Plant Engineering: Manufacturing Perspectives at Automation Fair

This is from Bob Vavra of Plant Engineering. Read what he tells about manufacturing perspectives at automation fair.

1. The power of the plant floor:
The opening day of Rockwell Automation’s annual Automation Fair in Anaheim on Tuesday featured a day-long series of discussions on a global view of manufacturing issues. The morning session of the Manufacturing Perspectives series painted a strong picture of a manufacturing economy emerging from a deep recession and already showing signs of life with 2010 just around the corner.
It also pointed again to the power and visibility the plant floor is receiving from automation vendors, IT professionals and business leaders.

In his opening remarks Tuesday, Rockwell Automation CEO Keith Nosbusch pointed to the shift in manufacturing “from an IT-connected manufacturing system to an optimized plant floor and supply chain network. The plant floor is where power, control and information converge. The factory floor becomes the focal point.”

2. The globalization of manufacturing:
Nosbusch said that Rockwell’s goal was to have 60% of its business outside the U.S. by 2013. Already, he noted that more than half of Rockwell Automation’s employees are outside of the U.S.

While some of our more short-sighted commentators view this as “off-shoring” jobs, Jeremy Leonard of the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI noted in his remarks that there is good off-shoring and bad off-shoring. “Most of the off-shoring is the former,” Leonard said. While conceding that high-value, low-piece products such as computers and electronics are manufactured to take advantage of labor costs, he said the vast majority of expansion in emerging markets such as China, Indian and Brazil is to serve the local and regional markets. He added that transportation costs have driven many manufacturers away from simply off-shoring jobs and production because of the increasing costs of getting those products back into the supply chain.

3. Issues and opportunities:
Leonard cited four major reforms manufacturers need to improve their operations - and all of them were legislative in nature: reducing tax rates (which he said was “the single most important barrier to competitiveness”) heath care costs, tort reform and regulatory compliance. But he also said American manufacturing suffers from lower levels of research and development than most other industrialized nations and are drawing on a smaller skilled labor pool. His research finds that U.S. engineering degrees are down 20% in the last two decades and that 40% of current 9th graders will lack the skills needed in modern manufacturing.

4. The good news is:
“The manufacturing recession is over,” Leonard said. While growth will slow in the fourth quarter because the stimulus packages, especially Cash For Clunkers, will not be present in the fourth quarter, MAPI is still anticipating 2.4% growth for the year and predicts slow but steady growth over the next five years. Build into that is a slower but still steady drop in the unemployment rate. But he does not see a lot of new construction in the coming months in manufacturing. “Plants will be putting idle capacity back on line rather than building new capacity,” he said.

5. And the quote: Leonard takes a dim view of those who claim U.S. manufacturing is not a major player in either the national economy or the global market. “U.S. manufacturing is the engine for growth in a global economy,” he said. “Manufacturing is not becoming less important to this economy. What matters is the volume of things made. We’re simply producing more with fewer resources.”

Maintenance Management: Contract Maintenance or Not? (Part 2 of 2)

This is the continue of the series Maintenance Management: Contract Maintenance or Not? ; what kind of maintenance you should or should not contract out and the reasons why, as well as the characteristics of a good maintenance contract.

INCENTIVES AND GOALS. If you consider outsourcing maintenance, I advise you to set up a contract that includes an incentive for the contractor to continuously perform better.

SERVICE. If your contract is based on buying service alone, there is no real incentive for the contractor to perform better. The more hours they sell, the more money they make, and they can sell more hours if your maintenance needs are reactive. Only the fear of losing the contract will motivate the contractor to perform better.

RELIABILITY. If your contract is based on delivering results, you can create a win-win situation for yourself and the contractor. In most mills, results should be in the following order of priority after safety and environmental issues:

1. Reliability of equipment.
2. Cost of delivering reliability.

If there is an incentive for a contractor to deliver reliability, it naturally follows an incentive to prevent maintenance and to perform preventive maintenance, plan maintenance, schedule maintenance, and so forth. In summary, they need a disciplined process in place and a good system to support it.

In selecting a contractor, I suggest that you not only look at their rates, but that you spend the most time evaluating their maintenance philosophy (if they have one), what reliability and maintenance process they will implement, and how they will measure results. Go into detail on the basics of how they would decide whether to prevent—or not prevent—component failures, how planning will be done, how scheduling will be done, which key performance indicators will be used, continuous training of their people, and so forth. This is important, because you must remember that the only thing a contractor can do differently than you is that they can implement a more efficient work system. They can often do this quickly, or at least they can promise to do it quickly. Seldom will a contractor bring in a crew with superior skills to your own.

LONG-TERM CONTRACTS. A maintenance contract should be long term—no less than five years and preferably longer than that. There are many reasons for this. Two of them are included in what Dr. Deming called the seven deadly diseases common to U.S. management. They are “Lack of constancy of purpose” and “Mobility of top management.” My observation is that one phenomenon leads to the other. New managers are called in for fast and, unfortunately, often temporary results. They often change the organization, perhaps only because they want to bring in their buddies, make some cut backs, and then move on to another place before the long-term effects are noticed. The front line of the organization, where the actual actions of new directives have to take place, sees this as a constant change of direction. They start talking about the program of the month and, consequently, they do not change anything and the results of management efforts will be absent.

If this goes on for some time, no sustainable results will be achieved. In this situation, I think a long-term maintenance contract offers a possible solution. The contract has to be founded on the right principles and work processes, because, when these are not changed for a long period of time, your contractor can help eliminate the “lack-of-constancy-of-purpose phenomenon.” With good leadership, the work processes and your results should continuously improve. It could be done without a contractor, but not in a system where a new mill manager or maintenance manager means a new program.

HEALTHY COMPETITION. Almost without exception, maintenance departments have never had true competition. They have monopoly on most work in the mill. A contractor should be seen as a competitor to your own organization. As long as you are competitive, outsourcing of maintenance is not a valid alternative.

SKF Awarded Condition Based Maintenance Contract by Total

STOCKHOLM, Sweden—SKF has been awarded a new five year condition based maintenance contract by Total E&P UK. In working globally with Total, SKF will in this contract provide condition based maintenance services covering a wide range of rotating equipment on Total’s North Sea onshore and offshore assets.

The contract covers in-depth vibration data analysis, lubrication oil analysis and equipment process analysis as well as other specialist investigations for Total. -This type of contract portrays the value added solutions SKF is able to offer in providing proven condition based maintenance solutions. SKF has the knowledge and the human resources to execute such challenges globally, says Vartan Vartanian, President of Service Division in SKF.

-We see our partnership with SKF as an important step in supporting our strategy of improving equipment reliability enabling us to reduce unplanned equipment downtime and helping with Total’s commitment to meeting safety, health, environment and quality requirements, says Alan Messié, Operations Manager, Total E&P UK.

Unplanned equipment downtime can result in a significant loss of production per day on a typical oil platform, which makes condition based monitoring an important tool to secure equipment reliability.

Total E&P is one of the principal exploration and production subsidiaries of the Total Group, which is the fifth largest publicly traded oil and gas company in the world.

Source: reliabilityweb | STOCKHOLM, Sweden

Predictive Maintenance Technologies

To evaluate equipment condition, predictive maintenance utilizes nondestructive testing technologies such as infrared, acoustic (partial discharge and airborne ultrasonic), corona detection, vibration analysis, sound level measurements, oil analysis, and other specific online tests. New methods in this area is to utilize measurements on the actual equipment in combination with measurement of process performance, measured by other devices, to trigger maintenance conditions. This is primarily available in Collaborative Process Automation Systems (CPAS). Site measurements are often supported by wireless sensor networks to reduce the wiring cost.

Vibration analysis is most productive on high-speed rotating equipment and can be the most expensive component of a PdM program to get up and running. Vibration analysis, when properly done, allows the user to evaluate the condition of equipment and avoid failures. The latest generation of vibration analyzers comprises more capabilities and automated functions than its predecessors. Many units display the full vibration spectrum of three axes simultaneously, providing a snapshot of what is going on with a particular machine. But despite such capabilities, not even the most sophisticated equipment successfully predicts developing problems unless the operator understands and applies the basics of vibration analysis.

Acoustical analysis can be done on a sonic or ultrasonic level. New ultrasonic techniques for condition monitoring make it possible to “hear” friction and stress in rotating machinery, which can predict deterioration earlier than conventional techniques. Ultrasonic technology is sensitive to high-frequency sounds that are inaudible to the human ear and distinguishes them from lower-frequency sounds and mechanical vibration. Machine friction and stress waves produce distinctive sounds in the upper ultrasonic range. Changes in these friction and stress waves can suggest deteriorating conditions much earlier than technologies such as vibration or oil analysis. With proper ultrasonic measurement and analysis, it’s possible to differentiate normal wear from abnormal wear, physical damage, imbalance conditions, and lubrication problems based on a direct relationship between asset and operating conditions.

Sonic monitoring equipment is less expensive, but it also has fewer uses than ultrasonic technologies. Sonic technology is useful only on mechanical equipment, while ultrasonic equipment can detect electrical problems and is more flexible and reliable in detecting mechanical problems.

Oil analysis is a long-term program that, where relevant, can eventually be more predictive than any of the other technologies. It can take years for a plant's oil program to reach this level of sophistication and effectiveness. Infrared monitoring and analysis has the widest range of application (from high- to low-speed equipment), and it can be effective for spotting both mechanical and electrical failures; some consider it to currently be the most cost-effective technology. Analytical techniques performed on oil samples can be classified in two categories: used oil analysis and wear particle analysis. Used oil analysis determines the condition of the lubricant itself, determines the quality of the lubricant, and checks its suitability for continued use. Wear particle analysis determines the mechanical condition of machine components that are lubricated. Through wear particle analysis, you can identify the composition of the solid material present and evaluate particle type, size, concentration, distribution, and morphology.

Predictive Maintenance (PdM) Definition to the Next Level

Predictive maintenance (PdM) techniques help determine the condition of in-service equipment in order to predict when maintenance should be performed. This approach offers cost savings over routine or time-based preventive maintenance, because tasks are performed only when warranted.

PdM, or condition-based maintenance, attempts to evaluate the condition of equipment by performing periodic or continuous (online) equipment condition monitoring. The ultimate goal of PdM is to perform maintenance at a scheduled point in time when the maintenance activity is most cost-effective and before the equipment loses optimum performance. This is in contrast to time- and/or operation count-based maintenance, where a piece of equipment gets maintained whether it needs it or not. Time-based maintenance is labor intensive, ineffective in identifying problems that develop between scheduled inspections, and is not cost-effective.

The "predictive" component of predictive maintenance stems from the goal of predicting the future trend of the equipment's condition. This approach uses principles of statistical process control to determine at what point in the future maintenance activities will be appropriate.

Most PdM inspections are performed while equipment is in service, thereby minimizing disruption of normal system operations. Adoption of PdM can result in substantial cost savings and higher system reliability.

Reliability-centered maintenance, or RCM, emphasizes the use of predictive maintenance (PdM) techniques in addition to traditional preventive measures. When properly implemented, RCM provides companies with a tool for achieving lowest asset Net Present Costs (NPC) for a given level of performance and risk.

Maintenance Management: Contract Maintenance or Not? (Part 1 of 2)

This series article is from the Reliability and Maintenance Management Consultant Idhammar, who is also the president of IDCON, Raleigh, NC, a reliability and maintenance management consulting firm, specializing in education, training and implementation of improved operations, reliability, and maintenance management practices.

Think what he tells about whether we need a contract maintenance or not. This is what he think of contract, or outsourcing, of maintenance. In this article he elaborated on what kind of maintenance should or should not be contracted out and the reasons for choosing either option.

Variability in workload. The better you manage the workload of your own resources, the less need you will have for contract maintenance. In weekly and daily maintenance activities, your workload should not vary much if you have disciplined priorities and a good preventive maintenance system in place. Even areas such as maintenance workshops and scaffolding services should experience very few urgent requests, which justifies keeping only a minimum crew, if any at all, for such services in-house.

Large variations in workload will lead to poor utilization of resources and overstaffing. This often leads to discussions about contract maintenance. However, contracting maintenance resources will not change anything. The contractor must provide a better system for people to work in. Otherwise, they will not be more effective than your existing system. If this is the case, you must ask yourself why you cannot improve the system yourself when the contractor can.

The answer may be that you have tried many times without sustainable success. Your organization might be in gridlock because of politics, ingrained union practices, and so on. A situation like this can lead to an “act of desperation.” In other words, your organization has lost its power and ability to improve as fast as a contractor can (or at least promises to), so this becomes the reason why your maintenance is contracted out.

Temporary scheduled increase in workload.
During scheduled shutdowns and major outages, it is natural that you contract out work. It can be very cost-effective to not only contract the resources for executing the work, but to also have them plan and schedule major outages. However, periodic shutdowns—for example, every five to seven weeks—of a paper machine can, most probably, be managed better by your own shutdown planners.

Core business philosophy. Contract maintenance suppliers often argue, as a selling point, that maintenance is not a core business. Well, if you are a pulp and paper mill, or any other manufacturing plant, I would like to challenge that statement.

Why would maintenance not be a core business, while operations and manufacturing are considered core businesses? In fact, I believe that one of the best ways of approaching outsourcing is to have a manufacturing contract that is not limited to maintenance alone.

In looking at maintenance contracts alone, you should look upon “equipment reliability tasks” as a core business. You can always question if it makes good business sense to have your own carpenters, painters, people for scaffolding, masons, tinsmiths, and blacksmiths. Having the resources a phone call away and no invoice to explain will lead to more use of these resources than is needed. I sometimes wonder how many unnecessary paint jobs—and bookshelves, tables, and other carpentry work—have been done just because the resources were available and the requestor of the work did not need to pay the full cost of it.

Equipment reliability is the result of maintenance work, and it includes such essential elements as maintenance prevention, including lubrication, filtration, alignment, cleaning, and operating practices. It also includes preventive maintenance activities such as vibration analysis, basic inspections, and so forth. I believe all equipment reliability activities should be performed with in-house resources, unless you contract out all maintenance on an equipment reliability performance and cost basis.

Lack of skills. If your organization does not frequently use certain special skills, it is necessary to contract for these skills. Even if you train your own people in specialty skills, they cannot maintain them because they do not use them frequently enough.

The present and the future shortage of skilled craftspeople, especially in the U.S. pulp and paper industry, might be one of the best sales arguments for maintenance contract suppliers—if they have these resources to offer. Also, it is not unheard for unions to hold back their own members from receiving training. This fact has never made sense to me, since it should be in their interest to support training of members so that they are competitive with contractors.

Predictive Maintenance: A Short Introduction to Thermography

To gain the maximum benefits from your investment in infrared systems, use it on critical systems that generate capacity in the plant

Thermography is a predictive maintenance (PdM) technique for monitoring the condition of plant machinery, structures and systems — not just electrical equipment. It uses instrumentation to read infrared energy emissions (surface temperature) to determine operating conditions. By detecting thermal anomalies (areas hotter or colder than they should be), an experienced technician can locate and define a multitude of incipient problems within the plant. Infrared technology works on the principle that objects having a temperature above absolute zero emit energy or radiation.

Infrared radiation is one form of emitted energy. Infrared emissions are invisible without special instrumentation. The intensity of infrared radiation from an object is a function of its surface temperature. However, measuring temperature with infrared methods is complicated, because three sources of thermal energy can be detected from any object: energy emitted from the object itself; energy reflected from the object; and energy transmitted by the object. Only emitted energy is important in a PdM program. Reflected and transmitted energies distort raw infrared data. Therefore, they must be filtered out of acquired data before meaningful analysis can be performed.

Variations in surface condition, such as paint or other protective coatings, can affect the actual emissivity factor for plant equipment. They may change, sometimes radically, both the surface temperatures and heat distribution recorded by the infrared scanner. If the technician fails to compensate this, it will be difficult, if not impossible to accurately diagnose the incipient problems. In too many cases, they will be missed and serious damage or catastrophic failure will occur.

In addition to reflected and transmitted energy, the user of thermographic techniques must consider the atmosphere between the object and the measurement instrument. Water vapor and other gases absorb infrared radiation. Airborne dust, some lighting and other variables can distort infrared radiation measurements. Because the atmospheric environment is constantly changing, using thermographic techniques requires extreme care each time data is acquired.

Most infrared monitoring systems or instruments use filters to eliminate the negative effects of atmospheric attenuation. However, the user must recognize the specific factors that will affect infrared data accuracy and apply the correct filters or other signal conditioning methods.

Collecting optics and radiation detectors are basic elements of an industrial infrared instrument. Optical systems collect radiant energy and focuses it upon a detector, which converts it into an electrical signal. The instrument’s electronics amplifies the output signal and process it into a form that can be displayed. Three general types of instruments are used for PdM: infrared thermometers or spot radiometers, line scanners and imaging systems.

Infrared thermometers

Infrared thermometers or spot radiometers provide the actual surface temperature at a single, relatively small point on a machine or surface. Point-of-use infrared thermometers are commercially available and relatively inexpensive. Their typical cost is less than $1,000.

Within a PdM program, the point-of-use infrared thermometer can be used in conjunction with many microprocessor-based vibration instruments to monitor the temperature at critical points on plant machinery or equipment. This technique is typically used to monitor bearing cap temperatures, motor winding temperatures, spot checks of process piping temperatures and similar applications. It is limited in that the temperature represents a single point on the machine or structure. However, when used in conjunction with vibration data, point-of-use infrared data can be a valuable tool.

Line scanners

Line scanners provide a single dimensional scan or line of comparative radiation. While this type of instrument provides a somewhat larger field of view (the area of machine surface), its use in PdM applications is limited.

Infrared imaging

Unlike other infrared techniques, thermal or infrared imaging provides the means to scan the infrared emissions of complete machines, processes or equipment in a very short time. Most imaging systems function much like a video camera. The user can view the thermal emission profile of a wide area simply by looking through the instrument’s optics.

Infrared imaging systems cost between $8,000 for a black and white scanner without storage capability to more than $60,000 for a microprocessor-based, color-imaging system. However, the lower-price units, which only operate in a scanner mode, are not very useful for a long-term PdM program.

Training and applications

Training is critical with the use an imaging system. The variables that can destroy thermal data accuracy and repeatability must be compensated for each time data is acquired. In addition, infrared data interpretation requires extensive training and experience.

Inclusion of thermography into a PdM program will enable you to monitor the thermal efficiency of critical process systems that rely on heat transfer or retention; electrical equipment; and other parameters that will improve both the reliability and efficiency of plant systems. It can also be used to detect problems in a variety of plant systems and equipment, including electrical switchgear, gearboxes, electrical substations, transmissions, circuit breaker panels, motors, building envelopes, bearings, steam lines and process systems that rely on heat retention or transfer.

Safety considerations

Equipment used in infrared thermography inspection is usually energized. For this reason, attention must be given to safety. These safety rules should be followed when performing infrared inspections.

• Plant safety rules must be followed.
• Because proper use of infrared imaging systems requires the technician to use a viewfinder similar to a video camera to view the machinery to be scanned, he or she is blind to the surrounding environment. Therefore, in addition to the technician, a second safety person is required to ensure safe completion.
• Notify area personnel before scanning.
• A qualified electrician should be assigned to open and close electrical panels.
• When safe and possible, equipment to be scanned should be on line and under normal load with a clear line of sight.
• Equipment having interlocked covers without an interlock defect mechanism should be shut down when allowable. If safe, the control covers should be opened and equipment restarted.

When used correctly, thermography is a valuable predictive maintenance and reliability tool. However, benefits derived are directly proportional to how widely it’s used. If it’s limited to annual surveys of roofs or quarterly inspections of electrical systems, the resultant benefits will be limited. When used to monitor critical processes or production systems regularly where surface temperature or temperature distribution indicates reliability or operating conditions, thermography can yield substantial benefits. To gain the maximum benefits from your investment in infrared systems, use it on critical systems that generate capacity in the plant.

Source: R. Keith Mobley, Contributing Editor | Plantservices.com

Predictive Maintenance New Tools

Learn about condition monitoring beyond oil analysis, temperature and vibration in Sheila Kennedy's monthly Technology Toolbox column.

Getting the most out of installed assets will become more difficult as baby boomers retire. Their unique skillsets and hands-on experience will be hard to replace. One way to minimize this organizational strain is by monitoring the mechanical stress on your machines.

New ultrasonic techniques for condition monitoring make it possible to “hear” friction and stress in rotating machinery, which can predict deterioration earlier than conventional techniques. Condition monitoring, coupled with strategic data integration, help to automate critical processes that influence total plant health.

Ultrasonic condition monitoring: Ultrasonic technology is sensitive to high-frequency sounds that are inaudible to the human ear, and distinguishes them from lower-frequency sounds and mechanical vibration. Machine friction and stress waves produce distinctive sounds in the upper ultrasonic range.
Changes in these friction and stress waves can suggest deteriorating conditions much earlier than technologies such as vibration or oil analysis. With proper ultrasonic measurement and analysis, it’s possible to differentiate normal wear from abnormal wear, physical damage, imbalance conditions and lubrication problems based on a direct relationship between asset and operating conditions.

Among the machine process measurements that can be gauged are speed/rpm, head pressure, weight, and a valve’s position. Ultrasonic sensors that are integrated with condition monitoring software can produce alarms or e-mail notifications when thresholds are exceeded, and trigger maintenance activity.

“The time [remaining] before potential failure can be relatively short,” says Wil Chin, director of field systems for ARC Advisory Group. “With ultrasonics, you can pick up very minute problems manifested by changes in friction, giving maintenance and operations more time to deal with an issue before it shuts down a line or plant.”

Ultrasonic technology also can be used to establish optimal operating parameters, thereby extending asset life. For example, when stress levels are correlated with operating load, it’s possible to identify the rotational speed that generates the least amount of stress on an engine. In a centrifugal pump application, ultrasonic technology can identify cavitation and allow operators to adjust the pump speed and process parameters to reduce detrimental effects on the pump and surrounding equipment.

An additional benefit of ultrasonic technology is the ability to better manage just in time (JIT) inventory. One steel company saved almost $3 million in inventory using a solution from Swantech that provided significant advance warning of possible deterioration within their assets.

Stress wave analysis: “Friction is always present in any machine,” explains Ralph Genesi, president and CEO of Swantech. “Our ultrasonic Stress Wave Analysis (SWAN) technology quantifies this friction and then tracks it as it changes over time with variable loading conditions.”

For example, Swantech’s condition monitoring solution detects minor damage in its earliest stage, and helps to isolate the specific components and location of the components involved. The system calculates the extent of the damage and rate of progression so that maintenance can be scheduled accordingly.

“Swantech is the first to combine ultrasonic sensor technology into a condition monitoring software package,” Chin adds. “The data doesn’t have to be analyzed by a reliability engineer to determine the problem, because the software’s analysis engine recommends the potential cause.”

Integration with maintenance: Condition monitoring systems and smart sensors are becoming increasingly sophisticated, less expensive and more prevalent in the plant environment. User-friendly alternatives are replacing tools that once required specialized skills to operate. Data can now be gathered, analyzed and presented in an actionable format in real time. However, the diversity of condition monitoring methods and devices can impose its own burden.

“Automation suppliers are in the catbird seat, central to all plant information, but without touchpoints to the rest of the equipment or the solution itself,” says Chin. To overcome this issue, automation companies like Invensys and Rockwell Automation are developing or acquiring condition-monitoring technology. “The objective is to compile all data for the operator to view from a single interface – one screen for asset health and another for control.”

To expedite predictive maintenance tasks, condition monitoring suppliers are developing interfaces to enterprise asset management systems so that work orders, inventory requests and associated processes can be activated automatically.

Swantech’s condition monitoring technology is being incorporated into the Invensys Asset Performance Management (APM) solutions under the Invensys name. Integration with Invensys’ Avantis maintenance management software will be available. Swantech is also being integrated with the Indus Asset Suite.

Source: Sheila Kennedy | Plantservices.com