My previous article received a lot of positive feedback. I am glad to see that as an industry we are concerned with our future based on our knowledge of the past!
One reader responded by saying: “In my opinion, the [production] companies that win will be the companies that can fully integrate economic, condition assessment, maintenance and planning into their corporate structure. Those companies will have to stop looking for scapegoats, and will have to start looking at how they can fully utilize their resources.”
Another reader responded with: “Where do you find operators who actually give a damn about a machine’s condition or who really wish to know? Our operators do 12 hour shifts for three days then have two or three days off. With this type of shift work, there is little continuity… I think we have to completely rethink how processes are monitored, controlled, and maintained.”
Both of these comments point to a common theme of how do we better utilize the information we have about a machine’s condition, and integrate this information with the process [and culture].
