Maintenance Solutions — A Practical Training Seminar

	Jeff Blankenship (right) presented Bin Wu (left) and George Cingle (center) with the 2015 Bronze Reliability Achievement Award.

Conference Details: 20–23 September 2015, Indianapolis, Ind., USA. 

Conference Highlights: About 80 people attended this practical training seminar that focused on maintenance, reliability, lubrication and hydraulics. After a general introduction, a session titled “Why Reliability?” kicked off the conference. Reliability is controversial because it depends on one’s concept of need. Reliability in manufacturing was discussed, as well as preparing a generation of younger workers for when those in the Baby Boom generation retire from their positions in manufacturing.

Following this session, the group was divided into one of two tracks. Track 1 had a maintenance and reliability focus and included presentations about variable frequency drive fan problems, gear drive reliability, hands-on installation practices, bolting, equipment reliability, ISO 55000, and vibration analysis and included case study presentations based on the Reliability Achievement Award winners.

The Gold Reliability Achievement Award was presented to Nucor Steel–Berkeley, and the Bronze Reliability Achievement Award was presented to United States Steel Corporation.

Track 2 began with lubrication fundamentals and understanding greases, and proceeded to lubrication systems, bearing failures, commissioning of new hydraulic systems, fluid connectors, filtration concepts and hydraulic pumps and controls.

The final sessions combined both tracks to cover the concept of system sustainability. The participants were divided up into teams that competed at the end of the three-day session in a Jeopardy!^®-style completion based on key points that were to be learned from the various presentations at the conference.

The conference included a tour of Steel Dynamics Inc. – Engineered Bar Products Div., Pittsboro, Ind., USA.

Attendees of Maintenance Solutions — A Practical Training Seminar toured Steel Dynamics Inc. – Engineered Bar Products Div., Pittsboro, Ind., USA.