28
|
July - August 2016
|
www.machinerylubrication.com
By thOmaS l. l antz
Preventive maintenance methods
are often promoted but rarely
put into practice. This article will
attempt to encourage a paradigm shift in
maintenance thinking with prevention
driving most of the activities. The main
thrust will be on leadership and not
simply management.
Leadership vs. Management
The classic definition of management is to
do things right. The definition of leadership is
to do the right things. The difference may be
subtle but very important. How often have
you witnessed someone planning a repair job
to be completed within an allotted timeframe
when no one was asking why this repair
needed to be made so frequently?
A manager attempts to get work done on
time, while a leader attempts to minimize or
eliminate the required work. A manager
continually asks for more people, while a
leader tries to maximize the effectiveness of
his or her staff. A manager tackles problems
as they arrive, while a leader asks why
continual problems are tolerated.
Prevention Depends
on Leadership
Without proper leadership, problem
prevention is very difficult to achieve. The
following case studies illustrate a variety of
situations in which preventive techniques were
used effectively in a typical mill environment.
A Poorly Designed
Hydraulic System
In this mill, steel slabs issuing from a
caster started as a long, continuous hot
metal strand. A torch cutter sliced off
30-foot slabs from the front end as the
strand moved at a slow pace. The slabs
were lifted off the table rolls and stacked
for delivery to a storage yard by a carrier.
The tongs resembled two pairs of giant
10-foot scissors operated by hydraulic
MAINTENANCE & RELIABILIT Y
Problems
Prevent
Best Ways to
Equipment
