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Electrical Troubleshooting Quiz — March 6, 2018

March 6, 2018
A reliability assessment may be in order when production lines experience excessive downtime.

Two production lines (out of 10) provide more than half the plant’s revenue. Any time there’s a problem, those lines get prompt attention. Considerable effort has been made to reduce repair times. For example, some spare parts and special tools are kept in a locker near each line.

Additionally, each line has its own “specialist crew” consisting of two maintenance techs who are responsible for developing expertise in maintaining and repairing that line. Each wears a pager that the line’s supervisor calls when there’s a problem with the line.

Despite all this, these lines have excessive downtime. Why might that be?

With so much riding on these two lines (50% of revenue), the effort to reduce downtime is probably off-track. The focus is not on total downtime reduction, but on the speed at which operation can be restored. The spare parts and tools are examples of improving restoration speed.

When restoration speed is the focus, then shortcuts are taken to improve that metric. For example, it is usually faster to make a temporary repair than to perform a complete repair. If each repair is graded on how little time it took, then you’re going to have more incomplete repairs and thus a higher rate of downtime incidents.

A reliability assessment is a good place to start.

About the Author

Mark Lamendola

Mark is an expert in maintenance management, having racked up an impressive track record during his time working in the field. He also has extensive knowledge of, and practical expertise with, the National Electrical Code (NEC). Through his consulting business, he provides articles and training materials on electrical topics, specializing in making difficult subjects easy to understand and focusing on the practical aspects of electrical work.

Prior to starting his own business, Mark served as the Technical Editor on EC&M for six years, worked three years in nuclear maintenance, six years as a contract project engineer/project manager, three years as a systems engineer, and three years in plant maintenance management.

Mark earned an AAS degree from Rock Valley College, a BSEET from Columbia Pacific University, and an MBA from Lake Erie College. He’s also completed several related certifications over the years and even was formerly licensed as a Master Electrician. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and past Chairman of the Kansas City Chapters of both the IEEE and the IEEE Computer Society. Mark also served as the program director for, a board member of, and webmaster of, the Midwest Chapter of the 7x24 Exchange. He has also held memberships with the following organizations: NETA, NFPA, International Association of Webmasters, and Institute of Certified Professional Managers.

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