Latest Case Studies & White Papers

Major investment in new plant will practically double output at the Simpson

By monitoring the vibrations from critical components inside a hydraulic pump, fan, blower or compressor, companies can improve their plant efficiencies, eliminate production downtime and increase the operating life and reliability of plant equipment, says Ian Taylor of Corus Northern Engineering Services (CNES).Although the cost of a component inside a hydraulic pump, such as a rolling element bearing, rotor or fastener, is often very small compared to the total cost of the pump, the cost of production downtime and any consequential losses as a result of a component failure, are often significant.

For a processing plant, the typical cost of production downtime can equate to hundreds of thousands of pounds per day. Lost production in a paper mill, for example, equates to around

After implementing an EAM or CMMS1 system, many companies are disappointed to discover that the system provides hardly any useful management information. However, if you ask the same companies what information or performance indicators they exactly need to fulfil and track their maintenance strategy, many of them cannot provide a clear answer.

If you are unclear of your destination, don

Rocketing energy demands

When Triumph Motorcycles required a new seal within a three month lead time they turned to Pioneer Weston International, a division of ERIKS UK to develop and supply the seal.

The design and purchasing teams at Triumph Motorcycles needed help when extreme pre-production testing of prototypes of a new model revealed that enhanced sealing for the gearbox output shaft would improve performance and reliability.

Faced with the challenge of sourcing the custom designed and manufactured seal on a short time scale,  the engineers at Triumph Motorcycles turned to an organisation which not only had proven expertise in seals, but also an excellent reputation for providing a fast response

Corus Process Engineering (CPE), part of Corus Northern Engineering Services (CNES) has successfully completed the manufacture and assembly of two, six-metre diameter steel lifting girdles that will be used to remove (lift and tail) the 400-tonne heat exchangers from the reactors at Calder Hall nuclear power plant in Cumbria.

Each reactor has four vertically mounted heat exchangers. These are located externally to the reactor building and were clad for insulation and weather protection. The heat exchangers weigh around 400 tonnes and measure 27m in length with a diameter of 5.5m. This will represent the largest ever lift in the UK nuclear industry. CPE delivered the lifting girdles to its customer Nuvia Limited (formerly NUKEM Limited) at the end of February 2008. Nuvia is one of several contractors chosen by Sellafield Limited to decommission the Calder Hall site.

Talking to Joel Leonard, the

Mahatma Gandhi was once asked what he thought of Western civilization. He replied that he thought it would be a good idea. The same thought comes to mind when considering management skills in maintenance departments.

Maintenance personnel often become leaders by the touch of

When we purchase a machine we accept that it will not last forever. The problem isn

Over the past 17 years, Management of Change (MOC) has received increased attention at chemical plants and refineries due to the promulgation of new OSHA regulations. Officially designated 29CFR 1910.119 Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals, the OSHA PSM regulations state that any time a critical component in an oil or chemical plant changes, a formal MOC program is required to ensure that the proposed change is made safely.

However, recent analysis conducted by Gateway Consulting Group, a specialist in the design and implementation of enterprise content management (ECM) solutions for chemical and petrochemical plant environments, notes that while plant owners are in compliance with OSHA regulations, their MOC processes are not necessarily efficient. [Ref. 1]

Evidence of poor efficiency includes:Long cycle times for MOC closure; The need for, and hiring of, temporary staff to