Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast

Are reliability woes keeping you up at night?

Peter Christian’s resume includes working as executive director at the Crayola Corporation, and he’s also worked as founding partner and president at the business consulting firm, Enterprise Systems Partners, Inc. His current focus is on why businesses and managers succeed or fail, and he has written two books on this topic, ‘"What About the Vermin Problem?’’ and ‘’Influences and Influencers,’’ both of which are available at www.petechristianbooks.com and on Amazon.com. Plant Services chief editor Thomas Wilk had the chance in May to connect with Pete to discuss his thoughts on success and failure in leadership and maintenance and reliability, as well as what is happening to Lean programs in the post-COVID age.

What is machine identity management, and who is responsible for it?

What would you do if your digital assets stopped talking to each other? Are you confident that you could find them all if they vanished from a network map, from large machines to tiny remote sensors? Ellen Boehm is VP of IoT strategy and operations at Keyfactor, which along with the Ponemon Institute recently released the first-ever State of Machine Identity Management report. Ellen spoke recently with Plant Services Chief Editor Thomas Wilk about how this new dimension of asset management is expanding traditional maintenance responsibilities.

How thermal imaging is driving value in the industry

Dylan Erwin is the Technical Sales Manager for Fluke Process Instruments and has previously worked as a product innovation manager and regional sales manager, among other responsibilities. Dylan received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Montana State University and spent the first few years of his professional career in the industrial automation market. Dylan recently spoke with Thomas Wilk about the many uses of thermal imaging devices on the plant floor and the future of the technology, including the release of the TV40 Thermal Imager from Fluke Process Instruments.

Using the cloud to improve your asset management practices

Cloud computing is drastically changing the way many organizations operate. Forward-looking maintenance and reliability teams across industry are starting to explore how the cloud can help them improve their asset management practices.
IFS recently launched IFS Cloud, which is the next step forward from IFS Applications 10 and which enables companies to manage the customer, people, and asset elements of their business in a single solution. During the launch event, Plant Services had the opportunity to speak with Colin Elkins, Vice President of Manufacturing Industries, and learn how IFS Cloud is leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to fill some of the pressing needs in manufacturing today.PS: What innovations in IFS Cloud help differentiate it from previous IFS software releases?

Achieving Industry 4.0 objectives during disruption

In mid-2020, ARC Advisory Group and Wind River collaborated on a survey of manufacturing leaders to better understand the challenges industry faced during the COVID-19 pandemic to maintain production as a result of disruptions to their supply chains and operations. That report, “Industry 4.0 and 5G in the COVID Pandemic,” explores Industry 4.0 initiatives and manufacturer's increased focus on supply chain improvements, innovations, and remote operations support. Nermin Mohamed, the Head of Telco Solutions at Wind River, talked with the Plant Services editors Thomas Wilk and Anna Townshend about some of the findings in this report.

OPTIMIZE 21 event to focus on ways that sustainability, industrial AI impact MRO

Paige Morse is the industry marketing director at Aspen Technology. Morse enables digital transformation progress at companies worldwide. She has significant experience with leading operating companies, including Shell, Dow, Sunoco and Clariant, covering R&D, marketing, commercial and strategy roles. Morse recently spoke with Thomas Wilk about the upcoming OPTIMIZE 21 event and the benefits MRO professionals could attain from attending the virtual conference.

The costs of oversizing your compressed air system

Compressed air is inherently expensive. On top of that, very often it is produced inefficiently. But it doesn’t have to be. Taking a look at your compressed air system’s equipment, layout, performance, and environment can help you improve the overall system’s reliability and efficiency saving you money on energy, maintenance, and life-cycle costs. 
A review of thousands of compressed air systems reveals that, on average, users operate below 50% of system capacity. Oversized compressors are among the most common problems in air systems. In this episode of The Hidden Costs of Compressed Air series, speakers Matt McCorkle and Neil Mehltretter address why oversizing occurs and how an oversized system reduces reliability and increases maintenance and lifecycle costs.
Additional resource:Over-sized and Under-utilized: An Epidemic

Digital manufacturing: Better, faster, cheaper

Haven Allen is CEO and co-founder of mHUB, a leading hardtech and manufacturing innovation center, and is a managing partner of mHUB’s $15M Seed-stage product impact fund. Allen is an entrepreneur and technology strategist who most recently concentrated on growing the manufacturing industry and strengthening its community throughout the greater Chicago area. Allen recently spoke with Thomas Wilk about how companies are using digitalization to stay competitive and what organizations like mHUB are doing to attract the next generation of workers.

Manufacturing’s new normal: How COVID changed the industry

Plant Services met veteran millwright and newly minted predictive maintenance technician Michael Macsisak several years ago, and Mike has checked in with the editors as he began work in mining and then again last year to discuss transitioning from a predictive mindset to a reliability-focused approach. Plant Services Chief Editor Thomas Wilk recently caught up with Mike to talk about life in a post-COVID industrial world.

Fight cyberattacks and their impacts with a strong response plan

Ron Brash is the director of Cyber Security Insights at Verve Industrial, a multi-faceted role that includes engaging with customers to work on identifying vulnerabilities that are often not disclosed, explaining and researching technical details buried in products onsite or in a lab, and staying on top of trends or tools. Plant Services Chief Editor Thomas Wilk caught up with Brash for a discussion on cybersecurity trends in 2021, a conversation that took on added urgency as last year’s data breach of the U.S. federal government came increasingly to light.