Category
Operations
Deep freeze offers only cold comfort for natural gas producing firms
Calgary – The cold snap that continues to blanket many parts of North America is driving short-term natural gas prices higher but they remain far below historic highs and the trend is unlikely to significantly affect either Canadian consumer bills…
SNC Lavalin reaches agreement to repay Quebec municipalities for contracts
Montreal – Engineering giant SNC-Lavalin has reached agreement to pay restitution to seven Quebec municipalities for obtaining contracts through questionable means. Neil Bruce, CEO of the Montreal-based engineering and construction firm, says the settlements under the province’s voluntary reimbursement program…
Three companies fined after worker injured in an arc flash
Three companies were convicted on October 27, 2017 for violations related to an arc flash after a worker was injured at the South West Detention Centre (SWDC), 4819 8th Concession Road, Windsor, Ont.On May 28, 2013, a worker was cleaning a…
Editor’s Notebook: I know a guy, who knows a guy…
Maintenance and reliability programs are like any other continuous improvement initiative. Success depends on a structured process that requires ongoing streamlining and improvement. The idea points to a basic principle expounded by Dr. W. Edwards Deming’s 14 Points: “Create constancy…
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Make it or brake it – Oil shear technology ensures brakes will operate in the dust
As counterintuitive as it seems, the right brakes can speed up a production line. When St. Vrain Block Company, in Dacono County, CO, began switching out faulty brakes for brakes that use oil shear technology, maintenance downtime plummeted, the production…
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Words of wisdom on conveyor drive components
Simon Rouleau is the president and owner of Quebec-based Simar-Dacon, Inc. He designs, and his shop builds, conveyors of all shapes and sizes for different industries. Douglas Froom is the president of Nova Scotia-based BF Consulting. He is a conveyor…
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At your service – Extracting value from maintainability
As a tradesman, “maintainability” wasn’t a word I thought about when something was inaccessible or removals required a contortionist with a handful of various extensions. I used different words. They were eloquent strings of disjointed words that clearly demonstrated the…
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Tipping Point – transforming industrial maintenance through IoT
In an increasingly complex manufacturing ecosystem, researchers count information-rich, streamlined process optimization and speed among the drivers behind cost reduction in the new connected value chain. Yet, for many organizations, a digital transformation strategy is still generally missing – the…
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley’s pro pipeline tour well received in Calgary
Calgary – Alberta Premier Rachel Notley took her pro-pipeline tour to the heart of the energy industry in Calgary on Friday where she urged business leaders not to let up on the message that Canada’s climate progress depends on pipeline…
MAC releases strengthened tailings management guide
The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) has released a revised edition of its internationally-recognized A Guide to the Management of Tailings Facilities. The third edition includes significant updates, which were informed by recommendations from leading experts in the field. For more…
Tip: Planners should nail down the problem
In general, planners should precisely nail down the problem and what we are going to do about it before attempting to define a repair procedure. We do want the details of how to do the repair, but we also count…
NIBA – PTDA joint industry summit at a glance
Madison, Wisc., and Chicago, Ill. – Over 1,300 participants from the belting and power transmission/motion control (PT/MC) industries came together September 27-30 in Hollywood, Florida, where tools and information for Powering Thoughts/Conveying Ideas were delivered through presentations, the latest in…
Ontario government helps Ferrero Canada expand business at Brantford plant
Ontario is partnering with Ferrero Canada Ltd. to expand its product line and pursue new markets, creating 55 new jobs and retaining 831 jobs in Brantford. Ferrero Canada manufactures and distributes confectionery products that include Ferrero Rocher, Nutella, Tic Tac,…
Lafarge Canada Inc. fined $115,000 after contract worker suffers electrical shock
Lafarge Canada Inc. was fined $115,000 after pleading guilty to the offence of failing as an employer to ensure that the power supply to an electrical installation, equipment or conductors was disconnected, locked out of service and tagged before any…
Workers at General Motors CAMI plant vote on tentative agreement
Toronto – Workers at General Motors’ CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ont., are to vote Monday on whether to accept a tentative agreement and end a four-week-long strike. The contract proposal was hammered out last week and Unifor, which represents the…
New era of oil supply certainty force changes in Canadian producers’ strategies
Calgary – A shift in global oil markets sentiment is under way, replacing decades of scarcity fears with confidence in surpluses, capping oil prices and forcing changes in the way the industry works, observers say. “We’re moving from a mindset…
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Cost concepts of planning and scheduling
Most people are surprised to see maintenance costs go up (!) as they first implement proper planning and scheduling. Maintenance planning and scheduling help an existing workforce complete more maintenance work so, of course, they will use more spare parts…
Orkin Canada fined over Calgary flour mill pesticide fumigation charges
Edmonton – A national pest control company has been fined $150,000 for breaking Alberta and federal laws for how it fumigated a Calgary flour mill for insects with a toxic pesticide. The Alberta government says Orkin Canada Corporation is to…
Fined and imprisoned – VW engineer gets steep punishment in diesel scandal
Detroit – A Volkswagen engineer who had a key role in the company’s diesel emissions scandal was sentenced Friday to more than three years in prison and a $200,000 fine, a steeper punishment than prosecutors requested. Robert Liang, 63, knew…
How much value do you get from your CMMS?
Maintenance Connection, the industry’s leading computerized maintenance management software (CMMS) provider, has released the 2017 State of CMMS Report, an analysis of how maintenance software delivers value and benefits operations across industries that conduct maintenance on a daily basis. The…
