Maintec show01 February 2009

What - Maintec exhibition and conference
Where - NEC, Birmingham
When - 17-19 March 2009

Maintec, the UK asset and maintenance management show and conference, opens its doors on 17 March at the NEC - and with the recession forcing plant managers to prioritise cost savings and efficiency measures, a visit could be very worthwhile.

As show organiser EasyFairs' UK managing director Peter Heath says: 'In tough times, when budgets for new capital expenditure are tight, effectively maintaining existing assets and machinery is paramount for factory bosses. Maintec is all about the kinds of technologies and products needed.'

Looking at the conference on 18 March, this year's Maintec Summit is to be chaired by former trade union chief Lord Bill Jordan CBE, who spent 20 years with GKN and was formerly president of the Amalgamated Engineering Union and general secretary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.

Now governor of Ashridge College and president of RoSPA, he says: 'The summit promises delegates an opportunity to benchmark their capability, set performance expectations, manage the risks and regulatory pressures, and build a case for change.'

Best engineering plant
He cites maintenance projects such as that at rubber belt and hose manufacturer Gates Power Transmission, in Dumfries, whose lean initiative was pivotal in achieving Best Engineering Plant at last year's SOE-sponsored Best Factory Awards, and Schaeffler UK's engine components plant in Llanelli, which won the Best Manufacturing Plant at the Wales Quality Awards last year. Meanwhile, John Woodhouse, managing director of The Woodhouse Partnership - an authority on asset performance - will explain how plant managers can massively improve on value from maintenance budgets.

Also, the Institute of Asset Management says it will show how UK factories can raise their game, with a focus on how chronic and sporadic failures need to be addressed. And David Wright, chief executive of the West Midlands Manufacturing Advisory Service, will deliver the Maintec 2009 keynote, looking at the health of UK manufacturing and opportunities for improvement.

Tuning into the show itself, Holroyd Instruments says it will launch its predictive maintenance software, Vitae Pro, for machinery rotating at speeds down to 10rpm. Its solution is said to allow maintenance engineers to remotely interrogate sensors on inaccessible plant, and converts signals to ?wav' files, so that users can ?listen' to outputs. Then, for electric motors, Whitelegg is introducing a new automatic winding analyser with high current test capability; while, for vibration monitoring, sensor manufacturer Monitran says that it will be highlighting a brand new range of ac accelerometers on its stand.

Moving on to test and measurement, Fluke UK's latest thermal imaging cameras (Ti10 and Ti25) will be available for visitors to play with. Talk to Fluke about its IR Fusion, which integrates infrared and visible images for ease of interpretation, but also ask about training requirements.

Similarly, get along to Flir's stand: the company hopes to show its new entry-level thermal cameras, pitched at a price to enable plant engineers to use them as basic maintenance tools. The Flir i40 and i60 cameras will be its first compact models featuring laser pointers to help with fault finding.

Finally, there's an opportunity to find out more about lubrication from Shell UK Oil Products and Rocol. Shell makes the point that, with increasingly complex machinery comes the need for careful fluid management. Its focus will be on the Cassida range of food grade lubricants, plus a new range of energy-efficient products.

Meanwhile, Rocol intends to unveil Foodlube Premier, a triple-life food grade grease for high-temperature and high-speed applications, such as linear bearings, slides, electric motors and fans.

SOE

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