Below are descriptions of MARTS 2012 Conferences, divided by category, in alphabetical order by title. MARTS 2012 Conferences are held Tuesday, March 13 and Wednesday, March 14. Download a PDF of the MARTS 2012 Conference schedule here.

Click here to register for MARTS 2012.

Green

Go Lean And Green: Align The Machine
Presenter: David Jackson, Ludeca, Inc. 
This presentation covers the green benefits and importance of precision machine alignment and how it can benefit in four areas: energy savings, improved machine life, better products and less pollution -- all of which help achieve plant reliability and efficiency while "Going Green." It will also discuss how sound operating practices and well-developed procedures combined with adherence to alignment guidelines at installation and during maintenance should be a priority.

Increase Sustainability by Adopting Reliability Best Practices
Presenter: Johnny Bofilios, Director of Reliability Solutions, Life Cycle Engineering
It's well known that there is a direct connection between the reliability of assets and their consumption of energy. The pursuit of Reliability Excellence helps companies eliminate waste and use energy more efficiently, which enables them to achieve their environmental sustainability goals. When embarking on a reliability journey it is important to identify strategies to monitor and reduce your plant's energy consumption, thus extending asset life. In this presentation, attendees will learn how to reduce their organization's environmental impact by implementing reliability best practices.

Optimizing Pump-System Performance: The Link Between Energy Efficiency and Improved Reliability
Presenter: Roland McKinney, Consultant, Energy and Sustainability Management, SKF Service Division
Life cycle costs associated with pumping systems can be reduced, not only by improving energy efficiency but also through lower maintenance costs and improved reliability. Using an integrated approach, plant personnel can monitor pump-system performance and assess the effect of wear on internal components without need for production and asset intervention. This is similar to a condition monitoring program, but also integrates energy management to provide a total picture of pump health. Benefits include determination of when it is economically viable to rebuild a pump to restore energy efficiency, as well as when mechanical maintenance is necessary.

Sustainable Production for Improved Financial Performance and Global Competitiveness
Presenters: Phil Kaufman, Business Manager, Industrial Energy Management, Rockwell Automation; and Troy Pfaff, Global Environmental Manager, Rockwell Automation
Consumers increasingly expect manufacturers to practice social responsibility in making their products. Employee empowerment both supports this effort and improves a company's brand reputation by contributing to a healthy environment, conserving energy and keeping workers safe. This presentation explores how sustainable production can help manufacturers overcome many of today's efficiency, productivity and asset-management challenges. Topics include how to analyze energy consumption, quality versus production, how to involve manufacturing and maintenance staffs in energy dashboards and reports, and how to invest in resource-efficient technologies. Participants will learn how these strategies have helped Rockwell Automation and its customers boost financial performance, improve global competitiveness and have a more positive impact on our environment and society.

Lubrication

Leak-Detection and Lubrication Management Using Acoustical Ultrasonic Receivers
Presenter: Mike Gilley, Principal, Fox River Systems
How do you know if you're under- or over-lubricated? How can you avoid costly machine breakdowns? And, how can you reduce the cost of delivering compressed air/gas in your facility? This presentation answers these questions as it explores the application of ultrasonic receivers for: 1) identification of leaks in compressed gas delivery systems and vacuums, 2)  machine/bearing condition monitoring and trending, and 3) lubrication management.

Maximize Oil Life With Condition Management
Presenter: Jarrod Potteiger, CMRP, Education Services Manager, Des-Case Corp.
It is a common myth in the world of lubrication that oil doesn't actually go bad, but only gets dirty. The truth is that lubricating oil can fail in a number of ways, including oxidation, thermal degradation, hydrolysis, additive loss and contamination. While some of these mechanisms are irreversible, it is not only possible, but relatively easy to control the factors that cause them. Oxidation rates are largely dependent on temperature and contamination levels, which are easy to manage. Thermal degradation can often be minimized or eliminated. Additive integrity can be preserved by managing operating conditions or renewed by re-additizing the oil. All of these methods of degradation can be identified and quantified through analysis. This session will describe in detail the causes and effects of lubricant degradation and explain many of the simple, effective ways to manage root causes for maximum service life.

Maintenance & Reliability

7 Deadly Wastes in Maintenance: How to Identify, Quantify and Eliminate Productivity Killers
Presenter: Ed Stanek, President, LAI Reliability 
Well known in the Lean World, the Seven Wastes (Muda) are typically applied to production applications. However, these Seven Wastes are easily found in maintenance, and responsible for reducing maintenance effectiveness as much as 75%! This session follows the DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve, control) Model to identify the Seven Wastes in maintenance with examples in Corrective, Reactive and, surprisingly, Preventive Maintenance work types. By identifying these non-value-added losses in your system, you can measure the impact on both your systems and the overall operation, as well as analyze the gaps in your maintenance/reliability master plan.

Balancing Theory and Field Balancing Tips
Presenter: Alex Nino, Application Engineer, Ludeca, Inc.
Balancing is one of the cornerstones of maintaining smooth-running machinery. Often considered confusing and difficult, field balancing is actually quite straightforward. This presentation will help attendees understand how field balancing works in practical, easy-to-understand terms. It will also cover common problems often encountered when field balancing, and tips for getting the job done right.

Communicating With Accelerometers: Are Wires Really Necessary?
Presenter: Renard Klubnik, Applications Engineer, Meggitt Sensing Systems
Accelerometers are regularly used for condition-based monitoring. Cables and connectors are the primary components used to send information to monitoring equipment for storage, trending or analysis. Inattention to cable types, sensor connections and shielding often results in poor data being received at the instrumentation. With growing interest in wireless data communication, the importance of using the proper signal transmission path is even more critical. This presentation looks at what goes into proper cable selection, installation and termination. In addition, the challenges associated with wireless communication of accelerometer data are investigated.

Don't Let Your Bearings Fail You: Maximize the Reliability of Your Rotating Equipment  
Presenter: Dwight A. Vicars, Product Manager, Inpro/Seal, LLC
A review of the root causes of premature bearing failure on rotating equipment and methods on how to determine if they are affecting your applications. Armed with this knowledge, learn what you can do to maximize your rotating equipment reliability.

The Future of Self-Monitoring, Self-Diagnostic Maintenance
Presenter: Paul Rahilly, President, Mtelligence
To meet the challenge to elevate manufacturing intelligence and predict asset health, optimize maintenance and plant operations, increase production availability and enable a predictive maintenance and operations strategy, manufacturers need new tools. In this presentation, learn how to unlock the old antiquated maintenance philosophy known as calendar-based maintenance to one based on self-monitoring and self-diagnostic maintenance systems.

Get to the Root Cause of Your Maintenance Issues
Presenter: Anthony Manos, 'Catalyst,' Profero, Inc.
This session helps you learn how to reach the root cause of your maintenance issues and breakdowns using real-world examples and practical steps. Case studies will be shared on what teams did to uncover the root cause of a problem and what happened when they didn't. Find out how to apply the "5 Whys" and other tools effectively. See how to include scientific thinking in your maintenance applications in a simple way. Develop better teamwork between maintenance personnel, operators and management. Learn the six principles that will give you better maintenance results. We all know we need to take better care of our equipment and machines; this session shows how and why.

Going Deep to Prevent Catastrophic Failure in a Platinum Mine
Presenter: Noah Bethel, CMRP, Vice President of Product Development, PdMA Corp.
Almost 6,000 feet below the surface, deep in the shaft of a platinum mine, is not the ideal place for a catastrophic motor failure -- especially when that motor keeps water from flooding the mine. While many believe preventive motor maintenance is the best protective strategy for preventing such failure, a South African mining company has found predictive maintenance to be a better alternative, and with good reason. The strategy saved the company thousands of dollars it would have spent on repairs to correct an imminent and potentially catastrophic motor failure. With the mine case study as background, this presentation covers how to implement a motor reliability program, apply electrical fault-zone analysis principles, and monitor motor assets using a cradle-to-grave reliability approach.

How Weekly Scheduling Improves Productivity for a Large Midwestern Food Processor
Presenters: Doc Palmer, Managing Partner, Richard Palmer and Associates; and Jim Kennedy, Operations Manager, Corn Products U.S.
When the large, food-processing plant operated by Corn Products, Inc., in Argo, IL, recently fine-tuned its maintenance planning, it realized great gains in maintenance productivity. One key to success was a disciplined weekly scheduling effort that set goals for work completion. In this presentation, learn how management unleashed the power of goal setting in maintenance when it learned to walk the fine line between placing importance on the schedule and allowing supervisors the freedom to react to urgent plant needs that break the schedule. Before-and-after wrench-time studies helped Argo confirm the opportunities and subsequent improvement.

Infrared Thermography: What's Hot in PdM
Presenter: R. James Seffrin, Director, Infraspection Institute
Once an obscure technology, thermography has matured to enjoy worldwide use for a broad range of applications. Thermography is now used routinely for PPM, PdM and Condition Monitoring for electrical and mechanical systems, buildings and roofs, boilers and steam systems, and process equipment. This presentation will discuss the benefits of thermography, current applications, and how to initiate and maintain an infrared inspection program. It is intended for anyone wishing to understand the application, uses, and benefits of infrared thermography.

Innovative Tips, Techniques and Ideas Guaranteed to Improve Maintenance Effectiveness
Presenter: Ken Bannister, Principal, Engtech Industries, Inc., and Maintenance Technology contributing editor
Everyone loves a great idea, and loves it even more when able to adopt it for their own purposes! In this presentation, Ken Bannister, author of the popular "Don't Procrastinate ... Innovate!" column in Maintenance Technology magazine, shares his 40 years of experience in developing, collecting and analyzing innovative approaches to the design and maintenance of machinery and assets. By adopting any one of the tools, tips, techniques and ideas he explains, you could save your company many thousands of dollars and make your conference really worthwhile!

Maintenance and Reliability Assessment: Is World Class Right For Your Facility?
Presenter: Dave Rosenthal, P.E., Reliability and Asset Management Manager for Global Field Services NA, Jacobs Engineering
Many sites want to be world-class, but most don't do anything about it! In fact, world-class maintenance and reliability practices are not for every site. A manufacturing facility must first understand its role in its business to justify the need for high levels of performing these practices. Some sites are considered "cash-cows" where the site's role is to generate cash for the business. Under this scenario, practices such as strategic asset care are vital to guard against production downtime, but a world-class status for other practices is not needed. This presentation will provide guidelines for justifying world-class attainment of maintenance and reliability practices based on an evaluation of the site's business role. Attendees will learn about assessment processes, tools, and techniques that have an outcome to address this justification.

Rotating-Machinery Triage
Presenter: Howard Penrose, Vice President, Dreisilker Electric Motors, Inc.
One in five electric machines is pulled from service for unnecessary repair. Eighty percent of rotating-machine failures are the result, not the cause, of equipment downtime. This presentation discusses the basics of approaching rotating machines to determine the condition and cause of failure. It is aimed at technicians, supervisors and managers responsible for the reliability of electric motor systems.

Sensor and Instrumentation Intelligence for Effective Maintenance
Presenter: Gary Mintchell, Editor-in-Chief, Automation World magazine
Managing an efficient, effective maintenance organization requires sufficient timely information. Today, the right information is more plentiful and accurate than ever, thanks to significant advances in sensor and instrumentation design. In this presentation, learn how advances such as sensors with higher intelligence capacity and the coupling of instrumentation and digital networks with advanced diagnostic software offer valuable new management tools for maintenance professionals.

The Top 5 Best Maintenance Practices of World-Class Companies
Presenter: Enrique Mora, Principal, Mora International Consulting Services
Five best practices separate world-class maintenance organizations from the rest of the pack. These are: work-order system implementation; CMMS implementation and training; root cause analysis; cross-training; and preventive maintenance. In this presentation, attendees learn a fresh perspective on how these proven strategies transform the concept of maintenance from cost center to a productive activity that generates demonstrable savings. Even in the fortunate case that your maintenance organization is doing all of these, you will find opportunities to elevate the results!

Special

Beware of Counterfeit Parts!
Instructor: Bob Williamson, President, Strategic Work Systems; Contributing Editor, Maintenance Technology magazine
Knock-off videotapes, DVDs, purses, software and shoes have long been a staple of offshore counterfeiters. Now, these entrepreneurs have entered the MRO marketplace. Since 2004, growth of fake mechanical and electrical parts coming into the MRO supply chain has skyrocketed, propelled by Internet marketing and purchasing departments shopping for the lowest possible prices. And it's going to get worse before it gets worse! In this presentation, learn how to become acutely aware of the signs of counterfeit parts and supplies we routinely use in our work. This session expands on several recent articles in Maintenance Technology magazine by the presenter.

Electric Power Generation and the Impact of Federal Regulations on the Industrial Sector
Presenter: Bill Livoti, Power Generation/Engineering Manager, GIW/KSB Florida Service Center
Proposed regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency are designed to further reduce emissions released to the air by fossil-fired (coal) electric power plants. Other EPA regulations already in place will affect water and waste systems of certain power plants with open-loop cooling systems. These regulations will mean the retirement of many older plants due to the cost of retrofitting, as other power plants are brought into compliance gradually over the next decade. In this presentation, learn how these regulations will impact utilities, industrial end-users and the economic recovery.

The Frito-Lay North America Reliability Journey
Presenters: Jim Northcutt, Director of Maintenance and Engineering, Frito-Lay North America; and Richard Cole, Director of Maintenance and Engineering, Frito-Lay Fayetteville, TN, plant 
Representatives from Frito-Lay North America -- winner of the 2011 North American Maintenance Excellence (NAME) Award for its Fayetteville, TN, plant -- recount the food manufacturer's maintenance & reliability journey that took it from high levels of unscheduled downtime to world class in 10 years. Northcutt and Cole explain how, after making major investments in reliability and improving operating efficiencies, Frito-Lay achieved the first recognition for its efforts with the Fayetteville plant's NAME Award win. Note: This presentation will open the MARTS Plenary Session, Wednesday, March 14 at 4:00 p.m. 

How a Community College Partnership Can Address the Skills Shortage
Presenter: Mark Combs, Project Director, Community Based Job Training Grant, Parkland College
Learn how a partnership between manufacturers and a community college can address the need for training skilled technicians. In his third year as Project Director at Parkland College in Champaign, IL, Mark Combs tells how the partnerships he oversees meet the needs of local manufacturers through custom curriculum, flexible classroom scheduling and other means. Parkland's three-phase approach reaches out to incumbent workers, college technology students and high-school juniors and seniors, with growing success. Handouts include a list of courses and the College's sequence of instruction.

Strategy

Leveraging PAS 55 to Optimize Asset Utilization and Increase Productivity
Presenter: Kris Goly, Business Development Manager, Siemens Asset Performance Management Services
Following several serious accidents caused by lack of maintenance in the late 1990s, the United Kingdom-based Institute of Asset Management developed a set of rules designed for asset owners that would help them implement the right, risk-based, business-aligned maintenance actions. The result was Publicly Available Specification 55 or PAS55. Not a standard, but a framework that provides guidance for asset management, PAS 55 indicates what should be in an asset management system, not how to implement it. This presentation describes the background and structure of PAS55 and the role it plays in development of a future ISO 55000 standard.

Maintenance Management in the Modern World
Presenters: John Crossan, manufacturing/maintenance consultant; and Randy Quick, Director of Engineering, Manufacturing Solutions International
The quick pace of the new century leaves no room for outdated approaches to maintenance management. It is time to look beyond task-oriented practices based on old-style command-and-control techniques and embrace the huge contributions that come from greater shop-floor involvement and ownership by all. In this presentation, attendees will learn how to recognize when cultural mindsets need to change and how an experienced team has accomplished this goal in a variety of industries.

The Daily Management Process: Keeping Your Finger on the Pulse of the Plant
Presenter: Hugh Blackwood, Principal, Blackwood Consulting
Someone once said that managing an operation from behind a desk is a dangerous place to be. The inference is that to successfully manage a plant, in real time, you have to physically be out in the plant! The Daily Management Process is just that: a means to monitor, understand, schedule, execute, act and adjust to the daily dynamics that always seem to change just when you least expect. Key to this process is establishing process standards of performance, agreeing on shared metrics, standard visual displays, helping one another when process/customer demands change and problem-sharing in a team environment. This presentation is a case study of such a system in place, in a large industrial plant that embraces partnerships across all departments, on the floor, each day, every day.

Uncomplicated Root Cause Analysis
Presenter: Mark Galley, CMRP, ThinkReliability 
Root cause analysis is a common term for investigating and preventing different types of problems, such as safety incidents, equipment failures, production losses and supply chain issues. Everyone knows that if you pull the top off a weed it just grows back. So getting to the root of a problem means digging into the network of stuff beneath the surface. Unfortunately, many organizations search for a single "root cause." This single-cause mentality limits available solutions, reinforces a blame culture and confuses communication. In this presentation, attendees will learn how to keep root cause analysis simple and effective.