Variety, variety, variety

Variety, they say, is the spice of life, and it’s what spices up this latest issue of Machinery & Equipment MRO. Here are some highlights:

Our news sections include a new report on the trends in bearing demand, stories from various industry events, and reports on the economic outlook for the months ahead.

Among our main features and technical stories, you’ll learn how a maintenance manager at a Montreal brewery nearly eliminated reactive maintenance.

That’s followed up by a case history from Lake Erie Steel, where alignment of cooling tower shafts not only extends the working life of the equipment, but results in a significant savings in energy, thus reducing the operation’s carbon footprint. This is good for the company and for the environment.

In our technical report, we look at the workings of cycloidal speed reducers and examine their benefits.

Safety is the theme of our cover feature, which provides tips and advice on using hand tools properly. Also, our regular Safety File column takes a look at how the strong Canadian dollar can be used by maintenance to improve both safety and productivity.

Another column, Supervisory Suggestions, gives you eight valuable tips on solving problems at work by emulating the characteristics of ‘superheros’. It’s a fun and practical read!

More on-the-job issues are covered in CMMS Solutions — which provides advice on dealing with an annual inventory parts count, as well as in The Business of Maintenance — with advice on ensuring the successful execution of your projects.

This edition’s Maintenance Management column, part 18 of a serial about leading a pulp and paper plant to a world-class level of maintenance, encounters a dilemma: Why didn’t its new preventive maintenance strategies predict a major bearing failure that shut down the mill?

We wrap up this issue with a report from the power transmission industry’s major annual event, the PTDA Industry Summit. That article includes coverage of the presentation of the association’s annual Warren Pike Award, honouring excellence and long participation in the industry.

In this issue you’ll also read stories on other awards that have been presented in recent weeks. There’s the Sergio Guy Memorial Award bestowed by the Plant Engineering and Maintenance Association of Canada (PEMAC), as well as the Lifetime Achievement Award in Plant Engineering & Maintenance from Federated Press — organizer of the 21st Century Maintenance Organization conference.

Awards are important because they recognize various levels of expertise and accomplishment, often among fairly ordinary folk, and encourage others to strive a little bit harder in the hope of achieving some extra recognition and respect from their peers, their bosses and their industries.

It certainly isn’t every day that maintenance and machinery industry people can get the recognition they deserve. That’s just one of the reasons we try to report on some of the awards presented to those in our narrow area of focus. It’s all part of the variety you’ll find in every issue.