Maintenance, Repair and Operations Feature Library

Operations Engineer's library catalogues editorial features going back five years.

Access to all archive material is free to all, including non-members of IPlantE (the Institution of Operations Engineers) or BES (Bureau of Engineer Surveyors), under the umbrella of SOE (Society of Operations Engineers). However, to discover the many benefits of becoming an SOE member, please click here.

02/10/2024 A show of strength The predictive maintenance market is bulking up at a rapid rate, driven by the rising adoption of increasingly powerful emerging technologies. Brian Wall investigates the sector and finds out what the future might hold » Read More

12/10/2023 What’s going on with Aveva Industrial software provider Aveva launched a new version of its industrial predictive monitoring software earlier this year, which promises new features and benefits. It builds on some 20 years of development, and is helping industrial ... » Read More

01/12/2021 Maintaining frequency inverters Failure modes, inspection and maintenance, diagnostics and troubleshooting, as well as the general checks for non-specialists: all are covered in this overview article by Jody Muelaner » Read More

22/07/2021 How to implement maintenance systems Philipp Wallner, industry manager, industrial automation & machinery at MathWorks (developer of mathematical computing software tools including MATLAB and Simulink), offers his advice » Read More

27/10/2020 Master dashboard A collaborative, non-profit initiative to serve internet-of-things data across any number of devices and assets, is now gearing up for the next phase of rollout. According to its founders, its development is seen as the natural evolution ... » Read More

22/10/2020 Should military aircraft technicians be licenced to a common European standard? Defence cuts are nothing new. The UK’s armed forces’ role changes as frequently as the Guard. But now the UK government has announced it doesn’t want its military aircraft technicians licenced to a common European standard. What are its ... » Read More

13/04/2020 Pop culture AG Barr’s factory in Milton Keynes, UK, has worked with consultancy firm MCP to provide shopfloor staff with basic maintenance skills. Enter the ECO warriors » Read More

08/01/2020 A CM approach Abayomi Obisesan, asset reliability engineer at Optimal Asset Maintenance Solutions, discusses the relevance of condition monitoring to equipment maintenance strategy development » Read More

07/10/2019 Maintec 2019 – it’s show time When? 30-31 October 2019 | Where? National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Birmingham, UK, B40 1NT » Read More

03/06/2019 Inside job Manually-operated inspection vehicles are used to inspect pipelines and pipework. But the days of these vehicles may be numbered, as researchers look at truly autonomous inspection and repairs » Read More

04/04/2019 A measure of success Developments among industrial system and component suppliers are changing the rules of inspection of fixed industrial assets: goodbye clipboard, hello tablet. OE offers an overview of how these systems work, their benefits and drawbacks, ... » Read More

04/04/2019 Interview: AI for industrial inspection Artificial Intelligence for Industrial Inspection was the title, and subject, of a January conference organised by the Bristol Robotics Lab and the Centre for Modelling & Simulation. The latter’s AI domain specialist, Kiran Krishnamurthy, ... » Read More

05/12/2018 Immersed in technology Augmented and virtual reality are not new to industry, but a recent report from Capgemini has highlighted that repair and maintenance are the most popular focus of implementation efforts. In what ways can this technology aid workers in ... » Read More

21/08/2018 Getting smart Mark Venables speaks to Conal Brown, technical consultant at ABB, about how being smart allows maintenance of machinery to be carried out in a cheaper, faster and more effective way to enhance the bottom line » Read More

02/07/2018 End game for maintenance Disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics are pushing maintenance into a digital future, as Mark Venables explains » Read More

02/07/2018 The maintenance dilemma For manufacturers, there are tough decisions to make about how much effort is required to maintain a plant of product at a level where breakdowns will be rare enough to ensure volume targets are met, as Mark Venables discovers » Read More

30/04/2018 Data-driven MRO Maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) items are used in production and plant maintenance, and include maintenance supplies, spare parts and consumables used in the production process. But, as Mark Venables explains, in the drive towards ... » Read More

28/12/2017 The future of maintenance Mark Venables looks at the role of the maintenance engineer in the factory of the future » Read More

09/12/2014 How do you shape up? A quarter of factory management teams lack a formal maintenance strategy, while a third are oblivious to the costs of downtime, according to research. Time for a wake-up call, says Max Gosney » Read More

23/10/2014 Age concern A sharp focus on maintenance can result in significant improvements in factory operations, but too many managers struggle to take seriously the upkeep of their plant and equipment, says Ian Vallely » Read More

14/06/2014 Unsafe maintenance Sadly, maintenance engineers and technicians are still being seriously injured and even killed as they carry out their tasks. Brian Tinham asks HSE chair Judith Hackitt, why? » Read More

24/04/2013 In or out? Can outsourcing give you anything more than you can get from your own maintenance department? » Read More

10/04/2013 Check, act, plan, do Deming's 'plan, do, check, act' is best revised as 'check, act, plan, do' for maintenance professionals. Brian Tinham looks at the role of CMMS/EAM systems in making that happen. » Read More

11/02/2013 Maintenance expo With Maintec 2013 just a few short weeks away, Brian Tinham previews this show, specifically designed for maintenance technicians and engineering managers » Read More

16/01/2013 Joined-up thinking Why waste the skills and first-hand knowledge of operators? Annie Gregory explores simpler strategies for involving them in asset care » Read More