A new industry report underscores the critical importance of optimising MRO (maintenance, repair, and operations) supply chains to enhance maintenance strategies and operational efficiency. PWE explores the key findings, focusing on the implications for maintenance professionals and offering strategies to optimise maintenance practices through improved MRO supply chain management.

Stephen Davis, Director of Marketing at PEMAC explores the main ways in which CMMS software supports regulatory compliance, including documentation, record-keeping, asset management, and preventative maintenance planning

Stephen Davis, Director of Marketing at PEMAC explores the main ways in which CMMS software supports regulatory compliance, including documentation, record-keeping, asset management, and preventative maintenance planning

Navin Kulkarni, Director of Product Management, Fluke Reliability takes a look at implementing standardised workflows for maximum efficiency.

Tom Cash* explains how the role of condition-based maintenance (CBM) helps maintenance engineers recognise gross defects before catastrophe strikes.

Lyle Oxton had worked at igus for 3 years when he was tasked with implementing a workflow system. PWE reports.

The ability to have a clear view of all assets and maintenance to drive effective management and control is still a huge challenge. PWE takes a look at how Wienerberger has achieved this with the support of the Agility CMMS solution from SSG Insight.

Pressure to meet environmentally friendly practices is at an all-time high. Especially now that we are seeing a dramatic increase in global temperatures and natural disasters. The United Nations have set out a Net-Zero target and with manufacturing companies accounting for 16% of the carbon emissions for the UK alone, there is a demand for sustainable operations. Prasanna Kulkarni, Product Architect and Libby Taylor, Research Editor of Comparesoft, explain why manufacturers leverage IIoT and asset management to drive sustainability.

At a time when national electrical grids are under extreme pressure, unexpected outages can prove to be a considerable challenge. When a power plant in Germany experienced the sudden failure of a boiler feed pump, output dropped by more than 40%, which affected both the local grid and company profits. Needing to resolve this situation urgently, Sulzer was called in to repair the asset and conduct an investigation to secure the reliability of the power station.

Donal Bourke, Sales Director, PEMAC explains how CMMS software can support preventive maintenance strategies within manufacturing organisations.

Many companies that have only just started to recover from the disruption caused by the pandemic are now facing new challenges in the form of supply chain disruptions and skyrocketing energy costs. Against this backdrop, improving efficiency and minimising risks to uptime is more crucial than ever, but what steps are asset managers taking to address these challenges?

A new report from IFS Ultimo outlines what steps asset managers are taking to mitigate the challenges associated with ageing assets, unplanned downtime, lack of communication and skills shortages.

Over 60% of managers see improving mobile working as key to enhancing efficiency, and nearly all expect it to become integral to their maintenance strategy in five years’ time.

Implementing a thorough obsolescence management policy and having a robust methodology for the purchase and stocking of genuine automation components are vital to success, yet many businesses have not put comprehensive plans in place, says Leroy Spence, Director at Obso Global

The occasion of the 2022 Drives and Controls exhibition, and its co-located shows (5 to 7 April), marked the first Talking Industry Live sessions. Here, the online panel discussions which were proven successfully online during the lockdown period, and which have now evolved into a regular monthly online event, morphed into a physical event for the first time. Andy Pye reports on the Maintenance session.

Talking Industry’s latest panel discussion looked at the future of Plant & Asset Management. Andy Pye highlights the discussion

Ultrasound technology has become one of the essential tools in predictive maintenance, condition monitoring and reliability, due to its quick learning curve, ease of use and flexibility. Leak detection has been one of the most common applications for ultrasound, but we now see the technology more and more being used together with sound analysis software to diagnose specific mechanical and electrical faults. Christopher Hallum, UE Systems’ Regional Manager UK & Ireland reports

ABB has launched it Ability Genix Asset Performance Management (APM) Suite for condition monitoring, predictive maintenance and 360- degree asset performance insights for the process, utility and transportation industries.

How data is stored, collected, managed, and analysed, dictates the success of asset management from company to company. From condition monitoring to informing a spares strategy and even predicting which assets are needed in the future, data, when used well, can provide indispensable information for organisations of any industrial sector. Thomas Boswell* examines how digital industrialisation is transforming MRO and underpinning proactive asset management strategies.

PWE takes a look at how Prinovis UK improved its Maintenance Management

A whole life cycle approach can help reduce the risk of sudden failures and provides a smooth pathway for managing replacements and upgrades. PWE reports.

Steve Richmond* explains some of the key advantages of using a cloud-based system versus an on-premise system to help you in finding an efficient and reliable EAM solution.

While Industry 4.0 and IIoT promise a bright future, for many manufacturers it remains just that. In the here and now of the real world though, most manufacturers are only just beginning their digitisation journey. David Lenehan* explains how a strategic approach to obsolescence can help bridge the gap between the old world and the new

Every moment that a production line or facility is shut down owing to technical problems is a major cost burden. Happily, most facilities today do have a coherent maintenance programme. However, many facility managers question whether preventive maintenance or predictive maintenance is best. In fact, best-in-class maintenance programmes incorporate both. PWE reports.

Water treatment company, Nordikeau, has used Fetch Data Collector software from MAC Solutions to view critical assets data in real-time. PWE takes a closer look

Professionals who install, inspect, and maintain heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) systems face a variety of challenges. In a single day, they might be part-electrician and work with electrical issues, be part-plumber and work with water or combustible gas related items travelling through pipework, or do both jobs and install an entire system. A thermal imaging camera can help HVAC/R professionals quickly determine the root cause of a problem, identify the faulty component and provide a level of trust that recommended repairs are indeed required. PWE reports.

Kevin Price, product evangelist for EAM, Infor, gives a seven-step journey to prescriptive maintenance.

Stephen Woodhouse is chief digital officer at Pöyry, looks at why we must start planning for the coming digital age today.

PWE looks at how a staged approach to condition-based maintenance, with asset criticality defining three stages of sophistication - ‘basic’, ‘better’ or ‘best’ – is able to meet operational needs and budgets.

Kevin Price from Infor examines the importance of standards in optimising asset management.

Dr Chris Wright, head of R&D at Global Heat Transfer, explains why heat exchanger maintenance is a whole system issue.

Mark James, RS product manager, Automation and Control, for Northern Europe, looks at a combination approach that will help maintenance engineers overcome key challenges.

John Murray, eastern region general manager & Jesse Jackson, custom services manager for Sulzer, look at the skills and facilities required to deliver comprehensive field service support for large pumps.

John Murray, eastern region general manager & Jesse Jackson, custom services manager for Sulzer, look at the skills and facilities required to deliver comprehensive field service support for large pumps.

Turbine Surface Technologies (TST), started its managed maintenance improvement project by using a paper-based maintenance system. PWE reports.

Sanjay Murthi, manager at SMGlobal, looks at how to analyse machine/ equipment breakdown reports from CMMS software.

The Hofors manufacturing site in Sweden is integral to Ovako Steel group operations throughout Europe, supplying billets to the entire group and maintaining the company’s command of the highly competitive long steel production market. Ovako Steel strives for operational excellence, focusing on maintenance to minimise downtime and maximise production. PWE reports.

The convergence of bring your own devices, a technology-savvy workforce and the influx of multiple data flows have made asset-intensive industries lean heavily on technology. As a result, asset-intensive industries are tackling asset management differently from before. Prasanna Kulkarni, founder and product architect of Comparesoft , studied ten key trends that are shaping Enterprise Asset Management in Asset Intensive Industries.

Condition monitoring (CM) no longer needs to be restricted to highly skilled, experienced engineers. With the advent of cloud-based CM systems, users can now share data with experts via the cloud, enabling improved fault diagnosis, faster reaction times and reduced machine downtime, says Dr Steve Lacey, Technology Centre Manager at Schaeffler UK.

When flooring manufacturer Forbo introduced Agility CMMS solution, it reduced plant breakdowns from 90 per month to less than 20, increasing plant availability from 89 per cent to 97 per cent. PWE reports.

Jonathan Wilkins, marketing director of EU Automation, looks at managing obsolete automation components in the factory of the future, and how this factory could be ordering your replacement parts for you.

Harald Großmann, service centre manager for Sulzer's Neuss Service centre in Germany looks at the maintenance challenges facing petrochemical refineries and how to improve asset performance and reliability.

Terry Davis, national technical manager at Brammer, looks at how to prepare for scheduled downtime and ensure maintenance activities are fully resourced, carefully planned, and efficiently executed.

In manufacturing facilities, unplanned outages force continuously operating processes to go through shutdown and start-up procedures. It's under these conditions that serious incidents are most likely to occur. Jonathan Wilkins, marketing director of obsolete components supplier European Automation, discusses pervasive sensing techniques and technologies, and the impact they're having on manufacturing.

Industrial IoT is driving the need for integrated solutions throughout The Connected Enterprise. PWE reports. As manufacturing companies aspire to drive tangible value from the industrial Internet of Things (IoT), they look to streamline and integrate processes as one of the most efficient steps to achieve an IoT-ready production and supply network.

PWE asked Ian Higham*, head of maintenance, MCP Consulting Group Ltd, 10 questions that need answering prior to considering CMMS implementation.

Predictive maintenance is revolutionising maintenance strategies of many capital-intensive industries. Yet despite its clear advantages over a costly ‘run until it breaks’ reactive strategy or an inefficient ‘fix it regardless’ preventative approach, predictive maintenance is yet to be widely adopted by manufacturers. PWE looks at the case for technology providers servicing adjacent industries to adopt their predictive maintenance solutions for manufacturers.

In an economic environment that provides no leeway for mistakes and when a short burst of downtime can eradicate all profit margins, organisations of every size need to improve the performance and uptime of equipment. Yet a lack of capital budget continues to constrain the vast majority of maintenance teams: how can any organisation expect to maximise asset value when critical information regarding history, performance, stock and resource utilisation is recorded manually? Karen Waite, marketing manager for Real Asset Management explains.

An easy to implement monitoring solution is helping to reduce slowdowns and shutdowns due to cooling water tower issues. PWE reports.

Whether it’s implementing a Computerised Maintenance Management System (CMMS) for the first time or replacing an existing one, many maintenance managers have a set idea of what they are looking for. However, Nicola Byers, group marketing manager at Real Asset Management, questions whether they are missing a vital trick by just looking for a system to carry out the exact same manual processes they already have in place, but electronically - without asking how a system can help to increase productivity, improve planned maintenance, decrease asset down time and save costs?