Life Cycle Engineering Articles
Our expert staff is well known throughout the industry for its breadth of knowledge gained through years of practical experience. The following are articles that have been published in various industry journals written by members of our staff.
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Lean on Reliability
By Darrin Wikoff, CMRP, Life Cycle Engineering
As appeared as the November Cover Story in Plant Services MagazineDespite widespread popularity, Lean Manufacturing isn’t meeting leadership’s expectations. The Industry Week/MPI Census of Manufacturers released in November 2007 reports that almost 70% of U.S. plants are using Lean Manufacturing as an improvement approach, but only 2% of respondents have achieved their goals fully and only 24% report achieving significant results. This suggests that 74% of the participants aren’t making meaningful progress with Lean.
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Shift your Plant from Reactive to Reliable
By Joe Mikes, Life Cycle Engineering
As appeared in the November/December 2008 Issue of Reliable Plant MagazineMost businesses that depend on physical asset performance have a reactive maintenance department. Reacting to breakdowns and dealing with budget variance are routine events for these organizations. Turning the corner and operating in a highly effective, reliable environment is an enormous challenge.
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Growing your Own Workforce
By Bill Wilder, Life Cycle Engineering
As appeared in the November 2008 issue of Plant EngineeringThe demand for qualified people is estimated to be twice the supply over the next 20 years. In the state of South Carolina, the Chamber of Commerce projects that between 2010 and 2030, total employment demand in the state, based on U.S. projections, will increase by approximately 16.3%, while the traditional labor pool available to fill these jobs will grow only by approximately 7.0%.
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How Do You Build a High Performance Team?
By Mike Aroney, Life Cycle Engineering
As appeared on www.reliableplant.comGetting the most out of people in a Lean environment is absolutely necessary to leverage the power of teamwork. There are four elements to crafting and developing a high performing team to LEAD an organization in optimizing how it serves customer. LEAD stands for Lead, Empower, Align and Desire.
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Problem-solving Techniques for a High-performance Team
By Keith Mobley, Life Cycle Engineering
As appeared on www.reliableplant.comWhile most people associate lean with tools and principles such as value stream mapping, one-piece flow, kanban, 5-S, Total Productive Maintenance and kaizen events, few people think about the more mundane aspects of lean. Problem solving is one of the keys to a successful lean implementation because it empowers all of those involved.
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Loss Elimination: Is Your Organization Living in Sin?
By Josh Rothenberg, CMRP, of Life Cycle Engineering
As appeared in the Lean Manufacturing JournalWaste. We all know it. We all have seen it. We are all responsible for it. Just how big of a deal is waste? How does it prevent us from achieving excellence in all that we do…
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Rollin' with the Changes: Reliability Rocks
By Bob Call, of Life Cycle Engineering
As appeared in the October 2008 issue of Plant EngineeringHave you ever had one of those days when you get a few bars of a song in your head and you just can't get it to go away? For me, it seems the older I get, the more often this happens…
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The Reliability and Maintainability Plan
By Mike Poland, of Life Cycle Engineering
As appeared in the October 2008 issue of Utility T&D MagazineWith the increasing cost of fossil fuel, and the global demand for alternative energy sources, it is paramount that T & D projects are focused on the end in mind; the absolute lowest Total Cost of Ownership with the greatest possible Asset Utilization…
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Learning is a Process
By Bill Wilder, M.Ed., of Life Cycle Engineering
As appeared on www.reliableplant.comLearning that changes behavior to produce results is a process - not a single event. The process takes place in an environment replete with competing priorities and time pressures. Learning is more than simply taking a class…
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How do you replace retiring maintenance people when you can’t find qualified candidates?
By Bill Wilder, M.Ed., of Life Cycle Engineering
As appeared on www.reliableplant.comMost organizations today are confronted with a retiring maintenance workforce and a shortage of qualified replacements. The research proving this is legion and widely publicized…
