Nothing says, "Autumn," like Florida. Huh?
Maybe that's a bit of a stretch, but this October, we'll all most certainly find ourselves in Orlando for the 20th annual SMRP conference. I'll be there. Stanton McGroarty will be there. David Crosby will be there.
Well, David claims to be a reliability coordinator from a U.S. energy company, but I see him there every year, and this time I'm going to get him to sing the harmony on "Teach Your Children" with Stanton, just to prove I'm right.
You'll see. You'll all see.
Whether you run into him or not, there are still plenty of workshops and seminars at the yearly gathering of the Society of Maintenance & Reliability Professionals (www.smrp.org). And this one has a few in particular that are worth noting.
First, Heinz Bloch (www.heinzbloch.com), one of the members of our very own Ask the Experts panel, is presenting a workshop on Oct. 15 from 8 A.M. until noon. The workshop is for the professional reliability engineer who’s interested in best practices for particular motors, pumps, and compressors. Best-of-class tips and procedures will be investigated, and Bloch has a list of questions he’ll attempt to answer.
What does a reliability engineer need to know, and how is that knowledge acquired?
Where does training come from, who pays for it, and does it end at the facility gate?
Where is the reliability engineer located on the organizational chart, and why do they need role statements, training plans, and weekly listings of work records?
In addition, Cindy Boyd, whose article on collaborating with IT appears in our September issue and on our website (http://www.plantservices.com/articles/2012/09-maintenance-IT-work-together.html) will present a seminar on how — you guessed it — collaboration with IT resulted in success at a petrochemical company. Her presentation, “Working Effectively With Your IT Department,” is part of the Business Management track, and begins at 9:45 A.M on Oct. 16.
I’d be remiss not to mention Remco Jonker’s presentation, as well. His article on value-driven maintenance (http://www.plantservices.com/articles/2012/09-financial-benefits-value-driven-maintenance.html), also in our September issue, is the basis for his explanation of how the application of value-driven maintenance resulted in sustainable uptime improvement and cost reduction. Jonker’s presentation, “Discover the Secret Value of Maintenance, also is part of the Business Management track, and it takes place at 3 P.M. on Oct. 16.
Look for me there. I’d like to talk with you about your maintenance issues and maybe even snap a picture of you with Plant Services and it online at Where in the World Is Plant Services? We’ll sing a few songs and put some new pins on the map (http://www.plantservices.com/where_in_the_world/map.html) in the middle of Florida.
