Machinery Lubrication

Machinery Lubrication May - June 2018

Machinery Lubrication magazine published by Noria Corporation

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42 | May - June 2018 | www . machinerylubrication.com GET TO KNOW Name: Douglas Smith Age: 47 Job Title: Maintenance Systems Manager/Reliability Engineer Company: Pinnacle Foods Location: Fort Madison, Iowa Length of Service: 15 years Pinnacle's Smith Continues Quest for Better Lubrication Douglas Smith joined Pinnacle Foods in 2003 as a production/sanitation technician. He later entered the maintenance trainee program and worked to become a maintenance mechanic. Lubrication had always been a part of his job, but Smith truly learned about industrial lubrica- tion as a maintenance mechanic. He was fortunate to be mentored by knowledgeable mechanics on lubrication practices. At the time, Pinnacle was a very traditional maintenance organization. If a little grease was needed, a little more was better. Galvanized steel funnels and containers were used for everything. When Smith was promoted to his current position as maintenance systems manager/reliability engineer, he began a quest to better understand machinery lubrication. It was then that he also discovered his appetite for all things related to maintenance reliability. Q: What types of training and professional certifications have you obtained to reach your current position? A: What I know I have learned by listening to those with more knowledge than me and those with less. Everyone I meet has something to teach me, even if it is how not to do something. I am passionate about reliability, so I listen a lot to others. I read books and articles when- ever I can to increase my understanding. I also attend maintenance conferences and participate in webinars as much as possible. Maintenance conferences contain a wealth of knowledge and are a great way to get recharged and learn. Q: Are you planning to obtain additional training or achieve higher certifications? A: is year I have set a goal to train and achieve my Level I Machine Lubrication Tech- nician (MLT I) certification. I have set this goal because I am attempting to drive our mainte- nance organization to become more progressive in our lubrication practices. To do that, I need to assure myself and others in our plant that I have the knowledge and skills to guide us. Q: What's a normal work day like for you? A: My work day is very flexible and driven by the needs of the plant. My job responsibili- ties include management of the maintenance planners, storeroom, trainees, a small reli- ability-centered maintenance group and the machinery lubrication technician. In addition, I work with our maintenance manager to develop and drive our maintenance best practices along with building and growing our predictive main- tenance program. I am the local administrator of our computerized maintenance management system and use the information to help drive our key performance indicators and assist the main- tenance manager to make data-driven decisions. Q: What is the range of equipment you help service through lubrication/oil analysis tasks? A: Our facility has nearly 2,000 assets that we maintain, covering everything you would expect in a canned meat facility. We have small ½-horse- power (hp) motors and gearboxes all the way up to and over 150-hp electric motors driving large gearboxes. We have a wide variety of pumps, from product pumps to large well pumps that provide all the production and drinking water for the plant. We also have our own waste-treatment system and ammonia compressors to refrigerate parts of the building. We do a small amount of oil analysis on critical assets. It is something we are looking to expand in the future. Q: On what lubrication-related projects are you currently working? Be Featured in the Next 'Get to Know' Section Would you like to be featured in the next "Get to Know" section or know someone who should be profiled in an upcoming issue of Machinery Lubrication magazine? Nominate yourself or fellow lubri- cation professionals by emailing a photo and contact information to editor@noria.com.

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