PCA Blog
Journey to Reliability: The Roadmap for Success
Achieving maximum equipment reliability is a journey, and just like any other trip, it requires a functional roadmap to ensure arrival at the desired spot through the most expeditious route. In this month’s blog, PCA Director of Operations Dan Moss draws a parallel between the roadmaps his family used for childhood vacations and the roadmaps that PCA helps its clients develop to ensure the desired outcome.
Inventory Levels Impact Production Planning and Scheduling More than Ever: Why that Matters and How to Fix It
As demand for U.S. manufacturing rises and falls, optimizing inventory levels becomes even more important to effective planning and scheduling. If your plant personnel aren’t excelling at inventory management, read this article, in which PCA Director of Operations Dan Moss provides sensible strategies to help alleviate the strain.
Obsolete Inventory: Addressing an Enemy of Efficiency
Volumes have been written about how plants and other facilities are impacted by poor inventory management — and in particular, excess inventory of all types. Obsolete inventory is one of the culprits, and tackling it poses two specific challenges.
The SMRP Conference Exposed Some Big Industry Challenges
At the recent SMRP Conference in Louisville, PCA’s booth was approached by attendees looking for inspiration. We engaged in several days of thoughtful discussions about the future of maintenance and reliability and saw a lot of interest in our new Pharmaceutical/Life Sciences Industry Playbook.
Enough is Enough Maintenance and Reliability Hiring Managers!
Enough is Enough Maintenance and Reliability Hiring Managers! We know in the ideal world of finding your next maintenance team hire, you want the candidate to show job stability, and that you will not consider applicants that are “job hoppers”. Let’s jump back into the reality of the current state of the Maintenance and Reliability candidate pool.
Reliability-Centered Leadership in the Age of Industry 4.0
With the advent of Industry 4.0, facility management may be reevaluating or extending the role of the reliability engineer (RE). Given its process-centered, highly technical focus, Industry 4.0 presents a perfect opportunity for REs to shine. Nevertheless, in my opinion, organizations that assume the majority of the RE’s work will be process centered are making a grave miscalculation.
Purchasing in the Pulp and Paper Industry: Creating Predictability Where None Exists
Profit margins for forest products industry firms are volatile, at best, due to raw materials availability and pricing, competitive pressures and market forces. PCA helped one paper mill gain a measure of predictability — and save $1 million per year — by moving to best practices machine parts purchasing.
Storeroom Staff Mismanagement, Pt 2: The Dangers of Indifferent Personnel
Earlier this month, PCA Associate Jim Clifford shared a true story of storeroom staff mismanagement that illustrated how just one bad personnel decision can snowball into a big problem (with corresponding significant financial loss.) Here, the author expands his tale to discuss the damage that non-committal employees, whether in the storeroom or outside of it, can do.