Leadership in Maintenance

Listen to your Cog Belt

Torbjörn Idhammar

Are you hearing a slapping noise? This can be caused by poor tension, which may cause a reduction in performance and lead to belt breakage.

Condition Monitoring Standards

Torbjörn Idhammar

Visual Inspections- Des-Case Breather

The Power of Organizational Beliefs in Reliability and Maintenance Management

Christer Idhammar

Excellent leadership maintenance management is essential for lasting results of any improvement initiative that an organization undertakes, including the improvement of Reliability and Maintenance performance.

Reliability and Maintenance: Does the Activity Match the Goal?

Torbjörn Idhammar

A potential client asked if IDCON could do a productivity study of the hourly maintenance staff at a mill. My initial reaction was “WHY?” and

IDCON’s Shutdown Optimization Program (SOP)

Greg Gustafson

With IDCON’s Shutdown Optimization Program, shutdown (SD) best practices are reviewed to safely reduce shutdown duration and costs. Here are some best practices for you

How Training Improves Work Processes and Craft Skills

Christer Idhammar

Christer Idhammar is a world renowned and awarded Reliability and Maintenance Consultant and Guru. He is the founder and executive vice president with IDCON, INC

Reliability Tip: OTR Inspections- Gear Coupling

Torbjörn Idhammar

Subjective OTR inspections on gear couplings should include Noise, Visual, Temperature, grease leaking, guards and keyway. Noise could be caused by:

Maintenance Cost and Estimated Replacement Value

Torbjörn Idhammar

Yesterday you were a happy camper. Today you are told your Maintenance Cost (MC) as a percent of your Estimated Replacement Value (ERV) is 4.9%.

Measuring a bearing condition without a vibration analyst

Torbjörn Idhammar

Scenario: You are the Reliability Engineer responsible for developing an in-house condition based PM program. One item you’re monitoring is an important process fan. This

Avoiding “Workshop Worship”: Leadership in Maintenance

Torbjörn Idhammar

Workshop worship seems to be everywhere. I just returned from a few weeks in Sweden where I met with various clients and potential consulting partners.

What are your shutdown drivers?

Greg Gustafson

One of the main factors affecting major and minor shutdown schedules is to understand “why you are shutting down”. We call this the ‘shutdown drivers’.

Reliability Tip: Put your hands on it

Greg Gustafson

One of the most important lessons I have ever learned in my career was from a senior maintenance and turnaround manager named Don.

Change Management for Maintenance Leaders

Torbjörn Idhammar

It’s important for maintenance leaders to have a good understanding of their organizations’ front lines in order to influence improvements. The maintenance personnel that make

Is a Condition Monitoring (CM) Technician Worth $2,610.11?

Michael Lippig

I’ve met more than my fair share of “handicapped” CM Techs; “handicapped” with the lack of tools, training and poorly designed systems. As Deming noted

Practical Tips for Reliability Improvements

Torbjörn Idhammar

Looking for some practical tips for reliablity improvements? Well let me share some ideas from one of my previous experiences.

Maintenance Tip – Oil Sampling

Terry Taylor

The most important point about oil samples and oil analysis in general is you are looking for any “change” that is taking place.

Best practices for non-shutdown backlog targets

Torbjörn Idhammar

•Total backlog 4 – 6 weeks – Includes all approved work

How Daily and Weekly Meetings Between Operations and Maintenance Improve Everything

Torbjörn Idhammar

Daily and weekly meetings between operations and maintenance are crucial in taking the efficiency of your daily maintenance to a higher level. Many organizations deal well