Is there anybody here in the maintenance reliability field?

[hower610]

Just as the title says, if so, I need to tap into your knowledge bank.

[afmo]

what kind of maintenance? i worked in a maintenance dept for a few years....but what are you looking for?

[hower610]

I am taking over the reliability department in a slaughter facility. One of my first projects is to turn our lubrication program around. I am not sure where to start. just looking for advice and I figured I would try here.

[retired]

Hey, there is a slaughterhouse in Chino, Ca. that just closed, maybe some of the former employees can help you. And if you need any cows moved with a forklift, they can help in that area also.

I have been waiting to be able to post something about that place.

[hower610]

Originally Posted by retired

Hey, there is a slaughterhouse in Chino, Ca. that just closed, maybe some of the former employees can help you. And if you need any cows moved with a forklift, they can help in that area also.

I have been waiting to be able to post something about that place.

Westland Foods?

[Popa75]

I used to do fleet maint, I will try to help.
Step 1, Inventory all equipment, The company probably already did this but do it on your own and enter it into an exell spread sheet
Step 2, figure out when and how much each machine needs to be lubed
Step 3, document and inspect every friction point (this will give you an indication if what your doing is working)
Step 4, make sure you have the right lube and tools for the job
Step 5, Put all of this info together and stick to the program , if there are others that are going to do maintenace as well hold them accountable and make sure there are places to inital on your report.

I hope this helps alittle if you have more questions just ask and I will answer as best I can.
Brian

[hounddog]

I might be able to help you, I am responsible for the plant operations and maintenance of 6 large dams here in the Texas Hill Country, First of all, you would most likely want to make sure you are using a food grade grease in all your rotaing equipment such as pumps, motors, conveyors etc.
Plus, hopefully you have some sort of computerized maintenance management system that will help you track periodic maintence on your equipment. If not, a simple card file will work fine.

[hounddog]

Oh yeah, Popa75 hit it on the head, stick to your program. Normally, most all your equipment documentation will have some type of recommended maintence schedule.

[billbrasky]

Originally Posted by Popa75

I used to do fleet maint, I will try to help.
Step 1, Inventory all equipment, The company probably already did this but do it on your own and enter it into an exell spread sheet
Step 2, figure out when and how much each machine needs to be lubed
Step 3, document and inspect every friction point (this will give you an indication if what your doing is working)
Step 4, make sure you have the right lube and tools for the job
Step 5, Put all of this info together and stick to the program , if there are others that are going to do maintenace as well hold them accountable and make sure there are places to inital on your report.

I hope this helps alittle if you have more questions just ask and I will answer as best I can.
Brian

I am not in machine maintenance but if the company will pay for it seems logical to inventory the most likely to fail parts and have lots of spare parts, know how to install, and if it makes sense do a cost analysis on maybe replacing parts BEFORE they break as routine maintenance. I have no idea your guys cost structure and how much you loose with down time and people twiddling fingers, or if you guys run 24/7 etc. That would obviously make a big difference.

If machine operators have their own dedicated machine per their shift I would keep track of who breaks what how often maybe there is employee error you can correct with more training and save some money there also.

[afmo]

dunno how much i can help ya, but i can try...when i worked in maintenance, our program was in shambles. We had a new boss come in and turned the thing around in a matter of about 8 months into an efficiency machine LOL... I'm not exactly sure what it is you're looking for, but i'll throw some of my experiences out there and maybe you'll find a gem you can use.

The first steps we took in assessing our program was to 1) identify what we're supposed to do 2) identify what we're NOT supposed to do and 3) identify who's supposed to do it. Once we had those in order, its time to identify the specific problems.

Once we identified the specific problems we were having with our program (i.e. wasteful practices, slacking workers, breaking machines etc) then we went and looked at them one by one. The single biggest thing that we did to fix our problems was holding people accountable for their jobs. it seems self explanatory, but its amazing how much people don't get held accountable. We started requiring mileage sheets for vehicles, check out tags for equipment etc. When the oil needed changed in the mowers for example, the person who's job it was to change it had to sign and date a roster with what they did, the amount of product they used, and the amount of time it took them to do it. After an amount of time, we took all the sheets, averaged out the time it took to do this, the amount of time this machine was used, etc etc. If we found that someone was taking 2 weeks to do a task that other people were doing in 1 week, we let them know that. If people weren't getting tasks done because they needed a certain machine that we only had 1 or 2 of, then we got more of those machines... and we re-audited those numbers bi-annually. As people realized that they were being held accountable for their jobs and their equipment and maintaining the equipment they were using, efficiency skyrocketed. Pretty much, you can get an amazing feel for your operation if you put it all on paper and go back and look at whats going on.

Dunno if thats what your looking for but maybe you'll find an idea or two