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In the UK, current estimates indicate that the grey market for bearings accounts for between 12 and 15 per cent of total UK bearing sales. Not only does a growing grey market open up routes for more counterfeit products to enter the market, it also puts end users and distributors at greater risk of costly breakdowns, litigation and void warranties.

How do purchasers of bearings actually know that the products they are buying are genuine and will perform as well as they say on the datasheet? Most don

The first step toward realizing this goal is to figure out where you are presently. Determining the present baselines and gaps that exist in your processes and organization is best accomplished by performing a reliability assessment. This exercise will point out the areas within your business that need to be addressed from a reliability perspective. All facets of your organization must be analyzed. We have identified 21 key elements that, when integrated, provide the basis for reliability excellence (Fig. 1). Assessing the current state of each of these elements will identify the gaps that exist and provide the basis for a master plan of improvement.

Master plan

A master plan is the tool that tracks what must be done, who will do it, and in what time frame the task(s) will be completed.

The master plan should initially outline the process-launching activities. These activities include reviewing the master plan and initiating the improvement process, developing the return on investment, establishing a reliability excellence leadership team, and identifing focus teams and support resources.

The definition and use of Overall Equipment Effectiveness over the years has been widely debated.

Many practitioners have found that OEE has several uses and definitions which have led to
considerable confusion when comparing machine-to-machine, plant-to-plant, or company-tocompany.
Unfortunately, OEE was not designed to make comparisons from machine-to-machine,
plant-to-plant, or company-to-company, but it has evolved to these common levels of misuse. OEE is not a statistically valid metric, but it has been used as such for years.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the original intent of Overall Equipment Effectiveness as a metric and a measure. I initially learned OEE from Seiichi Nakajima, the

Sira is a world leader in the conformity assessment solutions field, specialising in explosion protection of equipment used in potentially explosive atmospheres (Hazardous Areas).

Already the UK

Sira is a world leader in the conformity assessment solutions field, specialising in explosion protection of equipment used in potentially explosive atmospheres (Hazardous Areas).

Already the UK

We

With advancements in digital electronics and reduced component costs in recent years, monitoring instruments for use in condition-based maintenance programs have become more cost-effective and dependable. Machinery does not need to be taken out of service as many tests are done online, and in many cases very little expertise is required for testing and data interpretation. This enables the user to make well-informed decisions for planning maintenance and repairs, which ultimately leads to increased productivity.

This article concentrates on one technology that has been developed to reliably detect broken rotor bars, abnormal levels of air gap eccentricity, and other problems in squirrel cage induction motors and driven components using motor current signature analysis (MCSA).

Consequences of broken rotor bars
Rotor windings in squirrel cage induction motors are manufactured from aluminum alloy, copper, or copper alloy. Larger motors generally have rotors and end-rings fabricated out of these whereas motors with ratings less than a few hundred horsepower generally have die-cast aluminum alloy rotor cages. 

Leading maintenance repair and operation (M.R.O.) organizations are leveraging a range of best practices for optimal asset performance. Such methods encompass maintenance best practices that drive efficiencies and equipment life cycles, as well as cost-cutting ideas from allied industries like field services.

Efficiently run field service teams have, for years, used and benefited from automated scheduling applications that deliver the right service tech to the right location at the lowest cost. They have cut wasteful travel and duplicate visit expenses to complete more service calls that better serve their customers and extend asset life.

Conversely, asset managers are well aware that more work order information and background, with more details, in the hands of technicians at the point-of-performance is a key productivity driver that means improved equipment performance. Data captures reported electronically also are driving better decision-making by management, in addition to fueling accurate and timely compliance reporting.