Please Bring Back the Apprentice!

While Donald Trump has given the word apprentice some a new meaning over the past several years, this is not the apprentice I am looking for.
I happen to be referring to the skilled trades apprentice programs that have seem to have disappeared over the last ten years. As I work with teams of operators and skilled trades people performing RCM analyses at companies around the world at some point in time as we are discussing the failure modes and effects I might ask the question; how does your company ensure that the skilled trades people working on your assets are actually qualified to work on the equipment?

This question is often met with a look of confusion.

I will then ask, how do we know if a person who calls themselves an electrician is actually qualified to work on a 3 phase, explosion proof electrical circuit? Or, that the next guy who calls himself a mechanic can actually align the motor and gearbox shafts to an alignment specification of +/- .002”?

Having made the question clear, the response I most often hear is “we don’t have a process, we rely on one person teaching the next but if you’re asking about a formal apprentice program, we lost that years ago and it has never come back.”

Interesting, and maybe this is just one of my own personal hang-ups but I have a hard time with someone who calls themselves a Electrician because they helped a friend hook up their cable TV, or the next guy who calls himself a welder because he made two pieces of metal stick together and fixed the loud noise coming from the tail pipe of his K-car.

While apprentice programs seem to be dying all around the United States, the level of talented and certified skilled trades people is shrinking at an alarming rate. More disturbing is the lack of understanding at the executive level regarding the importance of this issue. The reliability of your manufacturing assets is dependent on the ability of your skilled trades people to perform maintenance tasks to a level of precision that exceeds that of a surgeon! (See Examples Below) Yet for some unknown reason we want to believe that all of our tradespeople are created equal because they each have a high school diploma?

Formal Apprentice programs are what build the foundation and understanding regarding the importance of precision maintenance. The reliability and total life cycle of your assets along with the safety of your facility is highly dependent on the ability of your tradespeople and their knowledge of precision maintenance and safe work practices.

The examples below came from internet searches of “Measuring Surgical Precision” and Precision Alignment Standards. Note the that precision of a surgeon performing hip replacement is 4mm and the precision required for rotating shaft alignment is +/- .002” or .0762mm

Clinical Implications

Precision surgical guides with 4-mm occlusogingival height may
provide adequate accuracy for implant placement. Reducing the occlusogingival height of the guide may ease the use of precision-guided
surgery without compromising the accuracy of implant placement. http://bionics.soe.ucsc.edu/publications/JP_22.pdf

Specifying Shaft Alignment Written by Victor Wowk, P.E. Machine Dynamics, Inc. Monday, 01 May 2000 20:02

After shim changes are made, the above test shall be repeated at all feet until less than 0.002 inch rise is measured at each foot. If shim changes cannot adjust the rise, then the base will need to be ground or machined. See Section D, "Bases and Foundations."

http://www.mt-online.com/component/content/article/138-may2000/388-specifying-shaft-alignment-.html?directory=90

Having now been exposed to the truth that your tradespeople need to work to a higher level of precision than a surgeon, can we please bring back the apprentice programs?

The safety and relability of your equipment and your facility depend on this critical training!

Things I learned by 50!

Old is relative.

I can remember thinking my dad was old when he turned 50. While I might look old to my kids I don’t feel old. When I look in the mirror each morning I still see the person I saw yesterday and he doesn’t look any older than he did the day before.

Home is the best place on earth.

I have been lucky enough to travel the world for the last 12 years, I’ve seen several beautiful places, enjoyed the history, beer, wine and cheese of Europe, the stunning peace and tranquility of the beaches in Indonesia, the poverty and despair of Third World and the home town values and hospitality of nearly every state in our most beautiful country. After all this time and all of these miles the trip I look most forward to is the one that takes me home.

Pain is temporary, pride is forever.

While this was the motto of my favorite football team it has also become one that means a lot to me. In my 50 years I have learned that the accomplishments I am most proud of took some work and some pain. Some time away from the people I love the most and the emotional ups and downs that come with walking out on what most people saw as security to prove my experience and what I had to offer the world was not only useful but unique and necessary. If there were a mathematical equation for success, pain would likely be a denominator.

Happiness is a state of mind.

The one thing I have learned that helped me the most in life was that I have the ability to wake each morning and make the decision that I am going to have a good day. I am going to be positive and I am going to look for the best things in every situation I encounter. Learning is always a positive thing, even when we learn things the hard way. Several years ago we watched a close friend die from an invasive brain tumor, in the hours before this death, we talked, listened to john Lennon tunes, laughed and smiled. When T. Statt died he was happy. If he could be happy in the hours before his death, I know I can be happy in life.

Dogs make me laugh.

I don’t know what it is about dogs, some are really smart, some never learn to sit or come when called, but most every dog I meet can make me laugh. They can be smart, stupid, big, small, hairy or semi-bald like Rayba; I’m a sucker when it comes to dogs. Like I said, they make me laugh.

If you want to fall in love again, just go to a wedding.

Leslie and I have been married 28 years, for as long as I can remember we have always been in love. But If I want to feel that overwhelming emotion that comes the day you get married and the day you welcome your children into the world I only need to go to a wedding. Weddings make me cry, they bring back the emotion I remember feeling when I looked into her eyes and Monsignor Shannon started saying the vows.

Nothing on earth is more important and nothing on earth gives me more pride or satisfaction than my extended family.

I have been fortunate in life to have a lot of friends, I have several very close friends from school and childhood, and I have friends from work and friends I have made working with customers all over the world. While I love my friends, I rely on my family. I am the person I am today because of my family. My mom and dad, brothers, sister, in-laws, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and cousins, we all share a bond, being a Plucknette is special, especially in a town called Spencerport, NY. Not only is Spencerport someplace special, it’s where my family is from.

My family makes me complete.

My wife and my children and the life we have made for each other are what make me feel complete. I am both happy and successful, more important I am loved. My family gives me love. On the best and the worst days I have always been proud of my family and our home. When I was 25 I remember wondering how it was that my father could be so smart, 25 years later I know the secret. Being a husband and a father makes you smart, there is no school, no book or course, smart comes from just being there. Picking them up when they fall, drying the tears when they cry, the joy and laughter that comes with learning and love. The worry of big steps like the first day of school, acceptance of friends, the teen years and their first loves. The pain that hits you deep when they turn their back on your love and advice, the heartache and pride of sending them off to college and most important the joy, love and pride of being a witness to the miracle. This is the day the light comes on, the day we first understand that while mom and dad may have made some mistakes along the way but WOW, they are pretty smart people! Loving your children makes you smart. When I wake up and I am home I am so thankful, when I wake up and I am not, I count the days and look forward to walking through the front door.

My favorite day is Sunday, we all have breakfast together and Leslie and I get to enjoy our children being together. Life is good, but love, well love is great!


In 25 years I learned what John Lennon and Paul McCartney told us all years ago. All you need is love, Love is all you need!

Reducing Health, Safety and Environmental Incidents and Accidents through RCM Analysis

Reliability Centered Maintenance is a powerful tool that when applied and implemented correctly can provide numerous benefits including improved equipment reliability, a reduction in unplanned downtime and lower unit cost of product. One of the most impressive benefits of performing a RCM Blitz™ analysis is the identification of failure modes that could result in a health, safety and environmental incident or accident. While some would like to believe that in today’s world where most new designs and capital projects are subjected to numerous design reviews that would include process hazard analysis we still uncover a significant number of health, safety and environmental related failure modes in every RCM Blitz™ analysis.

Even more impressive than the identification of these failure modes is the process where the RCM facilitator and team work to identify at task that will mitigate the failure mode and its potential effects. As our facilitator and team move forward with the implementation phase of our analysis we place a significant amount emphasis on the importance of implementing the complete maintenance strategy by clearly stating that implementing and performing that tasks identified in the RCM analysis is the only way to get a return on investment for the money spent in training, analyzing and implementing the tasks.

Today I would like to make clear to the world something I have been telling only my customers for over 12 years now.

Implementing the actions or tasks from your RCM analysis is not only important, it should be mandatory. Especially when it comes to the tasks that are related to failure modes that impact health, safety or environment because as a team the represents your company we have just recognized or identified a potential failure mode AND recommended a task to address its cause. Electing to ignore these failure modes and tasks immediately places your company in a very difficult legal position.
Consider this, while this failure may have never occurred in the past, what would happen if it occurred tomorrow and you now had documentation that clearly identified you not only recognized it could occur but also identified and a ignored task that would have eliminated the failure or significantly reduced the probability of occurrence? While I may not be a lawyer I would have to question if ignoring the failure mode and task and having evidence that clearly shows this choice would make the difference between responsible and negligent.

So today I will share with the world what I have been telling my customers for years, “implementation is not a choice when it comes to RCM Blitz™, it‘s your responsibility. As a team we worked for several hours to identify the failure modes that are LIKELY and POSSIBLE, for each we considered the probability it would occur and the potential consequences to your business should it occur. We then took our time and used a proven decision process to select the best task/tasks to mitigate each of these failure modes by reducing or eliminating the likelihood of occurrence. Electing to ignore these failure modes and tasks quite frankly is irresponsible!”

The good news I have today is our customers’ get this message and our customers are implementing the tasks that come out of their analyses.
As a RCM practitioner, mentor and facilitator I take personal interest in every RCM Blitz™ analysis we perform and as a result I make it a personal goal to follow up on tracking the progress of each implementation by making monthly phone calls and sending e-mails. I have to say I am impressed with the accomplishments of 2010!

I would be remiss if I did not share some of the secrets of why our customers are so successful at implementing the RCM Blitz™ tasks.

1. The RCM Blitz™ database has a fantastic implementation tracking tool where one can:
• Assign each individual task to a responsible person
• Assign each individual task a due date
• Track the status of each task
• Prioritize each task based on criticality/priority

2. We engage our facilitators and practitioners in the implementation process knowing full well that the capabilities of our customers differ from one to the next. We offer assistance in:
• Writing PM’s and Job Plans
• Creating Operator Rounds Sheets and Check Lists for Start-up, Shut-Down, and Product Changes
• Managing and assigning action for a accelerated implementation

3. We work with our customers up-front to identify the best candidates for analysis so they will show a return on investment when they complete the implementation plan and perform the new maintenance strategy. With the up-front plan in place they can now clearly show the impact of each analysis.

In closing nothing impressed me more through the years than seeing our long term customers in action when it comes to addressing some of the difficult actions that come to the surface when a clear HSE related failure mode exists. In the past two years I have witnessed on two occasions where customers were immediately notified of a serious condition. On both occasions the equipment was immediately locked out and the failure modes was eliminated within 12 hours. Each of these customers commented that had they not performed the RCM Blitz™ they might have never recognized the potential serious hazard.

While Reliability Centered Maintenance can be a powerful tool, it will only deliver results when implemented.

Companies who are successful at RCM understand the importance of implementation, when it comes to success; the Leaders use RCM Blitz™.