Photo: MRO
For just over a year and a half now, many of the actions that used to be done in person, have been done virtually (when possible). A big part of being able to keep up with what is going on in the maintenance and reliability world was to go out and see it first-hand. When the pandemic happened, much like the rest of the world, Machinery and Equipment MRO had to pivot to a virtual way of doing things.
For the first time ever we held a virtual MRO Expo in partnership with Design Engineering magazine in February, which was a great event for both brands, as it brought together readers, exhibitors, industry experts, for a day of networking, learning, and interaction with exhibitors that some may not have seen in a while.
Last August we held our first ever. Maintenance and Reliability in a Changed World Virtual Summit. Presentations by Suzane Greeman, and James Reyes-Picknell, along with a open discussion helped maintenance and reliability professionals to learn techniques to optimize day-to-day operations. With the success of that event, we held our second annual event recently.
The Maintenance and Reliability in a Changed World 2021 Virtual Summit was headlined by a keynote address from Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada’s Robert Ruggieri, General Manager. He spoke about the future of manufacturing from a TMMC perspective.
This was followed by a learning session by Hugh Alley, about the fact that The Skilled Labour Shortage is a Myth: The Real Shortage is Skilled Supervisors. The summit then featured a presentation by Cliff Williams about Asset Management and the MRO World – What are They and How are They Connected?.
The summit garnered nearly 200 registrations, which was on par with our 2020 event. This shows that while many people may be virtually ‘fatigued,’; meaning that they want to go to in-person events, sooner rather than later, there is still an appetite for virtual events. Not to mention that virtual events present relevant and important information, that can help maintenance professionals in their day-to-day operations.
We thank all those who attended all our virtual events, and would like to let everyone know that we will be starting in-person MRO events in 2022. MRO
