Are you ready?

Let's take a look into the future. Not too far out - maybe five years or so. What do you think your plant will be like? Here are some of my predictions.The plant engineer will be more important than ever as reliable and predictable capacity become priorities. Predictive maintenance will replace preventive maintenance as the standard of maintenance operations and organization.

Employment paradox

In late April, the National Association of Manufacturers released the results of an important study, Keeping America Competitive: How a Talent Shortage Threatens U.S. Manufacturing . If you have been watching this column over the past few years, you know that this is a topic we've touched on a number of times.

Embedded understanding

Do you ever feel like General Brooks at one of those Iraq war CENTCOM briefings? You know, you're trying to explain a complex project and the people in your audience keep asking those same, dumb, unrelated questions? Are they stupid, or ignorant, or just not listening, or what? Or are they trying to use your platform to advance their own agendas? If it hasn't happened to you, I know you've seen...

Picky, picky

My wife says I'm a picky eater. She's probably right. I'll grant you I have limited tastes in food. But mainly I just like to eat what I like and not experiment much with food — especially when I'm paying for it in an expensive restaurant. Some people like to experiment, especially when they eat out.

Microwaves and crock pots

To borrow a phrase from the pastor of my church, "I seem to be a crock-pot guy in a microwave world." Everything these days, it seems, has to be faster and faster. I can't agree with speed just for the sake of speed. Nor do I feel guilty about that. I'd just as soon things slowed down a bit, and I think we might all be a little better off if they did.

Being there

Jack Welch, the former CEO of GE, called it a "digital cockpit." Others frequently refer to it as a "dashboard." No matter. The concept is the same: a group of numbers or graphs that allow you to constantly check the pulse of your plant or department quickly — and in real time, if possible. Ideally, such a tool includes alarms that alert you when something goes wrong or when measures move...

Maintenance excellence

Much is being made of maintenance excellence these days. There are seminars on maintenance excellence, awards for maintenance excellence, institutes for maintenance excellence, roundtables for maintenance excellence. All of these are good. But what the heck is "maintenance excellence," anyway? Lowest cost? Lowest downtime? Highest uptime? Zero breakdowns? Highest overall equipment effectivene...

Tactical or strategic

Whether plant engineering and maintenance are considered tactical or strategic in your plant or company can make a world of difference in how you fit into the big picture. Tactical goals and decisions are based on carrying out strategic goals and decisions. Thus, your participation at the strategic level determines much of what you can do at the tactical level.

On the horizon

Evidence is growing that the role of the plant engineering function is headed up. Asset management, reliability, availability, and maintenance are being more and more recognized as essential to the success of the business plan. And from the plant level to the board level, the value of well-managed plant assets is taking on new meaning.

Returns on investment

Everywhere the complaint is the same: "I don't have time." Time to think, time to learn, time to relax, time to enjoy, time to read. We may not be able help you much with the rest of them, but we can help with the last — time to read. And with this issue, we're doing just that. Our redesign may not make national news like the Wall Street Journal, but it's every bit as important to you, ou...