Features
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Biodegradable Lubricants – Selection, Application, and Maintenance
Biodegradable lubricants have become extremely important to support the demands of environmental protection. The description of the two primary classes of biodegradable lubricants, vegetable oil and synthetic categories, have been well documented when compared with traditional mineral oil base lubricants.…
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Maintenance Challenges
Within the oil sands ore prep pit. Few industrial environments have as many challenges as those faced in the Canadian oil sands. Harsh and unforgiving weather combined with demanding schedules, abrasive ore and a very remote location all culminate into…
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Mining – Conveyor Pulley Bearing Sealing
One of the most common pieces of equipment on a mine site is a belt conveyor. No matter what mineral is being extracted, this piece of equipment generally will be present in some form. Depending on the complexity and length…
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Learning Management Systems – Resources for our Resources
LMS is software that allows maintaining of training and resource documents on an electronic platform. This issue of MRO is dedicated to the resource sector and how it services needs in facilities, industries and factories. When thinking of resources in…
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Power System Studies
Understanding the importance of a short circuit protection and coordination study and an arc flash hazard assessment. A typical power distribution system for a large facility or campus is comprised of multiple distribution voltages and corresponding equipment. An incoming electrical…
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Heavy Equipment Bearing Lubrication
Heavy-duty applications require a unique lubricant choice. When we think of heavy equipment we think of large pieces of equipment that are generally slow moving and subject to environments that are dirty, wet and generally treated roughly or expected to…
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Troubleshooting Failure Modes
Protecting industrial shaft seals from failure. Industrial shaft seals in rotating machinery primarily function to retain lubricant, exclude contaminants (such as dust or moisture), separate media (including lubricant), and/or confine pressure. In turn, they protect bearing arrangements, optimize bearing service…
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Heavy Equipment Lubrication
Effective heavy equipment lubrication is entirely dependent upon sound lubricant selection, storage, application and maintenance of the lubricants themselves. The oil in every machine, regardless of type is in reality another component within that machine and requires the same care…
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Care, Custody and Control
The hand off to and from operations. Transitioning an asset between operations and maintenance is an often-overlooked risk. This has been a point of failure in most industries I have been involved with regardless of mobile or stationary equipment. This…
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Environmental Footprint of Maintenance
Maintenance activities have a direct effect on the environment that surrounds the facility where they are executed. There are three aspects in which maintenance strategies contribute to a facility footprint in the environment: resources needed, efficiency of the equipment, and…
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Maintenance Fundamentals
Manufacturing plants need to get back to the basic fundamentals of maintenance. In recent articles I mentioned how manufacturing plants need to get back to the basics of maintenance. We are all spending time doing root cause analysis, equipment liability…
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Maintenance Schedules
Creating a schedule that increases productivity. There are different maintenance schedules, each with a different purpose. The yearly schedule is about budgets, projects, and contractors (if any). The monthly schedule is about keeping up with preventive maintenance. Jumping ahead, the…
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Automated Grease Systems
A selection guide reviewing the merits of system type relative to single- and dual-line parallel systems. No matter what the type of equipment or its function, system designers are faced with choices at the onset of any project. Take as…
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In alignment: Troubleshooting rotating equipment alignment problems
Misalignment of machine shaft centrelines cause up to 50 per cent of machine vibration problems and are the result of two common conditions. Parallel offset misalignment is a condition where the centrelines of the two shafts do not meet, whereas…
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Workflows and Swim Lanes
A structured work order process keeps us going with the current. About 20 years ago, while I was helping a car parts manufacturer north of Ottawa with its maintenance software, I realized they were missing something fundamental in the way…
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Heavy Industry Lubrication
Slow-moving bearings in tough environments face unique greasing challenges. In Canada’s tough climate, “heavy industry” generally uses large, slow-moving bearings for big and dirty equipment. Tough environments do not only mean dirty and wet, but also cold (-40˚C) in the…
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Retirement Day – Developing asset renewal strategies
Industry tends to stick with ingrained misconceptions on asset renewals. Commonly held statements, such as “haul trucks last 20 years” or “plants are designed for a 30-year lifespan” persist. But misconceptions pose risks. A renewal program enables an organization to manage the final lifecycle phase of assets in a proactive way
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Machine learning technology make legacy assets smarter
Automate machine learning by creating a data pipeline from legacy equipment.
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Allow maintenance to break schedules and watch productivity increase
Why maintenance completes more work when it starts with the right goal.
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In good health – innovative applications for machine-learning tools
The application of machine-learning techniques is far-reaching. One industrial engineer takes asset performance improvement services off the beaten path.
