Asset Reliability @Work | Sharing insights and best practices for improving asset performance and reliability

Scott Deckers, Senior Customer Success Manager at Fiix Software, joins the Asset Reliability @ Work podcast to talk about the benefits of cloud-based CMMS management. Scott highlights some of the functionalities of their mobile app, the value organizations obtain from collecting real-time data and the security measures behind the software. Discussion highlights include: Understanding the benefits associated with cloud-based maintenance management Explaining the features and functionality of their mobile app technology Identifying critical success factors in transitioning to a cloud-based CMMS platform Discussing the security behind the software Additional Resources: Fiix Software website Scott Deckers on LinkedIn

Mike Smith joins the Asset Reliability @ Work podcast to talk about the role of today's Reliability Engineer. Together, we'll explore how that role has transformed over the years in terms of responsibilities and training. Mike will tell you what he thinks should be in the RE's toolbox and he'll provide advice for those looking to become proficient within this job field. Discussion highlights include: Discussing how the responsibilities have changed over the years Understanding the current challenges facing REs Identifying training opportunities that didn't exist before Identifying the 3-5 "tools" that every RE should have in their toolbox Additional Resources: What's the Role of the Reliability Engineer How a Reliability Engineer Improves Reliability Reliability Engineering Certification Mike Smith on LinkedIn

John Cray stops in studio to discuss how maintenance and operations personnel can effectively measure their reliability activities using a reliability scorecard. John will also provide some personal insights on basic KPIs that should be measured as well as some more advanced metrics for those organizations who have already started measuring their reliability initiatives. Discussion highlights include: Explaining the purpose of a reliability scorecard Discussing what needs to be done prior to measuring your activities Identifying basic and advanced KPIs to be measured Additional Resources: Making Common Sense Common Practice: Models for Manufacturing Excellence Maintenance and Reliability Best Practices Using a Reliability Scorecard to Measure if Your Project is Delivering Results Reliability Excellence for Managers Course Connect with John Cray on LinkedIn

Jeff Nevenhoven returns to the podcast to talk about his real-world experience of having facilitated a change initiative and his encounters with those unforeseen forces hindering success. Jeff will walk us through how he and the organization overcame those obstacles. Discussion highlights include: Facing resistance to change and how to overcome Advice for planning for the unexpected Explaining the lessons learned Additional Resources: Managing Change: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back (article) Coaching Employees Through Change Prosci Change Management Certification Program Jeff Nevenhoven on LinkedIn

Bob Fei, President and CEO of Life Cycle Engineering, provides his C-level insights on how to create a culture that inspires innovation and explains why it's crucial for all organizations to make innovation a key part of their work environment. Discussion highlights include: Understanding why innovation within manufacturing is a vital piece to achieving industry success Explaining the difference between innovation and continuous improvement Discussing examples from LCE's experience in creating an innovative culture Advice for organizational leaders who want to establish a culture of innovation Additional Resources: Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us LaunchPath Innovation Bob Fei on LinkedIn

Brad Cunic, Senior Vice President of LCE's Reliability Consulting Group, talks through the organizational benefits of building a business case for reliability and the fundamentals to keep in mind while crafting your objectives. Discussion highlights include: Understanding the benefits of developing the business case Defining Reliability Excellence and the Rx Model Explaining the basic elements that make up the business case Four fundamentals to keep in mind Additional Resources: Download: Building a Business Case for Reliability Infographic: Fundamentals of a Business Case Rx Model on PoweredByRx.com Brad Cunic on LinkedIn

Johnny Brown, an Asset Management Services Technician, highlights the obstacles that prevent a manufacturing facility from achieving a cohesive and highly efficient work environment. Johnny discusses how to break down some of these barriers in order to create functional partnerships. Discussion highlights include: Identifying some of the barriers that exist in a manufacturing facility Explaining how these obstacles came to be and the complexity of how to solve them Step One: Sell the idea of one plant, one team Step Two: Implement Additional Resources: Break Down Barriers with a One Plant, One Team Approach Breaking Down Organizational Barriers by Creating Plant Partnerships How Do You Create Partnership Agreements Connect with Johnny Brown on LinkedIn

Doug Wallace, Senior Materials Management SME, makes his second appearance on the Asset Reliability @Work podcast to give his 12 steps to help materials managers regain control of their inventory warehouse. Discussion highlights include: Understanding the issues of inventory management Discussing the twelve steps in detail Additional Resources: 12 Steps to Inventory Recovery (web article) 12 Steps Infographic Doug Wallace on LinkedIn

In this year-end review episode, Dan Anderson, Account Manager and SMRP Communications Chair, discusses the highlights and noticeable trends from the 2017 conference season as well as identifying the top issues from the maintenance and reliability community throughout the year. Discussion highlights include: Highlighting trends from the 2017 conference season Identifying the common pain points from the reliability community Discussing the rise in technology Providing tips for those navigating today's reliability culture

John Cray makes his second appearance on the podcast to discuss how leadership, vision and behavior can develop a culture that values data integrity and effectively utilizes their CMMS. Discussion highlights include: Explaining how to establish a set of CMMS guiding principles that drives consistency and data integrity Discussing who should be responsible for creating a culture that embraces CMMS Summarizing how measures and audits can motivate and sustain desired system use Additional Resources: Developing a Work Culture that Embraces its CMMS and Values Data Accuracy (IndustryWeek article) John Cray on LinkedIn

In our final discussion of this three-part series with Greg Flickinger, Chairman of the OpX Leadership Network and Group Vice President of Manufacturing Operations for HEB grocery stores, we talk about the effects training has on boosting employee engagement. Discussion highlights include: The impact of training and upskilling your employees Explaining the benefits of certifications in the workplace Understanding how to effectively train people in new technology How to get the most bang for your buck when it comes to training Additional Resources: Workforce Engagement Whitepaper from Opx Leadership Network Greg Flickinger on LinkedIn

Part two of this three-part discussion with Greg Flickinger, Chairman of the OpX Leadership Network and Group Vice President of Manufacturing Operations for HEB grocery stores, highlights the impact of the IIOT movement with regards to new technology developments and techniques on how best to engage employees for successful adoption. Discussion highlights include: Explaining how IIOT is positively impacting business Emergence of augmented reality wearables Addressing the challenges of new technology adoption Establishing a culture of acceptance Additional Resources: OpX Leadership Network website Greg Flickinger on LinkedIn

Part one of this three-part discussion with Greg Flickinger, Chairman of the OpX Leadership Network and Group Vice President of Manufacturing Operations for HEB grocery stores, features an engaging discussion about today's manufacturing challenges and how leaders are coming together to help solve those issues. Discussion highlights include: Explaining the OpX Leadership Network's mission Identifying the top four issues members of the council are facing Greg talks about the most challenging issues Discussing certain elements that are disrupting the way we manufacture goods Additional Resources: OpX Leadership Network website Workforce Engagement: A management framework for improving employee productivity (whitepaper) Greg Flickinger on LinkedIn

Bill Wilder, founder and leader of Life Cycle Engineering's change management practice, joins the podcast to discuss the point of change saturation and the risks associated with undergoing more change than an organization is capable of handling at a given time. Discussion highlights include: Defining change saturation Understanding the risks of too much change Identifying common symptoms of change overload Minimizing the risk of change saturation Additional Resources: I Heard it Through the Grapevine: Communicating Effectively During Major Change Change Management (web page) Prosci (website) Bill Wilder on LinkedIn

Anil Agrawalla, a Senior Reliability Engineer and Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional (CMRP), joins the podcast to discuss predictive maintenance strategy and how manufacturing organizations are implementing and maintaining the program's efficiency. Discussion highlights include: Struggles with tracking PdM program's effectiveness Measuring your PdM programs success Tips to better measure results Next steps after reviewing metrics and KPIs Additional Resources: Predictive Maintenance: Part I Anil Agrawalla on LinkedIn

Anil Agrawalla, a Senior Reliability Engineer and Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional (CMRP), joins the podcast to discuss predictive maintenance strategy and how manufacturing organizations are implementing and maintaining the program's efficiency. Discussion highlights include: Difference between predictive and preventive maintenance Best practices for setting up a PdM program Common mistakes organizations make during implementation On-the-job struggles of maintaining the program's efficiency Additional Resources: Eliminate these Obstacles before You Implement Predictive Maintenance Preventive and Predictive Maintenance Predictive Maintenance Strategy Anil Agrawalla on LinkedIn  

We are joined by Doug Wallace, a Senior Materials Management SME and PROSCI-certified Change Management professional, to discuss the considerations manufacturing facilities should make when setting up their storeroom for long-lasting effectiveness. We also talk about how to fix a broken storeroom. Discussion highlights include: Purpose of the storeroom Technology advancements for smarter storerooms Planning and setting up the storeroom Fixing a failing storeroom Biggest challenges affecting efficiency of maintenance departments Answering Twitter questions Additional Resources: Is Your MRO Storeroom a Productivity Trap? Does Your Storeroom Layout Make Sense? Extreme Makeover: Storeroom Edition Doug Wallace on LinkedIn

In this episode we're discussing stakeholders as it pertains to a manufacturing setting; where the employees, customers, and in some cases the community are the stakeholders. John Cray, a Certified Reliability Leader (CRL) with over 35 years of experience working in various processing industries, details how to effectively engage with your stakeholders to get the buy-in your project needs. Discussion highlights include: Identifying your project's stakeholders Understanding consequences of not engaging your stakeholders Explaining how to effectively engage Assessing the needs of your stakeholders Addressing stakeholders using the Prosci Change Management methodology ISO 55000 Standard to stakeholder management Additional Resources: 3 Ways to Measure Success of a Continuous Improvement Initiative (article) Best Practices for Using Value Stream Mapping as a Continuous Improvement Tool Stakeholder Management (brochure) John Cray on LinkedIn

Roger Corley joins the podcast for a second time to talk about the role of the maintenance planner and the six characteristics that make a planner great. Discussion highlights include: Explaining the responsibilities of the maintenance planner Understanding the difference between planner and scheduler Identifying the six unique traits of a great planner Discussing the education needed to become a planner Additional Resources: Avoid the Misguided Application of the Maintenance Planner Scheduler (article) Maintenance Planners: At the Center of it All (article) Maintenance Planning and Scheduling (course) Roger Corley on LinkedIn

Jeff Nevenhoven, a Prosci-certified Change Management Practitioner with over 20 years of experience in operations and reliability, joins the podcast to discuss the Prosci ADKAR model for change management. Jeff explains how each phase of the model is used to facilitate successful change management for manufacturing organizations. Discussion highlights include: Explaining the purpose of the ADKAR model Detailing each phase and how it's used to facilitate change Discussing the importance of following each phase in order Becoming Prosci-certified in change management Additional Resources: Uranium Mill Continues to Set the Pace with Operational Reliability (ADKAR success story) Prosci Change Management Training Programs Jeff Nevenhoven on LinkedIn

Our podcast co-host and Learning SME, Tara Holwegner, brings her passion and knowledge about workforce development to explain why manufacturing facilities should view competency-based training as a necessity for those organizations looking to become world-class leaders. Tara also explains her process to achieving competency and how that approach is closing the skills gap. Discussion highlights include: Defining competency and how it's helping the bottom line 70/20/10 model for learning and development 3A Learning process for building competency On-the-job examples Additional Resources: Learning Impact Map (web resource) Powered by Rx (online resource portal) 3A Learning - Align, Assimilate, Apply (article) Closing the Manufacturing Workforce Skills Gap (IndustryWeek article) Tara Holwegner on LinkedIn

Roger Corley, a Materials Management SME, brings 30 years of experience in Maintenance Planning and Scheduling and Materials Management to discuss how organizations are benefiting from investing in corrective maintenance instead of deferring maintenance until a shutdown period. Discussion highlights include: Explaining how day-to-day planning differs from turnaround planning Understanding why facilities do a poor job planning routine corrective jobs Realizing the greatest payback is through daily routine planning Discussing ROI for hiring a dedicated turnaround coordinator Additional Resources: Is Your Shutdown Planning Hurting Your Routine Corrective Planning? (article version) Roger Corley on LinkedIn

Senior Reliability Engineer, Mike Smith, explains the concept of an asset management plan, the main goal for developing an asset management plan, and highlights what he believes are the four stumbling blocks to an effective asset management plan. Discussion highlights include: Defining an asset management plan Explaining the purpose of the plan Four stumbling blocks preventing an effective asset management plan Additional Resources: The 5 Biggest Risks to Asset Management (SlideShare) Life Cycle Asset Management (whitepaper) Developing Asset Management Plans (article) Mike Smith on LinkedIn

Wally Wilson, Senior SME in Materials Management, joins the Asset Reliability @Work podcast to highlight the safety concerns and added cost of using counterfeit parts in your maintenance activities and how to reduce the risk of receiving counterfeit parts. Discussion highlights include: Discussing the growing problem of receiving and using counterfeit parts Understanding how counterfeit parts affect equipment performance and the associated cost of maintaining those parts Identifying a counterfeit part Reducing the risk of purchasing counterfeit parts Additional Resources: PoweredByRx Resource Portal Wally Wilson on LinkedIn

Bill Barto, a Senior Reliability Engineer, joins the podcast to convey the importance of gaining recognition for the reliability activities you perform within your facility, and he’ll do this by explaining how you can accomplish this using four simple approaches. Discussion highlights include: Understanding why it's important to have your reliability activities noticed Reviewing survey results from 92 Reliability Engineers Explaining the four simple approaches of garnering more respect for your reliability improvements Additional Resources: Help Your Reliability Activities Earn the Respect They Deserve Bill Barto on LinkedIn

Paul Borders makes his third appearance on the podcast to explain the purpose of a team charter and how manufacturing organizations use this tool during a reliability improvement initiative. Discussion highlights include: Components of a team charter Understanding how team charters improve reliability Downside of operating without a team charter in place Governing multiple chartered projects Additional Resources: Team Charters: What are they and what's their purpose? Paul Borders on LinkedIn

Robert Bendetti, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, explains how best to approach your financial officer when you want to take your "great idea" and turn it into a complete initiative within your organization. Discussion highlights include: 5 actionable approaches to take before meeting with your FO Justification mistakes to avoid Success stories you'll want to mirror Additional Resources: Budgeting for Maintenance: A Behavior-based Approach Robert Bendetti on LinkedIn

Learning and Performance Improvement SME, Tara Holwegner, joins the podcast to explain how education and training enable manufacturing facilities to achieve success during a reliability transformation. Discussion highlights include: Defining the concept of a reliability transformation Explaining the role of education and training during a change event Talking through the "High Impact Learning" process Discussing how training can be customized Additional Resources: Achieving Reliability Excellence through Customized Training: Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Journey (success story) High Impact Learning (web page) Rooted In Reliability (podcast)

Keith Mobley is the content creator behind the popular eNewsletter series "Reflections on Excellence" and he joins the podcast to talk about his self-named laws that are the focal point of each monthly newsletter. With over 51 years of professional experience, Keith shares a few of his observations from a career devoted to continuous improvement in manufacturing. Discussion highlights include: Law #2: There Are No Silver Bullets Law #49: Physical Assets Mean Nothing without Empowered Employees "If you change nothing, nothing changes." Additional Resources: Reflections on Excellence (eNewsletter) R. Keith Mobley's Introduction to Reflections on Excellence

Randy Heisler makes his second appearance on the show to discuss why organizations find themselves in a reactive state of maintenance and the struggle many plants face as the workforce begins to transition to the next generation of labor. Discussion highlights include: Identifying processes to eliminate reactive maintenance cultures Managing the loss of tribal knowledge from one generation to the next Utilizing change management for a smooth transition Additional Resources: Combining Technology, Processes, and Change Management to Address the Aging Workforce (slideshare)  

The Asset Reliability @Work podcast took the show on the road to Jacksonville, FL where we attended the 2016 SMRP conference. In this short episode, we spoke with the closing keynote speaker, Robert DiStefano, to talk with him about his keynote presentation, what the future holds for maintenance and reliabiltiy, and his overall experience at this year's conference. Additional Resources: Robert DiStefano on LinkedIn

The Asset Reliability @Work podcast took the show on the road to Jacksonville, FL where we attended the 2016 SMRP conference. In this short episode, we spoke with CMRP of the Year award winner and Asset Management Director at B. Braun Medical, George Williams, to talk with him about his session on making decisions at the plant floor level using data analytics as well as his overall experience at this year's conference. Additional Resources: George Williams on LinkedIn

The Asset Reliability @Work podcast took the show on the road to Jacksonville, FL where we attended the 2016 SMRP conference. In this short episode, we spoke with the Global Relationship Manager at ReliabilityWeb.com and the Director for Women in Reliability and Asset Management (WIRAM) group, Maura Abad, to talk with her about the mission of WIRAM, how to get involved, and the upcoming monthly webinar series that will be offered in 2017. Additional Resources: Maura Abad on LinkedIn Women In Reliability and Asset Management (website) WIRAM (podcast)

The Asset Reliability @Work podcast took the show on the road to Jacksonville, FL where we attended the 2016 SMRP conference. In this short episode, we spoke with the founder and owner of Mobius Institute, Jason Tranter, to talk with him about his two-day workshop and his overall experience at this year's conference. Additional Resources: Jason Tranter on LinkedIn Mobius Institute

The Asset Reliability @Work podcast took the show on the road to Jacksonville, FL where we attended the 2016 SMRP conference. In this short episode, we spoke with the founder of HP Reliability and fellow podcaster, James Kovacevic, to talk with him about his sessions and his overall experience at this year's conference. Additional Resources: James Kovacevic on LinkedIn Rooted In Reliability (podcast)

The Asset Reliability @Work podcast took the show on the road to Jacksonville, FL where we attended the 2016 SMRP conference. In this short episode, we spoke with the conference Vice Chair and President of MotorDoc, Dr. Howard Penrose, to talk with him about his work in the area of cybersecurity and his overall experience at this year's conference. Additional Resources: Dr. Howard Penrose on LinkedIn SMRP Government Relations (website)

The Asset Reliability @Work podcast took the show on the road to Jacksonville, FL where we attended the 2016 SMRP conference. In this short episode, we spoke with CMRP of the Year award winner and Maintenance and Reliability Manager at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Robert Bishop, to talk with him about his session and his overall experience at this year's conference. Additional Resources: Robert Bishop on LinkedIn

Paul Borders is back on the show, but this time he's talking about how manufacturing facilities are utilizing reliability dashboards to make plant performance more visible. We'll talk through the stages of maturity that a dashboard will go through, the importance of various metrics, and the leadership and behavioral aspects of leading through a dashboard. Discussion highlights include: Describing the purpose of a Reliability Excellence Dashboard Understanding the stages of maturity Highlighting various metrics that frequently appear on an Rx Dashboard Discussing behavioral and leadership aspects of an Rx Dashboard Additional Resources: Visual Management Boards: What are they and how do you use them?  PoweredByRx Resource Portal

Bill Wilder, a certified change management and reliability professional, joins the podcast to talk about the new release of the PoweredByRx resource portal as well as the Reliability Excellence Model that helps organizations achieve transformational culture change. Discussion highlights include: Understanding the value of the resource portal Discussing the resources available for reliability professionals Explaining the Reliability Excellence journey Real-case scenario from a user's perspective Additional Resources: PoweredByRx Resource Portal Reliability Excellence Journey Introduction to Reliability

Dave Mierau, a Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional (CMRP) as well as a published author, joins the podcast to highlight the important role a mentor has during a time of generational changeover. In this episode, we discuss why manufacturing facilities should develop a mentoring program and what the positive benefits are from a training standpoint as well as financial impact. Discussion highlights include: Defining the role of a maintenance mentor Understanding the urgency of developing a mentoring program Realizing the benefits of fully-implemented mentoring program Highlighting the knowledge transfer from mentor to understudy Finding a mentor when there is no program in place Additional Resources: Coaching Employees Through Change Reliability Engineers: Your Effectiveness Depends on Your Leadership Skills

Paul Langan, a senior reliability technician with more than 45 years of maintenance and reliability experience, joins the podcast to help us answer some of the major questions centered on asset hierarchy. We’ll go into the weeds of asset hierarchy by discussing topics such as the types of assets that should be catalogued, the importance of developing a parent-child relationship within your hierarchy system, and how to optimize your hierarchy. Discussion highlights include: Explaining what an asset hierarchy is and why it's important for an effective asset management program Identifying the types of assets that should be catalogued Uncovering the need to validate your assets Developing a parent-child relationship Optimizing your asset hierarchy system Additional Resources: Is Asset Hierarchy Validation and Optimization a Waste of Time and Money? Sample Functional Hierarchy

In this episode, we are joined by Dave Berube, a highly experienced professional in leading transformational change initiatives for national and international companies, to explain what it means to be a “champion” during a time of organizational change, how to succeed in this leadership role and the typical traits that makes this individual stand out. Discussion highlights include: Explaining the various change scenarios that facilities might undergo Understanding why change initiatives need a Champion to lead A Dave Berube-led change example: lessons learned Characteristics of successful change leaders Ensuring the effectiveness as a Champion of Change Additional Resources (as mentioned in this episode): Are You a Champion of Change?

With over 25 years of strategic manufacturing experience, Paul Borders joins the podcast to shed light on why manufacturing leaders turn to a site-wide assessment to help drive their reliability initiatives. Discussion highlights include: Benchmarking against similar facilities within your industry  Helping your reliability partner understand your operations Measuring the rate of progress Linking financial improvements to your reliability program development Building momentum for future change Additional Resources: 8 Steps to Include in Your Assessment Process

Former plant manager turned Life Cycle Engineering Managing Principal, Bruce Wesner explains the concept of a reliability-focused culture and how to effectively manage the transition to a reliability-led facility. Discussion highlights include: Identifying the need for a reliability overhaul Understanding who this affects within the facility How to address those who might be reluctant to change

Planning and scheduling subject-matter-expert, Tim Kister, provides answers to the 10 most frequently asked questions of work management and planning and scheduling. Tim will provide insights on topics such as improving communication with your supervisor, minimizing oversights, and talk about the elements of a thoroughly planned work package. Additional Resources (as mentioned in this episode): FAQs of Work Management and Planning and Scheduling Maintenance Planning and Scheduling Course

In this episode, we’ll speak with Randy Heisler, who is a managing principal at Life Cycle Engineering, to discuss the practice of implementing Reliability Excellence, something that can be instituted for any organization.  Randy will highlight the concepts behind the practice, he’ll talk about some of the key benefits as well as identify the obstacles some organizations will face that might prevent the achievement of excellence. Additional Resources: The Reliability Excellence (Rx) Model 3 Waves to Reliability Excellence (Rx)