March 2019

n EXECUTIVE VIEWPOINT The role of rotating equipment repairers is changing “Minimising downtime has always been important, but the need to extract the best performance from the minimum of resources has reached new heights.” Everyone involved in the repair of rotating equipment has seen considerable change in the industrial landscape over recent years. Machine operators have become more demanding and their machinery has become more complex. At the same time, maintenance and repairs need to be completed to ensure continued reliability and performance, and our members approach this challenge from both sides. The task of repairing rotating equipment has certainly evolved in recent years. As with any industry, we have taken on board new technologies and adapted them to make improvements to our way of working. Lean manufacturing processes have improved efficiency and enabled us to reduce lead times for repairs. In addition, there has also been much more of a focus on prevention of problems, using proactive maintenance to minimise downtime. Data collection and analysis has become much simpler, enabling machine operators to look at long-term trends in machine performance and to make better judgements in terms of planned maintenance. Minimising downtime has always been important, but the need to extract the best performance from the minimum of resources has reached new heights. Operators are less willing to have redundant machinery that can be used while duty equipment is offline or being repaired. Fixed assets need to be operational 24/7, with the only downtime being for planned maintenance. For this reason, repairers have had to become more responsive in the event of machine failures. No matter how old a machine is, customers expect new parts to be manufactured almost overnight. The latest technologies are both a blessing and a curse – they enable repairers to create identical new parts quickly, and even to improve the design to perform better. However, the end-users are equally aware of these new abilities and expect a much faster service. At the same time, there is also a focus on the circular economy, reducing energy inputs, minimising the use of raw materials, and increasing the amount of recycling. This has recently been formalised in the international standard IEC 60034-23:2019, which sets out the need to reduce material consumption and improve energy efficiency. Ultimately, the role of repairers has become more demanding and more complex. New technologies have delivered greater insight and the ability to repair machinery much quicker. However, at the same time, there is an expectation to improve performance, efficiency and reliability almost overnight – a goal to which we all aspire. n Secretary, AEMT (Association of Electrical and Mechanical Trades) Thomas Marks ƐĚƌĂĚŶĂƚƐ hŽƚĚĞŶŐŝƐĞͻ hĞƌƵƚĐĂĨƵŶĂŵ ĞĐǁŽŶĞƌĂdͻ ϱϴϬϱ>hĚŶĂϭ - ϱϴϬϱ> ƐƌĞŵƌŽĨƐŶĂƌƚĚĞƚƐŝ>> ĚŶĂŶŐŝƐĞĚŽƚĚĞĮƟƌ Ϯ - d Ĩ ƚƚůŝƵď - ŵŽƚƐƵͻ ŶƵŽƌĂŶƌƵƚƚƐĂ&ͻ ĚĞƌƵƚĐĂĨƵŶĂDͻ ŬϱŽƚ ϱϮͻ s s ƌŝƵƋĞƌĐĮŝĐĞƉƐƌƵŽLJŽ Ě <hĞŚƚŶŝ ŚƉϭ ƐƚŶĞŵĞ ƚĞůƉŵŽĐŶ/͘͘͘ ŝƵƋΘ ŶƌĞƚƐĂ ΛƐĞůĂƐ ϮϭϬ͗džĂ& ϮϭϬ͗ůĞd ƌĞǁŽƉĨŽůŽƌƚŶŽĐĞ Ěƚ>ƚŶĞŵƉ ƐƌĞŵƌŽƐŶĂƌ ŬƵ͘ŽĐ͘ĞƚĞ ϵϲϵϲϴϯϰϴ ϯϯϬϴϴϯϰϴ