Top 5 Plant Engineering articles, March 30 to April 5: ac motor repair, Product of the Year winners, Internet of Things and people, more

Articles about ac motor repair, the 2014 Product of the Year winners, the Internet of Things and people who make things, reducing lead time, and measuring motor efficiency to understand VFD’s value were Plant Engineering’s five most-clicked articles from last week, March 30 to April 5. Were you out last week? Miss something? You can catch up here.

By Chris Vavra April 6, 2015

Plant Engineering Top 5 most read articles online, for Mar. 30-Apr. 5, covered ac motor repair, the 2014 Product of the Year winners, the Internet of Things and people who make things, reducing lead time, and measuring motor efficiency to understand VFD’s value. Link to each article below.

1. A systematic approach to ac motor repair

The only national standard for repair of motors and generators is ANSI/EASA AR100-2010: Recommended Practice for the Repair of Rotating Electrical Apparatus (AR100). 

2. 2014 Product of the Year winners announced

The 2014 Product of the Year Grand, Gold, Silver, and Bronze award winners are honored and included in the April 2015 print edition of Plant Engineering magazine.

3. What does the Internet of Things mean to people who make things?

Think: The connected machine. Industrie 4.0 and IoT in manufacturing are about connecting machines (to each other, to expert systems, and to management execution systems) to get more actionable information using intelligent devices at lower levels of the system architecture. 

4. How to eat a chocolate elephant: Step by step method to reduce lead time

To reduce lead time, the first step is to prioritize the operations which will yield the most results, then review transactional history to check actual performance. 

5. Measure motor efficiency to understand VFD’s value

Multi-phase ac induction motors have traditionally dominated the electric motor industry. The industry has improved overall motor efficiency in each subsequent NEMA-MG 1 motor standard revision. To make sense of motor efficiency, one must understand what efficiency losses are attributed to. 

The list was developed using CFE Media’s web analytics for stories viewed on plantengineering.com, March 30 to April 5, for articles published within the last two months.

– Chris Vavra, production editor, CFE Media, cvavra@cfemedia.com.


Author Bio: Chris Vavra is web content manager for CFE Media and Technology.