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.

06/12/2012 Making MRO matter Surprising as it may seem, some plants and factories may be expending too much of their maintenance effort in the wrong direction. Brian Wall reports » Read More

05/10/2012 Good acoustics? It's a poor workman that blames his tools, goes the proverb. But on machinery condition monitoring, it's been understandable. However, all of that is about to change, writes Brian Tinham » Read More

05/04/2012 Operator-driven reliability programme does it for Stora Enso Global paper, packaging and wood products firm Stora Enso is reporting significant benefits since introducing SKF's operator-driven reliability (ODR) programme. » Read More

06/02/2012 Plant & Asset Management 2012 Does the industrial maintenance sector need another exhibition? The organisers of MACH, Drives & Controls, Air-Tech and IFPEX clearly think so. Brian Tinham looks at the line-up » Read More

07/12/2011 Adding value Talk to Lean specialists and, surprisingly, they'll tell you the real deal in equipment service is not planned, nor even preventive maintenance. Brian Tinham talks to Dennis McCarthy about how transform engineering » Read More

06/10/2011 Tip top condition? Predictive maintenance is an important route to cutting costs and improving plant performance. And, says Brian Tinham, the condition monitoring technologies upon which it relies are ripe for the picking » Read More

07/04/2011 Managing maintenance Computerised maintenance management systems – CMMS – are helping to breathe new life into enlightened plant operations, as Brian Wall reports » Read More

07/04/2011 Risk-based changes Get it right and the savings can be huge, but get it wrong and the cost is unimaginable. Brian Tinham talks to John Wintle about changing best practice for hazardous plant inspections » Read More

09/02/2011 Maintec 2011 preview This year's tightly focused maintenance technologies event is aimed at engineers, technicians and managers specialising in plant assets. Brian Tinham reports » Read More

09/02/2011 No Crystal Ball A wide range of tools and techniques is now available to ease the task of predicting when and what maintenance is required on machines and plant units. Steed Webzell reports » Read More

09/12/2010 Brammer makes cross-channel dash to keep Crown Bevcan running Manufacturing group Crown Bevcan reports that Brammer came to its rescue recently, transporting equipment via taxi from France to its Leicester plant overnight, to keep production running. » Read More

06/10/2010 Predicting problems Using condition monitoring technologies to anticipate a requirement for critical plant maintenance isn't new, but novel systems are improving the potential, reports Dr Tom Shelley » Read More

01/03/2010 Fixing maintenance Properly implemented, maintenance management systems can help transform the efficiency of plant engineering departments. Steed Webzell reports on what makes best practice » Read More

01/01/2010 Maintec 2010 show Getting maintenance right, and squeezing that bit extra out of existing and new plant, is the name of the game for 2010. Brian Wall suggests taking a day at Maintec 2010 » Read More

01/01/2010 Asset improver Plant condition monitoring equipment is more accessible than ever. But where should you be thinking about using it? Brian Tinham takes expert advice » Read More

01/08/2009 Mending maintenance Right tools, right parts and engineering team competence are all keys to getting maintenance slick and effective. But alone, they're not enough, as Brian Tinham discovers » Read More

01/08/2009 Life in the old dog yet? Will plant that is specified to run for 20 years do so quite comfortably? Brian Tinham talks to Allianz Engineering's Glyn Amphlett about the real world of plant ageing » Read More

01/06/2009 Better crystal balls With a breakdown in plant sometimes so catastrophic (failures of lubrication pumps have resulted in shutdowns of more than a year before new parts could be made), it is astonishing that so few plant engineers make use of increasingly ... » Read More

01/02/2009 Maintaining a balance Why is it that, when plant can fail so completely and expensively, many organisations still turn their backs on preventive maintenance tools? Brian Wall looks at some options » Read More

01/02/2009 Maintec show What - Maintec exhibition and conference Where - NEC, Birmingham When - 17-19 March 2009 » Read More

01/12/2008 Plant life matters Although the cost of components - such as rolling element bearings, rotors and fasteners - in hydraulic pumps is usually very small, compared to the list price of the pumps themselves, the cost of stopped production and any consequential ... » Read More

01/08/2008 Cost versus risk Here's a thing. Suppose you've got condition monitoring in place on plant: if you find some equipment trending towards failure, what should you do? Or suppose you haven't gone the condition monitoring route, so you're running planned ... » Read More

01/06/2008 Peak performance Maintenance is about looking after plant, right? So how much we spend on it, depends on the value of that plant. That's how we make our decisions over what maintenance policy to apply - break/fix, preventive, predictive. Isn't it? And, if ... » Read More

01/02/2008 Global warning For some engineers, questions about how much money could have been saved if a major failure had been predicted, trigger thoughts about the cost of expensive process interruptions and downtime. For others, it's all about avoiding ... » Read More

01/04/2007 Seeing is believing Plant maintenance has always been seen as a necessary evil. So the idea of investing cash in technologies to predict when and what might be necessary doesn't cut much ice with many managers. They understand the basics of break/fix, where ... » Read More