MAINTEC 2013 – PACKED WITH LAUNCHES & LEARNING

MAINTEC, the leading exhibition for the UK’s maintenance, plant and asset management community returns to the NEC on 5-7 March 2013 packed with more learning opportunities and product innovations than ever before.

Brand new for this year is the complimentary Business Strategy Conference. There’s tremendous value to be (Read More)   had from listening to the experience of peers – especially if they are some of the biggest brands in the UK today. Based on this idea, the Business Strategy Conference will feature experts from many of the UK’s brightest companies. From a special theatre on the show floor, names such as Britvic, Pepsico , Alcon, Experian and Scottish & Southern Energy will explore how they are addressing the maintenance issues of the day.

For those looking for practical sessions, there will also be The Maintenance Exchange featuring a rich programme of 38 learnShops. Delivered by some of the show’s most innovative exhibitors, these will provide visitors with unique insights into the very latest innovations, products and services to be found within the maintenance and asset management arena.

These free learning opportunities will run alongside an exhibition packed full of exhibitors, many of whom, like CorDEX Instruments, are using the show to globally launch new products.

James Walker, Decksafe Solutions, AW Chesterton, Metool, SAACKE Combustion, Intertek, Keytracker, REBO BV, MOLYDAL Lubricants, Lubricus Grutzner and Ernst Schad are just some of the many names, from both the UK and overseas, making their MAINTEC debut. They will join MAINTEC veterans such as Schaeffler (UK), Flowcrete UK, R.Stahl, ERIKS, Idhammar Systems, SPM Instruments, PRUFTECHNIK and Prevost UK.

Indeed there is so much to see and do that the Institution of Diagnostic Engineers (IDE) has decided to host a spring gathering during MAINTEC. This will also be attended by members of the Institution of Local Exhaust & Ventilation Engineers, another show supporter. IDE Chief Executive, Bill Parker, says: “We’d urge all our members to put the dates in their diary.”

So let’s take a closer look at what’s on offer at MAINTEC 2013.

The Business Strategy Conference
The Business Strategy Conference is being run throughout the three-day show and features a phenomenal line-up of world-class experts and major end-user brands. Each day addresses a different strategic theme. On day one the focus is on ‘Making the Business Case for Maintenance.’

Mark Haarman, CEO, Mainnovation will kick off proceedings by exploring the economic drivers of a maintenance organisation. For those struggling to measure maintenance’s economic contribution, he will have suggestions and lessons from real life experiences. Delegates will learn why steering on value leads to continuous improvement and what can be learned from leading maintenance organisations around the world.

In a session moderated by Bill Parker, CEO, Institution of Diagnostic Engineers, and drawing on case studies, John Davenport, Operations Director, Alcon and Paul Dennis, Technical Facilities Manager, Experian will explore successful maintenance strategies, how to choose the right one for your business and the merits of total productive maintenance versus a reliability-centred maintenance approach.

There is much debate within the profession about which is better – control maintenance or a reactive maintenance operation. Mark Thompson, Head of Wastewater Assets, Southern Water will explore the merits of each. Drawing on his own experience he will look at how you decide which one is the right strategy for your company. He will then explore the idea of whether there is a third way – that involves a mix of asset management systems and reactive self monitoring devices.

The theme for day two is ‘Innovation in Action’ with Steve Statham, Manager, Manufacturing Technology Centre starting the day by exploring the latest effective methodologies and high-impact technologies. As innovations go, social media has been transformational for many areas of business; Steve will outline its implications for maintenance professionals, specifically social media’s role in providing feedback and alerts for building maintenance. He will also give examples of where innovation in asset management is helping to overcome those thorny maintenance issues of legacy systems & obsolescence.

Condition-based monitoring is a hot issue. Is an evolutionary or revolutionary approach to implementation best? Which assets and equipment should be included and what about all the data you are likely to gather? Any attendees struggling with these and other questions will get the chance to learn firsthand from Dr Sethuraman Muthuraman, Condition Monitoring Engineer, Scottish & Southern Energy. He will even have some suggestions for those daunted by condition-based monitoring, outlining the occasions when reactive or preventative measures may suffice.

Many wonder whether formal standards really add value to an organisation. This day will be your chance to find out as in his talk Daniel Pairon, Global Head KPMG Asset Management will outline the core standards in asset management and how PAS 55 / ISO 5500x certification might actually empower your company.

A panel discussion featuring David Smallbone, Head Asset Management, AMCL closes day two. In a lively session the cost of asset failure versus the cost of condition monitoring will be debated.

‘People, processes and legacy’ sit at the heart of good maintenance management and day three focuses on these elements. Keynote speaker, Wayne Curry, Engineering Team Leader, Britvic will outline how the company manages the impact of new processes and KPI reports on maintenance staff. In a highly practical talk he will also cover the usability and access issues you face when rolling out new devices and equipment to a mobile work-force. This people focused day closes with Ian Rigby, Engineering Manager, Pepsico, who will look forward to 2017. Ian will predict what shape, dynamics and focus the maintenance team will have by then.

The Maintenance Exchange
Complementing the Conference will be The Maintenance Exchange, featuring 38 free-to-attend learnShops, designed to help plant and asset managers, engineers and maintenance professionals save money, improve efficiencies and enhance asset care.

For instance John Roberts, Managing Director at Idhammar Systems, will give an insight into the OEE concept and how it is linked to return on investment. The concept is based on the availability of the plant for production and the performance of the plant. This is determined by the rate that units are produced and the quality of the saleable product. When these elements are considered together, and the current and desired efficiencies analysed, strategies to reduce energy usage can emerge.

Managers of Energy from Waste (EfW) plants will be interested in the talk by Robin Buller, Director of Business Development at KRR ProStream. “Using smart technology to maintain these specialist systems can result in more efficient outputs,” explains Robin Buller. He will be focusing on three cleaning technologies, in particular, for boilers, bag house filters and heat exchangers. KRR ProStream specialises in power generation facilities and this talk will give delegates the opportunity to discuss specific efficiency issues with industry experts.

Condition based maintenance offers many economic benefits, as Stan Jackson, Managing Director from SPM Instrument UK will explain. The concept focuses on using staff more effectively on routine inspections to determine possible corrective maintenance. This is said to increase reliability and ensure maintenance work is planned.

Similarly, Roy Davis, Senior Consultant at MCP, will speak about how Operator Asset Care is implemented to complement maintenance excellence and the benefits to a business when asset care is carried out. He explains: “The increased awareness and machinery-based knowledge of production operators will ensure that any machinery failures or malfunctions are detected at an early stage, so that planned actions can be implemented.”

For those who have a health and safety agenda, Sira Test and Certification Ltd will hold a seminar on the world’s first international scheme for the certification of personnel associated with equipment, installations and servicing used by Ex industries, known as IECEx.

Any uncertainty of hazards associated with static electricity will be clarified by Mike O’Brien, Product Manager from Newson Gale. “Sometimes thought to be witchcraft due to its invisible nature, static electricity can spark an explosion in combustible atmospheres,” explains Mike O’Brien. “The highly dangerous charge can be built up by the movement of powder and liquids in a plant.” Using a video to illustrate the dangers, he will be discussing practical measures on how to manage static electricity.

Attendees who work with fragile substances will not want to miss the talk by David Furley, Distribution Manager at CorDEX instruments. He will explain how to control the deployment of standard thermography equipment. Visitors will also be able to hear about web-based predictive maintenance systems, from Dr John Atkinson, Technical Director from C-Cubed.

Andy Parkinson, Business Development Manager from James Walker will speak about improving efficiency and costs by reducing maintenance downtime, while Ian Pledger, IAM Product Specialist from Schaeffler will discuss the implementation of an efficient asset management system using plant condition monitoring. Dr Trevor Holroyd, Technical Director at Parker Kitti Wake Holroyd, will speak about the application of acoustic emission to detect ineffective lubrication in operating machinery.

Marketing Manager at Ernst Schad, Ram Greenshpon will explain how to keep your good old gearbox in service at a fair cost, whilst Reliability Maintenance Solutions will be speak about improving reliability by correcting the ‘big four’: balancing, shaft/belt alignment, looseness and resonance. Flowcrete will hold a seminar about how to get more from your floor.

Packed Show Floor of Innovating Exhibitors
Exhibitors sit at the heart of MAINTEC and this year is no exception. Many are using the show to launch new products or showcase their very latest work. For instance BEKO Technologies will be outlining how it has helped one of the largest car manufacturing plants in the UK replace its old dryers and thus reduce running costs significantly and improve air quality. The initial project was to replace just two dryers but projected energy savings provided a sound case to change all four existing dryers.

Thermal Energy International will show how a FLU-ACE Condensing Heat Recovery System which it implemented for Premier Foods saved the company £110,000 per year, which is approximately 7.5 million kWh of annual gas savings.

First time exhibitor, SAACKE Combustion, recently helped Harveys Brewery improve the operation of its boiler plant. SAACKE recommended fitting a burner with a superior turndown, thus allowing the boiler to match the site’s steam demand – massively improving efficiency.

Those in the food or drink sector should also check out CRC Industries UK’s new StopLight™ Food Safety Programme. Developed specifically for MRO chemicals, it’s a leap forward in the control of chemical product movements.

Among the vibration monitoring products from Hansford Sensors making their UK show debut will be the new HS-109 Triaxial accelerometer. This allows three axes to be monitored simultaneously, plus a new version of the company’s spot facing tool, which has been re-engineered to extend its operating life even further.

Maintaining reliable RH measurements in harsh or corrosive environments is notoriously difficult as the conditions themselves degrade the sensors and equipment, often in short time-periods. Michell Instruments will be showing how its DT722 RH and temperature transmitter provide a solution to this problem.

Ocip Energy will outline how a recent project to install new LED fittings at Fletcher Moorland’s site is on target to save the company 70% of its lighting costs.

There will be a unique demonstration of Schaeffler FAG WiPro s condition monitoring system for wind turbines. Via a ‘live’ remote link to a wind farm based in Scotland, visitors will be able to see in real time how the main rotor bearings, gearbox and generators on five wind turbines are being monitored 24/7.

Fluke UK will show its Fluke® CNX Wireless System. This is the first set of test tools that wirelessly connects multiple measurement modules and sends simultaneous readings to a master device up to 20 metres away, allowing users to troubleshoot problems quickly and efficiently.

Steam system and flow control specialists Valveforce has created pneumatic control valves to handle a wide range of fluids such as thermal oil, steam, water, nitrogen and natural gases.

Dust extraction specialists, Dustcontrol UK, will showcase their latest centralised dust vacuum system - the DC 11 Module. By reducing noise to 65 dB(A), the DC 11 Module is easier to fit in a building where noise is a challenge.

MAINTEC will be the first opportunity to see Idhammar Systems’ new Maintenance Management System V11. This offers a number of new benefits including minimized downtime, improved maintenance planning, audit compliance and greater control over budgets and stock.

T-Cards Direct is launching the latest upgrade to its new T-Cards Online at the show while Xetec will show its FlexMaint computerised maintenance management software.

James Walker has successfully tested Supagraf® Premier, a premium fugitive emissions valve packing, to ISO 15848-1 2006 Class A at 690bar. It will be showing visitors how this is the lowest rating of leakage definable under ISO 15848-1 and demonstrates a step change in performance for braided graphite fugitive emissions packing.

Recently launched, Agility 4.1 from SoftSols is the latest version of its Agility Computerised Maintenance Management System and builds on the introduction of dashboards and key performance indicators in earlier releases.

Hayley Group’s brand new SmartVendTM eliminates the need for RFID tags, barcodes and the requirement to manually account for inventory. This automates data-collection and provides the user with real-time intelligence on inventory use.

For those focused on people development MCP Consulting and Training will show how an Operator Asset Care programme equips the very people operating production equipment to improve its reliability and performance. MGTS will explain its unique approach to technical training designed for both mature and new entrant employees across a wide range of engineering disciplines.

HAZEX
Successfully launched last year, the HAZEX area brings the UK’s top hazard prevention experts and innovations under one roof. For instance in a world first, CorDEX Instruments, the UK manufacturer of instrumentation and equipment for hazardous environments, is introducing its new TC 7000 intrinsically safe thermal imaging camera at HAZEX.

Newson Gale is showcasing its Bond-Rite® static earthing clamps plus its Earth-Rite series of hazardous area static grounding systems. Also in this area R.STAHL is introducing IS1+ a key innovation for the company’s already leading explosion-protected remote I/O system IS1.

DENIOS is running a live and explosive free lecture. Running for all three days this experimental lecture uses graphic demonstrations to explore the limitations of flammable materials in the workplace.

And the Winner is…
The winners of the first ever MAINTEC Maintenance Professional Awards will also be announced live from the show floor. There are two categories: ‘Maintenance Professional of the Year’ and, in support of newer entrants to the industry, ‘Maintenance Apprentice of the Year.’

MAINTEC is free to attend and pre-registration is advised to avoid queues on the day. Register visit www.easyfairs.com/maintecuk.