Maintenance people must be SMART to make it work
Owe Forsberg
A while ago I was at a plant that had a set of vacuum pumps with a life of less than 3 months. I think
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Leadership in Maintenance Articles
Implementing Risk-Based Work Selection Practices
Greg Gustafson
Implementing Risk-based Work Selection practices for Shutdown Maintenance will increase plant utilization and reduce cost. Are you selecting, planning, scheduling, and executing unnecessary maintenance and
Outsourcing Maintenance: Should You Outsource Your Reliability or Maintenance?
Christer Idhammar
There are many levels of outsourcing maintenance work. The most common include: 1. Outsourcing of the whole maintenance function. This is often done by forming a
Is Your Maintenance Organization Cost Effective?
Christer Idhammar
Most maintenance organizations do not really know how good – or bad – they are. It is more a feeling of “we are doing pretty
Reliability & Maintenance Strategy
Torbjörn Idhammar
Reliability & Maintenance Strategy IDCON can help your organization define a clear and simple Reliability and Maintenance Strategy for your plant, mine, mill, and/or corporation.
A True Culture of Manufacturing Reliability
Christer Idhammar
Reliability is a term that has become more commonly used in the manufacturing industry. Many organizations are using reliability to describe their predictive maintenance department.
Are Most Maintenance Organizations Overstaffed?
Christer Idhammar
Yes, I think that most maintenance organizations are overstaffed, not necessary with their own staff, but they use more total maintenance hours than necessary. Total
The Lack of Execution with Reliability and Maintenance Management Strategy
Christer Idhammar
Recently I met a young and enthusiastic engineer who declared that “ We are already done with the reliability and maintenance management strategy, it is
LinkedIn Forum: Reliability and Maintenance Discussion Group
Torbjörn Idhammar
Reliability and Maintenance Discussion Group Our reliability and maintenance group discussion is intended to bring people together in the heavy process industry that want to
The Reliability and Maintenance (R&M) Vision and what to do when you have a tight budget
Owe Forsberg
Best reliability and maintenance practices take several years to develop, normally 3-6 years. It starts with a strong leader who realizes an improved availability, quality
Is Maintenance a Supplier or Partner for Operations?
Torbjörn Idhammar
Some organizations still view operations as the customer and maintenance as the supplier. In my opinion, a customer-supplier relationship between operations and maintenance undermines equipment
Training to Maintain
Torbjörn Idhammar
Classroom reliability training followed by practical experience could end money being wasted on maintenance courses and seminars that workers quickly forget. Companies can spend thousands
Tough Words to Top Management about Culture Change
Christer Idhammar
Anyone who has been involved in reliability and maintenance improvement initiatives will hear that a culture change in work practices is necessary to accomplish to
6 Reasons to Kill Wrench Time Studies!
Torbjörn Idhammar
For a while, I thought that the whole “wrench time” concept was dead. But, I was wrong. Over the past year, I’ve worked with two
Sustainable Reliability and Maintenance Improvements
Christer Idhammar
I am no longer surprised to see reliability and maintenance improvement initiatives abandoned before the substantial results, which are possible to achieve, are delivered and
4 Tips to Sell Maintenance to Top Management
Torbjörn Idhammar
We in maintenance often complain about how hard it is for us to “sell maintenance to top management”. There are several things we can improve
Reliability Improvements Drive Down Maintenance Costs
Christer Idhammar
An organization must focus on sustainable results, not just cutting maintenance costs. Results-oriented organizations focus first on the quality and volume of production throughout, followed
Cut Costs or Improve Reliability? Reliability and Maintenance in a recessionary market
Christer Idhammar
Focus on activities that drive cost, not cost alone. In 1980 I conducted the first seminars titled “Reliability, the future competitiveness factor”. Looking back I
5 Steps: A Clear Path toward Reliability Improvements
Torbjörn Idhammar
Previously I have argued that maintenance should be responsible primarily for “equipment reliability” and work in a close partnership with operations, whose primary responsibility is
A Plan for Breaking out of Budget Jail
Torbjörn Idhammar
I wrote this column for those who want to improve equipment reliability but feel as if they are stuck in “budget jail”. Assuming your fiscal
