FLUKE CORPORATION ACQUIRES DH INSTRUMENTS
Fluke Corporation has announced the acquisition of DH Instruments, Inc. (DHI), a manufacturer of highperformance pressure and gas fl ow standards, including calibration process software. DHI also offers A2LA accredited pressure and gas fl ow calibration services, as well as metrology training courses at its facility in Phoenix, AZ. Under the agreement, DHI will become part of the Fluke Precision Measurement division, joining the Fluke calibration product and service teams.

APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE FOR NAME AWARD
Applications for the North American Maintenance Excellence (NAME) Award for 2007 are now available for download from the NAME Award Web site (www. nameaward.com), according to the Foundation for Industrial Maintenance Excellence (FIME), administrator of the award.

Each year, as part of its continuous improvement efforts, the award board of directors revises the application and updates information to keep it current with accepted best practices, reports Richard L. Dunn, FIME executive director.

The 2007 application includes a totally revised section on maintenance storerooms and materials management. This area of maintenance program management has traditionally been a hurdle for maintenance managers, according to Dunn. "Our 2007 revisions should help applicants better understand what constitutes excellence in this important area," he says.

Long regarded as the most prestigious recognition for industrial maintenance practitioners, the NAME Award program is also an important learning tool for any plant striving for maintenance excellence, Dunn advises. "The application requires a plant to conduct a thorough self audit of its maintenance programs and processes," Dunn says. "Just completing the application is an important learning experience. And it encourages the maintenance department to reach out to other departments in a cooperative effort. Maintenance people seldom have all the requested information themselves."

Another benefit to submitting an application is that each applicant receives feedback from the board of directors.

"Each application is reviewed question by question by the board of directors," Dunn explains. "The results of this review are then reported back to each applicant in the form of identified strengths and opportunities as well as important benchmark data. For the $1000 application fee, a maintenance operation can receive a report that would cost many times that amount from a consultant."

"The NAME Award program isn't just about winning an impressive trophy," Dunn says. "It's more about encouraging best practices in maintenance. We've had plants apply several times and never receive the award, but they used the application and our feedback to help them set their agendas for improvement. It was gratifying to us to see how their operations improved from one year to the next," Dunn says.

Applications for the award are due June 30 each year. The FIME board of directors reviews each one and determines which, if any, qualify as finalists. Each finalist is offered the opportunity for a site visit, which comprises a three- or four-day audit by three or four members of the board. The results of the site visit are reported back to the board of directors, who then determine which sites should be honored.

The number of awards presented depends solely on the qualifications of the applying plants-as many as three awards have been presented in a single year. Winners receive extensive feedback and benchmarking information and are invited to serve on the board of directors. The Foundation for Industrial Maintenance Excellence is a not-for-profit group of volunteers comprised of previous NAME Award winners and other knowledgeable maintenance practitioners. For more information, visit www.nameaward.com or e-mail dunncomm@comcast.net

SMRP LAUNCHES JOINT METRICS EFFORT WITH EUROPEANS
The Society for Maintenance & Reliability Professionals (SMRP) and the European Federation of National Maintenance Societies (EFNMS) have launched a joint effort to compare and document existing indicators for maintenance and reliability performance. This will help maintenance managers understand the indicators and their definitions.

SMRP has defined a number of Best Practice Metrics to measure maintenance performance. The process is ongoing, and metrics are publicly available at www. smrp.org. In 2000, EFNMS defined a set of indicators to measure maintenance performance (see www.efnms. org). These metrics are now incorporated in the European standard prEN 15341 "Maintenance Key Performance Indicators."

With increased globalization and companies acting globally, the need for a common understanding of the indicators to measure maintenance and availability performance is paramount. According to SMRP and EFNMS, they expect that their joint activity will play a part in a global standard for maintenance indicators. This is highlighted by the fact that COPIMAN (Technical Committee on Maintenance of the Pan American Federation of Engineering Societies) is joining the comparison effort.The result of this activity will be a document pointing out the similarities and differences in the indicators. The document is in progress, and the first step has been taken to identify the similarities between the EN standard and the SMRP metrics. For more information, log on to www.smrp.org

TIMKEN AND JOE GIBBS RACING EXTEND NASCAR AGREEMENT
The Timken Company has extended its agreement with Joe Gibbs Racing as an official technical partner of the NASCAR racing organization. Timken will provide product development and technical engineering across Joe Gibbs' multiple team operations, including the Nextel Cup Series where the "Car of Tomorrow" race car design debuts in March.

The Car of Tomorrow is a NASCAR initiative to improve driver safety, performance, competition and cost-management for the teams. Timken has worked collaboratively with the engineering team at Joe Gibbs Racing to develop and test technologies that improve the car's powertrain and driveline performance, delivering longer life, improved fuel economy and higher horsepower availability.

"With the Car of Tomorrow design, NASCAR has given us defined parameters within which we can work," says David Holden, research and development engineer at Joe Gibbs Racing. "That brings more parity to the sport, but it also poses tremendous design challenges for us in terms of loads, stiffness and weight. Fortunately, working with Timken engineers, we are able to accommodate some of those changing conditions and still field very competitive cars."

COOPER BUSSMANN SPONSORS NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK
Speaking of NASCAR series teams, Cooper Bussmann is the new primary sponsor for the #63 NASCAR Craftsman Truck operated by the MB Motorsports race team. This is the first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series sponsorship for the St. Louis-based corporation. Cooper Bussmann will run a limited number of races, including Dover, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Atlanta and Homestead- Miami.

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