Do you use repair data to identify repair problems? With your computerized maintenance management system (CMMS), you can. The CMMS is not just a work order management system; it’s a system with rich capabilities that typically go untapped.
At one plant, a CMMS report of motor repairs by “problem cause” showed a high incidence of high impedance connections in the motor lead connections. There appeared to be no underlying pattern, such as the location. A subsequent report that showed repairs by electrician revealed the cause of these connection problems.
The maintenance supervisor asked each electrician to demonstrate how to make motor lead connections, using solderless connectors. Four of the 11 electricians in maintenance were pre-twisting the wires before inserting them into the connector. Using this method, the connector is merely a cap on a poorly made connection. These four electricians were consistently the same electricians who had last connected the motor before connection impedance problems occurred.
Among the other seven electricians, there was not a single case of subsequent connection problems. The procedures and training both said to make the connection by inserting untwisted wires into the connector. Now the data showed those who “knew” pre-twisting is correct to change to the prescribed technique.
