In last month's column, I pointed out that the United States is the most competitive nation in the world, as well as the most productive one, with the highest innovative potential in the world. However, I also pointed out that we are a nation at risk: other nations are gaining while the U.S. is slipping.

Some of the characteristics that made us a strongly competitive and productive nation are in serious need of repair. Moreover, what is going largely unnoticed is that the maintenance skills shortage— which, very recently, was just a forecast of a perfect storm—has come down on us with a vengeance. Are you ready?

Numerous conference speeches, articles, columns in the past several years have outlined the nature of the maintenance skills shortages, including this author's remarks. The national media, governmental agencies, politicians and educational systems have largely ignored what is happening—and, in many business and industrial sectors, it's getting worse by the month. We must take action now and well into the future. Let's begin by defining a perfect storm:

October 30, 1991: An enormous extra-tropical low created havoc along the entire Eastern Atlantic Seaboard at 0700 EST. Labeled the "perfect storm" by the National Weather Service, it sank the swordfishing boat Andrea Gail, whose story became the basis for a best-selling novel by Sebastian Junger, The Perfect Storm, (later made into a major motion picture). A little-known and bizarre ending came to this monster when the storm became sub-tropical 30 hours later, just before the inner core developed into a tropical storm and later an unnamed hurricane—that came to be known as the Halloween Storm. [1]

In other words, a perfect storm is a storm…within a storm…within a storm…within a storm!

Today, we have conditions in place—and intensifying—that are beginning to damage capital intensive businesses, our infrastructure (power, utilities, pipelines) and construction projects. Some elements of this "perfect storm" are:

• An ever-growing maintenance skills shortage in all industrial sectors;
• A serious lack of vocational-technical and career education programs in schools;
• An over-emphasis by educators and parents on a "college degree;"
• High school dropout rates averaging 30%;
• Schools struggling to find and keep well-qualified teachers;
• Misinterpretation of productivity improvement as manufacturing job loss by major media and politicians;
• Manufacturing operations moving back to the U.S. from China and Mexico.

But, why should these "stormy" shortcomings hurt us? We are the most competitive nation in the world! We have the largest economy in the world in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) at over 13.2 trillion dollars—that's more than Japan, China, Germany and the U.K. combined! What could the future of our economy possibly have in common with the fate of the Andrea Gail? Here are some of the things that have begun appearing on our radar screens:

State incentives for new jobs!
Many states and local governments spend hundreds of millions of dollars recruiting new businesses with incentives such as free land, training, highways, railways, utilities, tax abatements, etc. Google and Dell recently landed in North Carolina. Kia Motors settled in Georgia. Not too long ago, Toyota found two plant sites in Texas and Mississippi and Hyundai was wooed into Alabama. This is just a smattering; the list goes on, and on and on. What impresses me is the size of the incentive packages it is taking to create jobs.

Kia received a $258.25 million incentive package from Georgia to build its plant there. That amounts to between $89,000 and $99,000 per job created. But, that's mere chicken feed. Volkswagen just announced a deal to build a 2000-employee assembly plant in Tennessee—a state that put together an incentive package worth over $500 million. This deal may reflect the most government assistance and largest tax breaks ever offered for an American automobile plant, amounting to $250,000 per job created.

When looking into the recent incentive recruited manufacturers, I also discovered that the financial incentives are only a small part of why companies choose to settle in any particular area. Most have cited that "the availability of a skilled workforce and the availability of workforce training" as the top factor. Think about that for a moment. Regardless of free large tracts of land, tax reductions and proximity to railroads and highways, what good is a great plant location without the availability of a trained workforce?

1. Alabama*
2. Georgia*
3. Texas*
4. North Carolina*
5. South Carolina*
6. Colorado
7. Tennessee*
8. Kentucky*
9. Arizona
10. Florida

Of these top 10 states, eight (*) have received significant news coverage in recent years for having offered enormous incentive packages to major companies that locate new plants within their boundaries. Workforce training seems to be a significant part of these incentives. As an example, within the hefty package Georgia crafted for Kia, the state will spend nearly $34.7 million on workforce training for 2800 employees. That equates to $12,393 per employee for training. Just last month, Tennessee's whopping VW incentive package included nearly $40 million for training 2000 workers. Do the math—that's $20,000 worth of training per employee! Very impressive, to say the least!

Public education report card!
The Institute for a Competitive Workforce, a non-profit affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, published its "Education Report Card" in February 2007. This research addressed nine educational categories. The two that I found most interesting were 1- Academic Achievement (overall), and 6 - Post-Secondary and Workforce Readiness. When we look at the Report Cards of the states with the "Best Workforce Training Programs" (as shown in the ending Sidebar on the following page), we note some puzzling results.

How can it be that these states with pretty marginal-to-abysmal grades for "post secondary and workforce readiness" (except for North Carolina!) are the most attractive to large relocating businesses? Are you ready for this conclusion?

States attracting big headline-generating employers compensate for their respective public education systems through workforce training programs teaching the very skills students should have learned in school (that used to be taught in school). Furthermore, they provide this at no cost to the new employers! Yup! It's our tax dollars at work—producing results only AFTER our initial education-focused tax dollars have missed the mark.

This picture is wrong!
Ok. Let's recap. We have a shortage of skilled workers in the industrial maintenance field and our schools no longer teach these skills—the types of skills that are essential for advanced manufacturing. Companies are beginning to move operations back from China and Mexico because of, among other things, quality problems, increasing wages, energy costs, trouble getting raw materials and transportation delays and costs—not to mention international skilled trades shortages.

The U.S. manufacturing sector is the most competitive in the world, yet we are losing manufacturing jobs. But, EVERY manufacturing nation has lost manufacturing jobs because of productivity gains over the recent years. States spend huge sums of money (tax dollars) luring new businesses offering new jobs while at the same time doing nothing to keep existing employers and THEIR employees competitive and productive—no incentives, no tax breaks, no tax credits and no workforce training. Are you ready for more?

Those "top 10 states with the best workforce training programs" generated nearly 30% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2007! The total GDP from these "top ten" totaled $3.8 trillion in 2007—that's more than Germany's ($2.9 trillion) and a bit less than Japan's ($4.9 trillion). Very, VERY impressive!

Storm alert!
Wake up, America! A perfect storm hasn't just been brewing—it's been intensifying at a dizzying pace. The skills shortages reported in the industrialized regions of the U.S. are real and dire. The Houston (TX) Business Roundtable projects a 20,000-worker shortage for next year's maintenance turnarounds along the heavily industrialized Ship Channel. Economically, this should not be a problem: Texas has the second largest GDP in America, comparable to all of Canada—the 10th largest in the world. We also have some of the largest untapped petroleum reserves right here in the northeast, upper Midwest and offshore. Doesn't matter, though.

Despite financial boom times in our oil and gas industry, even this jewel in our industrial crown is having a difficult time finding skilled machinists, mechanics, rig hands and engineers. Qualified workers in this shrinking pool are going for the highest bid in the U.S. and Canada. What's next?

Workforce training works!
There is no doubt that workforce training works! It attracts new employers. It generates high-quality jobs. It supports our communities. Consider this: for every job created in the new automotive industry plants cited here, a minimum of four well-paying supplier jobs are being created in the community and the region. Not too shabby.

So, why don't our educators, politicians and governmental agencies realize how competitive and how productive our states and communities could be if they began "workforce training" in our schools? Why don't they have "vocational, technical and career education" curricula that address the needs of business and industry? Why do they assume that a child is being "left behind" if he/she is not on a collegebound track? Why do they miss the point that a one- and two-year post secondary tech school is also "college?" Why do they fail to recognize the fact that half of us learn by doing things as part of our education, rather than by academic studies? Why spend tax dollars twice for the same results: educating our population for life, for jobs, for a career?

Just as importantly, why spend money recruiting new businesses and little or no money making our current businesses competitive with "training for continuous improvement" incentives?

In 1983 the U.S. Department of Education published a letter pointing out that "we are a nation at risk" because of the shortcomings of our educational system. We also heard about the "forgotten half " of high school students who were not being offered the kind of vocational-technical career education learning experiences from which they truly could benefit. The "Global Competitiveness Report" referenced in the July installment of this column points to the weaknesses in our educational and governmental systems.

Let's take this message to our business leaders, politicians, bureaucrats and educators. Let's get our education and training programs aligned with the needs of the United States, our businesses and our industries. It all begins with you, our readers, in your plants and in your communities. MT

References:

1. National Climatic Data Center

Dear Maintenance & Reliability Professional:

This issue marks publication of our third annual “Industry Outlook” section, our largest ever. As in years past, we asked a select group of industry thought leaders to give us some insight into what’s on their minds and on the radar screens of the organizations they head. Sixteen company executives were invited to participate this year; 14 took us up on it—a 50% increase over last year.

Participants were free to discuss any topic they deemed important. Given this magazine’s emphasis on capacity assurance solutions, however, and the fact that businesses everywhere are struggling to cope—even survive— amidst a worldwide energy crisis, we had hoped the respondents would focus their attention on matters of sustainability and successful approaches to cost-saving effi ciencies. They did.

As heads of major manufacturing and/or supplier operations serving your industry, the contributors presented here are quite in tune with you as an end-user. Their organizations are just as sensitive to rapidly increasing operational costs—primarily due to soaring energy costs—as your company is. Thus, when it comes to energy effi ciency and cost-saving strategies and tactics, they’re not just talking the talk, they’re really walking the walk.

We thank all participating executives for putting their time and energies into our “Industry Outlook 2008”section. It’s not easy to carve out space in a busy schedule for this type of project. To a magazine editor, the perspective refl ected in these pages is invaluable—just as it should be for you, the reader. The time you take to digest and consider this “big picture” thinking and associated suggestions for dealing with your own capacity concerns will be time well spent.

Jane Alexander, Editor
jalexander@atpnetwork.com

Today's process manufacturing managers need continuous improvement for sustainable business success. They consistently identify safety of employees, protection of the environment and operations excellence as top priorities. Delivering on these priorities is challenging as facilities face supply-chain pressure, labor shortages and rising costs. Fortunately, innovation and collaboration provide technology and services to deliver continuous improvement. Both have made great strides in 2008—we'll see more of the same in 2009.

Innovation will continue to integrate the enterprise. Integration makes business and process applications easier to use and more robust, giving workers more power and increasing their oversight of operations and the environment. Plant automation architectures will continue to unify, seamlessly joining wired and wireless applications to increase improvement potential. Valuable information will stream from field networks based on the open interoperable WirelessHART standard and from plant networks using industrial Wi-fistandards.

Enterprise software architecture will improve as new Web-based service-oriented architecture (SOA) development makes enterprise-to-factory floor communications easier. For example, performance monitoring in plant field networks feeds plant and corporate optimization software; level monitoring in tank farms feeds inventory applications to enable communications with customers; or diagnostics from critical field devices is delivered to computerized maintenance systems.

Integration is an important boost to productivity in view of today's shortage of skilled workers. Application of new integration technology and wireless tools will dramatically improve productivity by providing instant access to better information.

Wireless sensing in field networks will increase exponentially. Since 2006, wireless technology has been expanding the reach of wired digital systems. Early adaptors of wireless solutions have been impressed by plug-and-play ease of use, cost and time savings and reliable, secure operations— even amid canyons of steel in plants. Some early applications were sparked as cost-effective solutions to new regulatory requirements, and others by engineers creating applications that could not be justified with a wired approach, but now can be. Benefits include improved safety, via centralizing monitoring to eliminate the need for operator rounds, and improved environment, via monitoring that was previously physically impossible or cost prohibitive.

Adding to availability of wireless products, the new WirelessHART standard was approved in September 2007, enabling all global suppliers to offer open, interoperable sensors so users can select from a broad range of monitoring and control applications.

Many factors are aligning to drive the growth of wireless sensor usage in 2009: increasing regulatory requirements; approved WirelessHART standard; expanded range of wireless functions; tighter integration with plant applications; and increased end-user confidence. The compelling benefits of wireless have us predicting that 20% of new points will be wireless in five years.

Collaboration across enterprises and with suppliers will shape the wireless age. The emergence from a wired world to a wired-and-wireless world will continue to capture the attention of management which sees the enormous potential for transitioning to an infrastructure dramatically more unified for continuous improvement. There is increasing collaboration in the new era. Corporate technology groups, as well as IT and process automation personnel, are forming into cross-functional teams to investigate and speed new technology for operations, always working to improve safety, the environment and production. Experienced, knowledgeable suppliers are key partners, bringing new technology and services. These user and supplier teams are important to help shape the technology and optimize business practices of the future. MT

This article is part of Maintenance Technology’s 2008 Industry Outlook, the annual executive roundtable. Columns from each of the 14 thought leaders who participated can be found at the following link: http://www.mt-online.com/article/0808-industry-outlook

Maintenance Technology is sent free to qualified subscribers each month. Visit www.subscribeMT.com to fill out an online application for your free one-year subscription today. By doing so, you will join more than 50,000 technical and business professionals who already receive Maintenance Technology magazine, your source for capacity assurance solutions.

The Timken Company has been in the business of helping customers cut cost for more than 109 years. The simple fact is that the knowledge we bring to the table and put into the development of our products results in improved operating efficiency for our customers' equipment and plants—and this means lower costs.

In the past few years, we have transformed and reshaped our company strategy to ensure that our processes, products and opportunities are in line with market demands, while remaining true to our historic focus on customer performance.

The strong demand in global industrial markets has fueled many of Timken's recent investments in new products and services, such as bearing repair and predictive maintenance technology—both designed to ensure customers are increasing efficiency and reducing operational costs. Specifically, as the development of new industrial nations has continued to place greater demands on heavy equipment manufacturers and energy producers, we have increased our investment in bearing repair services to help relieve these customers of the extra costs caused by global capacity constraints.

In the past, when a bearing was damaged, it often was removed from service and replaced before it reached its full, useful and economical life. Timken's advancements in bearing design, materials, bearing maintenance and repair methods have greatly improved the potential for and popularity of bearing repair as an effective way to extend the life of the bearing. A repaired bearing, depending on the required level of service, often can be returned to like-new specifications in about one-third of the time and at a savings of up to 60% off the cost of a new bearing. The growing popularity of repair programs in heavy industries shows an increased industry understanding of the significant value of this approach—both in time and cost—compared to replacing bearings.

Taking a proactive approach to cost savings is essential across every industry. Bearings are at the heart of almost every piece of industrial equipment. Thus, Timken understands the benefits that customers stand to gain when they take a proactive approach to bearing maintenance. When they are properly maintained, bearings can extend equipment operating life and boost equipment performance. Without proper maintenance, customers can expect breakdowns and loss of production. To help customers reduce costs associated with equipment downtime and failure, Timken has developed advanced predictive maintenance technology. Our predictive maintenance service programs help save money by increasing machine availability and productivity, reducing downtime, and reducing scrap caused by failing equipment and systems. Timken's goal with such programs is to increase customer awareness of the importance of friction management in equipment maintenance and the value it brings to the bottom line.

As industrial demand continues to grow, The Timken Company will evolve and transform to suit the needs of the markets, industries and customers it serves. Our company has excelled at remaining profitable while helping customers reduce cost with programs such as bearing repair and predictive maintenance services. We believe we still can bring even more value to our customers—and we remain focused on achieving that goal. MT

This article is part of Maintenance Technology’s 2008 Industry Outlook, the annual executive roundtable. Columns from each of the 14 thought leaders who participated can be found at the following link: http://www.mt-online.com/article/0808-industry-outlook

Maintenance Technology is sent free to qualified subscribers each month. Visit www.subscribeMT.com to fill out an online application for your free one-year subscription today. By doing so, you will join more than 50,000 technical and business professionals who already receive Maintenance Technology magazine, your source for capacity assurance solutions.

For more than 20 years, Royal Purple has been a proponent of applying lubrication technology as a way to quickly and inexpensively attain significant improvements in plant rotating equipment reliability. Our corporate mission fits perfectly with the editor's request to share with readers how we are addressing industries' accelerating trend toward "greening," dealing with soaring energy costs within the scope of this magazine's core emphasis on capacity assurance solutions.

Over these two decades, our message often has fallen on the deaf ears of companies that have felt no need to replace less-expensive lubricants that met the equipment manufacturer's requirements. To these companies, premium lubricants were an added cost—one that could only be justified as a possible solution for problem equipment.

Today, industry no longer can afford to take such a short-sighted view. World economics are forcing companies to become leaner, more efficient and more productive with their assets. What once might have been "adequate" must now be replaced by what is "optimum" in attaining these objectives. Maximizing productivity requires that the assets remain productively on line, and for many companies this means their rotating equipment.

Another factor that no longer can be ignored is that "cost of energy" is by far the single greatest cost of owning and operating equipment. The prices for all forms of energy have skyrocketed. Now, it is becoming obvious to increasing numbers of companies that the quality of lubricant they select can significantly influence how reliably—and how efficiently—their equipment will operate.

Royal Purple is especially well-positioned to provide solutions to these issues. It has been a pioneer in developing lubricant solutions to maximize the reliability and efficiency of large populations of equipment. We refer to this as offering a "Lowest Total Cost of Ownership" approach to lubricant procurement. One big upside to this approach is that it is a very "green" move as well.

Upgrading to premium lubricants produces savings through a mix of increased equipment reliability (more production and less maintenance cost), energy savings and longer oil drains (reduced purchase and disposal cost). Some companies, though, have reported that their most significant savings are coming from greatly increased production speeds attained with the same equipment.

Energy savings are the easiest of the savings to document because they are a day-to-day operating cost. Our data shows that a 3% reduction in energy use is readily attainable. One of the most recent and best documented examples of this is from a large steel mill that converted five large compressors totaling 28,500 hp. It is important to note that all temperatures were recorded along with both digital and analog air flow readings to accurately determine comparative power factors. Their calculated savings were 6,074,385 kw/yr valued at $547,000/yr. In fact, the total cost of the lubricant was recovered within 100 days.

Maintenance savings will vary greatly from plant to plant—and must be tracked over time. But, a 30% reduction in the need for maintenance from upgrading lubricant quality is not uncommon. Reducing maintenance also reduces accidents. Extending oil drains can also reduce oil usage to as little as one-fifth of previous volumes. Lubricant upgrades aren't just effective, they truly are low-hanging fruit. It is not often that so many benefits can be attained by a simple change in purchasing practices. MT

This article is part of Maintenance Technology’s 2008 Industry Outlook, the annual executive roundtable. Columns from each of the 14 thought leaders who participated can be found at the following link: http://www.mt-online.com/article/0808-industry-outlook

Maintenance Technology is sent free to qualified subscribers each month. Visit www.subscribeMT.com to fill out an online application for your free one-year subscription today. By doing so, you will join more than 50,000 technical and business professionals who already receive Maintenance Technology magazine, your source for capacity assurance solutions.

For virtually any industrial organization, regardless of product, these are undeniably difficult times. Challenges associated with escalating energy costs, equipment reliability issues and an ongoing demand for improved productivity and profitability abound. But, for those organizations guided by a clear strategic vision and a can-do attitude, every challenge presents opportunity for new thinking and fresh solutions.

Within our company, our defined vision is "to equip the world with SKF knowledge" by listening to customers, evaluating their challenges, applying our multi-industry experience and applications expertise and introducing technologies and services that will offer measurable and positive impact. Our dialogue with customers has underscored the fact that energy consumption ranks high among their concerns. As a knowledge engineering company, one of our missions is to respond with resources and solutions that will ease the burden. We have.

In fact, based on our extensive knowledge about bearings, seals, lubrication, mechatronics and reliability solutions, a new client needs analysis tool has been developed to help customers identify and implement energy- and cost-saving measures plant-wide. Targeting high-energy areas at an operation, it is designed to pave the way for energy savings. The assessment expands to examine chemical treatments, lubricant use and lubrication systems, as well as other operating processes that potentially can be improved— which, in turn, can reduce environmental impact at a facility and accrue even more savings. Once applied, the client needs analysis can make a big difference, as illustrated by the following success stories that came about as a result of three of these analyses.

In the first success story, a spot-welding application at an automotive plant, the traditional pneumatic-steered actuation equipment (which consumed considerable energy) was replaced with a compact electromechanical actuator. This technology shift resulted in energy savings of more than 90% (using 13.5 million kWh less energy annually).

In the second success story, the onsite generation capacity at an oil refinery was running in a reduced state due to operational problems that prevented the achieving of full capacity. The customer was forced to purchase 12 MW of power from an outside supplier to cover the shortfall. By employing a combination of advanced vibration analysis and machine diagnostics, SKF specialists were able to increase the generation capacity by those missing megawatts, without changing the refinery's existing equipment.

In the third success story, a large paper mill had experienced more than 100 hours of unplanned downtime in one year. Not surprisingly, this level of downtime hampered production and raised uncertainty about the reliability of mill deliveries. A team of SKF reliability engineers, lubrication specialists and maintenance technicians conducted a detailed mill-wide assessment and identified opportunities to optimize asset efficiency, reduce the unplanned downtime and maintenance costs and increase overall productivity. An integrated maintenance program was introduced encompassing the supply and inventory management of bearings, seals and lubricants and the supply and installation of multiple condition monitoring systems. Unscheduled downtime virtually disappeared.

The overriding lesson here is that in today's industrial environment customers anticipate— and deserve—suppliers who can successfully add value by transferring knowledge from one application or industry to another. They seek true partners who are able to bring more to the table based on experience from many perspectives. They expect that implemented solutions will translate to measurable benefits. Ultimately, they recognize that in knowledge, there is power. MT

This article is part of Maintenance Technology’s 2008 Industry Outlook, the annual executive roundtable. Columns from each of the 14 thought leaders who participated can be found at the following link: http://www.mt-online.com/article/0808-industry-outlook

Maintenance Technology is sent free to qualified subscribers each month. Visit www.subscribeMT.com to fill out an online application for your free one-year subscription today. By doing so, you will join more than 50,000 technical and business professionals who already receive Maintenance Technology magazine, your source for capacity assurance solutions.

Sharp increases in demand and price for crude oil have resulted in higher costs of materials, energy and other maintenance, repair and operations supplies. Amidst these challenges lie opportunities, even in bear economies—tough times often force companies to think more critically about products and solutions.

A recent Kline & Company study of competitor ranking revealed that Shell retained its position as the global lubricants leader. We believe our global No. 1 position is based first and foremost on our full portfolio of top-quality products. Success, though, cannot rest solely on the shoulders of great products. This is especially true for lubricants.

The value of a lubricants company goes far beyond its products. Good lubricant suppliers work with their customers to perform a complete assessment of a plant's applications, processes and procedures in an effort to highlight areas where improvements can ultimately result in reduction of the overall cost of operation. At Shell, we combine our products with the capability to deliver first-class lubricants solutions to customers. As critical as R&D is for the creation of the lubricants, so, too, is the preparedness of our staff to be able to provide the best solutions to customers.

When choosing a lubricant, companies first must understand what demands and specific qualities are required for the application. With roughly 26,000 applications for lubricants in the United States, it is understandable why some companies face challenges when identifying the most efficient and cost-effective products for their applications. Most industrial customers operate under the misconception that lubes are commodity products. Consequently, when faced with hard times, companies often explore cheaper alternatives. Lubrication, however, is an area where companies should seek to optimize their investment instead of turning to lowerquality alternatives.

The qualities and performance characteristics of lubricants can vary greatly—even among those that all meet a minimum performance specification. The least expensive lubricant for a particular application does not necessarily mean it is the most cost-efficient lubricant. Equipment failures, replacement costs and the labor that is required to replace failed components may be secondary to the costs encountered by resulting production loss.

Only by evaluating the entire life cycle will customers recognize the value of using highquality lubricants such as synthetics. Benefits of using synthetic lubricants—which include temperature reduction, energy efficiency (in selected applications) and extended service life—can have a big impact on a plant's production output and total operating cost.

Though the upfront cost initially can be higher, investment in quality lubricants can help manage maintenance costs.

At Shell, we strongly believe that the role of a lubricants company is not to simply provide product, but to arm customers with the information to make informed decisions. By helping customers understand the total cost of ownership rather than pure lubricant cost, we empower organizations to choose the most cost-efficient solutions for their businesses. MT

This article is part of Maintenance Technology’s 2008 Industry Outlook, the annual executive roundtable. Columns from each of the 14 thought leaders who participated can be found at the following link: http://www.mt-online.com/article/0808-industry-outlook

Maintenance Technology is sent free to qualified subscribers each month. Visit www.subscribeMT.com to fill out an online application for your free one-year subscription today. By doing so, you will join more than 50,000 technical and business professionals who already receive Maintenance Technology magazine, your source for capacity assurance solutions.

Tremendous process capacity is coming online in the next five years in the oil, gas and petrochemical segments. Capital spending on these facilities has been ramping up from $100 billion a year in 2003 to well over $200 billion per year in 2008.

Owners are expanding existing facilities and building new capacity at record levels to meet growing demands in the increasingly competitive global market. This must be done with finite material and labor resources and tight capital expenditure (CAPEX) budgets. Expansions and new construction also must be done quickly to meet exacting schedules that are established to minimize time-to-market and maximize time-inmarket ROI. After startup, owners are constantly challenged to achieve safe, sustainable production at the lowest possible operating costs (OPEX)— despite higher-than-ever product demand and competitive pressures.

One challenge that has historically plagued the process industry is the conflict in incentive systems and procedures between the CAPEX and OPEX segments of the business. There has been no major innovation in CAPEX strategies to reduce subsequent OPEX since standardization on automated digital control systems (DCS) and general acceptance to specify integrated heat recovery systems.

In general, CAPEX personnel are still strongly incented to achieve safe, on-budget and on-time startup with relatively little post-startup interest. However, the good news is that there have been some evolutionary improvements in CAPEX strategy and new technologies to enhance operations and maintenance efficiency.

More and more owner operators (O/Os) are involving operations and maintenance personnel earlier in the capital process than a decade ago. With 3D modeling a standard requirement on large projects and advanced enterprise engineering software available as a repository for plant data from its inception, many O/Os take the opportunity to conduct more thorough operability and maintainability reviews with their operations and maintenance teams and the CAPEX/engineer's staff. This allows maintenance and operations staff to catch more critical issues sooner in the process, leading to time and money savings over the life of the plant.

Many O/Os are becoming more involved in the planning for project information handover. In the past, handover was the delivery of a pickup truck full of paper drawings. Now, O/Os are increasingly dictating very specific electronic handover steps—to use as project milestones and to ensure more richly populated maintenance systems. New enterprise engineering data management solutions coupled with portal technologies and service-oriented architecture (SOA) further enable better access to technical information post-startup without the burden of actually using the underlying authoring application. This means that O/Os can be more aggressive about their plans for managing their engineering design basis and simultaneously realizing better solutions for operations and maintenance.

Another significant evolutionary trend is that reliability-centered maintenance is starting to be considered in the capital project phase. While this is by no means standardized, more capital projects than ever before are demanding more maintenance and reliability plans as part of the project.

In conclusion, though the capital phase still is run largely on objectives of ensuring a safe, on-budget, on-time startup at stated capacity, there are increasing considerations made for long-term capacity assurance and OPEX after the project startup crews are gone. By factoring in OPEX during plant conceptualization and managing enterprise engineering design basis, O/Os can realize improved and sustained savings over the full life cycle of their plant investment. MT

This article is part of Maintenance Technology’s 2008 Industry Outlook, the annual executive roundtable. Columns from each of the 14 thought leaders who participated can be found at the following link: http://www.mt-online.com/article/0808-industry-outlook

Maintenance Technology is sent free to qualified subscribers each month. Visit www.subscribeMT.com to fill out an online application for your free one-year subscription today. By doing so, you will join more than 50,000 technical and business professionals who already receive Maintenance Technology magazine, your source for capacity assurance solutions.

In the midst of all the talk about being green and environmental impacts of industrial operations, one fact seems to get lost—reducing energy consumption saves you money. That fact translates to a lot of other benefits, including competitive advantage, reduced MRO over time, increased ability to plan maintenance expenditures and, thus, forecast budgets, etc.

With rare exception, EVERY industrial facility can reduce its energy consumption. Why, then, don't more do it? When energy costs were low, it wasn't a priority. Now it's making a lot more sense. But, where do you start? Fluke emphasizes two approaches.

This magazine has long sung the praises of proactive maintenance—using readily available tools to identify and abate equipment degradation. While there are startup costs to this strategy over the run-to-fail method, the savings accrue relatively quickly, typically within 18 months.

So, how much can you save by adopting proactive maintenance practices? Consider that reactive maintenance due to labor, equipment replacement and downtime costs three to five times as much as proactive maintenance. Then, add 20% more savings from reduced energy use. That's because poorly-maintained equipment requires more energy to function. Think about worn bearings or misaligned shafts or highresistance connections.

When moving to proactive maintenance, keep it simple at the outset. Combine your knowledge of key equipment with manufacturer-recommended maintenance cycles to create a maintenance schedule, and then inspect-as-you-go. Newly-affordable tools like thermal imagers make it possible for maintenance staff to quickly survey plant equipment on a regular basis and identify many types of equipment degradation early on.

Conducting an energy audit also can help you prioritize equipment for your maintenance schedule. Start with an energy study and then target the biggest energy culprits in manufacturing facilities—inefficient equipment and the HVAC system.

An energy consumption study requires a power logger that can monitor voltage and current simultaneously and measure power factor. If the power factor at your facility is too low, it means you are not managing your power effectively, and the utility will charge a higher rate. Once you log energy consumption over time, for each part of the plant you'll see what system aspects are consuming energy when. You then can rebalance loads, schedule for off-peak hours or upgrade equipment.

When evaluating your equipment, consider these points. Have you installed newer-model variable frequency drives where possible? Have your circuits and systems been thermally scanned? If not, you may not be aware of overloaded or imbalanced circuits, loose connections, overheating motors, malfunctioning steam traps and a host of other conditions that could signal inefficient use of energy.

The overhead cost of the HVAC system is an afterthought to most facilities. But, when is the HVAC system cycling on? Has the equipment been updated? Chillers often use up to 30% more energy than required as a result of system inefficiencies. Neglected boilers and AC units also become less efficient over time.

The fact that proactive maintenance is "green" may be nice, but beyond the "color" are the economics. They just make sense. MT

This article is part of Maintenance Technology’s 2008 Industry Outlook, the annual executive roundtable. Columns from each of the 14 thought leaders who participated can be found at the following link: http://www.mt-online.com/article/0808-industry-outlook

Maintenance Technology is sent free to qualified subscribers each month. Visit www.subscribeMT.com to fill out an online application for your free one-year subscription today. By doing so, you will join more than 50,000 technical and business professionals who already receive Maintenance Technology magazine, your source for capacity assurance solutions.

The exploding commodities market—led by oil—is surely a leading candidate for the crisis of the year. As a country, we will weather this storm. While it won't be easy, conservation of resources from existing sources and investment in the expansion of others will see us through.

Conservation can come in many forms, with the most obvious being a cutback on use, be it opening the windows and turning off the air conditioner, working from home one day a week or parking the SUV in favor of a more efficient vehicle. A less obvious and longer-term form of conservation takes root in process improvement.

Our business, data acquisition for measurement and control, allows people to measure their processes and improve them. One example of this is Internet-based machine vibration monitoring, allowing remote predictive, rather than on-site preventive, maintenance. By bringing the data to the expert, unnecessary travel to the source of the data can be avoided. Travel only occurs when the expert is needed. In addition, moving from preventive maintenance (fixing it if it needs it or not) to predictive maintenance (fixing it just-in-time) reduces or eliminates unnecessary downtime and repair.

Crises like rapidly rising oil prices have frontpage status because of their immediate impact on our everyday life. Unfortunately, the true longterm crisis we face doesn't always show up on the front page—nor does it elicit the same emotional or political response. That potentially more signifi- cant catastrophe is the United States becoming irrelevant on the world stage by losing our leadership in innovation and technology.

How do we avert such a disaster? What strategies should we employ to forestall what could become the end of the American age? The answer is more technical, engineering and scientific education.

This is not about spending more money on education, but rather about many of us sharing the passion that drove us to become engineers and scientists. We need to help more of our children to find the same excitement and joy in science and engineering that many of us have. The minds of our future are important and should not be wasted.

What is greater, the probability of a child becoming a sports superstar or scientist? I can only wonder which career occupies more childhood dreams?

Programs like FIRST Lego League can plant dreams of becoming an engineer in our children, much like the Apollo missions did for countless of today's adults decades ago. Through robotics, FIRST introduces youngsters to mechanical, electrical and structural engineering. Our company supports these types of initiatives enthusiastically—other companies need to make a similar effort to introduce the young to the excitement of technology.

Conservation certainly can help in husbanding our resources, and many argue for the expanded use of our natural resources, from biofuels to wind, as a solution to our insatiable appetite for energy. As we clamor for the augmentation of oil, though, we should demand and readily participate in the development of future engineers and scientists. After all, our nation's future intellect is our most abundant and precious resource. The true solution to our short-term problem lies in solving this long-term challenge, for who else will innovate us out of our dilemma?

Get involved today. Support programs like FIRST. Encourage learning. Share your passion. MT

This article is part of Maintenance Technology’s 2008 Industry Outlook, the annual executive roundtable. Columns from each of the 14 thought leaders who participated can be found at the following link: http://www.mt-online.com/article/0808-industry-outlook

Maintenance Technology is sent free to qualified subscribers each month. Visit www.subscribeMT.com to fill out an online application for your free one-year subscription today. By doing so, you will join more than 50,000 technical and business professionals who already receive Maintenance Technology magazine, your source for capacity assurance solutions.

Our mission at ITT Fluid Technology is to provide safe water and sanitation for everyone—globally. That’s both our goal and our passion. At ITT, we take great pride in our role as a thought leader in the water industry.

For more than 30 years, we have been instrumental in setting the standard for innovation, performance and reliability around the world. We bring extraordinary focus to the job of running our business, yet we never let ourselves lose sight of the larger perspective. Our products and services directly touch millions of customers and end-users—but our actions reach millions more people all over the world. From nanofi ltration membrane technology to low-cost, easy-to-use portable water treatment systems, ITT products play a central role in preserving the earth’s most precious resource and increasing access to safe water supplies.

It’s no secret that the world is facing unprecedented water challenges brought on by population growth, urbanization and shrinking fresh water supplies. Experts agree that it will take several trillion dollars of investments in water infrastructure over the next two decades to address this urgent issue. As the global leader in water equipment, we are well-positioned to serve this market with pumps, valves and treatment technologies.

While water scarcity truly is a global issue, its immediate impact is in developing countries. As part of our emerging market strategy, ITT is investing in new world-class manufacturing and service facilities, unifying and expanding our sales force and launching research and development centers in India and China.

We are committed to providing our customers in more than 130 countries with innovative technologies that meet their needs. This includes the supplying of next-generation products such as predictive monitoring controls, wear-resistant pumps and energy-effi cient disinfection systems that reduce operating and maintenance costs.

As a responsible citizen, we want to grow our company while also contributing to the greater good. In short, we want the world to be a better place because we are a part of it.

Corporate citizenship extends into many areas: environmental stewardship, workplace safety, product responsibility, “green” technologies, processes and facilities and philanthropy. At ITT, we are focused on doing a better job in all of these areas and we are committed to being a company that lives up to our responsibilities as a thought leader—and as a good global neighbor.

Our efforts have not gone unnoticed. ITT has been ranked in the top 10 on CRO magazine’s “100 Best Corporate Citizens” list. This annual ranking evaluated more than 1100 large U.S. public companies and highlighted ITT for embracing high standards combined with strong fi nancial performance and responsible practices on environmental and social issues.

In conclusion, there’s no question that there are challenges ahead for our world’s water. There are some who believe that increased need, stressed supplies, pollution and geopolitics are clouding the future. At ITT we have a different outlook. We believe that our use—and reuse—of this precious resource will help defi ne the future of humanity. We are excited to be a part of the solution to this challenge. MT

This article is part of Maintenance Technology’s 2008 Industry Outlook, the annual executive roundtable. Columns from each of the 14 thought leaders who participated can be found at the following link: http://www.mt-online.com/article/0808-industry-outlook

Maintenance Technology is sent free to qualified subscribers each month. Visit www.subscribeMT.com to fill out an online application for your free one-year subscription today. By doing so, you will join more than 50,000 technical and business professionals who already receive Maintenance Technology magazine, your source for capacity assurance solutions.

As I write this article in early July, I've just been notified that one of our principal electricity providers will be increasing its price by 25%. If you haven't looked at your electricity bill lately and compared it to the price you were paying a year or two years ago, you will be shocked! Electricity prices have been rising and many experts forecast that these increases will continue.

Electricity costs sometimes are overlooked when developing productivity and cost reduction plans. Often the person who pays the electricity bill and understands its impact on the company's results is not the person who buys the products that consume electricity and create this cost. In many companies, Manufacturing Engineering purchases new equipment, the Maintenance Department purchases replacement components (such as motors) and the Finance Department pays the electricity bill. Understanding what makes up your electricity bill and addressing those components when a purchasing decision is made can help to control rising energy costs at your facility.

According to the United States Department of Energy, industrial electric motors make up about 60% of a typical manufacturing company's electricity bill—and up to about 90% of a mining company's electricity bill. Electric motors have different efficiency ratings, just like automobiles. Your company can buy a 10 horsepower motor rated 89.5% efficient or a NEMA Premium® efficient motor at 92.4%. The difference in price between the motors is about 30% and that premium usually will be earned back in two years or less, depending on your power cost.

Since motors are generally very reliable, often lasting 15 or 20 years, it's important to make the right decision up front when buying motordriven equipment or replacing a motor that has failed. Many manufacturing companies, such as ours, have thousands of motors in operation and spend millions of dollars on electricity to run them.

There are several things a company can do to control the cost of running electric motors. First, don't oversize the motor for the application. Most motors have their highest efficiency near their rated load point. Over-sizing motors sometimes causes them to operate less efficiently and more expensively.

Select a NEMA Premium high efficiency motor when a motor fails. Often, motors that fail are 20 years old or older. Motors manufactured 20 years ago were not as efficient as those made today. When putting motors on variable torque applications, such as fans and pumps, consider using an inverter to tune the motor to the required output of the fan or pump the motor is running. In some cases, this can save as much as 40% on energy consumption.

Remember that single phase motors are not as efficient as 3-phase motors. Always check to see if the single-phase motor can be replaced by a 3-phase motor.

Lastly, when purchasing new equipment, only specify high-efficiency motors. They may cost a little more on the front end, but payback is quick and the energy savings will last the lifetime of the motor.

In industry today, we face many challenges including the high cost of energy and foreign competition. Your electricity bill is part of your cost and it is a cost that can be controlled in part by using high-efficiency motors and drives. MT

This article is part of Maintenance Technology’s 2008 Industry Outlook, the annual executive roundtable. Columns from each of the 14 thought leaders who participated can be found at the following link: http://www.mt-online.com/article/0808-industry-outlook

Maintenance Technology is sent free to qualified subscribers each month. Visit www.subscribeMT.com to fill out an online application for your free one-year subscription today. By doing so, you will join more than 50,000 technical and business professionals who already receive Maintenance Technology magazine, your source for capacity assurance solutions.

The lead items coming out of almost all mainstream news outlets these days seem to focus on the price of gasoline hovering in the $4.00-per-gallon range. It’s not as though the regular drivers among us need to be reminded of that depressing fact of life. The news media, though, is not the only group putting a harsh spotlight on the issue. Skyrocketing energy costs, regardless of the fuel, have become an embarrassing political football in this election year.

Forget the press and the politicians. How to mitigate a global energy crisis is a matter of deep trepidation to everyone. While we see plenty of hope on the horizon, we know it won’t come fast.

Upstream production of hydrocarbons and downstream refi nery upgrades are attempting (and doing a pretty good job) to keep up with worldwide demand. Both old and new sources of “black gold,” including Canada’s tar sands and shale oil deposits in the Western U.S., are undergoing extensive development.

Our old friends coal and natural gas also are being explored and leveraged to the hilt. Nuclear energy, once shunned, is again being considered for major expansion. Biofuels are still in the mix, with wind power and solar initiatives fi lling in the larger picture.

Unfortunately, to fully harness the many fossil and renewable energy sources we have and/or will have is expected to take many years. That’s why conservation of our available energy resources is so crucial now. Being successful at this will require a general overhaul of the way industry thinks.

For example, while the initial cost of a pump or motor is just a minor part—3% to 4%—of the total lifetime cost of the equipment’s ownership, the energy required to run these units is major. Recognizing their customer’s needs, manufacturers have made great strides in providing energy-effi cient products. Today, pumps are being designed to operate in their best effi ciency range for reasons of both hydraulic balance and improved power consumption. Motors are now capable of operating at electrical effi ciencies in the high 90% range. Still, it’s up to the end-user to specify energy-effi cient products and capture the benefi ts they offer.

Our company also is doing its part to conserve energy and promote the reliability of rotating equipment, within our own operations and those of our customers. The benefi ts of energy conservation are immediate and can be accomplished by systematically eliminating energy-consumptive components and substituting non-energy consumptive devices.

Consider these statistics. Every noncontacting bearing isolator that supplants a contact bearing protection seal, be it a lip seal or face seal, not only will protect the bearing environment, it will conserve an average of 147 watts of power. Furthermore, the effective life of a contact seal is relatively short and it has a 100% failure rate, which is not the case with non-contact bearing isolators. This year, we project that we will move 700,000 non-contact bearing isolators through the marketplace. The power these devices will help to conserve is equal to what 70 wind turbine generators would produce.

We, like many other energy-conscious manufacturers, are ready, able and committed to increasing our production when the need presents itself. To our way of thinking, all of us—suppliers and end-users alike—have an opportunity to help solve the energy crisis. It begins right now. MT

This article is part of Maintenance Technology’s 2008 Industry Outlook, the annual executive roundtable. Columns from each of the 14 thought leaders who participated can be found at the following link: http://www.mt-online.com/article/0808-industry-outlook

Maintenance Technology is sent free to qualified subscribers each month. Visit www.subscribeMT.com to fill out an online application for your free one-year subscription today. By doing so, you will join more than 50,000 technical and business professionals who already receive Maintenance Technology magazine, your source for capacity assurance solutions.

Tim Owens, CMRP, President and CEO, PdMA Corporation

So where does industry turn to offset rising costs? Many of our past solutions simply may not work anymore. Odds are that suppliers are already providing raw materials at razor-thin margins. Most companies maintain a lean payroll, and employees are only capable of providing so much "discretionary effort" before they begin to balk.

Fortunately, there is a ray of hope. Many industries are finding significant savings through a rigorous analysis of their electrical and mechanical systems. These savings come in two main areas:

1. Reliability—or how much downtime a machine experiences due to breakdowns; and
2. Efficiency—or how much output a motor produces for a given input of energy.

Think about it. While companies can't necessarily control the cost of their inputs, they can increase plant reliability and availability without increasing maintenance costs. This is accomplished by implementing sound maintenance and reliability strategies, including a strong maintenance planning and scheduling program, applying predictive maintenance technologies and performing PM optimization.

Within your own company, in situations where old, failure-prone equipment must be replaced, consider involving engineering and maintenance personnel in the planning early on, preferably in the design phase. Additionally, look at life-cycle versus installed costs. The upfront cost usually will be higher, but in the long-run, lower life-cycle costs can save businesses a tremendous amount of money and headaches.

Similarly, upgrading low-efficiency electric motors with premium or high-efficiency motors will quickly pay for itself in reduced energy consumption. For instance, a 30-year-old electric motor is likely to be less energy-efficient than a new one due to advances in engineering and design. Still, efficiency is not just about replacing old, wasteful motors—it's also about properly matching a motor to its application.

While an undersized motor will strain to do its job, run hotter, consume excess energy and fail prematurely, an oversized motor will likewise run inefficiently and waste energy. (Think of the old adage about using a hammer to swat flies!) For example, replacing an older, oversized 500 hp motor that operates at just 56% capacity with a newer, more efficient 300 hp model working at 93% capacity can save as much as $10,400 a year in energy costs. If the cost to buy and swap out the motor is $14,000, the total capital investment can be recouped in just 1.3 years.

Businesses today are looking for any edge to remain competitive. If they can't increase revenues in a sluggish marketplace, they can raise their profit margins by cutting costs. By implementing proper maintenance and reliability strategies, as well as performing energy-efficiency assessments, companies are finding the competitive edge they need to compete in a world of higher prices—and they're doing it on an increasingly successful global scale. MT

This article is part of Maintenance Technology’s 2008 Industry Outlook, the annual executive roundtable. Columns from each of the 14 thought leaders who participated can be found at the following link: http://www.mt-online.com/article/0808-industry-outlook

Maintenance Technology is sent free to qualified subscribers each month. Visit www.subscribeMT.com to fill out an online application for your free one-year subscription today. By doing so, you will join more than 50,000 technical and business professionals who already receive Maintenance Technology magazine, your source for capacity assurance solutions.

Regardless of the fluctuating price for a barrel of crude oil, the issues pertaining to energy in terms of availability, resource options, environmental impact and costs are here to stay. There doesn't appear to be one or two comprehensive solutions on the horizon that can address all issues. We're dependent on foreign oil and proposed local drilling has environmentalists up in arms. Alternative energy sources are being explored, but it doesn't appear we can move quickly enough on them. It's becoming apparent we'll need as many energy options as possible. And while we work to figure it all out, energy costs are eroding company margins and families are feeling the pinch in everyday purchases.

As a country with once seemingly endless resources, perhaps one of the greatest lessons we can learn from this is how to better manage what we already have—as in the old saying, "waste not, want not." When it's not possible to manage certain external costs, it makes sense to focus on managing in-house costs and waste is one of them. Waste in terms of energy consumption due to poorly maintained facilities and manufacturing equipment is one example. But, you typically can't fix and manage what you can't see. That's where infrared comes in.

Over the past few years, we've seen infrared cameras play a greater role in maintenance programs. We see our customers continually finding new applications for their cameras. From energy audits to surveys of mechanical and electrical equipment to automating manufacturing lines, infrared is helping find problems that— if not addressed—lead to waste and margins lost.

Heating and cooling large buildings and production facilities can be challenging and costly. Many companies now see energy management as an important aspect of managing their bottom line. Energy audits have become big business for professional thermographers and a top priority for maintenance departments. Infrared is being used to find missing insulation, problems with HVAC systems and water damage to roofs and building envelopes. Retail chains are using infrared to control parking lot lights during off-peak times to reduce energy costs. The list of applications is long, and fixing these types of problems can generate significant annual savings. Whether it's identifying missing insulation or faulty electrical equipment, infrared truly has become an enabling technology in uncovering energy-related problems that impact the bottom line.

For those in the energy-producing industry— oil, gas and petrochemical—waste or byproduct can mean lost revenue. It also can mean problems with equipment and a potential shutdown. Leak detection is an enormous issue for these companies. In a plant with potentially thousands of connections to be checked on a regular basis, finding leaks can be time-consuming, inefficient, potentially dangerous and costly. Costs also are of concern as these companies invest more heavily in predictive and preventative maintenance to meet regulatory requirements. Infrared cameras have made it easier and more efficient to help this industry improve leak detection as part of their maintenance programs, and detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and fugitive emissions deemed harmful to the environment.

With energy as our most precious of commodities— and its impact on all that we buy and do—it makes sense not to waste it. Infrared is an enabling technology helping us see both what we've been wasting and the opportunities we have to reduce consumption. MT

This article is part of Maintenance Technology’s 2008 Industry Outlook, the annual executive roundtable. Columns from each of the 14 thought leaders who participated can be found at the following link: http://www.mt-online.com/article/0808-industry-outlook

Maintenance Technology is sent free to qualified subscribers each month. Visit www.subscribeMT.com to fill out an online application for your free one-year subscription today. By doing so, you will join more than 50,000 technical and business professionals who already receive Maintenance Technology magazine, your source for capacity assurance solutions.

With the increased focus on cost reduction, companies are rethinking their game plans. Most organizations at a site level have turned to efficiency improvement initiatives—such as LEAN and its tools—to drive waste and cost from their processes, and rightfully so. While this course of action seems logical to the overall business, the impact on the Maintenance Organization, if not considered as an integral part of the plan, can undo years of progress reverting Maintenance teams back to a largely reactive state. In some extreme cases, companies' interpretations of these initiatives have resulted in the dismantling of the Maintenance teams, decentralizing the Maintenance Organization with the crafts reporting directly to the production teams.

Reactivity is more than reactive calls. It is the overall "reactiveness" of the Maintenance Organization in response to being out of step with the site's overall improvement plan. Likewise, sustainability is more than just surviving changing demands. It's about optimizing your process to the plan that is part of the overall strategy of the organization. In most cases Maintenance is an afterthought.

The focus on quality has Maintenance subscribing to the philosophy of "treat the site as a customer." While this is commendable, Maintenance subordinates itself to the site, therefore perpetuating reactivity. In addition, we don't see that the site is actually the "supplier" since it contributes to the backlog.

With cost-cutting at the foreground, Maintenance (a cost) is left with fewer "perceived" resources, while the workload (market demand) has remained steady and in some cases, increased based on the demand for higher levels of reliability. While most Maintenance teams focus on "failureavoidance" activities such as RCM and FMEA, they should not lose sight of the constraint in their process. If your market demand exceeds capacity (evidence in a backlog), you have an internal constraint limiting the ability of the system.

This problem can be solved by applying the very disciplines you find in production models to a Maintenance system. Gaining control begins with defining Maintenance throughput as "applied labor hours," since total hours paid represents your raw materials. Of 40 hours paid, how many are converted into throughput? Studies across the industry show the average to be between 25% and 30%—which indicates a tremendous hidden pool of resources. The key to taking control is accomplished in two steps:

1. Open flow (find hidden capacity)
   • Forecasted backlog
   • Existing backlog
2. With new-found capacity, perform the "right" work
   • Drive down the "unknown backlog"

The required resources to optimize Maintenance can be found buried in the work we perform. Recent studies show by optimizing the PM program (forecasted backlog) and removing controllable, foreseeable delays (existing backlog) that flow is opened, yielding twice the volume of work through each available labor hour without working any faster. This new-found capacity can fuel process improvements—and, accordingly, drive an increased effectiveness shown in reliability with the optimum use of our resources. Attaining the organization's goals is dependent on this outcome.

Proactively including Maintenance in the site's business plan requires an understanding of the Maintenance process. This is difficult to accomplish as the focus on minimizing interruptions begins to mutate Maintenance into an "event" rather than the process it is. MT

This article is part of Maintenance Technology’s 2008 Industry Outlook, the annual executive roundtable. Columns from each of the 14 thought leaders who participated can be found at the following link: http://www.mt-online.com/article/0808-industry-outlook

Maintenance Technology is sent free to qualified subscribers each month. Visit www.subscribeMT.com to fill out an online application for your free one-year subscription today. By doing so, you will join more than 50,000 technical and business professionals who already receive Maintenance Technology magazine, your source for capacity assurance solutions.