Growing up as a kid in blue-collar Milwaukee, my parents made it a point to provide words by which I should live. Some of these life lessons were delivered at the dinner table or while on the living...
Let's face it: Machines in industry are largely made of iron and steel. Ferrous metals both encase these machines and bear the brunt of most friction, wear and corrosion. Often, the most critical...
In Part 1 of this column series, I examined what makes a good lubrication preventive maintenance (PM) task as well as the importance of task-specific information, not just generic "how-to"...
Behind the scenes at Joint Base Balad (JBB) in Balad, Iraq, stands a man who keeps United States service personnel safe and saves the government money, but he and his crew remain backstage until...
Keith Swearingen, our second "Get to Know ..." subject, is the lubrication coordinator at Exelon Corporation's Braidwood Generating Station, a nuclear power plant located in Braceville, Ill., 60...
Attendees networked at the National Lubricating Grease Institute's 76th annual meeting, held recently in Tucson, Ariz. The National Lubricating Grease Institute (NLGI), continuing its mission of...
As a reliability engineering teacher, I frequently draw analogies in my classes between machine care and care of the human body to make important points about managing reliability throughout the...
The health professional in white pulls on a new pair of latex gloves. He scans a cart, immaculately organized, and finds what he needs to begin the procedure - a vial, a pump, tubing. Each item is...
An essential requirement for the optimum performance and service life of a hydraulic pump is that its pumping chambers fill freely and completely during intake. So if getting maximum pump life is...
In today's competitive economy, businesses are challenged to identify ways to increase profit margins without significant capital investments. For facility managers, cost control can be supported...
Central Azucarera de La Carlota Inc. (CACI) is a 93-year-old sugar cane processing company based in Negros Occidental in the Philippines. Recently, the company has been under pressure to imp…
Chris Smith, one of the subjects of this issue's "Get to Know ..." section, is certainly a guy on the rise. Chris is a principal engineer for the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. He has worked 11 years...
Energizer's battery manufacturing plant in Maryville, Mo., was the recipient of this year's International Council on Machinery Lubrication Augustus H. Gill Award for Excellence in Oil Analysis....
Companies invest in some form of on-site oil analysis with the understanding that any information is good information. But the reality is that most facilities have little or no idea what to do with...
Since the discovery of their excellent anti-wear and fire resistance properties in the 1940s, the use of phosphate esters by industry has steadily increased. Phosphate esters are used primarily...