  Maximize Reliability, Uptime and Profits at Your Facility

6. Human Resource
Resources for the Study of Human Resource Development

7. The World Wide Web.
Seminar recommendations

8. World Industry News.

9. Interesting!

------------------------------------------------------------------
_________________________________________________
*************  RE: The Challenge OF Change *****************
_________________________________________________

Welcome to the 12th issue of our Feed Forward Newsletter! My name is
Don Fitchett, the author of "The Maintenance War Newsletter". This
first area of the newsletter is for introductions and commentary.
Remember,  the website has many new items added each month. So please
browse around and find your gold nugget.
If a friend has given you this copy of the newsletter, you can find
an online version on our website www.feedforward.com.au Every month
we add new book titles  for you to download, CDs, free articles and
other resources.
This newsletter issue, I would like to challenge all readers to
change. Change management, change process, change the world! Below
you will find two challenges for you to change the world we live in,
more specifically; change the industry we have to live with.
Challenge Number 1: Change the world by putting in writing some of
the knowledge you have obtained for a topic you feel you have become
an expert at. You don't have to be a writer or author now days to
change the world by sharing your expertise. (There is always some one
who can proof read your material. :>)
• You need only to take action today to make it happen!
Make the commitment today by setting some time in your calendar or
writing a quick initial outline of some topic you feel you have
better than average knowledge of.
How will this change the world? This is where Feed Forward
Publications can help you. Send us your industry related writing and
we will share it with the rest of the world. You can write as little
as a page or two (an article) or as much as 30 to 600 pages (a book).
It depends on your passion for the topic. We will use our global
resource to make your writings known to the world.
• At no cost to you!
Why? Besides doing your part to change management, the process or the
industry in general, you will receive recognition for the expert
knowledge you have obtained and may even start a life time stream of
extra revenue for your self.
Take our newest author Larry Bush for example. Larry has been an
electrician for 47 years, and in maintenance management for 22 years.
We helped him organize his notes and thoughts on how a maintenance
policy should be written and it evolved to become the "Maintenance
Policy and Procedures Manual Ebook". We currently show his book to
well over 80,000 unique individuals in our industry, every month!
www.feedforward.com.au/Maintenance_Policy_Procedures.htm
While the most important fact is that Larry is changing the world we
live in by sharing his knowledge, he is also earning that much
deserved recognition for his accomplishments. Additionally, at
absolutely no cost to Larry, 30 days after his ebook release he
started receiving additional income from book sales. Larry, like Mike
Sondalini, is on his way to releasing many articles  too. Industrial
articles help make our industry a better place to work while giving
the author even more publicity.
The articles we release are distributed on the many websites we
manage, our affiliates and picked up by other industry related
websites. A great article released by us can very possibly reach a
quarter of a million unique individuals every month from around the
world!
At the time of this release, Larry has three articles which we have
publicized for him. The are ... Electrical Industrial
Troubleshooting, How a Photoswitch Saved My Job,  and How To Reduce
Downtime and Increase Productivity.
www.feedforward.com.au/electrical_industrial_troubleshooting.htm
www.feedforward.com.au/food_industry_sensor.htm
www.downtimecentral.com/productivity_increase.htm

Putting your knowledge in writing not only helps the industry, it
helps you. Whether you are a consulting company seeking additional
exposure for your company or an individual seeking recognition and
additional revenue, we want to review your writings. Please email
them to us today! (See also Technical Writing for Business)

www.feedforward.com.au/ newsletter_six_sigma.htm#Human Resource



Challenge Number 2:  A New Design Competition With US$999 Worth Of
Prizes.
This month Lifetime Reliability added more products to their list of
problem solving technologies.  You can see a list of them by
following the link lower down this page.
Let's start a competition!
To promote the use of more reliable technologies for solving real
world problems Lifetime Reliability has collected together some
prizes for the competition.
The first competition is to design a long lived a rotating shaft
bearing seal solution using the technologies at the companies listed
on the 'Links To Reliable Technology' http://www.lifetime-
reliability.com/links.html web site page. Before August 31st, please
email your solutions using outstanding bearing protection
technologies and they'll pick a winner.
As for the prize they'll post to anywhere in the world, a complete
set of the GOLD Feed Forward Publications Workforce Training CD Set
worth US$399.  PLUS credit the winner US$600 into their PayPal
account.  (Thanks to Don Fitchett of www.bin95.com for the Gold
Workforce Training CD donation.)
http://www.feedforward.com.au/reliability-engineer.htm
Please include a .JPG or .GIF image of your hand sketch (or CAD
drawing) of the design idea with a short 300 - 400 word description
of the design, why it's good, and descriptions and part numbers of
the items you chose to use.
Finally, if you come across great technology, with outstanding
reliability that is not on the Lifetime Reliability web site, please
send them an email with a link to the manufacturer's web site
concerned.  If it's excellent they'll post it on the 'Links To
Reliable Technology' page so everyone can use it in future.
To submit your design idea and for questions, email Lifetime
Reliability [info@...] and good luck!

  __________________________________________
********** FEATURED ARTICLE **************
__________________________________________

HOW TO REDUCE DOWNTIME AND INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY
By Larry Bush

Documentation mined for maintenance information "gold".
All maintenance activities of the workforce must be documented, this
includes breakdown repairs, callouts, preventive maintenance,
replacement maintenance, overhauls, and Testing & Inspection work.
Maintenance work by production employees must be included, whether or
not the employee is listed as in maintenance. These activities can
then be mined for maintenance information "gold".

    List all repetitive work
One of the first things that a maintenance supervisor should be
concerned with is repetitive work. Any and all repetitive work should
be identified and isolated. This list can then be prioritized as to
criticality to Production and plant effectiveness.

After the list has been rearranged, each task item must be analyzed
to determine if the repetitive work is actually aimed at fixing a
problem or fixing a symptom of a deeper problem. Fixing symptoms has
the immediate effect of allowing production to rapidly resume, but
does nothing for the underlying problem(s). In fact, the underlying
problem may get worse.

    Development of a solutions
As soon as a high priority problem has been identified and analyzed,
work should begin on development of a solution to the problem. Once
the solution to the problem has been developed, plans can be made for
purchasing required parts and material and then scheduling the
manpower and production time to implement the solution.

    Maintenance planning of machine repairs

Complete documentation is absolutely essential for control of the
maintenance process. How can the process of maintenance be under
control if the person in charge has no complete idea of what the
total maintenance activities and costs are? If needed repairs are not
documented and planned for, a considerable portion of these needed
repairs and modifications will be forgotten or ignored until
production tries to run again.

    Justify machine repair cost
Planning essential repairs and modifications requires documentation.
It is easy to say that we need a modification to this particular
machine and output of this line can be increased 25%. However, with
no planning, six months later no work has been done on the idea. Even
if the idea were actually to be somehow implemented, the output
increase may not come to fruition.

If no research was carried out on the rest of the line equipment,
there is no certain way of determining line and equipment capacity.
How would the machine be able to increase output 25% if its current
output was already 100% of the lines actual output capacity? All the
costs associated with increasing the one machine's capacity would
have been wasted, unless additional work was undertaken to bring the
rest of the production line up to the output of the one machine.

A production line's output capacity is only as great as it's least
piece of equipment. That bears repeating. A production line is only
as fast as it's slowest piece of equipment. A chain is only as strong
as its weakest link.

    Prioritize your maintenance planning list
With documentation, the list of priority work problems to solve can
be reduced fairly rapidly, at first. The list of easily solved
problem areas will gradually be replaced by higher cost work items.
Research and planning may reveal that the costs involved with
eliminating some repetitive repairs are more than living with the
repetitive repairs.

    Compare production downtime after solution
After implementation of the solution, production downtime for that
particular item can be documented and compared to pre-implementation
production output. Maintenance time not spent on working on that
solved problem can also be documented for the same time period. These
savings can then be extrapolated for an entire year and presented to
management to justify the cost of repairs.
Without documentation, research, and planning, the person in charge
of making the decisions is working in the dark. With documentation,
research, and planning, the great wall of China can be built, or the
Panama Canal, or the Aswan Dam, or a world-class maintenance
organization.

Maintenance Policy and Procedures is a plan to organize your
maintenance department. Following the plan will cause you to document
your department's activities. Other department's maintenance
activities and interactions with the Maintenance Department will also
be documented. With the documentation, planning can begin. For
information on this article and Maintenance Policy and Procedures,
contact the author.

Larry Bush
larryb642003 @ yahoo.com
About the Author: Larry Bush has been an electrician for 47 years,
and in maintenance management for 22 years. Download his new e-
Book "Maintenance Policy and Procedures Manual" !!
(http://www.feedforward.com.au/Maintenance_Policy_Procedures.htm)
Please copy this article onto your websites, just keep all links and
credits in place. Thank You
_____________________________________________
*********   READER FEEDBACK  ****************
_____________________________________________

Subject: Kind words
A very educative publication and is a platform for the exchange of
ideas.

Tawanda
                 _______________________
Good site with informative articles Regards,
Mike H.
                 _______________________
Great Job as always. I enjoy reading your news letters.
Mikie
____________________________________________
************  TECHNICAL HELP ***************
____________________________________________

Boiler Energy Efficiency Tips
• Submeter energy use.
• Perform regular boiler and furnace maintenance.
• Analyze flue gas and adjust the fuel-air ratio for
efficiency.
• Improve feedwater treatment to reduce boiler blowdown.
• Turn off boilers during long periods of no use.
• Optimize loading of multiple boilers or compressors.
• Turn off hot water circulation pumps when boilers not in use.
• Repair or replace broken steam traps and steam pressure
regulators.
• Repair insulation regularly.
• Repair leaks in steam and compressed air lines.
• Operate compressor systems at lowest acceptable pressure.
• Clean steam coils in processing tanks.
Install properly sized motors.
• Upgrade motor efficiency during regular replacements.
• Tighten and align belt drives.
• Replace standard V-belt drives with notched V or synchronous
belt drives.

This tech-tip is being provided to you by www.rhvactools.com. Our
website is an RHVAC training site designed to improve the technical
expertise of all RHVAC service & installation technicians.
Belt Length Formula
Approximate length:

L = 2C + 1.57 (D + d)

Exact length:
L = 2C + 1.57 (D + d) + ((D -d)2/4C)


L   =   Pitch length of belt
C   =  Center distance
D   =  Pitch diameter of large pulley
d   =   Pitch diameter of small pulley
__________________________________________________
*************** MANAGEMENT HELP ******************
__________________________________________________

SEMINAR
Best Maintenance Practices 2004 in Houston, TX Nov. 8-11
Lean Maintenance via Lean Six Sigma
Maximize Reliability, Uptime and Profits at Your Facility within 30-
60 Days
If any of our Readers would like to profit by attending Best
Maintenance Practices 2004 in Houston, TX Nov. 8-11, our friend and
contributing author  Howard C. Cooper can get you a 15% discount.
Howard is a feature speaker and will be doing a 4 hour workshop
(Click to Lean Seminar to review agenda).
http://www.feedforward.com.au/Lean_Seminar.pdf
The focus of this seminar is to treat and protect against unscheduled
downtime. You can utilize new or 20-30 year old automation equipment,
machine tools, etc. as long as they provide the proper capacity,
throughput and six sigma reliability.
Please contact Howard Cooper directly (hcooper@...), and let
him know you are a Feed Forward Newsletter subscriber to receive all
your seminar discounts.
Also as a subscriber, you are entitled to the Business Industrial
Network discount if you should decide to let Amemco perform their 3
day on-site equipment reliability analysis survey. Click Reliability
Survey for more information.
The article donated to us by Howard is ...
Lean Maintenance using Six Sigma DMAIC
http://www.feedforward.com.au/lean_six_sigma_dmaic.htm
____________________________________________________

************** HUMAN RESOURCE **********************
____________________________________________________

Resources for the Study of Human Resource Development
  Academy of Human Resource Development - was formed to encourage
systematic study of human resource development theories, processes,
and practices; to disseminate information about HRD, to encourage the
application of HRD research findings, and to provide opportunities
for social interaction among individuals with scholarly and
professional interests in HRD from multiple disciplines and from
across the globe. (http://www.ahrd.org/ahrd/ )
HRZONE - Human resources, personnel management, industrial and
organizational psychology, employment and labor law, workers
compensation, discrimination, and labor relations information.
(http://www.hrzone.com/ )
The Business Research Lab - has an excellent website that is well
organized to quickly get you in touch with your employee's needs. Be
sure to see their surveys and Good Boss/Bad Boss submissions. :>)
(http://www.busreslab.com/hr.htm )

___________________________________________________
**************  THE WORLD WIDE WEB *****************
____________________________________________________
Below are some more seminars I recommend you attend...
PLC Training Seminar - PLC5 ® - SLC500 ® Aug, Sep
http://www.bin95.com/AB_RSLogix_Seminar.htm

Maintenance Planning and Scheduling - Seminar Sept. Oct. Nov. and Dec.
http://www.bin95.com/cbt.htm#Maintenance%20Planning%20Seminar

Shutdowns Turnarounds and Outages - Seminar Sept.
http://www.bin95.com/cbt.htm#Shutdowns%20Turnarounds%20Seminar

Leadership Skills For Maintenance - Workshop Nov.
http://www.bin95.com/cbt.htm#Leadership%20Skills%20Seminar

Maintenance Storerooms - Seminar Dec.
http://www.bin95.com/cbt.htm#Maintenance%20Storerooms%20Seminar

Maintenance Process Management - Seminar
http://www.bin95.com/cbt.htm#Maintenance%20Process%20Management%
20Seminar

____________________________________________________
************** WORLD INDUSTRY NEWS *****************
____________________________________________________


ARCwire for the Week Ending July 16, 2004 reaching over 60,000
professionals worldwide.

Please forward this to a colleague. Anyone can sign up for a free
subscription on their Web site at http://www.ARCweb.com

Industrial Ethernet Practices and Plans
Immense Growth Potential for China's Low Power AC Drives Market
Japan's Industry Activities Improve
Honeywell Users Group Symposium
Schneider Electric completes acquisition of Andover Controls
[ Back ] [ Next ]

===== ARC BENCHMARKING SURVEYS =====
>> Industrial Ethernet Practices and Plans
The purpose of this survey is to understand manufacturers' current
practices and future plans regarding Industrial Ethernet networks.
This survey is designed to capture these practices and plans, and to
help identify best practices for Industrial Ethernet networks. This
survey is available in both English and Japanese language versions.

Persons responding to the survey will be given the results via e-
mail. You will receive the results for FREE by taking the survey.

To take the survey, please click here:
www.arcweb.com/ss2/wsb.dll/ARC/IndustrialEthernet2004.htm

===== INDUSTRY TRENDS =====
>> Immense Growth Potential for China's Low Power AC Drives Market
China's growing economy, investment friendly policies, and a
manufacturing industry that caters to the domestic and export markets
creates an immense growth opportunity for AC drives. China's low
power AC drives market will grow at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate
of 12.1% over the next five years.

>> Japan's Industry Activities Improve
METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) of Japan released the
final statistics for May, 2004 with upward modifications from those
previously reported on an interim basis.

Specifically, industrial production in May recorded an increase of
0.8 percent compared to the previous month, which is the upward
correction by 0.3 points from the number already reported on an
interim basis.

Industrial shipment index recorded 1.3 increase compared to the
previous month. The inventory index recorded 1.8 decrease compared to
the previous month, which is the upward correction by 0.2 points from
the interim report.

===== COMPANY NEWS & BRIEFINGS =====

>> Field Report: Honeywell Users Group Symposium
The Honeywell Users Group (HUG) recently gathered in Phoenix, AZ for
their annual 5-day event. More than 600 participants, from 26
countries, gathered to exchange ideas and discuss industry challenges
and opportunities. The symposium was developed by and for industrial
users of Honeywell automation solutions. A 12-member, customer-led
steering committee determined the symposium theme and agenda. Over 50
customers presented at this year's symposium. Presentation topics
ranged from legacy system migration to alarm rationalization and
management to the benefits of wireless technology. Representatives
from Anheuser Busch, Georgia Pacific, DuPont, and many other Fortune
500 organizations delivered presentations on a variety of topics. The
agenda offered high-level general sessions, networking sessions, and
industry breakout sessions for refining/petrochemicals; pulp, paper
and printing; power generation; chemicals; consumer goods; metal,
minerals and mining; oil and gas; and life sciences.

An unusual presentation took place by way of a keynote address by
Honeywell International Chairman and CEO, David Cote. This is the
first time that a Honeywell Chairman addressed HUG and underscores
the commitment that the corporation has to industrial automation
solutions in general and the Honeywell Process Solutions group (HPS).
This was reaffirmed in Cote's speech both in terms of HPS R&D
investments and also by highlighting that the Corporation is a
significant global manufacturer and end-user in its own right.

New products introduced at this year's symposium included Honeywell
Integrated Operator Node (I.O.N.) The latest component of Honeywell's
portfolio of kits and enhancements, Honeywell I.O.N. transforms
legacy Honeywell TDC Universal Stations (US) into operator consoles
with Experion functionality.

The Operations Management Pro (OM Pro) R200 provides refinery workers
with the information they need to maintain normal plant operations.
OM Pro sends immediate notifications of process disturbances,
enabling operators to continuously monitor plant performance and
steer operations closer to economic targets.

The new POMSnet production management tool optimizes operational
performance in the Life Sciences industry. POMSnet also complies with
CFR 21 Part 11 and ISA manufacturing standards. Profit Suite R220 is
a new suite of advanced control and optimization applications.

Three more international Users Group gatherings are scheduled for
2004. Honeywell Asia Pacific customers will gather in Australia Aug.
22-25. A conference for customers in Europe, the Middle East, and
Africa is scheduled for Oct. 4-10 in France. Customers from across
Southeast Asia will meet in China Nov. 9-12.

By Andy Peters, ARC Advisory Group



===== ACQUISITIONS & PARTNERING NEWS =====
>> Schneider Electric completes acquisition of Andover Controls
Schneider Electric completed the acquisition of Andover Controls, a
Balfour Beatty company. Andover Controls offers Building Automation
and Security and had sales of $169 million in 2003. Schneider
Electric views Building Automation as one of their new growth
platforms and strategically important for their growth. The
acquisition complements its position in this market with the previous
acquisition of TAC in June 2003.

ARC Senior Analyst Dave Clayton says, "The acquisition of Andover
Controls is a continuation of Schneider Electric's goal to strengthen
its presence in the global BAS and building securities markets
through acquisition. With the acquisition of Andover Controls,
Schneider Electric significantly strengthens its position in the
global building securities business as well as the company's position
in the overall BAS market in North America. Security and access
control is a key application for Andover Controls, which was
strengthened by the company's acquisition of Integral Technologies in
2000."

Clayton continued, "Andover Controls' business is a good complement
for TAC's geographic focus and Schneider Electric's vertical focus.
Geographically, Andover Controls' strength and strong reputation in
the North American BAS market is a good complement to TAC's strong
presence in the European BAS market. From a vertical industry
perspective, Andover Controls' strength in the pharmaceutical, food &
beverage, and biotech markets is a good complement to Schneider
Electric's target focus on the pharmaceutical and food & beverage
verticals."

_____________________________________________
************* INTERESTING ! ****************
_____________________________________________

I am one of those rare (some might say weird) individuals who finds
numbers interesting. I thought while our readers are brain storming
after accepting challenge number two above, maybe a reminder of the
magic number might be in order. For those who school seems a couple
life times ago, I am referring to the "Golden Ratio", Phi, 1.618033989

Pi is used to express the relationship between the diameter of a
circle and it's circumference and the challenge deals with bearings
(spheres aligned in circle around the circumference of a shaft). Like
Pi, Phi has some interesting circular references that may spark that
new design. After all,  the golden ratio (Phi) is found in some
pretty amazing natural occurrences, be it coincidence or not. Who
knows there might be something to it.

A rectangle with side being a value of 1 and 1.618033989 (Phi),
divided into a square with in and another rectangle. That rectangle
within will also have sides at the same proportion. If you take that
rectangle within and draw another square and rectangle, it too will
have the same proportion, and so on and so on. If the corresponding
points of those rectangles within rectangles are connected in a
certain way, the results is a logarithmic spiral. The exact same
spiral as a snail shell!

There is also a sequence of numbers, known as the Fibonacci series
which is related to the golden ratio too. The number sequence is
1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34 ...144,233,377..... The greater these numbers
climb, the closer the ratio of any two numbers in a row gets to phi
(the golden ratio). These Fibonacci numbers are found throughout
nature, like the number of  leaves on a plant as they stem out from
each other. Another example is the seeds in a sunflower, each ring of
seeds counted will be a Fibonacci number. (More coincidence, or
not? :>)

So as things grow in nature, they are not only reaching towards the
ski, but reaching towards Phi! Maybe, just maybe, we could some how
incorporate the above knowledge in our bearing design we could escape
the historical reliability issues with bearings going out. Before we
put a person on another planet, lets design a bearing that gets
stronger when we increase the stress, speed and heat. :>)

____________________________________________________________
Best regards and thanks for being a subscriber to this newsletter.

Don Fitchett
Managing Editor
Feed Forward Publications
http://www.feedforward.com.au
Email: info@...

  Tel : (573) 547-5630
www.feedforward.com.au teaches your maintenance crew engineering and
asset care knowledge so that they can solve more problems, become
more knowledgeable, make better decisions and your plant runs more
reliably!

#3 From: FFPnewsletter@yahoogroups.com
Date: Mon Jul 5, 2004 4:42 pm
Subject: New poll for FFPnewsletter
FFPnewsletter@yahoogroups.com
Send Email Send Email
 
Enter your vote today!  A new poll has been created for the
FFPnewsletter group:

Did you find the infromation here of
value?

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To vote, please visit the following web page:

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Note: Please do not reply to this message. Poll votes are
not collected via email. To vote, you must go to the Yahoo! Groups
web site listed above.

Thanks!

#2 From: "Business Industrial Network" <bin95@...>
Date: Mon Jul 5, 2004 3:46 pm
Subject: Feed Forward Vol 10 Newsletter "The Maintenance War"
bin95us
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
-(   The Maintenance War Newsletter   )-
Feed Forward Publications
March 2004
Web site www.feedforward.com.au


Hi, you are receiving this newsletter because in the past you
registered for it or showed interest in Feed Forward Publications
and/or Business Industrial Network.  If you no longer wish to receive
this newsletter, please let us know by replying to this email and
your address will be taken off the list. (Note: you will only receive
this newsletter once a month, no other email.)

If you like what you read in this newsletter, please pass it onto
others inside and outside of your organization, whom you think will
find value in it.  If you have any comments to make, please send them
to us. A much better looking and easier to read version of this
newsletter is online at http://www.feedforward.com.au/free-email-
newsletters.htm

You can publish anything that is in this newsletter.  All I ask is
that you recognize the copyright, keep the name together with the
article and include our website address www.feedforward.com.au

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*** Topics from the front line. ***
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. RE: PLC Training

2. Featured Article.
OEE Reports - Automated Capturing & Recording of Availability Data -
by Bob Giese

3. Reader Feedback.
`Kind words'.

4. Technical Help.
Managing your facility's PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers.)

5. Management Help.
  Don't let your automation bring your facility to it's knees!

6. Human Resource
Human Resource Effectiveness

7. The World Wide Web.
Other Online PLC resources.

8. World Industry News.

9. A Good Laugh!

----------------------------------------------------------------------
--
_________________________________________________
*************  RE: PLC Training  *****************
_________________________________________________

Welcome to the March issue of our Feed Forward Newsletter! My name is
Don Fitchett, the author of "The Maintenance War Newsletter". This
first area of the newsletter is for introductions and commentary. We
have added so much to the website, it all can not be covered in the
newsletter. So please browse around and find your gold nugget.
If a friend has given you this copy of the newsletter, you can find
an online version on our website www.feedforward.com.au Every month
we add new book titles for you to download, free articles and other
resources.

In the Management section and in the Tech Tips section you will see
advice about PLCs. (Programmable Logic Controllers). There is no
doubt, some will want to ask..."Why?". I encourage you to please send
me an email and ask why. I will answer every one and some may make it
into next months newsletter.

Well, Mike Sondalini comes through for us again with another new
eBook release.

Helical Rotor Pump - Progressive Cavity Pump Guide by Mike Sondalini
http://www.feedforward.com.au/chemical_pumps.htm

If your facility production involves pumping or dosing food, beer or
chemicals, you probably need the knowledge Mike shares with us in his
new book. Not only are these type of pumps used as chemical pumps or
food pumps, but for slurry and applications that need suction too. So
even the farmers out there could put Mike's tips and tricks to use on
their dam pumps. ( No play on words intended. :>)

We have had many requests over the years for a PLC Training CD that
individuals could use for self education as well as companies,
corporations, and learning institutions. I am happy to announce we
now have the best PLC Training CD set available for you.
(The 'PLCTrainer' is a CBT, which saves students scores and prints
certificate upon completion. Printable PLC manual/work book on CD
too.)

Of course with me being a PLC trainer, I spent months until I found a
product that would exceed my own standards. Then I had to negotiate a
great deal for our customers. I strongly recommend you visit our page
titled PLC Training and Simulation - 2 CD Set. The PLC training set
we put together is priced (limited time offer) for the individual and
great for those who want operational knowledge as well as programming
experience.

http://www.feedforward.com.au/plctrainer_rslogix.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------

I have noticed interest in safety related topics. I have also noticed
book sales have dropped off a bit. This concerns me, so we will
maintain the reduced price of our titles...  The CMMS Insider's Guide
e-Book, Process Hazards Analysis and Process Safety Audit Protocols e-
Book

  Hopefully this will spark an interest in safety for a few visitors.

The CMMS Insider's Guide e-Book,
http://www.feedforward.com.au/cmms_guide.htm

Process Hazards Analysis and
http://www.feedforward.com.au/hazop_risk_management.htm

Process Safety Audit Protocols e-Book
http://www.feedforward.com.au/osha_inspection_guidelines.htm

  __________________________________________
********** FEATURED ARTICLE **************
__________________________________________

OEE Reports - Automated Capturing & Recording of Availability Data
(Moving Beyond Manual Data Collection & Manual Data Compilation)

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) continues to gain acceptance as
an effective method to measure production floor performance.
Capturing and recording accurate production floor information is
critical for producing reliable OEE Reports.

A number of production floors are utilizing manual methods of data
collection for producing OEE report. This approach leaves room for
both inconsistencies and inaccuracies. With manual data collection,
there is usually a second step of manually compiling the data. This
is most commonly accomplished by entering in the information into
spreadsheets. This manual compilation step also leaves room for both
inconsistencies and inaccuracies.

Another disadvantage to manually collecting data for your OEE
reports, like with many maintenance and production improvement plans,
is sustainability. The more task intensive an improvement plan is,
the more likely priorities will change and the OEE initiative will
fade away. With an automated data collection system, sustainability
is no longer an issue. Once in place the automated OEE reporting
stays in place and you need only act on the results.

There are cost effective automated data collection alternatives to
manual data collection that significantly improve the accuracy of OEE
reports. Automated capturing and recording of "Availability
Information" will be covered in this article. Future articles will
address the automated data collection of Performance Rate and Quality
Rate.

>>>  OEE
OEE = Availability X Performance Rate X Quality Rate

Availability - Percent of scheduled production (to measure
reliability) or calendar hours 24/7/365 (to measure equipment
utilization) or equipment or line status (to measure ability to
produce), that equipment or a production line is available for
production.

Note: Measures the percent of time that the equipment can be used
(usually total hours of 24-7-365), divided by the equipment uptime
(actual production).

Performance Rate - Percent of parts produced per time frame, of
maximum rate OEM rated production speed at. If OEM specification is
not available, use best known production rate or a standard
production rate can be established.

Note: Performance efficiency is the percentage of available time that
the equipment is producing product at its theoretical speed for
individual products. It measures speed losses. (i.e. inefficient
batching, machine jams)

Quality Rate - Percent of good sellable parts out of total parts
produced per time frame.

Note: Determining the percent of the total output that is good. (i.e.
all products including production, engineering, rework and scrap.)

Example: 50% Availability (0.5) X 70% Performance Rate (0.7) X 20%
Quality Reject Rate (results in 80%(0.8) acceptable) = 30%OEE (Please
see www.DowntimeCentral.com/OEE_TEEP.htm for a free online calculator
to practice with.)

>>> Defining What Is Availability
One of the first steps in initiating OEE reporting is defining the
parameters for the elements of OEE for the individual piece of
equipment, production line or the entire factory. That is clearly
defining, documenting and communicating why a piece of a piece of
equipment or a production area is unavailable for producing product.

There are three basic approaches to defining availability. The
approaches are the percent of scheduled production, calendar hours,
and equipment or line status. The schedule production approach
defines availability by the production schedule for a piece of
equipment, a cell or an entire production line. The calendar hours
defines availability as the total time available to produce product
which is usually 7-24-365. The equipment or line status approach
defines availability in terms that production line or piece of
equipment is in a state to produce product. All three approaches are
valid approaches. The percent of scheduled production and calendar
hours provide a broad view of availability while the line status
approach is a much more defined view.

Some examples to consider as causes for unavailability is power to
piece of equipment or does the production station have personnel in
place. The above two causes may not be enough to define the reason
for unavailability. You may need to add data inputs recording if
there was materials in place or the status of the infrastructure
support (such as air pressure for air driven tools and equipment) as
monitoring points to determine if a piece of equipment, a cell or an
production line is available to produce a product. Availability must
be defined for each area or piece of equipment that will have OEE
reports. In some of the instances there will be more than one element
that needs to be monitored to determine if that piece of equipment or
area is considered available.

>>> Automated Data Collection
Setting a goal of capturing availability status information with no
manual data collection or manual compilation for OEE calculations is
the first step in improving both the accuracy of OEE reports as wells
as reducing the cost to produce the reports. Start with defining what
affects availability for various areas of a production facility.
Identify the specific data collection points that will affect
availability for a given area or unit of equipment. In many cases
there are data collection points already in place. For those
monitoring points, you need only to retrieve the existing data. In
other instances, a data collection monitoring device will need to be
installed.

For installing new data collection points, there are available a
variety of inexpensive sensors that once installed, can capture the
measurement of numerous parameters. These sensors can detect flow
rate, weight, quantity, motion activity, phases of electrical power
as wells as many other items. The sensors usually come with normally
open or normally closed switch contacts. These switch contacts will
serve as the data collection points for automated data collection.

Using sensors with switch contact outputs for most monitoring
situations are probably the easiest approach for capturing
availability data. To monitor equipment starting with power switches
and other functions of equipment, it is often the case of adding an
extra set of inexpensive contacts to an existing switch on the
equipment.

There are other means to capture activity status information
including embedded equipment control software and equipment
monitoring software that can capture the parameters for availability.
What must be factored into the monitoring approach is that each
monitoring point must include a time and date stamp.

The data collected from the monitoring points must be transmitted to
a database for data retention and reporting. The database that
captures and records the status information can be a commonly
available P/C database packages such as Microsoft Access®. It is
critical that all data points recorded must include time, date and
location stamps to support the development of OEE reports. Database
report writers can be used to extract the information to produce OEE
reports.

In addition to custom in house database systems, there are available
integrated data collection systems with application software packages
with complete OEE Reports. These systems and reporting can be
tailored to each individual facility's requirements.

>>> The Wireless Connection
The implementation of the wireless LAN or other wireless technologies
to capture and transmit availability data greatly enhances the
timeliness, utilization and flexibility of the data collection
system. Hard wired systems over time, limit the functionality of a
data collection system. In the past wireless technologies did not
provide the high level of reliability that is required for factories,
leaving the hard wired systems as the only alternative. That is no
longer true especially with the introduction of the wireless LAN
802.11g standard and advanced 900 MHz technology. Wireless data
collection and transmission systems provides for easy
reconfigurations of changing production floor layouts or changing
production flow activity. A number of off-the-shelf production floor
wireless data collection systems are available for use on the
production floor.

>>> Cost Justification
The implementation of an automated data collection system with an
integrated database provides immediate financial returns. The labor
cost associated with manual data collection on production lines by
production personnel and the manual compilation of the data to
calculate OEE are eliminated with an automated system. The accuracy
and integrity of the source data is significant improved. With more
accurate OEE reports you will make better financially feasible
decisions that will result in even greater savings. The timeliness of
the OEE reports themselves are also significantly improved with
automated data collections. In most cases, the OEE Reports are
available for review the same date as the final element of
information is captured.

About the Author: Bob Giese is President of VersaCall Technologies
Inc. which as been implementing wireless factory floor monitoring and
communications since 1995. To learn how a wireless system would
benefit your location e-mail sales@... or visit
www.versacall.com.

_____________________________________________
*********   READER FEEDBACK  ****************
_____________________________________________

Subject: kind words
Thanks for this platform for maintenance engineers to share ideas. I
really aspire to be like the featured author.

Edward G.
____________________________________________
************  TECHNICAL HELP ***************
____________________________________________

****  Managing your facility's PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers.)
****

1) Before forcing a 'real world' input or output (I/O), be sure you
have a complete understanding of every way the  I/O will affect the
program and machine operation.

2) Always zip your PLC ladder logic programs up before placing them
on a floppy disk or emailing them.

3) Copies of all PLC programs with descriptors should be obtained
from all OEMs and stored on site.

4) The descriptored programs should be used to update copies of
programs currently running in the machines every 6 months. (You may
want to add a couple machines per month to the existing PM program.)

5) Insure your maintenance staff has a laptop with the PLC software
loaded on it as well as training on how to use it.

6) When personnel are going online with PLCs in the facility, it is
recommended they use an external mouse with the lap top. This will
further insure unintentional clicks do not occur with laptop's built
in mouse while online with PLCs.

7) I also recommend a spreadsheet be made for management of facility
PLC programs (Ask me to send you an example copy).

8) You also might consider installing an EEPROM (back up memory chip)
on those PLCs which do not already have one.

9) I would encourage maintenance and engineering to use PLC for new
equipment design instead of relay panels. This will save on design
cost, implementation, troubleshooting and future modifications of
equipment as well as increase reliability.

10) Most customized onsite training for your employees qualifies for
your state's reimbursement programs. If so, paying pennies on the
dollar for your maintenance staff's PLC training can offer an even
greater return on your training investment.

Regards,


Don F.
Please see our PLC Training Services

http://www.bin95.com/plc_training.htm
__________________________________________________
*************** MANAGEMENT HELP ******************
__________________________________________________

<> Don't let your automation bring your facility to it's knees! <>

If you have read any of my material over the years, you have no doubt
ran into my example of how a plant air compressor is often overlooked
as a bottle neck. (Actually they should have higher priority than
bottlenecks do.)
Another piece of equipment that should have higher importance than
bottlenecks when it comes to maintenance and costs is the PLC.
(Programmable Logic Controller) If not properly managed, they can
stop production of an entire line or facility.

In our 'Maintenance Tech Tip' area there are several tips and advice
for managing the ever growing population of PLC technology in your
facility. The two most important pieces of advice, I would like to
reiterate here.

First, be aware of how many, what brand and support you have for the
PLCs in your facility. If you want an example of what kind of
facility assessment you should be doing, I have an excel spread sheet
you can use as an example. Just send me an email requesting it
(info@...) and I'll be happy to send you a copy.

Secondly, be sure your maintenance and engineering departments have
the tools they need to work with the PLCs in your facility and reduce
downtime. The tools needed are training,  a laptop with PLC software
to access the PLCs, and discriptored copies of every PLC program
running in your facility.

If the above measures are not taken, someday production will be down,
waiting on a service tech to schedule a visit to your facility. But
worse is the countless hours of un-necessary downtime you have
already experienced and may not have realized.  The PLC is being
utilized as a valuable troubleshooting tool more and more as
technology increases.

____________________________________________________

************** HUMAN RESOURCE **********************
____________________________________________________

<> Human Resource Effectiveness <>
The most evident indicator of human resource effectiveness is not
seeing individuals with idle time, waiting on work. There is another
aspect of utilizing your human resources effectively that is much
more difficult to analyze and improve. That is your work force
efficiency.

The efficiency at which each individual in your company does their
respective job can be greatly improved by two basic metrics. Steps to
complete a task and timing. You can brainstorm and come up with the
minimum steps to complete a task but still be held up by timing,
waiting for an external task to be completed before moving on to the
next step in the original task.

While it was out of the scope of Bob Giese's article - OEE Reports -
Automated Capturing & Recording of Availability Data
(http://www.feedforward.com.au/oee_automated_data_collection.htm),  I
feel the VersaCall automated system deserves mention of how it also
improves human resource effectiveness. Their system pages, emails, or
communicates in some other form anytime a task is not completed in
time to keep production running.

The VersaCall system is a way of virtually automating the human
aspects of running your facility, thus reducing or eliminating any
timing issues that would cause idle, non-effective time. An example
would be a machine becoming low on raw material. The VersaCall system
would page the forklift operator. If for some reason the forklift
operator could not deliver in time (some preset alarm level set), a
supervisor may receive a text message on their cell phone.

With scenarios like the one above, all automated, you not only result
in a smoother running facility, but get OEE reports that help you
identify where and how to improve your operating effectiveness.

___________________________________________________
**************  THE WORLD WIDE WEB *****************
____________________________________________________
Other Online PLC resources:

>> Articles:

When Controls Converge: CNC,PLC & PC
http://www.autofieldguide.com/articles/019903.html

Documenting PLC Software
http://www.searcheng.co.uk/articles/plc/documenting.htm

Programmable controllers: Revolution or evolution?
http://www.manufacturing.net/ctl/article/CA379446


>> Recommends ...

http://www.ab.com/

Although myself and our companies are in no way affiliated with Allen
Bradley, their PLCs would be my first recommendation. They may be a
bit pricey, but well worth the quality and functionality they
provide. When your equipment has Allen Bradley controllers, your
facility is built on a rock of reliability.

http://www.automationdirect.com/

PLCDirect by Koyo offers programmable logic controllers (PLCs) for
factory automation in four product families, PC-based control
software, along with operator interfaces, programming software,
factory network devices, manuals and accessories. This company made
the TI 405,305, GE Series 1, Semantic, Siemens, and licensed those
companies to put their name on it. Buy direct, and save!

>> OEMs:

Note: we are not recommending the following vendors, only providing a
link as a resource  if you already have their equipment in your
facility.

Fuji PLCs - Eaton Cutler-Hammer PLC - Modicon - Omron – Siemens
(Please see online version of this newsletter for live links.)
____________________________________________________
************** WORLD INDUSTRY NEWS *****************
____________________________________________________


ARCwire for the Week Ending February 6,2004 reaching over 60,000
professionals worldwide.

Please forward this to a colleague. Anyone can sign up for a free
subscription on their Web site at http://www.ARCweb.com

* Motion Control and Safety Issues: A Constantly Evolving Market
* IT in Manufacturing: Issues Remain
* Business Industrial Network Offers Discount on PLC Training
* IAONA Expands Memorandum of Understanding to Include New Partners

===== ARC BENCHMARKING SURVEYS =====

>> Motion Control and Safety Issues: A Constantly Evolving Market
Many market insiders believe that recent consolidation in the motion
control market has tamed the spirited individualism prevalent during
the past two decades. ARC contends that the industry remains
extremely entrepreneurial and continues to provide fertile ground for
innovation and differentiation of products. If you are an OEM or an
end user please take this survey and provide your perception of
Motion Control and Safety Issues in this constantly evolving market.
You will receive the results at no charge from survey author Sal
Spada.

To take the survey, please click here:
www.arcweb.com/websurveyor/wsb.dll/ARC/MotionCustom.htm

===== INDUSTRY TRENDS =====

>> IT in Manufacturing: Issues Remain
ARC's 8th Annual Performance Driven Manufacturing Forum, held in
Orlando last week, provided attendees with information on real-world
implementations of solutions in the process, hybrid, and discrete
industries that enable users to achieve Real-time Performance
Management (RPM). Forum presentations focused both on enabling
technologies for deploying an RPM strategy as well as changes in work
processes and the manufacturing organization that are necessary to
achieve and sustain RPM.

===== COMPANY NEWS & BRIEFINGS =====

>> Business Industrial Network Offers Discount on PLC Training as a
New Strategic Training Partner for the Association for Facilities
Engineering

Business Industrial Network offers discount and 1.6 CEUs for it's two
day PLC Training course to members of the Association for Facilities
Engineering (AFE) as a Strategic Training Partner (STP) for the
organization.

St. Louis, MO (PRWEB) -- Business Industrial Network
(http://www.BIN95.com) announces it is now a Strategic Training
Partner for the Association for Facilities Engineering (AFE). See
http://www.afe.org/stp.html#BIN for details and discounts offered to
Association for Facilities Engineering members.

Business Industrial Network offers a two day basic Programmable Logic
Controller (PLC) training course, designed for those who troubleshoot
machinery and equipment with Allen Bradley's ™ RSLogix ™ software.
The PLC training course is offered primarily as customized onsite
training, but quarterly seminars are available too. Both qualify for
1.6 Continue Education Units (CEU).

Business Industrial Network always strives to give the customer more
than they expect. Their customized on-site PLC training qualifies for
many state employee training reimbursement programs. A summary of
their offerings are; on-site PLC training, training seminars and
online educational maintenance books, ebooks and CDs.

Business Industrial Network has extended a special price reduction
for their on-site PLC training and seminars fees of 10% for AFE
members. In order to obtain this discount, members must identify
their AFE affiliation and provide their member id for verification.
The next PLC training seminar is scheduled for March 22-23, 2004 in
Atlanta Georgia.

Please see http://www.bin95.com/AB_RSLogix_Seminar.htm for details.
Details of the onsite training can be found at
http://www.bin95.com/plc_training.htm, or call for details on any of
Business Industrial Network's offerings. 573-547-5630

# # #

===== ACQUISITIONS & PARTNERING NEWS =====

>> IAONA Expands Memorandum of Understanding to Include New Partners
Parker Hannifin completed the divestiture of Wynn's Industrie, an
industrial lubricants unit of the Wynn's Specialty Chemicals
business, to a subsidiary of Fuchs Petrolub AG. The divested unit,
based in France, has

annual revenues of approximately $29 million. Parker Hannifin noted it

has retained all rights to the Wynn's brand, reflecting the company's
continued ownership of Wynn's Specialty Chemicals, a producer of high-
performance chemicals for mobile and automotive applications.

_____________________________________________
************* A GOOD LAUGH ! ****************
_____________________________________________

You might be an engineering redneck if ...

You might be an engineering redneck if ... you have more than two
electronic devices that you carry on your person.

You might be an engineering redneck if ... you have a key to the
company to come into work when no one else is there.

You might be an engineering redneck if ... you have used coat hangers
and duct tape for something other than hanging coats and taping ducts

You might be an engineering redneck if ... you use a PLC to control
your Christmas lights.

You might be an engineering redneck if ... you have power cord (pig
tails) in your desk.

You might be an engineering redneck if ... you can say PCMCIA quickly
three time in row with out giving it a second thought.

You might be an engineering redneck if ... you have a pocket screw
driver in your shirt pocket right now.

You might be an engineering redneck if ... you have more friends on
the Internet than in real life.

You might be an engineering redneck if ... your watch plugs into your
computer.

You might be an engineering redneck if ... if you use CAD for non
work-related projects.

You might be an engineering redneck if ... If you know the direction
the water swirls when you flush.

You might be an engineering redneck if ... you read all of the above
and feel an uncontrollable urge to email me with your own set of "You
might be an engineering redneck if ... "

______________________________________________________________________
______
______________________________________________________________________
______

Best regards and thanks for being a subscriber to this newsletter.

Don Fitchett
Managing Editor
Feed Forward Publications
http://www.feedforward.com.au
Email: info@...

  Tel : (573) 547-5630
www.feedforward.com.au teaches your maintenance crew engineering and
asset care knowledge so that they can solve more problems, become
more knowledgeable, make better decisions and your plant runs more
reliably!

#1 From: "Business Industrial Network" <bin95@...>
Date: Mon Jul 5, 2004 3:43 pm
Subject: Feed Forward Newsletter Vol -11 "The Maintenance War"
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-(   The Maintenance War Newsletter   )-
Feed Forward Publications
Vol-11
Web site www.feedforward.com.au


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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*** Special Edition. ***
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is a special edition to our subscribers only. This news letter
has been syndicated from our feature author's website
http://www.lifetime-reliability.com. Many of you have read one or
more of the Author Mike Sondalini's 25 + books on our website. I am
sure you will find Mike's newsletter below just as informative.

If you like this newsletter format and content better than our
previous newsletters, let us know and we'll keep them coming. Hope
this helps.

Don Fitchett
Managing Editor
Feed Forward Publications


----------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Dear Subscriber,

Welcome to your 'Lifetime Equipment Reliability' newsletter.

Topics In This Newsletter

1) Maintenance and Reliability Secrets That Work - Lubrication The
Right Way.

2) A Long, Failure-Free Service Using Bearing Isolators.

3) Chose Operating And Maintenance Simplicity Above Engineering
Finesse.

4) Reliable Process Control And Instrumentation - Resin Encapsulation.

5) Manage And Leading Teams - Setting A Leader's Standards.

6) Using Affirmations in Maintenance and Reliability.

*********************************************

1) Maintenance And Reliability Secrets That Work - Lubrication The
Right Way.
Each month you get the important details of one of the 'secrets' to
greater equipment reliability.  This month it's the first best-
practice to adopt for immediate increase in bearing mean time between
failures.
Have a lubrication regime where everything is lubricated when due and
you know the right lubricant gets all the way to where it should.

Until someone invents a way to run machines without bearings you are
going to need lubrication.  In that case the lubrication needs to be
done right all the time if you want long, failure-free operating life.

There is a lot of information around already about good lubrication
practices.  The theory of lubrication is now well understood and
reliably confirmed. There are a lot of good additives and filtration
methods around that extend lubricant life and let it handle extreme
environments and conditions.

You can look-up the telephone yellow pages or the Internet and find
able people in the industry to give you all the technical knowledge
that you want about lubricants and lubrication.

Yet even with so much knowledge around on lubrication, and so many
good products, our bearings keep failing much too early.  It's not
usually the lubricant's fault!

But it can be because:

1) The wrong lubricant was chosen for the service conditions. (design
error)
2) Lubricant grades were swapped in-service. (instruction error)
3) The lubricant wasn't getting to where it should. (design error)
4) Process contamination got into the lubricant. (design error)
5) The load on the component was excessive and lubricant did not
prevent contact. (design error)
6) No one put the lubricant in. (instruction error)
7) The lubricant was mixed with another incompatible lubricant.
(instruction error)
8) Water ingress caused the lubricant to separate. (design error)
9) There was corrosion from the equipment components within the
lubricant. (design error)
10) The lubricant drained out past seals. (design error)
11) Old sludge and dirt was not properly removed during lubrication
replacement. (instruction error)
12) The lubricant degraded but was not renewed. (instruction error)
13) The bearing was over-lubricated. (design fault, instruction error)
14) The lubricant became contaminated by wear particles (design
error, instruction error)
15) Contaminated or unclean new lubricant was used. (design error,
instruction error)
16) Contamination was introduced during repair and rebuilds. (design
error, instruction error)

The problem is usually not the lubricant itself; unless it's unclean
when new (an ISO particle count will tell you if that is so).  What
the list above shows is that bearing lubrication problems usually
result from a lack of design appreciation as to what happens in, and
to the equipment when it's used in the field. Or from a lack of good-
practice by the equipment operators and maintainers.

There are three things that you can do to improve the odds of
lubrication success when the equipment is already in-the-field.
First is to confirm you have the right, clean lubricant for the job.
Second is to insure that the lubricant is renewed before it becomes
unusable.  Third is to insure that clean lubricant actually gets into
the bearing.

1) Use the right lubricant: Check the equipment manual recommendation
for each item of plant in its working location and record it in your
CMMS forever against that item of plant.  If you don't have the
manuals then contact the manufacturer for their recommendations,  as
a last resort contact the lubricant supplier for advice.

2) Renew the lubricant before it degrades:  Place each item of
equipment on a lubrication route and set a frequency that reflects
the operating environment and the type of bearing used.  More often
in dusty conditions, more often in hot or humid locations, more often
if you have process contamination, etc.

If the bearing design incorporates internal seals, then your
lubrication frequency will need to reflect the protective benefits of
the seals.

This means lubrication frequencies vary and may be weekly for some
plants and equipment and 3-monthly or longer for others.

3) Get fresh lubricant into the bearing elements: Look at drawings of
the bearing type and housing arrangement and follow the lubricant
flow route to satisfy yourself the fresh lubricant will get to the
bearing elements and replace the old lubricant.

With greased roller bearings, the best route is for the grease to
come into the center of the bearing race and flush out both sides.
This insures the freshest and cleanest grease is always in contact
with the rolling elements.  It then become necessary to pick, or
design, bearing housings with this characteristic and to pick
bearings with grease holes through the center of the race.

If you have bearing housings with the grease injection point on one
side of the bearing then you need to insure the freshly injected
grease actually flows into the rolling elements and out the other
side.  It is common to find bearing housings with a grease injection
point on the same side of the housing as the excess grease outlet.
Or on the same side as the shaft seal.  In both cases the grease will
migrate out of the housing, through the excess grease outlet or shaft
seal, without having replaced the old grease around the rolling
elements.

Take a look around your plant and be sure that clean lubricant is
going into bearing housings and it actually does flow through the
bearing.  Be sure your people know what are the right things to do
and to look for.  If necessary get your lubricant supplier to do a
single-session, face-to-face lubrication training program for the
shop floor workers.

2) A Long Failure-Free Service Using Bearing Isolators!

Each month this section presents you with at least one item of
equipment that delivers years of failure-free service.

This month's example of long failure-free operating life is the use
of bearing isolators to keep the lubricant around bearings free from
contamination for years.  This link takes you to an article by Heinz
Bloch in which he completely convinces you that magnetic bearing
protectors (also called magnetic bearing isolators) will give you
years of failure-free bearing life http://www.isomag.com/PDFS/Pump%
20Zone%20Reprint.pdf.

3) Chose Operating And Maintenance Simplicity Above Engineering
Finesse.

Do you use actuated dump valve feeders, screw feeders or rotary
valves for bulk powder mixer batching?  The answer you pick can give
years of problems, or years of failure-free operation!

Most engineers and managers don't have to live with the problems
their technical decisions cause.  But the plant operators and
maintainers do.  I always go with what the operators and maintainers
want.  That's because they know best when it comes to reducing
production time losses!

Once I know what the operators and maintainers know and need, I then
use my engineering knowledge and abilities to give them the best
engineered solution that works for them.

Let's take a closer look at the three options above for feeding bulk
materials and see what are their long term operating effects.

Actuated dump valves consist of the two valves, top and bottom,
pneumatic rams and linkages, air supply, a control box and its
components.

A rotary valve consists of the housing, rotor, bearings, drive motor
with chain or gearbox, power supply, a control box and its components.

A screw feeder consists of the housing, screw, bearings, drive motor
with chain or gearbox, power supply, a control box and its components.

The first question an operator and maintainer ask is "What trouble
does it cause me when it goes wrong?" (They are eternal skeptics!)

With a dump valve arrangement it'll usually be an actuator/ram, valve
or control solenoid that fails.  You can swap anyone of them out for
new in about two hours, at low cost.

When a rotary valve fails it's a half day job at best to repair.  And
much longer if you need to put in a new rotor, new tips, or swap out
the whole valve.  A rotor repair/replacement is expensive, and needs
lots of planning, preparation and production disruption.

If a screw feeder goes down you are looking at a minimum three hour
job.  It can be a complete strip-down to get to the bearing.  It's
worse if the shaft has snapped or the flight edges have worn down or
been damaged - the entire shaft has to come out and be put back in.
This needs a lot of time and effort from many people.

The secret to successful manufacturing is to use equipment that
doesn't fail (it can have stoppages - but it must not fail and
require a rebuild or replacement).  Make design and equipment choices
that keep production lost time down.  Make equipment choices that
keep maintenance costs down.

Forget about the capital cost of equipment - it's nothing over the
life of the plant.  A poor equipment choice will cost 10 times, 20
times, 30 times and more in production loss and maintenance cost over
its life than it cost to buy!

Never let capital cost be the driver of engineering decisions - make
life time cost the driver of all engineering decisions!

Engineering finesse is not important, capital cost is not important -
only lowest life-time cost is important!  Always design plant, and
chose equipment, that deliver little production losses and few
maintenance requirements.

4) Reliable Process Control And Instrumentation - Resin Encapsulation.

A few weeks back we put up a new light pole over a pathway at work.
The light fitting came with a 400W light and an in-built light sensor
to turn it on and off depending on the sunlight strength.

The sensor was guaranteed for 1,500,000 switchings.  Switching two
times a day meant it had 50 years of service life.  That's the sort
of equipment you and I need more of!  50 years of failure-free life
is a very long time.

To achieve that working life the entire sensor and it's electronic
components were encased in resin to totally exclude the environment
from it.

The use of encasing compounds to extend service lives of electronic
components adds cost.  But there maybe tremendous value that comes
with it!

No dust ingress, no moisture ingress, insulated against rapid
temperature changes, difficult to accidentally damage with tools,
able to sustain robust handling, etc.  All these benefits seem like
very useful advantages for electronic equipment to have if you want
long failure-free service life.

I checked with Don Fitchett at www.bin95.com who does a lot of work
with Programmable Logic Controls (PLC's) and process control
equipment for his thoughts on encasing electronic components.  Here's
what he said.
Hi Mike:
As an electronic engineer and an industrialist, I can see some
advantages. Most are for the manufacturer. Most of the time you do
not have a choice of components, but if given the choice, I would
choose NON - resin encased. If the circuit goes bad, I would like to
have the option of replacing the rectifier or component myself.
Let's face it, most companies are not around for long, or are under
new ownership, where guarantees are no longer honored. You may be
paying high dollar for a miraculous product guarantee that is
useless. It is common though, for devices such as light sensors to be
in resin, as the circuit is so cheap to manufacture, replacement is
the best option. As a consumer (not a maintenance person) this type
offer is common and would be acceptable.
When you get into items like electronic ignitions for cars (brain
boxes, black box, etc.) it is common to use resin for tamper
proofing. Some electronic products are set in resin to force
consumers to buy new instead of repair. In those situations you will
find that proprietary designs force high replacement costs compared
to the couple of dollars the circuit actually cost to build.
From a design point of view, resin can work either way. It causes the
product to be moisture proof (outside environments) and may actually
help dissipate circuit heat. On the other side of the coin, resin may
cause thermal runaway and shorten the life of the product. Another
thing I have seen is poor quality resin that cracked and actually
trapped moisture inside the component.
In summary, a guarantee is only as good as the life of the company.
The choice for resin encapsulation or not is dependent on the design
and the product. As an extreme example of a worst case scenario:
could you imagine going to replace an SCR in a motor drive only to
find out they encapsulated the circuit board in resin?
Don Fitchett, Business Industrial Network, www.BIN95.com
So ... there will be times when it's advantageous to encapsulate and
times when it's best not to. Encapsulation will limit your repair
choices in downtime situations.

5) Managing And Leading Teams - Setting A Leader's Standards.

Very few of us are born great managers and leaders.  Yet we all can
be.  Often our companies, families, peers and employees are looking
for us to lead them.  Often our entire future success depends on how
good we are at getting people to make things happen as a co-
coordinated team.

I reckon I've finally worked out what to do to start becoming a great
leader.

To become a great leader you first start by raising your own
standards.

Before you can lead you have to know where to go.

You find the right direction by studying what the really great and
forward-thinking people in your industry are doing.  You do that by
reading widely and thinking deeply about what you learn so you
understand what's going on.  That's why you hear the saying
that 'leaders are readers'!

When you raise your own standards you set new benchmarks to reach.
You set a new, higher direction to follow.  You attune yourself to
success.  You have a plan and a path to follow.  You are then in a
position to lead and manage people because you know more than them.

And that's when the trouble starts!

Once you start reading about the best practices of leaders in your
field you come to know what to do.  You know the better ways to do
things.  You know what needs to be done.  But no one else does!  Nor
do most people care to know more than what's just enough to do their
jobs.

At this stage there are a few things that can happen to you as a
budding leader.

You can get moody and introverted because you cannot convince other
people to follow you down this better path.  You will try to change
them, but they will react against you.  This makes you angry and you
stop bothering to try change the 'system'.  Who wants the hassles
anyway?

You may start getting bossy and forcing people to do what you want
done.  If you are in charge of them they will follow your
instructions, but they won't 'buy-in' to your better ways.  You will
see that and start thinking that they don't care about their job.
You'll start wishing you had better, more competent people working
for you.

One other thing that could happen to you is that you will change your
job because you cannot get satisfaction at your current work place.
But you will only come across the same problems in the new job.
People are pretty much the same where ever you go.

My friend ... don't give up!  You have to go back and do what you did
to get your higher understanding in the first place.  You have to go
back to studying better ways of leading people.

This time it's not best industry practice that you study - this time
you study best human management and leadership practices.  This time
you study how to get teams working together, how to motivate people,
how to handle yourself in situations, how to manage and lead
others ... and so on.

Knowledge is power over your situation and your circumstances!  You
can never know enough about your industry, about how people's minds
work and about how your mind works.

Read widely, think deeply, gain understanding so that you reach
higher standards and you know what to do and how to get there with
the people you have!

6) Using Affirmations in Maintenance and Reliability.

I hope that this one does not freak you out - it's only meant to
challenge your thinking!

What have affirmations got to do with maintenance and reliability?

They ought to be in your personal improvement tool kit.  They can
change your future in the maintenance and reliability industry!

I've read personal improvement books for nearly 20 years.  Every book
I've read on the subject has helped me in some way.  But I never
found a way to change the person I am inside until I really
understood what affirmations do to you.

Take this one here - "I am a caring, loving father (or mother, etc)
and give my kids a loving hug twice a day."

If you read that affirmation several time a day that is what you will
do and become.  How can you keep telling yourself those words three,
four, five times a day and then not do it?  You cannot.  You must
start to give hugs to your kids and show them you care.

That is the power of affirmations - they can change your future
behavior.  They help you to become the person you want to be. They
help you handle situations that you now have trouble with.

Take this one - "I have a world-class maintenance crew (or
production, construction, etc crew) who do top quality work quickly
and safely at controlled costs."

It would make you emotional to read that several times a day, and
then to see that in reality it's not true.  You would start to find
ways to make it come true.  If you stuck with it long enough, you
would eventually create a world-class maintenance crew.

This sort of affirmation will get you reading books, going to
seminars, talking to your more experienced piers, listening in on
conversations whenever you hear the words 'team building' ... you
would become animated and active in building a world-class
maintenance crew.

Affirmations influence your self-talk and your self-belief! And once
you think you can do something, then you start to do it!

Experiment with affirmations.  Get a packet of 3" x 5" ruled cards
and start doing some tests on yourself.  The rules with affirmations
are 1) they must be written a the positive form, 2) they must be
present tense, i.e. in the 'now', 3) you must accomplish the task
i.e. I am ..., I have .... It is like me to ..., etc.

Sometimes you have to state an affirmation as a question so you can
get your subconscious working for you.  For example "How do I create
a world-class maintenance crew (or production, construction, etc
crew) who do top quality work quickly and safely at controlled
costs?"  This affirmation will get you waking up at three in the
morning with 'aha' ideas!

I've got a page on the web site where you can get a bit more detail
on using affirmations for maintenance and reliability improvements.
Click on this link http://www.lifetime-
reliability.com/affirmation.html.  On that page you will see a link
to a company selling affirmation software.  You don't need it, but
they have a lot of very detailed information on how affirmations
work.  If you take the link, and you do buy any of their products,
I'll get an affiliate payment.

************************************************
Please come back for more next month.  Tell the people you know about
this newsletter so that they can subscribe too.
Best regards to you,
Mike Sondalini
Lifetime Reliability - Where Outstanding Industrial Plant And
Equipment Reliability Is Normal.
Email: mailto:info@...
Web: http://www.lifetime-reliability.com
Post: PO Box 578, BENTLEY, WA, 6102, AUSTRALIA
Phone: +61 8 9457 0742


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Please circulate this newsletter far and wide and let people know of
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______________________________________________________________________
______

Best regards and thanks for being a subscriber to this newsletter.

Don Fitchett
Managing Editor
Feed Forward Publications
http://www.feedforward.com.au
Email: info@...

  Tel : (573) 547-5630
www.feedforward.com.au teaches your maintenance crew engineering and
asset care knowledge so that they can solve more problems, become
more knowledgeable, make better decisions and your plant runs more
reliably!

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