Industrial Skills Training

All free PLC training resources.

2012-01-31T08:43:00.000-08:00

All free PLC training resources. From video, to interactive online training to unique articles. there is something to be learned here.

How a PLC works, plc automation basics
PLC Tutorial - PLC program of motor controls
PLC Tutorial - FIFO Shift Registers Tutorial
PLC Programming Tutorial - Master Control Reset
PLC Tutorial - PLC Programming Ladder Logic
PLC Tutorial - Analog controller A to D converter
PLC Installation - PLC I/O wiring tutorial
PLC Tutorial - Processor Scan Cycle Timing
PLC Tutorial - Ladder Logic Programming…
PLC Tutorial BCD - Binary Coded Decimal
PLC Tutorial - PLC Hardware Tutorial
Industrial Training Video - AB PLC Cables …

Free Online AB PLC Data File Training Modules

See these unique PLC articles too... (More free PLC stuff within articles)
http://www.bin95.com/Industrial-network-security.htm
http://www.bin95.com/maintenance_management_plc.htm
Hope you Like and Share with others.
Don

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .) Be sure to add me to your Google+ circles to stay on top!

Free Online AB PLC Data File Training Modules

2012-01-22T07:57:00.000-08:00

A set of 4 free online interactive memory tools to learn and memorize the Allen Bradley Data Tables. Totally free, no registration or email required. Just use and share with others. The decision to make more training tools on other topics will depend on how popular these are. So if you like the tools, be sure to share with as many others as you can. Also there is a comment area where you can recommend other industrial related topics you would like to see these kind of learning and memory tools made for.

(And thanks to our January PLC training graduates who requested we make a memory tool for PLC Data Types.)

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .) Be sure to add me to your Google+ circles to stay on top!

Create Machine Operator Ownership in the Process.

2012-01-20T07:02:00.000-08:00

Nowhere else can you get an in-house training program like this for ALL machine operators, maintenance and engineering for under $300 !! SEE http://www.bin95.com/reliability_training.htm

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .) Be sure to add me to your Google+ circles to stay on top!

Happy Holidays

2011-12-22T10:12:00.000-08:00

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .) Be sure to add me to your Google+ circles to stay on top!

Best Robot Videos

2011-12-21T06:43:00.000-08:00

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .) Be sure to add me to your Google+ circles to stay on top!

Connecting to PLC and other Industrial Equipment via USB

2011-12-09T10:56:00.000-08:00

Some customers where having difficulty figuring out how to connect to our Micrologix PLC Trainer using the supplied USB to RS232 converter cable. It can be difficult if it is the 1st time using a USB converter, and the procedures hang some up. So I hope this pictorial with step by step instructions help.

RS232 DF1 driver setup procedure overview:
The USB converter picks a com port number randomly, you have to set DF1 com port to the same number as the USB.

Step by Step (Stage 1 - Device Manager):

Click PC "Start" button at bottom left of your computer screen.
Click 'Control Panel", then click "System" icon
Select "Hardware" tab and click on "Device Manager" button
In Device manager, scroll down tree until you see "Ports (Comm and LPT)"
Click the "+" (plus sign) to expand the tree and reveal the com number of the USB converter.
Write down the comm number shown. (In our pictorial example, it is "COM6")

Step by Step (Stage 2 - RSLinx):

Open RSLinx (May find under "Rockwell Software" folder in Program files)
Click on "Communications" from RSLinx pull-down menu and select "configure drivers"
Select RS232/DF1 driver from list and click "Configure" button on the right. (If DF1 driver not available, add new by using "Available Driver Types" pull down list.)
In DF1 driver, change com port number from 1 to what ever the com number was on your USB port. (In our pictured example, we would be changing to "Com 6".)
Then click auto config. (If you are plugged into Micrologix PLC and the PLC is powered on, you will see "Configuration successful" in auto-config window.)
Then click "OK" button, minimize RSLinks and you are ready to open RSLogix software to go online.

Hope this helps, please share with others in case they need help too. Thanks
Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .) Be sure to add me to your Google+ circles to stay on top!

Beef up that Resume with PLC Training

2011-12-03T07:30:00.000-08:00

Your best, quickest, easiest and least expensive path to adding PLC capabilities to your resume is our 3 day PLC Training seminar in Atlanta or St. Louis.

January 3-5, 2012 is the next one coming up in St. Louis, SEE …

http://www.bin95.com/St-Louis_PLC_Training.htm

Then the next one is in Atlanta in March 20-22, 2012, SEE …

http://www.bin95.com/AB_RSLogix_Seminar.htm

Why is the three day PLC training seminar the best solution for a resume?

Nice Certificate
1.6 CEUs
All hands on experience
Practical real world knowledge
Learn to talk the talk, and walk the walk during that interview

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .) Be sure to add me to your Google+ circles to stay on top!

Are you wasting your time and money on a college degree for which there are no jobs?

2011-11-30T08:27:00.000-08:00

No surprise those majoring in medical fields would have the most likely chance to find a job when they get out of college. But #6 on the list is of particular interest to us; those who take Industrial Production Technologies college have a better chance of finding a related job when you get out of college. As opposed to IT field for example, which is saturated with students seeking employment.

# 12 Mechanical Engineering and #25 Electrical Engineering made the top 25 most likely to find a job after college too!

See 25 college majors with lowest unemployment rates - CBS News: for full list and article.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)Be sure to add me to your Google+ circles to stay on top!

Thinking Out Of The Box: "No Labor" Manufacturing Goal

2011-11-28T11:15:00.000-08:00

It's all about competing with China now days. The only way to compete with cheap labor (should that be the primary competitive advantage and Gov is not capable to help with), is to embrace a different kind of manufacturing industry. And it wont be easy.

Instead of current industry model, "To get a manufacturing facility that employs a lot of people". Embrace the future and compete with other country's cheap labor, by an "No Labor" approach. Where the NEW goal is "manufacturing facility that employs the LEAST amount of people, and get more of those manufacturing facilities".

"No Labor = Increase manufacturing facilities built but employing less people in each." (IE: instead of 1 facility with 300 employees and 3 million is sales, have 3 facilities with 100 employees each, each doing 3 million is sales for a total of 9 million in sales. 300% increase in USA revenue, same number of employees employed.)

The high technology/Automated "No Labor" approach allows USA manufactures to compete with low tech cheap labor countries. More manufacturing facilities increases construction jobs, technical jobs like industrial engineering and maintenance technicians and increases support jobs like admin, sales, logistics, suppliers, etc. But more importantly increases USA exports volumes, helping secure our country's financial future.

No doubt a Radical, Out of the box type thinking concept like this will meet with much controversy and discussion. So please feel free comment. (No cussing though, ha ha)

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .) Be sure to add me to your Google+ circles to stay on top!

USA - Maintenance Managers Wanted

2011-11-25T21:07:00.000-08:00

LinkedIn.com is a great place to find jobs under the radar sort of speak. Below are Maintenance Manager job openings for US residents only that are no more than about a week old.

Maintenance Manager within the Automotive, Industrial and/or Agricultural Industry. Please contact me at lisa@ceconsultinginc.com. I am currently working with a proven Stable and Growing company that is one of the world’s premier bearing manufacturers and is located in the Midwest Region.

Maintenance Supervisor West Chicago IL General Mills plant
Functional Area(s): Manufacturing
Laurissa Gauvitte 2nd on LinkedIn - Job Description: Provide manufacturing leadership to deliver a world-class maintenance operation. Lead, motivate, and develop a team of mechanics to drive
losses out of our systems, while leveraging Continuous Improvement (Lean/TPM) tools, improving individual skills, and enhancing teamwork.

Joseph Ray on LinkedIn - Electrical Engineer - Maintenance Supervisor - Birmingham, AL
United States Steel Corporation has an immediate opening for a Shift Manager – Central Shops Electrical at the Fairfield Works facility in Fairfield, AL.

Tom Worcester on linkedin 2nd - Change Agent Maintenance Manager for Chemicals or Plastics. Seeking the right individual who wants to make a difference in the way maintenance is done
To direct the maintenance of the St. Louis Plant equipment to assure the optimum reliability and maintenance cost for production operations, through implementation of new and or improved techniques for predictive and corrective maintenance. In order to accomplish the Operational Excellence Goals, the Manager will be involved with employee supervision, planning, training, purchasing, inventory control, engineering and regulatory compliance. Driving continuous improvement in the plant’s maintenance programs is crucial. This company is unable to sponsor at this time. Please feel free to contact me at tworcester @ mrichatham.com or 919 957 2270

Scot Newcom on linkedin 2nd - Ready to run your own department, I am looking for a Maintenance Manager for a company located in South Carolina. The ideal candidate must have gear Hobbing and CNC turning experience. Bachelor’s degree preferred (Technical Degree and experience can be an option)

Experience:
2+ years’ experience in a heavy in a heavy industrial environment Electrical/PLC, hydraulic, mechanics and pneumatics, welding with a minimum of 3 years of experience.
Must be familiar with TS 16949 and/or ISO9000 requirements. Demonstrated knowledge of Microsoft office computer software applications.
2-5 years in CNC repair, general maintenance and other maintenance responsibilities that would include the ability to recognize electrical, plumbing, and mechanical malfunctions or equipment failures.
Fanuc control, ladder logic and PLC experience. Gear Hobbing, CNC Turning

Mr. Lozano on linkedin 2nd - Sr. Maintenance Manager Modesto, CA Frozen Foods Industry 120K ATTN Bruno Lozano patdifuriaco @ cs.com

Kirk Clermont on linkedin 2nd - Plant Engineering and Maintenance Manager, Northern Indiana, to mid $80’s plus bonus, call Jeff Tuholski; jtuholski@careetransllc.com; 800-800-3617 x107
Qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent experience, in an Engineering discipline
Solid experience in food processing with strong preferences for refrigerated (Ammonia) and/or liquid filling operations
Must have background in maintaining PLC controlled equipment 3 years Supervisory experience including selecting, developing and retaining good people
AutoCAD and experience managing capital projects are also required.
Familiarity with Good Manufacturing Practices new Sanitation and Quality regulations
Continuous Improvement experience
Excellent verbal/written communication skills.
Strong team player and leader with the ability to work across multiple functions and disciplines.

Hope this helps someone.
Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .) Be sure to add me to your Google+ circles to stay on top!

Air Compressor Operation and Care

2011-11-22T10:44:00.001-08:00

Sample of training flyer from Process, Plant & Equipment 150 Articles on CD

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)Be sure to add me to your Google+ circles to stay on top!

Oil and Gas Refinery Debottlenecking, clean exchanger tubes.

2011-11-16T08:08:00.000-08:00

Mike Watson show in his article Oil and Gas Refinery Debottlenecking, clean exchanger tubes. how being green, reducing CO² emissions can increase production and profits in his cleaning technology for refinery heat exchange tubes.

A must read article if you are in the oil, gas, petrochemical and energy industries; or use heat exchangers in your process.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Problem Solving Skills Training Video

2011-11-12T21:37:00.000-08:00

Problem Solving Skills Training Video:

Every company should have all employees watch this DVD because it increases productivity across the board.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)Be sure to add me to your Google+ circles to stay on top!

11/11/11 discount of 11% on TwitPic

2011-11-11T06:02:00.000-08:00

11/11/11 discount of 11% on TwitPic:

11 hours to grab this 11% discount on Industrial Electrical Training Video Course.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)Be sure to add me to your Google+ circles to stay on top!

Maintenance Troubleshooting Skills Training

2011-11-09T06:20:00.000-08:00

Scott Dunsmuir made 2 very good points on a Google+ discussion about an article that I had ed Manufacturing Skills Certification System there. Below I would like to share Scott's 2 points with my readers.

Scott: "Even before increasing the pool of "qualified" applicants though, schools need to start teaching/training 2 things..."

Job Place Safety (electrical, arc-flash, confined space, etc the things work places are training in their safety programs)
Troubleshooting ("We get nobody out of trade school that has the first clue how to trouble shoot.")

Scott goes on to add in his comments, that in 5+ years, no new maintenance person out of school has score more that 60% in their hands-on electrical troubleshooting test his company gives new-hires.

My respond to Scott and Companies who hire maintenance personnel is they need to get the schools around their company to at least use the cost effective safety/troubleshooting real-world training tools we provide. (Tell them to see http://www.bin95.com/electrical_software_downloads.htm and http://www.bin95.com/Training_Software/fluid_process_systems.htm) These two real-world simulation software not only require student to use safety procedures like lockout/tagout, teaches them good foundations in troubleshooting, times, records and reports their ability to troubleshoot, but serves up enough simulated faults for hands-on troubleshooting that would take them years to acquire with OJT or in the normal workplace daily routine.

BIN95.com also just started offering a training video DVD that students may need to watch before learning electrical troubleshooting. Below is an introduction...

The combination of the 3 training solutions above make for a highly skilled troubleshooter.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Free On-Line 5S Lean Manufacturing Assessment

2011-11-01T05:21:00.000-07:00

Have you tested your employees on 5S Lean lately? Yourself?

Follow the link below for a free online 5S Lean Assessment Tool to test yourself and all your employees! Get more productive and profitable today! There is a mechanism so you can receive test results from each of your employees after they take the short 15 question test at their convenience too.

SEE http://www.bin95.com/Employee-Training-Assessments/Management-Assessment/5S_Lean_Manufacturing.php (May have to open link in new window or paste in your browser.)

5S Lean Manufacturing is probably the most familiar phrase to you, but now days 5S Lean is used in offices, restaurants and every business type imaginable to make them more productive and profitable. Something every company needs now days. So please share with all your business associates.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

The Best Engineer (Music Videos)

2011-10-17T20:52:00.000-07:00

VOTE NOW - Best Engineering Music Video !!

Click to Watch
Engineering Paradise

Click to watch
I Wanana Be An Engineer

THEN USE COMMENT SECTION BELOW TO TELL ME WICH ONE YOU LIKE BEST !
(If you know of a better Engineering Music Video, use comments section to let me know about it.)

Thanks, hope you had fun.
Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Millwrights Get The Job Done!

2011-10-08T16:26:00.000-07:00

Millwrights Get The Job Done!

A little something our company artist, Esther put together for the Millwrights.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Industrial Jobs Require Technical Clarity

2011-10-05T06:14:00.000-07:00

It is ironic in such a highly technical industry as production process and manufacturing that job titles are so technically incorrect, non-standard and most not listed by the Government's Occupational Outlook Handbook, or listed accurately for the 21st century.

I argue that our production process and manufacturing industries could be much more efficient and profitable on a large scale across the country, if only an official entity clearly define the CURRENT job titles in the industry. The country's industry as whole would have less turnover rate, better qualified individuals in each position, and more productive workers.

This rant was brought on when I ran into yet another job posting for "Maintenance Mechanic", yet the description of job duties for the job opening was not just mechanical, it was primarily electrical and even PLC experience was required. It should have been listed as a "Maintenance Technician", or at least a "Millwright" or "Maintenance Electrician". Some job posting just say "Maintenance Person".

You have no doubt seen my other posting and articles expressing my frustration with our industry's and Government's lack to define and communicate clearly job titles for the production process and manufacturing industries. Now days we not only have Mechanics, Electricians and Millwrights, we have general maintenance workers, maintenance technicians, PLC technicians, instrumentation technicians, maintenance planners... and the list goes on. If anyone out there is working toward clarifying the production process and manufacturing industries job titles and descriptions, please let me know.
Thanks

Signed: A frustrated Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Frustrated Maintenance Technicians and Maintenance Managers

2011-09-10T10:29:00.000-07:00

I have a couple solutions for the frustrated maintenance technicians side of the problem and the frustrated maintenance managers (or whoever is doing the hiring) side of the problem.

1. When hiring maintenance technicians and others, use the internet for pre-screening before deciding who gets to send a resume in for your review. You can develop your own customized little quiz with the free online assessment tool at http://www.bin95.com/Employee-Training-Assessments/Industrial_Training.php After you receive an acceptable score for your quiz from a potential candidate, you can email them instructions on how to get you their resume. (this will cut out computer illiterate, bogus applicants to reduce # of resumes you need to consider)

2. Promote throughout our industry the need to define the “Maintenance Technician” job, training and certification, so employers are more likely to get what they expect and maintenance technicians can know what pay they should expect. I have written a new article to help start to organize this grey area called the “Maintenance Technician”. http://www.bin95.com/Maintenance-Technician-Jobs-Training.htm The more industry leaders see this, the better chance they will come together to correct it. Resulting in a stinger industry and trade. So please share my observations with others in the industry.

PLEASE USE COMMENT AREA TO GIVE ME YOUR IDEAS AND SOLUTIONS.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Craft Maintenance Training: Blueprint for Success

2011-09-04T07:07:00.000-07:00

Getting ready to come out with an article about a clear career pathway to becoming a Maintenance Technician (And what the hell is a maintenance technician anyway. ;>), and while doing research for the maintenance technician article, found the article below I feel everyone in the industry needs to read.

Please read "Craft Maintenance Training: Blueprint for Success" Thank you everyone who is doing their little part to help the industrial maintenance trade. Even if it is just sharing this blog post with your friends. Enjoy your Labor Day!
Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Middle-Skill Jobs in the American South's Economy

2011-09-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

A 36 page report titled "Middle-Skill Jobs in the American South's Economy" done in August 2011 for the Southern Governors' Association found middle-skill jobs which require more than a High School diploma, but less than a 4 year degree, among the "Top 10 hardest to fill jobs". The studies show on average 5% of America's unemployment is due to the skills gap. There are middle-skill jobs to be had, but not enough middle-skilled people to fill them.

You can see from the chart above the future demand for middle-skilled employees will grow while the demand for others will shrink. Of particular interest to our readers is the data in the report showing Advanced Manufacturing job numbers far out way other sectors like IT, R&D, construction, and public safety. Manufacturing was second only to Healthcare industry demand. These are facts our educators, the unemployed and those preparing to enter into the job market should consider. A really smart choice is those skilled trades that cross over to several of those industries, like an electrician. (Electricians find employment in residential, HVAC, Construction and manufacturing.)
While the above report is based on data for surveys of employers for the southern States, it is a sample of our country as whole. I highly recommend those seeking advice in which way their career should go and what education they should seek, take a look at the two reports linked to in this post. There are also some great video interviews with employers stating exactly what they are looking for in an employee for the upcoming years.

Another must read... "America’s Forgotten Middle-Skill Jobs: Education and Training Requirements in the Next Decade and Beyond" by the National Skills Coalition

Excerpt: "While middle-skill jobs have declined slightly as a portion of total employment nationwide,
roughly half of all employment today is in middle-skill occupations. And nearly half (about 45 percent) of all job openings between 2004 and 2014 will be at the middle-skill level. This compares with one-third of job openings in high-skill occupational categories and 22 percent in occupations requiring no more than a high school degree."

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Can our educational system fill the skills gap?

2011-08-28T05:29:00.000-07:00

As you read the great article below, keep in mind the Solution:
"Companies need to send recruiters to their local high schools and compete with Military recruiters, offer guarantee jobs for the students if they attend and pass vocational schools, instead of boot camp." That is my solution.

Can our educational system fill the skills gap?
Joel Leonard, contributing editorJoel Leonard advocates funding of quality vocational programs.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Cost Justifying Industrial Electrical Training

2011-08-11T17:38:00.000-07:00

A Sr. Training Specialist at the worlds top bearing manufacturer recently asked me to cost justify our Industrial Electrical Training Video Course. Here was my reply...

The most compelling argument for employees to receive our industrial electrical training video (DVD) course is …

“Although the most common machine breakdown is mechanical, the most downtime is involved in finding the problem, not fixing it. Both Electrical and mechanical problems in today’s technology requires diverse electrical knowledge to find the problem quicker. Therefore extended electrical training has the greatest ROI towards reducing downtime.”

For this particular electrical training product, the savings to a company is extended even further by …

• The most complete knowledge base being delivered (an entire industrial electrical course)
• No costly site licenses.
• No travel expenses.
• Great for refresher training program.
• Unlimited amount of employees can be trained (IE: New employee training)
• Stop/Start anytime.
• Each DVD can be checked out to employees so they optionally train at home on their own time.
• Covers safety issues related to electrical training too.
• Customers learn how to better protect electrical equipment extending machine life cycle.
• Learn how to reduce energy bills.
• Learn about Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) which controls most every machine and is a tool to troubleshoot even quicker.
• Apply knowledge learned to increase equipment reliability and the company’s

Cost justification can further be displayed by comparison of …

• Sending one person to equivalent trade school course would cost around $5000, sending 5 employees - $25,000 sending 50 employees over many years $250,000 … Yet this DVD Course only cost $3000

• Downtime can often cost $10,000 per hour to a manufacturer, so after this training saves 20 minutes of downtime, it has paid for its self. Most investments take 3-5 years to pay for themselves.

• One accident that this training could have prevented, could cost a company $1,000,000

So basically this Industrial Electrical Training Video Course saves a company 1.25 Million dollars or more and only cost 3K. Sure, your numbers may be smaller, but still easily cost justified training.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

100s of Free Industrial Training Videos

2011-08-08T20:47:00.000-07:00

this video will give you insight into the hundreds of free industrial training videos available. Something for electricians, mechanics, maintenance, engineers and manufacturing. Even funny engineering videos and STEM related videos. Enjoy...

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

2011-07-29T10:31:00.000-07:00

Business Industrial Network, a Certified Veteran Owned Business providing training to maintenance and engineering since 1995.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Training Half Life (worker retraining)

2011-07-28T05:22:00.000-07:00

Some valuable advice from guest poster Sam McNair PE, CMRP of Life Cycle Engineering. Click Worker Refresher Training case study and advisory to read.

Here is an excerpt from Sam's article...

In both cases we embarked on some very focused, high quality training which included a required demonstration of proficiency at the end. In both cases the effects were dramatic. It was not cheap to provide god training. In fact it cost about $60k to train and certify 22 millwrights, and about the same to train and certify about 180 operators plus their supervisors in a more limited scope of tasks. The actual payback in both cases was about 3 months. We knew this because we continued to perform RCFA and post maintenance testing. Time passed and we observed that the gains we had made were slipping away, and by 2 1/2 years they had reduced to 50% of the previous level. Limited refresher training was provided and the results jumped back up to the original level. We joking called refresher training “fighting against the dark forces of evil and entropy”.

Click Worker Refresher Training case study and advisory to read more ...

It is an informative article by Sam McNair (CMRP) on job retraining. Points out employee retraining every 2-3 years is very profitable and what the turnaround on that work retraining is.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Add BIN to your Google+ Circle

2011-07-14T22:44:00.000-07:00

Add me to your circle on Google+ http://gplus.to/bin95

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Happy 4th of July

2011-07-04T06:28:00.000-07:00

We decorated http://www.bin95.com/ logo and website header. Do you like?

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

What has happened to the skilled labor force?

2011-06-27T05:43:00.000-07:00

"What has happened to the skilled labor force?" Is a question I just replied to in the LinkedIn Industrial Maintenance group. 119 comments so far. Below is my take on the topic...

I hear you all, with the baby-boomer skill shortage and slow economy creating the most challenging paradox. In the recent past it might have been corporate profits driving companies to look for the 'Jack of all Trades', but now the economy is making the policy stick even more. (Maintenance Mechanic, Electrician and PLC tech all rolled into one person. :>)

The paradox being you typically can only find a new employee experienced in all three trades, being at the end of their career cycle. Which would require the employer to pay top dollar to win and keep the rare employee, knowing it would be a relatively short term investment. They would most likely retire in 10 years or less. Which is even harder to justify in today’s economy.

In the early stages of our industry, logic prevailed with the Maintenance Mechanic, the Electrician and the PLC Tech being separate job titles to deliver to the employer the best of each. (‘Jack of all trades but master of none’ used to be a bad thing on a resume. Anyone remember that? Haha) The boom of the unions only strengthened this employment environment, insuring a mechanic didn’t cross over into the electrician’s turf, and insuring the more technical positions received more pay. Then the desire for more corporate profits turned the tables, sacrificing some of the expertise by combining all 3 employees into 1 maintenance employee. The same profit driven agenda also diminished unions, as it was a barrier. So that the ‘jack of all trades - master of none’, became a good thing on a resume. (Employer and employee would both ignore the fact, most employees couldn’t possibly master all three. :)

The only viable solution (as some have already leaned towards here), look for strengths in one of the 3 occupational fields, and train them in the other lacking skill sets. A compromise that admits the mistake of the past that companies/managers made by combining all three, but now are economically powerless to correct fully. Use on-site training so logistics better allows cross training giving you an even greater return on your training investment. It is very common when we deliver on-site PLC training, to train the electrician to be a PLC Tech also, that employers stick maintenance mechanics in the classes too. (maintenance managers pick up what they can too as time allows.) Because we simplify our PLC training, when the PLC Tech and the Electrician are not available, in some situations, the maintenance mechanic can get the machine back up and running, saving downtime.

The bottom line is, there is not an overwhelming shortage of mechanics, or electricians, just PLC Techs. But there is an ever growing shortage of employees experienced and/or properly trained in all three fields. (As mechanics and electricians are available from many other industries besides manufacturing. The cross over to industrial mechanic or electrician is not that great education wise.)

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

I want to be an Engineer, so freakin' bad...

2011-06-12T11:25:00.000-07:00

I Wanna Be An Engineer - (Billionaire Geeked Out Mix)
by: Only Won - the Lyrical Engineer

I wanna be an engineer so freakin' bad, optimize the things I've always had
I wanna be on the cover of PC Magazine, Smiling next to Pentium machines.

oh everytime I close my eyes, I calculate a new design
yeah....an efficient way to quantify oh ai..I swear
my patent would be here...If I was an engineer

Yeah, I wound have a show on Discovery, hoping that e-ve-ry..
body in the country would watch me on their HD.
I'd probably pull an Orville Wright and a Wilbur
Build a plane and take the rudder and dip it in silver.
Give away a few smartphones, like, Einstein here have this
Take my protractor out and do some mathmatics

It's been a couple years since I've been single so
you can find me working late and living off Ho Ho's.
Brain food for the intelligent, sometimes I like to complement
myself for being smart, but you can call me brilliant.
Yeah...Call me a geek or maybe even nerd
but face the facts, we da ones be ruling this world.

Everytime I close my eyes (what cha see, what cha see?)
I calculate a new design (uh huh uh huh)
oh ye-ah....an efficient way to quantify oh ai..I swear
my patent would be here...If I was an engineer

ohhh ohhhh....Yeah, I'm an engineer! oohh ohhhh....

I be playin Xbox with some scientists, workin' with geologist
maybe ask a girl out and get lucky with little kiss.
Or not because I have to...formulate a program
in C++ or going back and using Fortran.
Toss a few equations in just for the heck of it.
Solve my own problem just so I can delineate
Yeah, I be comin' on a whole new level.
Like comparing HDMI to a coax cable.
Sometimes I give directions with Euclidean vectors
And transfer files faster on eSATA connectors.

...I know we all have a simular dream
to build cantilever beams,...it makes me wanna sing

I wanna be an engineer so freakin' bad, optimize the things I've always had
I wanna be on the cover of PC Magazine, Smiling next to Pentium machines.
Everytime I close my eyes, I calculate a new design
an efficient way to quantify oh ai..I swear
my patent would be here...If I was an engineer

ooh ohhh....("Yeah! Solve it!) If I was an engineer! ohh ohh
I wanna be an engineer so freakin' bad

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Industrial Training - Education - Facebook Fan Page

2011-06-01T05:08:00.000-07:00

Please check out our new FaceBook Fan page and tell me what you think. If you like it, well...
there is a button for that. ha

See it now by clicking link below.
BIN95.com Industrial Training - Education - Saint Louis, Missouri Facebook

Looking forward to your feedback.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Electric Automobile Manufacturing Industry

2011-05-17T12:50:00.000-07:00

Which Would You Buy?

When entering or creating a new consumer industry such as electric cars, I think the emphasis should be on initial cost. One should first focus on market saturation with it being cheaper to buy an electric car than a gas car. Then approach your customer base later with a new improved model via upgrades. A new option/add on you can purchase, only if you can afford it, greater speed, range, power, efficiency, etc.

The above business plan better meets our goal of getting more people to choose electric automobile car over a gas car sooner which I will explain. When the economy was good, people bought Hummers like crazy, even though the gas mileage was bad, because of looks and they could afford it.

In today’s economy and environment awareness, should be number one concern, after safety of course. So the winning business model and industry approach for a country will be “buy electric because you can’t afford to buy a gas car at this time”. Also utilize and grow your automobile repair industry by employing them to install future optional add-ons consumers purchase to get better speed, range, power, efficiency … as they can afford it. Utilize your existing car rental businesses for when the electric car consumer needs to take a long trip out of town, they rent a gas car.

This will result in the country/company that adopts this approach being the leader in electric car production getting more people sooner, choosing electric over gas. The current market is only the 10% high income can afford to buy electric, no matter how well the electric car scores in the other parameters. We don’t want electric car to be the Hummer of the 90s, but rather the VW Bug of the 70’s (but look cooler:>). You seen a lot more of Bugs on the road back then, than you did Hummers later, because they were cheap and good on gas, a larger market base. But you have to remember looks is second most important because consumers have a personal connection with their automobiles. From a company point of view in a new industry, focus on a niche like those who hardly leave the city, a cool go to work and back car. (Got a long trip, vacation? Rent a gas car.)

Electric Automobile Manufacturing Industry Goals ...

1) Low Initial Cost
2) Cool Looks
3) Great Efficiency
4) Longer Range
5) Acceptable Speed
6) Acceptable Power

People buy the best looking car they can afford, and only dream about the rest.
Do you want to sell cars or dreams?

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Lights Out Factory - Robots Replacing Workers

2011-05-14T09:44:00.000-07:00

People fear (complain)Robots are Replacing People!!

Click for More Robot Videos

• The truth is I would rather see my children and grandchildren teaching, designing, inventing, changing the world they live in, than working in a factory doing repetitious work just to keep the country/world at the status quo.

On the same line as the last point, I would rather see my country being the R&D and knowledge source for the world, getting a royalty off of all the parts all the other countries are manufacturing instead of the other way around. That which we do manufacturer in the future, I would like to see being done by lights-out totally automated manufacturing plants, with our people just keeping the automation running and inventing new automation and products. But one more truth …

• Humans resist change with more energy than it would take to make the change its self. Changing our 200 year old mind-set isn’t going to come easy. Typically it take a catastrophic event to speed change (evolution) up. :<(

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

New Free Industrial Knowledge App (AnDroid App version)

2011-05-06T18:24:00.000-07:00

New Free Industrial Knowledge App

Bussiness Industrial Network (BIN) anounces new free Industrial Knowledge App that provide access to BIN's vast amount of free Industrial Training resource right on your smart phone.

Description:

All free industrial knowledge resources provided by Business Industrial Network of interest to maintenance, engineering and manufacturing in general.

As AnDroid is currently outselling Iphone, the Droid App version is the 1st released, but in the next day or so the Iphone version will be out too.

To download the free Industrial Knowledge App, << just click it.

After downloading our new free Adroid App, please rate it via your phone/market place. If you are not viewing this via your Droid, the QR Code to the left can be scanned with your phone's barcode reader.

Please try our new Android App and comment here about it. Also if you share with others, it is always much appreciated. Thanks

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Industrial Training - Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC)

2011-04-29T11:04:00.000-07:00

Industrial Training - Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC)

PLCs control the world’s infrastructure, yet most do not know the risk they are taking. I have been making the world aware as much as I can, ever since I started my own industrial training company 15+ years ago. PLCs control our water, power, traffic lights, elevators, and every machine in every industry. Yet most people working on and with PLCs have not had our safety and reliability focused PLC training yet. People learn in college or from PLC vendors how the PLC works, how to program, but not what are best practices, how to work with and program them safely and reliably.

The world has taken the approach ‘here is a drill, go drill something with it’. In line with this metaphor, instead of teaching say safety, what is the best bit to use with what material, how to drill better quality holes, faster.

I have tried to educate the industry about the great risk they are unknowingly taking via my video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4qg10yfp-s and articles like http://www.bin95.com/maintenance_management_plc.htm and my most recent article http://www.bin95.com/Industrial-network-security.htm and I have also been published in major trade magazines. Even though our company has the top internet presence around the world for industrial training, we have hardly made a dent in educating the world about the risk.

With the recent Stuxnet virus that shut down a nuclear SCADA system, more attention to PLC risk has been made than all my years of effort. But the general public is still un-educated, think Stuxnet was the worlds first PLC virus, when actually it was not, it was just a computer virus, not a PLC virus. SCADA is just a computer software program, just like windows, your browser, Microsoft Word, etc.

So if you need an industrial training expert or PLC expert for advice, I am you man.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Roadmap for Education Reform for Manufacturing

2011-04-25T09:43:00.000-07:00

Business Industrial Network has always applied manufacturing principles like “lean” to reduce education costs to our customers while focusing on competency-based education for maintenance and engineering. When I seen The Manufacturing Institute Releases their Roadmap for Education Reform for Manufacturing and it too recommended a lean approach to competency-based education, but for the nation. I had to share it with everyone. With the influence that NAM carries, this initiative will greatly improve our industry and it's competitiveness.

Please read and share with others The Manufacturing Institute's Roadmap for Education Reform for Manufacturing.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Investigating Power Outages At A ‘Mud’ Plant

2011-04-22T06:58:00.000-07:00

Investigating Power Outages At A ‘Mud’ Plant is a great article by Frank Healy.

Also a great follow up to our blog series on electrical PM. http://bin95.blogspot.com/2010/12/electrical-preventive-maintenance-will.html Frank's Mud Plant is a real world example of what happens if you don’t stick to your Electrical PM.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Are Robots Taking Our Jobs?

2011-04-19T07:01:00.000-07:00

Below is a post I made to discussion "Will Robots Make People Obsolete in Manufacturing?"
over on NAM's LinkIn group. So you know my thoughts on the topic.

Someone has to keep these robots working.

Automation, Technology ... Robots! free up humans from remedial and repetitive task so humans can evolve to higher intelligent task. Yes, manufacturing will require less and less humans. But those humans who would have been loading a part in a machine all day will have to be educated to perform a more skilled job. Like quality control or even fixing and programming the robots.

And that very essence of evolution is what separates humans from lower life forms. So Robots and other technology should be embraced, not feared. I am glad humans no longer have to shovel out outhouses. A monkey can be trained to load parts all day, but only a human can be trained to fix robots, of design new products.

Some day in the far ... far ... future, we may be proud of the USA because we only invent products, design and build plants that make those products, not like those 3rd world countries who still use humans to make parts. (In the far ... far future:>) We may even consider it slave labor to be making humans do something a robot could do. :>)

Also in other areas besides manufacturing, like yard work. If our lives become too busy, or we just don’t want to be our own landscaper, robots will do it for us. The more we as society, country, race invest in education and R&D, the quicker we will evolve, the more we get out of life.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Do your know FMECA/RCM/RCA results point to Training Needs / Knowledge gaps?

2011-04-11T18:24:00.000-07:00

First of all, thank you to Tarapada Pyne for posting this statement as a reply to SMRP - Group for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals discussion titled "What are your thoughts on technical training?"

It would be much appreciated to all who read this, to post a reply of examples where a FMECA/RCM/RCA analysis resulted in cuase being related to Training Needs / Knowledge gaps.

Lets build a library of case studies to support employee training when requesting budget from ex-management. Thank you for your support of our industry.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

True Downtime Cost (TDC)

2011-04-07T07:58:00.000-07:00

When making management decisions on downtime cost, one should use True Downtime Cost (TDC). TDC includes downtime factors commonly overlook, to arrive at a more true value for the cost of downtime.

I recomend you click True Downtime Cost (TDC) to read full article.
Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Industrial Networking Solutions Security - PLC, SCADA

2011-04-02T21:59:00.000-07:00

A great article about reducing risk to your manufacturing network. Clarifies industrial network security risk including with PLC and SCADA.

Covers ANSI/ISA-99.02.01 security standard, infrastructure, power security, firewalls and antivirus programs, isolation, surveillance, technical support. also talks about SCADA security risks, Current network security status in our industry and provides a security checklist.
See Industrial Networking Solutions Security - PLC, SCADA for full article.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Free Engineering Training Software for my Friends

2011-03-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

To my Facebook friends only, any of our product and services for free. Follow the link for details.

Free engineering software and videos for training

http://www.bin95.com/

For free engineering software, free electrical training and free maintenance management software or any other of our 100+ educational products and seminars, you need only click the like button.

Tell Your Friends !

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Manufacturing Ohio: MACHINING 102

2011-03-23T14:38:00.000-07:00

Manufacturing Ohio: MACHINING 102: "VIDEO FOR PARENTS AND SCHOOLS"

An excellent video to provide STEM awareness to our students. For more STEM 2011 videos, please see ...
STEM 2011 Top videos and help support STEM and manufacturing awareness by spreading the word and by subscribing and shareing with others.

Thank you for your support.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Automation in Green Manufacturing

2011-03-13T20:44:00.000-07:00

Excerpt from ...
IEEE Robotics and Automation Society

"There has been growing interest in green manufacturing worldwide, which has attracted substantial efforts from researchers in both academic and engineering communities. Green manufacturing deserves efficient production of green technology products, and energy efficient and environmentally friendly manufacturing process and system. To achieve this, automation is an essential component. In recent years, significant advancements in technology, the fast growing economy and rapidly changing market have generated numerous opportunities for innovation. At the same time, many new challenges have emerged in order to apply and implement these innovations. Such opportunities and challenges have substantially expanded the scope of automation. The goal of automation is to provide efficient scientific and engineering solutions for green manufacturing. The central theme of this Special Issue is emerging opportunities and future directions in automation for green manufacturing, where information technology based modeling, analysis, control and optimization are the focus areas."

Learn more at ...
IEEE Robotics and Automation Society

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Industrial Pumps: Positive Displacement Pumps Training

2011-03-02T19:09:00.000-08:00

Please help others by shareing this with them.

Thanks
Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Best Free Industrial Training Videos

2011-02-24T10:59:00.000-08:00

Save time finding the best free training videos. See our Playlist below ...

New Videos added regularly, so be sure to subscribe while you are there!

PLC Tutorial and Training Videos

Industrial Electrician Training Videos

Industrial Training Software Videos

Manufacturing Process Videos

Funny Engineering Videos

YouTube Industrial Related Videos

Mechanical Training Videos

Reliability Engineering Videos

Industrial Engineer Videos

Industrial Electrical Safety Videos

Manufacturing Management Videos

Industrial Robot Videos

CNC Machines Milling Videos

HVAC Training Videos

Corrugated Box Making Machine Videos

Industrial Conveyor Videos

Palletizer Machine Videos

PID Control and Tuning Videos

Instrument and Control - Sensors Videos

STEM 2011 Engineering Videos

Cool Green Manufacturing Videos

Add a video to the above playlist by subscribing to our channel and recommending the video in comment area below. Please 'Like' and share this Play List with others.

Thanks

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Industrial Electrician Training Videos

2011-02-05T05:26:00.000-08:00

"Very interesting and entertaining."

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Electrical PM Tools

2011-01-12T11:14:00.000-08:00

This is a continuation of the series of post titled; "Electrical Preventive Maintenance Will Keep You Safe and Warm", a collection of guest post by Stuart Smith, MBA, MS.

Electrical PM Tools
By Stuart Smith

Performing electrical preventive maintenance can be done with the help of a number of technology tools. Which tool or combination of that works best for your facility depends on the type, location and accessibility of assets. The most important part about performing preventive maintenance is that is must be planned and be consistent. Regardless of the type of tool used to identify problems all electrical repair/install work should be done by a licensed electrician.

The goals of reliability, condition based, predictive and preventive maintenance are all the same which is to keep assets working in optimal condition for the longest period of time at the lowest overall cost to an organization. Some of the tools available are:

◦CMMS/EAM software for asset and maintenance management. These are good for scheduling all forms of preventive and predictive maintenance including work orders and inspections as well as tracking vendor documents/contracts for outsourcing of work.

◦PLC training: PLCs are used for the control of machinery from assembly lines to lighting fixtures. PLCs are designed for multiple inputs and output arrangements, extended temperature ranges, immunity to electrical noise, and resistance to vibration and impact.

◦CBM and reliability based maintenance methodologies.

◦Infrared Thermography: Common predictive technology tool that is great for identifying changes in heat or moisture. As previously stated almost all devices run hot before failure. Moisture causes corrosion.

◦Vibration analysis: Most vibrations in electrical motors are unwanted and indicate a loss of energy occurring.

◦Ultrasonic analysis: Not all sounds are audible to the human ear. Ultrasound analysis can detect tightness

◦Laser alignment: Laser shaft alignment can increase the efficiency and lifecycle of motors.

◦Using the senses: Visual, smell and noise changes are important signals of impending problems and they can be used for often than any other form of problem identification.

Please Follow this blog to see the next post in this series titled "Electrical Inspection checklists and resources"

Also if you find this post useful, please share with others using the social media buttons, and your comments below are always appreciated.

About the post author Stuart Smith, MBA, MS: Stuart is an avid writer about CMMS and EAM software solutions for Mintek Mobile Data Solutions.

Electrical Inspection Checklists and Resources

2011-01-08T22:22:00.000-08:00

This is a continuation of the series of post titled; "Electrical Preventive Maintenance Will Keep You Safe and Warm", a collection of guest post by Stuart Smith, MBA, MS.

Electrical Inspection Checklists and Resources
By Stuart Smith

Every organization has a unique set of assets. Therefore, it is unlikely that the same electrical inspection checklist will be the same. The following links are examples of electrical preventive maintenance checklist or good resources to develop your own checklists:

◦NFPA. Order the complete NEC code book.

◦Comprehensive Electrical System Maintenance Checklists Sample Electrical Inspection Checklist.

◦Ensuring long life for electrical equipment. Solid information about Electrical equipment.

◦Standard for Infrared Inspection of Electrical Systems & Rotating Equipment Infraspection Institute Guide

Please Follow this blog to see future post."

Also if you find this post useful, please share with others using the social media buttons, and your comments below are always appreciated.

About the post author Stuart Smith, MBA, MS: Stuart is an avid writer about CMMS and EAM software solutions for Mintek Mobile Data Solutions.

Electrical Buzz by Don Fitchett

2011-01-04T08:26:00.000-08:00

RE: Electrical Contractor: Keeping Electricity Where it Belongs

The author of the article below, Ed Brown, had a good idea in our discussion too. Add Electrical Predictive Maintenance (PdM) to your regular Electrical Preventative Maintenance program (PM). I say even better... PM+PdM+PLCpm

See Ed’s article at …
Electrical Contractor: Keeping Electricity Where it Belongs

Buzz by Don Fitchett from Posted from the web

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

How Often Should Electrical PM be done?

2011-01-02T22:20:00.000-08:00

This is a continuation of the series of post titled; "Electrical Preventive Maintenance Will Keep You Safe and Warm", a collection of guest post by Stuart Smith, MBA, MS.

How Often Should Electrical be done?
By Stuart Smith

Electrical systems should have a thorough inspection by a licensed electrician every 3 to 5 years. Individual assets should be inspected according to manufacturer directions or based upon experience and industrial training in a particular environment. For example, some motors may need to be inspected quarterly, air handlers annually and so on. Preventive maintenance, inspections and work orders are best handled using CMMS software for the scheduling and recording of activity, results and notes.

Preventive maintenance of electrical systems goes beyond the visual or scheduled predictive maintenance work. A full electrical PM is a complete look at the electrical system including;

Sample Electrical PM Items

◦Re-torque connections
◦Checking panel boards
◦Inspecting PLCs for effectiveness
◦Examining work orders as well as new installs for compliance and uniformity
◦Making sure lock-out tags are in place
◦Inspection of heating and cooling units
◦Lighting
◦GFCIs
◦Shutdown mechanisms
◦NEC code compliance

Please Follow this blog to see the next post in this series titled "Electrical PM Tools"

Also if you find this post useful, please share with others using the social media buttons, and your comments below are always appreciated.

About the post author Stuart Smith, MBA, MS: Stuart is an avid writer about CMMS and EAM software solutions for Mintek Mobile Data Solutions.

Federal Buildings Personnel Training Act of 2010 passed

2010-12-29T20:12:00.000-08:00

AFE (Association for Facilities Engineering) writes about the Federal Buildings Personnel Training Act of 2010 being passed.

AFE envisions the legislation as a way for the Federal government to model best practices in the operation and maintenance of high efficiency buildings systems. "By passing this legislation, the federal government will demonstrate by correctly maintaining high performance buildings, huge savings in energy and water costs can be achieved," he said. "But those dividends can only be attained when appropriately trained workers maintain high efficiency buildings at peak performance levels."

Read full article at AFE site, click AFE: Latest News

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Electrical Preventive Maintenance Will Keep You Safe and Warm

2010-12-26T10:01:00.000-08:00

This series of post; "Electrical Preventive Maintenance Will Keep You Safe and Warm" are guest post by Stuart Smith, MBA, MS. He is an avid writer about CMMS and EAM software solutions for Mintek Mobile Data Solutions. Stuart has over 25 years experience running operations in multiple industries. Stuart will have sevral post in the folowing weeks to cover Electrical PM, so please follow our blog to keep up to date on this topic.

Electrical Preventive Maintenance Will Keep You Safe and Warm
By Stuart Smith

With much of the nation buried under mountains of snow or enduring freezing temperatures, now is the time to make sure that your industrial facilities have been inspected for potential electrical problems. Without proper preventive maintenance on your electrical systems, disaster can happen before you have time to thaw.

Why Perform Preventive Maintenance on Electrical Systems

During the winter months, power requirements are higher for many industries as facilities struggle to keep buildings warm and their assets in operation. In addition, in today's economic environment, facility and plant managers also struggle with efforts to lower power consumption in order to reduce expenses.

Training and specialized equipment such as programmable logic controllers (PLC) can only help so much. All of the above goals contribute to a variety of issues that includes but is not limited to:

Ten Reasons to Perform Electrical Preventive Maintenance

◦Avoid electrical shorts that cause fires: Electrical short circuits can occur when wires are overloaded with current, wires are exposed and load imbalances. This can cause excessive heat buildup, arcing or explosions.

◦Identify loose connections: Loose connections can cause power fluctuations to devices, devices to operate erratically and uneven load distribution between wires.

◦Identify components running hot or not according to specifications: Transformers, motors, bearings and wires almost always run hot before they fail. Predictive maintenance technologies such as infrared thermography, vibration analysis and laser alignment tools as well as general maintenance such as regularly scheduled lubrication can avoid asset failure.

◦Identify unusual smells, noises, dust build up, or discoloration: Melting insulation, stressed motors, corrosion through dust and so on make a physical inspection a requirement for electrical components. Electrical troubleshooting should be performed using a systematic approach.

◦Check all emergency lighting, signage and power indicator displays: Many electrical disasters occur when the safety monitoring equipment itself is faulty leading to a false belief that all is ok.

◦Extend the useful lifecycle of assets: Poorly maintained assets require more energy to do the same amount of work. This leads to excessive wear and tear and a shortening of the assets useful lifecycle.

◦Avoid unplanned downtime: Unplanned downtime can shut down production, result in emergency labor costs and unnecessary capital asset replacement. Without proper electrical training, all of these significantly impact the profitability of the organization.

◦Less equipment loss: Consistent electrical preventive maintenance will reduce the amount of equipment that needs to be replaced early as a result of electrical problems.

◦Energy savings: Optimal energy efficiency will occur when equipment is functioning within design parameters and is well maintained.

◦Safety and Liability: The most important reason of all is safety. Avoiding serious injuries or death is worth every penny spent on prevention. Liability lawyers have a field day when facilities have a poor maintenance record.

Please Follow this blog to see the next post in this series titled "How Often Should Electrical PM be done?"

Also if you find this post useful, please share with others using the social media buttons, and your comments below are always appreciated.

About the post author Stuart Smith, MBA, MS: Stuart is an avid writer about CMMS and EAM software solutions for Mintek Mobile Data Solutions.

Your Next Captial Equipment Purchase

2010-12-16T21:49:00.000-08:00

Advice: Get advice.

Get advice from an independent-unbiased consultant before you purchase new capital equipment (Machines, production equipment, automation, etc.)

Example, don’t rely on equipment provider and OEM only. Before making any decisions, signing any agreements, seek out a non-related and non-competitive consultant or training company and ask their advice.

An OEM may sell you on the notion you need the most expensive equipment, or new technology that can often cost you more in support and downtime.

Ask the questions …

Does the application need this level of technology?
Will it make us OEM dependant?
Do we have staff trained to maintain, make minor modifications?
Is the system cost effectively expandable? Does it really need to be expandable?
Will we have access to ALL programs, documentation, needed software?
Will the project require ongoing support cost? How Much?
Is the process secure from malicious abuse? (Can it be easily accessed remotely by unauthorized persons?)
What is the turnaround time to get on-site service tech? At what cost?

Examples from those who have not sought out an independent consultant first …

“Paid $10k+ plus for process automation controller to move a press up and down, when a simple PLC for less than $1K would have been just fine.”

“OEM upgrades firmware version on our system, so our software no-longer works requiring us to call OEM when ever even minor modifications are needed or to troubleshoot.”

“Vendor refuses to provide schematics or documented PLC program so we can troubleshoot in-house.”

“It takes 3 days to a week to get service tech in to troubleshoot.”

“Someone got into our machine via the phone modem connected to machine, and corrupted the program, shutting us down.”

“We are trained on PLCs, but the vendor used a PAC to control with C++, now we need a computer programmer to troubleshoot and modify.”

And the most popular … “We are not trained on that.”, “We don’t have schematics, software or documented copy of program.”

And the list of horror stories go on. Please help others out and use the comment area below to tell your personal stories of how a new project cost you more than necessary upfront or after start-up. So we all can learn and avoid future headaches. Thanks for your help.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Recomended Training for the Maintenance Electrician

2010-10-20T21:21:00.000-07:00

These training solutions are in order we recommend you send you employees through them...

V4 Electrical Troubleshooting Skills Series (3 separate training programs that increase in skill level required and vary circuits worked with.) The single PC/Workstation Enterprise edition is $1595 allows unlimited users, one user at a time. (We do have more expensive packages with 5 PC/Workstations allowed to use simultaneously, and more workstation versions.)

(Software details and demos http://www.bin95.com/electrical_software_downloads.htm )

Also you might want to follow up the above 3 software programs with the FPS 3000 Advanced Troubleshooting Software http://www.bin95.com/Training_Software/fluid_process_systems.htm

(Network packages for multiple users at https://www.bin95.com/ebooks/education_corporate_pricing.htm )

The next logical course for your people after sharpening their troubleshooting skills, is PLCs. We provide PLC training in every imaginable form, so each customer can find what works best for their particular situation. To have the best possible trained people on PLC, we recommend they first attend our 3 day public seminar or 5 day customized on-site PLC training, to get real world hands on knowledge and a safety/reliability focused foundation.
http://www.bin95.com/plc_training.htm

Then they should follow up with our complete PLC training solution the 10 DVD PLC Training Video Course Series for $2289 unlimited users at http://www.bin95.com/Industrial-Training-Videos/plc_training_videos.htm This will allow them to go through each of the 10 dvds at their own leisure.

We also have other limited PLC training options should you your budget be constrained or you want additional follow up for your people, 6 months after taking the above courses. We have a 2 CD PLC training set for $160 per user http://www.bin95.com/ebooks/plc_training_simulator.htm or the unlimited user version for $999 https://www.bin95.com/ebooks/education_corporate_pricing.htm This 2 CD set is in no way a replacement for the above courses as they only teach a few basic instructions, and specifically Allen Bradley’s RSLogix 500 software/PLC. But the simulation CD that comes in this set provides many hours/days of particle experience while employee writes ladder logic to make each of the simulations work.

Just as the V4 software increases troubleshooting experience quicker than you could obtain in regular job duties, the PLC simulation software increases PLC programming experience quicker that you could obtain in regular job duties.

Some customers also supplement the above training with our PLC training equipment so employees can get more hands on experience. It sells for $269 per unit. http://www.bin95.com/Training_Equipment/plc_equipment.htm

We also offer many (100+) training software programs that target specialized areas of electrical training. You may browse our order form at https://www.bin95.com/ebooks/order_book_online.htm for complete list. Some topics I would recommend from the above list are …

10 DVD Electrical Training Video Library w/ Instructor guide and workbook
Electrical Safe Work Practices Computer Based Training CD
AC Motor Controls CBT CD
Hazardous Area Instrumentation Training Software (Download)
VFDTrainer Freq Drive Training Software CD
CLXTrainer ControlLogix Training Software CD
The ViewTrainer HMI (RSView32) CD

If you would like a quote for our on-site PLC training and/or any of the above courses, please let me know which ones you have decided on and your full contact information so we can generate you the needed quotes.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

DCS or PLC, wich is most commonly used?

2010-10-08T10:13:00.000-07:00

On our LinkedIn Process Control group discussion, I commented ...
'The fact that even if DCS can be used, is it commonly being used for a particular applications'

And I would like to share these informative comments with our Blog readers.
I have been in hundreds of manufacturing facilities, from all industries types, hardly ever see a DCS system being used, just PLCs.

Another good point previously made in the process control discussion group , is that "hybrid" PLC (actually called a PAC, Process Automation Controller like the AB Controllogix), will make the need for complicated, difficult to support, expensive DCS systems even less common.

According to Frost & Sullivan market report titled “World Distributed Control System (DCS) Market”, SCADA systems are offering even more competition to DCS vendors, because they cost only a fraction of the price of a DCS system. The report also mentions power, chemical plants and oil refineries as traditional DCS users.

Although the summary I read was Feb, 2010, I did not see mention of PAC with SCADA in the market analysis, just PLC – SCADA. But logically the PAC – SCADA would take away from DCS market even more. (“logically”, ha. No pun intended. :>)

Please comment with which you see out there the most, and what industries? Thanks

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

To make Manufacturing Sexy (appeal to more people).

2010-09-17T05:13:00.000-07:00

Maintenance Women

Below are my comments in reply to an excellent topic and video Karin Lindner started on our LinkedIn Industrial Discussion Group, I would like to share with you.

Below are two proven examples where Engineering are made "Sexy" (interesting to the younger crowd, not nothing to do with sex actually:>)

Ex 1: with 9000+ comments, this video using multiple methods to make engineering cool and attract the young, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjGrHBpfqCo

(Elements of social media, action, video, gaming done in quality way. Plays on the already popular.)

Ex 2: Music video, cost less than full blown movie like Ironman, so more could be made at same cost of one hit movie, reaching more people. see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0DxmthvkKU

(Elements of social media, music, video, cool technology. Needs more marketing though, so share this video with others. :>)

Especially those in school, we need more presence on TV and more manufacturers evolved in grade school on up. Watch Karin's video below and see more great manufacturing related videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/bin952 (click on the subscribe button and be sure to view the many Playlist, by clicking on that button.)
Karin's Video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_opbsacGvjg

After reviewing the above material, please reply to this post or join in the LinkedIn Industrial Discussion Group and let me know your toughts and opinions. We all would realy like to here them.

Thank you for your support.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Reduce Downtime Troubleshooting!

2010-08-26T05:27:00.000-07:00

Actually it does not matter if you have hardwired, Modbus, Devicenet or wireless sensors as far as troubleshooting time goes. (although any of the above can add to number of problems to be found. Like Modbus communication going out.)

The two primary factors in troubleshooting with a PLC is training and documentation. Using a PLC, it typically takes 5-10 minutes for a properly trained technician with discriptored ladder logic and an electrical layout diagram, to find a problem, no matter how complex the system. Time to fix varies on actual problem found.

Items that can increase troubleshooting time in order of most negative effect are ...

· Lack of proper training.
· Lack of proper PLC program documentation.
· Over complicated PLC ladder logic.
· Lack of electrical layout and schematics.

System Designs in order of most timely to troubleshoot are ...

DCS (Mostly proprietary and designed for only OEM to use.)
SCADA (Often proprietary, non-user friendly and training deficiencies. Seek Wonderware® and Factorytalk® training.)
PAC (Ladder Logic easy, but function block diagram is not always, structured text is a more complex computer programming language.)
PLC (Ladder Logic, easy for electricians and mechanics too if tought properly.)

The bottom line is that all the above systems could be easy (quick) to troubleshoot if one is constantly trained, the system is well documented and designed for the laymen to easily understand.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

What is world-class asset management?

2010-08-21T09:56:00.001-07:00

Check out this Industrial Training Newsletter and comment on it below. What do you define as world-class asset management?

What is world-class asset management?

View more documents from Business Industrial Network.

PLC Programming Jobs

2010-08-01T06:34:00.000-07:00

Click www.flickr.com/photos/manufacturing/4848858001/ to see large ladder logic

Below are some tips for those looking for PLC Programming Jobs. I suggest those looking for PLC programming jobs AND those who are looking for PLC Programmers (single project or full time job), connect with me. In the online social media arena, I am well connected within our industry. Just by following, friending, connecting with me, you will add to your visibility in our industry. http://www.linkedin.com/in/bin95

If you would also like to connect on facebook, see http://www.facebook.com/Eelectrician.Engineer.Industrial.Training

Also, I know I have mentioned it before, but we have http://www.twitter.com/IndTraining set up to automatically find related jobs as soon as they are posted on the Internet somewhere, and tweet them to you. So I would recommend following @IndTraining too.

But, on to advice for finding PLC Programming jobs. first of all, study the rung of PLC logic above, it speaks your language. :>) the ladder logic may also give you some insight into areas you can open more contacts. (Pun intended) The old school method of looking for jobs in search engines, even older school method of live networking events, calling each manufacturer/engineering firm, snail mail, classifieds are equal to a slow boat to China nowadays.

You need to get social, that was my advice to a friend recently, seeking PLC Programming job. This is the only way in today's world, to find the jobs quick, before someone else does. Below are excerpts from my reply to William W. (if you need a good programmer, contact me, I'll send you William's resume.)

Get on FaceBook, I am connected with 50+ manufacturers, make a post letting them know you are seeking a job.
Create a detailed contact profile/resume on LinkedIn, I am connected with 350+ in the industry, you could be too.
Today, smart employers want Internet savvy PLC programmers, be smart, get up to speed and get online.

More from my reply to William ...
"... Search the jobs posted on LinkedIn.com you will find ones like Controls Engineer - Manufacturing Engineering Group at Intralox posted by Kathy 4 days ago.

Or Lead Electrical Design Engineer at Bauer Controls posted by Kelly today. (you want to sort your search by day posted, and reply to the jobs most recently posted first, and work your way down to the older job listing. If you are contacting a company through LinkedIn where they can see all your information, you are more likely to get an interview than if you just cold call some company, not having a person within the company to contact.

Also if you find yourself with a lot of time on your hands, you should post frequently to related discussions like those at …

http://www.automation.com/career-job-center/job-pages/search-for-jobs?page=search (Rick Zabel
is VP and is a connection of mine on LinkedIn.com (most of the major site owners are connections of mine. And could be yours too. :>)

http://www.plcs.net/classifieds/employoffer.html
http://forums.mrplc.com/
http://www.indeed.com/q-PLC-Technician-jobs.html
http://www.automationtechies.com/job-seekers
http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobResults.aspx?

The links above are to job areas, but you want to join in on the regular discussion groups to establish yourself online as an expert. (ending with your signature stating you are seeking employment.:>)

The bottom line, using google search for “plc technician jobs” and “plc programmer jobs” to find the hundreds of jobs out there, you should try to apply/inquire for at least 10 jobs per day.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

US Machine Shop Profiled on CNN

2010-07-16T16:03:00.000-07:00

US Machine Shop Profiled on CNN

Today's Light-Blue Collar worker in manufacturing. It is all about training and thinking, not just repetitious unskilled factory work. Prepare for the future, your future, and get as much education as you can. Others can do the mindless low-skill and low-pay work.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Maintenance Songs - WGHP

2010-07-12T20:19:00.000-07:00

Great interview with my good frend Joel Leonard showing how his maintenance songs could have avoided the BP oil spill. (Maintenance Songs - WGHP) If only everyone would listen. They need to listen to Joel's full story too. The songs are just the tip of the ice berg.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

How to to Break into the Industrial Maintenance side of Electrical Contracting?

2010-07-08T06:18:00.000-07:00

My reply to a question often asked of us by electrical contractors. How to break into the Industrial Maintenance side of Eelectrical Contracting? What training will help?

First of all I would like to point out an article we have about changing over to industrial Electrical, if you haven’t already read it. http://www.bin95.com/Residential_Electrician.htm

If you like it, please click the FaceBook like button. :>)

Now for the training. If you want the very best, and can afford it, you should start with the 10 DVD Industrial Electrical Course. This will get you oriented with the ‘Industrial’ side of things. (Nema motor starters, drives, solenoids, etc. basics) You should follow that with the "Advanced
Troubleshooting Industrial Controls Simulation Training Software” to improve your industrial troubleshooting skills. You may want to supplement the electrical training with one or more other electrical training software we sell like one on AC motors or Electrical safety.

Then we recommend to existing industrial (commercial) electrical contractors, that they learn PLCs to increase their company’s capability and number of contracts received. For this you need the 10 DVD PLC training course. We offer additional PLC training in every conceivable media (online course, CDs, trainer, etc.), so you can become the best in the industry if that is your desire.

You would typically follow the above recommendations with Niche and more advanced training, like
Hazardous Electrical areas training, PID Training, Etc.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Industrial Automation Control Standards

2010-07-02T05:58:00.000-07:00

There are 3 areas of PLCs in need of standards. They are design, networking security, and procedures (working with PLCs).

The design and PLC programming standards are covered in IEC 1131
The Networking Security standards are covered in ANSI/ISA-99
The ‘Working with PLCs’ procedure recommendations are covered in PLC Management

Hope this helps us all in the automation control industry get on the same page.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Troubleshooting PLC SCADA systems.

2010-06-29T05:33:00.000-07:00

This is in reply to a discussion on CR4 where the commentor suspected sensor wiring method to be root cause of extended troubleshooting time. My reply below...

The two primary factors in troubleshooting with a PLC is training and documentation. Using a PLC, it typically takes 5-10 minutes for a properly trained technician with discriptored ladder logic and an electrical layout diagram, to find a problem, no matter how complex the system. Time to fix varies on actual problem found.

Items that can increase troubleshooting time in order of most negative effect are ...

Lack of proper training.
Lack of proper PLC program documentation.
Over complicated PLC ladder logic.
Lack of electrical layout and schematics.

System Designs in order of most timely to troubleshoot are ...

DCS (Mostly proprietary and designed for only OEM to use.)
SCADA (Often proprietary, non-user friendly and training deficiencies. Seek Wonderware® and Factorytalk® training.)
PAC (Ladder Logic easy, but function block diagram is not always, structured text is a more complex computer programming language.)
PLC (Ladder Logic, easy for electricians and mechanics too if taught properly.)

The bottom line is that all the above systems could be easy (quick) to troubleshoot if one is constantly trained, the system is well documented and designed for the laymen to easily understand.

For click link for additional >>> PLC Training
For click link for additional >>> PAC Training

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

CSI? No … BSI (Breakdown Scene Investigation)

2010-06-14T15:13:00.000-07:00

BSI: Breakdown Scene Investigation

It’s not a Crime Scene Investigation (CSI:), but a lot like it. It is a BSI: (Breakdown Scene Investigation), a bit more complicated and technical. Both require control over the scene and the basic scientific investigation technique. Both are often a race against time. The differences being most CSI: shows investigate loss of life, with BSI: loss of production. (Hopefully the machine breakdown this time is just loss of production and money, not actually hurting someone.) The equipment used by the BSI: ‘Agents’ is different too. Usually one or two of the investigators are PLC Techs using a laptop to access the computer that controls machines, called a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller).

First let’s set the BSI: scene above… The girl and guys on far left wearing black BIN PLC Tech hats are holding laptops, the PM Tech lady grabbed a spare PLC module out of the store room, just in case. The mechanic has his tool box. On the far right, is the plant manager who thinks his presence somehow, will speed the repair of the machine? A few operators are standing around as onlookers. Hopefully one of the PLC Techs are questing the operators as witnesses, while breakdown scene is first being secured. The man in the very back could be the production line supervisor.

The cost of all these employees (experts) and the lost production is running at about $10,000 per hour. The clock is ticking, tic-toc!

The maintenance crew has scientific procedures at their disposal too. They don’t just use wrenches, grease guns, volt-ohm meters and laptops. They can chose to use Root Cause Analysis (RCA), Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FEMA), data analysis tools such as Cpk, SPC, MTBF, PdM, etc. Also they use the most basic and common; non-invasive test, operating and condition monitoring.

The Investigation process:

1. Secure the Breakdown scene.

2. Talk to machine operators (expert witnesses).

3. Take pictures and other data collection. (Maybe actual photographs, but more importantly a copy of the PLC program which preserves the state of all switches, sensors, etc. for later analysis.)

4. Use PLC ladder logic to quickly find machine problem and to minimize downtime.

5. Repair problem, get machine back into production.

6. Perform RCA, PdM etc. for future breakdown prevention.

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

10 Free Maintenance Training Flyers

2010-04-25T05:51:00.000-07:00

Thank you for being a friend

These maintenance training flyers below are free to all who follow us on Twitter, Friends on Facebook etc. Our way of saying thank you. The more people who follow us, the more free maintenance training flyers we will add. So please ask your maintenance, engineering, manufacturing and other industrial related friends to follow us.

Not following us yet?
Please choose your poison...

LinkedIn - Twitter - Blog - Youtube -Ning - Google - FaceBook - SlideShare - Flickr

Right click link below, choose "Save Target As" to save file to your computer.

Warning: These flyers are only for our friends and followers and are copyright protected. You may NOT distribute the files below.

111 Protecting bearings from dust & water
115 Maintenance costs capital moneys

122 Ultrasonic level detectors

123 Chemical corrosion control

262 Electric motor problems

275 Helical rotor pumps - benefits and limitations

323 Tools to Focus on Plant Reliability

344 Control Loops - Masters of Automatic Control

364 Rolling bearing vibration detection

1101 Job descriptions tell tradesmen

The above Flyers are from our CD with 150 Maintenance training flyers on it.
If you want to see what free maintenance flyers might come up in the future, or want to purchase all 150 today, please see the product page below.

Process, Plant & Equipment 150 Maintenance Training Flyers on CD

Don (Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Can Engineering News be entertaining?

2010-04-19T09:07:00.000-07:00

You bet. Take a break from the job world and watch this series of videos on YouTube titled ... "This Week In Engineering". Great stuff. The latest Engineering News made both interesting and entertaining.
(Be sure to comment on videos so Engineering.com keeps this video series going.)

Thank you for your consideration.
Don (Follow me on twitter @indtraining, add me to your LinkedIn network)
Business Industrial Network
www.BIN95.com
BIN95 @ BIN95.com

How the U.S. can Enhance its Advanced Manufacturing Capability

2010-04-10T06:19:00.000-07:00

President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) asked in their new public forum OpenPCAST ...

"What are your ideas as to how the U.S. can enhance its advanced manufacturing capability."

My reply to them is below...

With the baby boomers retiring, our country’s manufacturing productivity is at great risk if we do not train maintenance and engineering on PLC (Programmable Logic Controllers) and other automation from a safety and reliability approach.

Not only does this PLC training crisis affect manufacturing, but also the maintenance and operation of the entire USA infrastructure. (PLCs control all city water, power, building controls like elevators and some bridges, tunnels, hospital equipment, farm production equipment, etc..)

Most organizations only have 1 “PLC guru”, and often they have only had text book, community college training, or figured it out on their own. Most have not had training on the safety, reliability and management of PLCs like BIN95.com delivers.

Don
(Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Developing Competencies and Skills - employment growth 2010

2010-04-01T20:16:00.000-07:00

Developing Competencies and Skills - employment growth 2010

Developing competencies open roads to worker productivity in the workplace, employability, and sustainable development.This article by Armando Justo points out competency based training to improve employee skills will be key differentiators for future success of organizations and countries alike. so please for article link to all you know.

Don
(Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Free Maintenance Training Flyers

2010-03-31T09:30:00.000-07:00

Thank you for being a friend

LinkedIn - Twitter - Blog - Youtube - Ning - Google - FaceBook - SlideShare - Flickr

Right click link below, choose "Save Target As" to save file to your computer.

111 Protecting bearings from dust & water
115 Maintenance costs capital moneys
122 Ultrasonic level detectors
123 Chemical corrosion control
262 Electric motor problems
275 Helical rotor pumps - benefits and limitations (coming soon, please follow)
323 Tools to Focus on Plant Reliability (coming soon, please follow)
344 Control Loops - Masters of Automatic Control (coming soon, please follow)
364 Rolling bearing vibration detection (coming soon, please follow)
1101 Job descriptions tell tradesmen (coming soon, please follow)

The above Flyers are from our CD with 150 Maintenance training flyers on it. If you want to see what free maintenance flyers might come up in the future, or want to purchase all 150 today, please see the product page below.

Process, Plant & Equipment 150 Maintenance Training Flyers on CD

Don
(Follow me on Industrial Skills Training Blog and on Twitter @IndTraining .)

Please Follow This Industrial Skills Training Blog

2010-03-13T22:44:00.000-08:00

By following this blog, not only will you keep up to date, you also will encourage me to add more.

WAHW5WJH2QMM
Thank you for your consideration.
Don (Follow me on twitter @indtraining, add me to LinkedIn)

Want to connect with us (BIN95) and learn even more?

2010-03-06T21:25:00.000-08:00

Youtube                          = http://www.youtube.com/user/bin952

LinkedIn                         = http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=410151

Industrial Group              = http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=79953

Twitter                            = http://twitter.com/IndTraining

Ning                               = http://reliability.ning.com/

Maint & Eng Group        = http://reliability.ning.com/group/industrialtraining

Facebook                       = http://www.facebook.com/bin95

Industrial Training Group = http://www.facebook.com/bin95#!/group.php?gid=222630907465

Follow, subscribe, blog, comment, connect, favorite, friend so you don't mis a thing. :>)
Don (Follow me on twitter @indtraining, add me to LinkedIn)

Where are all the women engineers and other professional industrial women?

2010-02-21T09:06:00.000-08:00

Last week, a female college instructor (Elaine) in our PLC training class, made the mention and question...

"Do you have women attend this PLC training often? I hardly ever get women in my industrial automation class."

I sadly replied ... "Only a couple over the years." Which got me remembering the first woman we brought into our maintenance department a couple decades ago. She was brought in from off the production floor to do PMs. (Preventive Maintenance :>). But she (Janet) was a go getter, she wanted to learn everything, fixing machines, fabricating, all of it. She inspired me to become a strong advocate of women in engineering (and other industrial fields). Especially when I taught her how to weld. It really opened my eyes. Remember, this was a couple decades ago. By the way, last time I ran into Janet, she was still in maintenance department. :>)

So today, I decided to place this post, as a Shout-Out to all professional women in our industry. My hat is off to you for dealing with the mind sets and prejudices, to continue to pursue your interest in maintenance and engineering fields.

If you are a maintenance woman, woman engineer, female electrician or any other industrial technical field, please comment on this post and say hi. (Tell us a little about yourself, let the world know, women are in our professions too.:>)

Don (Follow me on twitter @indtraining, add me to LinkedIn)

2010-01-19T10:30:00.000-08:00

Maintenance Managers in the Pursuit of World-Class Performance

"A savvy maintenance manager can cause organizational change by financial presentations for resources to introduce proactive implementations. He also can use the daily management meeting with the proper departmental KPIs to illustrate and teach these lessons. He will also improve the management and control capabilities of the maintenance function by using the proper KPIs."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This Article/Whitepaper below outlines in detail how a savvy maintenance manager can cause organizational change, and why. In today’s competitive economy, those not willing to succeed will cease to exist. This advanced knowledge and insight is invaluable for Maintenance Manager career planning.

This article was donated by Certified Plant maintenance Manager (CPMM), Dale Reiter who wants to encourage readers to contact him about this article dale.reiter(at)alcoa.com

What? MAINTENANCE AND QUALITY ?

INTRODUCTION

Maintenance and quality are two terms usually not associated. Normally, these terms are only mentioned together when equipment condition effects scrap rates. However, if maintenance managers become familiar with historical quality philosophies, there are some lessons that can be applied to maintenance.

As the quality movement grew, many companies mistakenly pursued exceedingly lofty quality goals. Excessive cost of mistakenly set high quality levels resulted in the inability to compete in the marketplace. The cost to produce excessive levels of quality eliminated profitability. There are levels of quality for which the customer will not bear the cost. Customers that purchase custom-tailored clothes are willing to pay much more for quality than the customer that is purchasing off-the-rack clothing at a discount store.

Quality definitions then expanded to include customer needs and wants. Quality grew to be defined as the precise product the customer desired. The customer (marketplace) defined the level of quality, the acceptable price, and the exact availability of the product.

What if there was a tremendous product developed, with perfect quality, and great availability (timing) that the customer was not aware? Would that mean that it was an inferior product? The customer could not identify something they did not know existed. The introduction of cell phone technology is such an example. It became apparent that allowing the customer to define quality, in many cases, would require the quality provider/creator to educate the customer.

To view this full article with pictures and formulas, please see ....
http://www.bin95.com/Maintenance-Managers.htm

Please Share this article on Twitter

Don (Follow me on twitter @indtraining, add me to LinkedIn)

Maintenance Managers in the pursuit of World-Class Performance

2010-01-16T07:59:00.001-08:00

Maintenance Managers in the pursuit of World-Class Performance

Posted using ShareThis

2010-01-09T07:45:00.001-08:00

Training Business in Recession: The Training Recession http://ping.fm/a6875

Training Business in Recession: The Training Recession

2009-11-23T07:12:00.001-08:00

must read article. Aslo see article "Best find a Job" article at http://www.bin95.com

From: http://ping.fm/VQ0Jl

BIN's Industrial Training Resources - Google Profile

2009-11-08T19:27:00.000-08:00

Just created us a Google Profile of Industrial Training <<< Click on it ...
to see Business Industrial Network's Industrial Training Resources.

Don (Follow me on twitter @indtraining, add me to LinkedIn)

Welcome to Industrial Skills Training Blog

2009-11-08T06:20:00.000-08:00

For tips and other useful info, like free giveaways and dicounts all related to Industrial Training, follow me on Twitter.

Do it now so you do not mis out! Last week we offered one free PLC Training seminar registration worth $1170 ! A month ago we offer a 60% discount on our Industrial Training Video library on DVDs!

You never know what valuable training resources we will give you next, so please follow me at @indtraining today!

Don (Follow me on twitter @indtraining, add me to LinkedIn)

2009-10-05T19:06:00.001-07:00

Maintenance Management of your Company's Programmable Logic Controller (http://ping.fm/2ImlA)

Wheels of change - Now is the time to look for wasted money and inefficiencies in your shipping department.

2009-05-11T16:20:00.000-07:00

Wheels of change - Now is the time to look for wasted money and inefficiencies in your shipping department.

Electrical Solutions Industry News

2009-01-05T11:46:00.000-08:00

Electrical Solutions Industry News - US Manufacturing Industry in a recession.

Baby boom generation, 45% of the workforce!!

2008-12-13T05:44:00.001-08:00

How the US Manufacturing Industry Deals with Recession

"The baby boom generation comprises about 45% of the workforce. Many of these professionals are highly experienced and have been in their jobs for extended periods. Many are in key positions in their organizations. The first wave will be 65 and eligible for retirement beginning in 2011 and the rates will increase by record numbers over the following 10 years." (REF: Training Industry, Inc.-2008)

Educational Services in Saint Louis - YELLOWPAGES.COM

2008-12-07T05:50:00.000-08:00

Educational Services in Saint Louis - YELLOWPAGES.COM

US big Three auto Manufacturers

2008-12-03T15:58:00.001-08:00

How the US Manufacturing Industry Deals with Recession

I was watching today as United Auto Workers spoke about conssessions, and thought they should be reading the PSA above. :>)

Welcome

2007-05-24T08:17:00.000-07:00

All topics and resources for Industrial skills training may be posted here.

Exceptions: No profanity, non-related or direct sales info, may be posted.

Just Industrial training related post.