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M-News Edition 57
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M-News - the Maintenance Newsletter

Edition 57, December 2006
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Contents

In this edition...
Introduction
Feature Article - The Use and Abuse of OEE
Feature Article - Maintenance Excellence Glossary
Feature Article - Utilizing Real-Time Information in Enterprise Asset Management Systems
Feature Article - Doing It Right
2006 Maintenance Salary Survey Results
Upcoming Maintenance Events
New Maintenance Books
Top-Selling Books
On the Lighter Side - Engineering Humor

If you wish to receive notification of future copies of this newsletter by email, please register at www.plant-maintenance.com/registration.shtml. If you have any feedback on the newsletter, or have something to contribute, please send me an e-mail.

Assetivity

This edition of the newsletter is sponsored by Assetivity
Assetivity is one of the world's fastest growing Maintenance and Asset Management consultancies. Find out why by visiting www.assetivity.com.au.

Introduction

My sincere apologies for the long delay between newsletters. Hopefully from now on, normal monthly service will be resumed.

Four more high quality articles for you this time, plus (finally) the results of our 2006 Annual Maintenance Salary Survey.

Season's Greetings to you all. I hope you manage to find some time to relax with your families, and that you have a happy and prosperous 2007.

Alexander (Sandy) Dunn
Webmaster, Plant Maintenance Resource Center
webmaster@plant-maintenance.com

Feature Article - The Use and Abuse of OEE

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is fast becoming a widely used measure for manufacturing industry, but it is also one of the more misunderstood and misused measures and causing much confusion. This article, by Malcolm Jones of Productivity Europe, discusses some of its strengths, and its shortcomings.

You can read this article by visiting http://www.plant-maintenance.com/articles/The_Use_and_Abuse_of_OEE.pdf. You will require the free Adobe Acrobat reader to be able to view this file.

Feature Article - Maintenance Excellence Glossary

This is the "Mother" of all maintenance and MRO materials management glossaries with color illustrations. One of the appendices to Ralph "Pete" Peeters new book "Maintenance Benchmarking and Best Practices" (although the book doesn't have the illustrations), this is an extremely useful reference guide. You can read this glossary at http://www.plant-maintenance.com/articles/Maint_Excellence_Glossary.pdf. Be aware, however, that this glossary is a 5.5Mb pdf download.

Feature Article - Utilizing Real-Time Information in Enterprise Asset Management Systems

This article asks "Why has Condition-Based Maintenance not been more widely adopted?" It suggests that it is primarily because the volume and resolution of data required to effectively support CBM at or near real-time is largely unmanageable at the human level. Furthermore, gaining access to this information in a timely manner has proven to be a challenge. However, it argues, recent advances in technology are making real-time CBM a reality. Integrating real-time asset data at the operations level with an Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) system at the business layer of an organization to support Condition Based Maintenance efforts offers measurable improvements in maintenance effectiveness and efficiency. This article, contributed by Jason Barath of Matrikon can be read at http://www.plant-maintenance.com/articles/Utilizing_Real.pdf. You will require the free Adobe Acrobat reader to be able to view this file.

Feature Article - Doing It Right

Another in our series of articles from Mark Goldstein. The key message is that when you care to listen, take good notes, and produce 150% of your requester's needs. "When you do it right the first time," you cement a strong relationship, and a positive dependence that is geometrically larger than your native value to the organization. This is at the heart of Proactive Maintenance. Read more at http://www.plant-maintenance.com/articles/DoingItRight.pdf. You will require the free Adobe Acrobat reader to be able to view this file.

2006 Maintenance Salary Survey

Belatedly, we offer the results of our annual Maintenance Salary Survey. The key conclusions from this year's survey are:

  • The median salary for the 2006 survey was $US 52,500 lying within the band US$50,001-$55,000.  This represents a slight reduction from last year.  Assuming the average salary for each band is the midpoint of each band, the mean salary in 2006 is US$56,477 which is essentially unchanged from the previous two years. However the relatively static nature of the results may be due to a relative increase in the number of responses from countries with overall lower wage levels than in previous years. 
  • The industry paying the highest salaries in 2006 was Mining – Coal, knocking off Oil and Gas - Oil and Gas Extraction from its customary top position on this table.
  • The sector demonstrating the most significant salary increase in 2006 is the mining sector, with a net salary increase, year on year, of 7%.  Manufacturing salaries, overall, remained essentially unchanged, while salaries in the Services sector increased by 6%.
  • The highest salaries were once again obtained in Australia, followed by Canada, Brazil (a new entrant to the table), New Zealand, and the USA.  A weaker US Dollar appears to have led to relative declines (in US$ terms) in salaries in most other countries
  • CEOs/Managing Directors get paid the most, followed by Consulting Engineers and Management Consultants.
  • Maintenance Crafts/Tradespeople appear to be being paid more than Maintenance Managers/Superintendents and Maintenance Foremen/Supervisors, and have shown the largest proportional increase in salaries of any group.
  • Maintenance Planners continue to be paid less than Maintenance Crafts/Tradespeople and Supervisors, which appears to greatly undervalue their contribution at most businesses
  • Educational level is a relatively unreliable predictor of salary, although it appears that Formal Trade Training is considered more valuable than other qualifications (apart from a Masters Degree)
  • Experience is an important factor in generating additional salary, with salaries increasing significantly as experience increases.
  • Large companies pay larger salaries than medium and small companies.  In comparison with recent years, the gap in salaries between larger companies and small/medium companies is starting to increase.

To read the full results, visit http://www.plant-maintenance.com/articles/salarysurvey06.pdf . The 2007 survey will open in January at http://www.plant-maintenance.com/survey.shtml. Please let all your colleagues and friends who work in Maintenance know about this - the more people that respond to the survey, the more meaningful the results will be. The survey will remain open for approximately 3 months, after which time, detailed analysis of the results will be presented in this newsletter.

Upcoming Maintenance Events

The Plant Maintenance Resource Center is pleased to be the media partner for the following Maintenance conferences in coming months:

If you plan on attending, let them know that you heard about the event from us! To view even more Maintenance Conferences and Training Events, browse our comprehensive listing here .

New Maintenance Books

We have recently added the following maintenance books to our bookstore. Some of these are new releases, others are older releases that are proving popular with site visitors. We hope to bring you reviews of many of these books in upcoming months.

Get more information on these and other books at http://www.plant-maintenance.com/maintenance_books.shtml.

Top-Selling Books

Here are the top ten most popular Maintenance-related books, according to our sales statistics through amazon.com:

Get more information on these and other books at http://www.plant-maintenance.com/maintenance_books.shtml.

On the Lighter Side - Engineering Humor

Pat and Mike came over to America on the boat together. On the day they arrived in Philadelphia they found a room and that night they vowed to find jobs the next day. On the evening of the next day they compared notes.

Pat: "So, Michael, did ya find any work?
Mike: "Nay, nodda bit, Paddy. And you?"
Pat: "Aye. Found work in a tool factory. Don't ya know, they works to a thousandths of an inch!"
Mike: "A thousandths of an inch!!"
Mike ponders this for a moment and then asks: "Paddy, how many thousandths are there in an inch?"
Pat: "Sure, Michael, and I don't know. From the looks, there must be millions of them!"


I hope you have enjoyed this newsletter. All feedback, comments and contributions to future editions are very welcome (as are enquiries about contributions to, and sponsorship of, this newsletter).

Alexander (Sandy) Dunn
Plant Maintenance Resource Center
webmaster@plant-maintenance.com
http://www.plant-maintenance.com

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