Teamwork Key In Equipment Upkeep

It also is essential that they demonstrate the real cost benefits of the maintenance program, so that management understands that equipment reliability is key to the organization's success.

Equipment is generally manufactured with a high degree of quality control, designed by certified engineers, and produced using well-suited materials that afford a maximum extended trouble-free service life.

This is not to imply that equipment should be operated without any periodic observation as well as adjustment or service offered by knowledgeable and experienced operators.

All equipment manufacturers recognize that there are recommended frequent intervals of operational condition verification and routine preventive maintenance actions. These actions are required to maintain peak performance and to ensure warranty provisions.

Operators are closest to the equipment and are often highly skilled and well trained in the proper care of equipment. But one of the greatest challenges is for an operator to effectively communicate to supervisors and managers what they take for granted that equipment requires continual periodic preventive maintenance and observation to ensure the most reliable service life.

Equipment operators should be encouraged to look at the required observation and maintenance from a non-operator's perspective. They should ask themselves: How is what I'm spending benefiting the organization? If we don't do this, what is the worst that could happen? How often should that be done and why? Is this really required, or is it just something we've always done? How about we do nothing and see what happens?

Some action steps to follow when installing equipment include:

Acquiring, cataloging and filing manufacturers' operation and maintenance manuals for each piece of equipment and becoming familiar with the equipment's normal operational characteristics.

Daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semiannual and annual check lists should be kept for trouble-shooting and preventive maintenance.

A log sheet and/or check list should be prepared if one does not exist. Time and frequency requirements for items on the check list should be established.

A pre-emergency plan for equipment failure contingencies should be created.

o All steps taken should be reviewed and updated annually.

Those responsible for equipment should communicate on a regular basis both verbally and in written reports to supervisors and management personnel the successful results of their preventive maintenance efforts. They should point out any upcoming challenges that will have to be addressed in the very near future and practice responding to the types of questions listed above.

A priority should be to list the most critical equipment and its supporting machinery. This allows your organization to focus on what can stop production, what can cause power to fail, and which boilers or pressure vessels may trigger a disastrous property loss or potential injuries should their controls break down.

By establishing this priority list, an equipment operator can demonstrate concerns that are in line with those of management to keep the business in operation, have a backup or standby for an emergency, and have a pre-emergency plan that allows for minimum downtime and disruption.

A priority list of equipment must be periodically reviewed to ensure that newly added machinery has not been overlooked or that critical supporting machinery has not been forgotten.

An effective equipment operator will look beyond his or her immediate responsibilities and offer service in other areas of the facility to ensure that machinery failures do not shut down the operation.

In addition, there may be other divisions or sister operations that can share equipment and personnel in the event of an emergency.

It is always better to be proactive. Equipment operators should establish good engineering practices for monitoring equipment operation, providing routine preventive maintenance, and responding to emergencies.

They should continually prepare or update job descriptions and accountabilities that include job duties and responsibilities for equipment. Operators need to communicate on a daily, weekly and monthly basis with their supervisor and management personnel the results of their accountabilities and include one or two specific examples of where equipment breakdown was avoided and how much money was saved as a result of timely actions being taken.

Equipment operators should be encouraged to participate in the planning process for major equipment repair or replacement. They might offer alternative solutions to major purchase decisions that could potentially save substantial investment dollars that may be spent elsewhere.

Operators play a pivotal role in ensuring that equipment does not break down, or at the very least, when it does, there is minimal impact on the overall operation of a facility. In order to meet this goal, an operator must take charge of the equipment for which he or she has responsibility. With encouragement and cooperation from management, equipment operators can demonstrate how effective they can be in saving the business time and money by proper operation and maintenance of machinery.

James F. Wainwright has 30 years of experience as an inspector for The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, August 19, 2004. Copyright 2004 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.