BOOM!!!

You folks know how I always mention that the details are what makes the difference between good and great performance. Well, sometimes it makes the difference between disaster and great performance too.

I had a friend who was a newly graduated mechanical engineer at a manufacturing facility. He was an excited and motivated person with a lot of good ideas. Like many of us at that stage of our careers, he was keen to make a name for himself as a solid team member.

One day, my friend (let's call him Spanky) was asked to design a system for unloading bulk chemicals in liquid form from railroad cars. One of the chemicals in question was really nasty stuff, and the idea was to make the unloading process safer. The new system would require no user intervention, and was sealed from leaks very carefully.

The design stage was completed without a hitch, and the job went into construction. Again, no problems were encountered, and the system was finished one morning just in time to unload a railroad car over the lunch hour. So far, so good.

You might imagine the excitement for both Spanky and the operators in the area. They happily hooked up the hose to the underbelly of the railroad car, opened the outlet valve on the tanker and started the unloading pump. Beautiful! So, Spanky went to his office for lunch, and the operator sat down at his desk to eat a sandwich while the railroad car was unloaded.

After some time passed, there was a thunderous BOOM!!!, followed by a lot of noises best left unrepeated. The operator ran out to the train shed to find a terrible sight. The unloading system had unloaded ALL of the chemicals, and then the little unloading pump merrily pulled a complete vacuum on the tank. There was no vacuum breaker on the system, so naturally, the pressure of the atmosphere around the tank crushed it as flat as a beer can on the interstate! Impressive, but not a happy sight, I can tell you.

$150,000 in damage was inflicted on the railroad car in a few seconds, rendering it useless. All of this damage occurred because a vacuum breaker was not included in the system design, and the operator forgot to open the top hatch of the tank before unloading the car.

Small details matter!

Does your maintenance program consider the "small details" like job plans, a well managed CMMS, proper work scheduling, training and a work flow process? No?

BOOM!!!

Can We Offer You Some Help?

LIVE!! 5 Pillars: Maintenance & Reliability Professional Review Course

Hilton Garden Inn - Dallas, Texas Sept. 26-27, 2007 (Discounts end July 31, 2007)

This comprehensive 2-day workshop is designed specifically for busy maintenance professionals. The course is focused directly on the key elements of building a proactive maintenance organization from the ground up.

For those wishing to pursue the Certified Maintenance & Reliability Professional (CMRP) exam offered by the Society for Maintenance & Reliability Professionals (SMRP)*, this course covers all aspects of the Body of Knowledge. While no training course can replace hands-on experience, this course offers a strong review and reinforcement of the concepts of best practice maintenance methods.

Nobreakdowns.com is proud to offer an exclusive 2-for-1 Dealfor readers of The Drift and our website. Until July 31, 2007 you may register 2 students for the course for the price of a single seat. Limit one offer per company, and also limited by available seating. This is a $795 savings over the regular rates!

Learn More or Enroll Here

"...we had 5 folks, 2 Engineers and 3 Maintenance Managers take the class. It's no doubt the time you spent with us was very helpful to these folks, in fact one of the Engineers made a comment around how much the week helped him."
Tony B. - Pensacola, FL

Please join us for this fun and interesting class. You can expect good examples, great stories, ample opportunities to network with other maintenance professionals and a greater understanding of the hidden secrets to better maintenance.

*Nobreakdowns.com is not affiliated with SMRP and taking this course does not guarantee successful completion of any exam. SMRP does not endorse the course.

So You Want to Be a CMRP, eh?

What the hell is a CMRP, you ask? Well, it is a Certified Maintenance & Reliability Professional, and Nobreakdowns.com wrote a nice review course for the certification exam.

If you are a maintenance professional, getting your CMRP is a very big deal, as it is an internationally recognized measure for excellence. The Society for Maintenance & Reliability Professionals (SMRP) developed the certification, and it is a fantastic addition to our field.

The exam is difficult, and many people take it several times before passing. The trouble is, the exam covers everything from the management side of the business, to training, to operations and the usual maintenance process. Very few people are exposed to all of this material at work, and fewer still have seen it done correctly.

So, we took the bull by the horns, and made a live course, and a CD-ROM based course for those wishing to review and make sure that they have all the bases covered. it's called the 5 Pillars: Maintenance & Reliability Professional Review. We have taught over 300 CMRP candidates since 2005.

If you would like more information about a live course, either at a maintenance conference or your site, please just email us.

Buy the CD-ROM version