Features
Pumped for Action
Industrial pumps may seem fairly simple, but they can cause as much trouble as the most complex machinery. To help you avoid maintenance headaches with the pumps in your facility, we sought out a few experts, who are happy to share their…
MODERATE EMPLOYMENT GAINS EXPECTED IN MONTHS AHEAD
Ottawa – The Help-wanted index compiled by the Conference Board of Canada fell 9.5 percentage points in June 2013, bringing it to 128.7.
IFPE CONFERENCE TOPICS HAVE BEEN SET OUT
Las Vegas, NV – IFPE 2014 will be held March 4-8, 2014, at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV, co-located with the Conexpo-Con/Agg exposition for the construction industries. The huge trade show also includes several…
MAINTENANCE CONFERENCE HEADS TO CALGARY
Calgary, AB – MainTrain 2013 will feature skill-building sessions, interactive workshops, technical sessions, case studies and supplier presentations covering a wide range of maintenance, reliability and asset management subject areas….
SKILLS SHORTAGES COSTING ONTARIO $28 BILLION ANNUALLY
Toronto – Ontario is losing out on as much as $24.3 billion in economic activity and $3.7 billion in provincial tax revenues annually because employers cannot find people with the skills they need to innovate and grow in today’s…
ALBERTA FLOODING IN JUNE CAUSED LOSS OF 5 MILLION HOURS OF WORK
Ottawa – Extensive flooding affected Southern Alberta in the second half of June 2013. As a result, 300,000 employed Albertans, or 13.5% of the total employed population in the province, lost 7.5 million hours of work during that period,…
READY-TO-WORK ENGINEERS GOAL OF NEW PROGRAM
Brampton, ON – Sheridan College has become a member of the CDIO Initiative – a worldwide movement to restore the balance between teaching ‘practice’ skills and the fundamentals of math and science to engineering students.
26 tons of bearings destroyed
Schweinfurt, Germany – Shaeffler AG has destroyed 26 tons of counterfeit roller bearings marked with the INA and FAG brand. Their value was over $1.4 million.
A lot to celebrate
Some milestones were reached with our magazine over the summer. First off, we have a new publisher in Jim Petsis. You can read a bit more about him in our Business Briefs column on page 9. We’re glad to welcome him on board and are…
BSA presents Lifetime Achievement Award
Hilton Head Island, SC — Andrew Hall Nations, president and CEO of B&D Industrial, is the latest recipient of the Bearing Specialists Association (BSA) Lifetime Achievement Award. The presentation was made at the association’s…
Cost Catastrophes
This column in the previous issue talked about maintenance departments not having enough time to do preventive maintenance. This month, we expand on this subject by informing maintenance managers and directors on what is going on in their…
The importance of machine base flatness
Now, more than ever, I’m convinced that many machines are installed on bases that are not flat – especially large, newer and more flexible machines that have been set up on old bases.
Flagging the ‘near misses’
If you only have time to read just one article in this issue today, I highly recommend Climbing the Safety Ladder on page 10. This case study of Domtar’s maintenance safety practices is an eye-opener, explaining why the company’s…
What you need to know about belt and chain drive maintenance
In any plant, the efficient and reliable transmission of power depends on the proper function of drive components. When they fail, the resulting work stoppage can be costly. Chain and belt drives are vulnerable, and diligent maintenance pays…
The myth of chain stretch
Did you know that drive chain does not actually ‘stretch’? Its elongation is caused when material is removed from the pins and bushings. The individual joints in a roller chain articulate as they enter and leave the sprockets. This…
What’s shakin’ with your mechanical systems?
Most machines have rotating parts, and rotating parts vibrate. Measuring how and how much those parts vibrate can tell you a lot about the health of a machine. Whether it’s the rumble of worn bearings or the shaking, shimmying or thumping…
Bearing Up
Our previous issue (April 2013, page 11) offered up eight practical, field-proven tips for keeping your bearings and seals happy. In this issue, we offer Part 2 of that feature, with another eight great tips to keep your bearings turning and…
Climbing the Safety Ladder
Walking along a mill’s machinery-lined corridor on a tour, I stumbled on an asphalt ramp between the floor and a five-inch high doorsill. Once painted yellow, little of the warning colour remained. I turned to Michel Cloutier, my host and…
Using synchronous belts for air-handling
Replacing V-belts with synchronous belts in air-handling applications has been recognized by the US Department of Energy as a best practice to reduce energy requirements in industrial and commercial applications.
Relieving the tension
With the recent focus by the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) industry on green initiatives, the subject of V-belt drive efficiency has garnered much attention. Despite a lack of hard data, it is common knowledge among HVAC…
Protecting your welding assets
Because most welding equipment finds its way into the rigours of construction, farming, automotive, fabrication and other “rough use” industries, aspects of routine maintenance are often postponed or even overlooked. This article is intended to…
Backing up your CMMS
Although I have mentioned in this column before how important it is to back up your CMMS database, recent events have brought me to discussing it again.
The strange Hollow Ball Phenomenon
Problem: Your pump has failed. You disassemble it and lo and behold, you find broken, hollow bearing balls amongst the wreckage.
Wajax and Kaman form strategic alliance
Wajax Industrial Components and Kaman Industrial Technologies – two North American industrial distributors – have formed a strategic alliance, strengthening the services offered to customers having business assets in the US, Canada,…
Workforce challenges to continue
Ottawa – Over the next two decades, Canada and its regions will have to contend with the challenges of more and more aging baby-boomers leaving the workforce, according to a new commentary, Growth in Provincial Labour Productivity: A…
Western Canada to create 16,000 more jobs for engineers by 2020
Toronto – The job market for engineers is strongest in western Canada, according to data in a recently released report, Engineering Labour Market in Canada: Projections to 2020. Sponsored by Randstad Engineering in conjunction with…
Big claw makes marine salvage safer
Trelleborg, Sweden – Watching the VB 10000 in action is quite a sight. Four giant white C-shaped truss structures with prongs at the bottom, dubbed ‘the Claw’, hang below two massive yellow arched trusses, spanning a pair of…
Pump Appreciation Day recognizes ‘heart of industry’
Seneca Falls, NY – As the second-most common machine in all of industry (after electric motors), pumps are at the heart of everything. The world’s food, fuel, water and electricity are all processed and transported by pumps. To…
Deadline for repeal of engineering’s ‘Industria
Toronto – Those responsible for professional engineering work in Ontario in relation to production machinery or equipment now have longer to become licensed by Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO).
Production capacity rate dragged down by manufacturing
Ottawa – Canadian industries operated at 80.7% of their production capacity in the fourth quarter of 2012, down slightly from 81.1% in the third quarter, reports Statistics Canada. The decline was a result of lower capacity utilization in…
