You were recently hired to replace the maintenance “star.” This person left the company about 18 months ago.
The plant has owned a complex multistation parts former for about five years. The operator loads metal blanks into the feeder. Each blank goes through several operations until it comes out as a completed piece.
The machine worked fine until about a year ago. Then it started having problems. The plant has five other maintenance technicians, all of whom have worked on this machine. In any given week, it’s not unusual to see one of them working on it.
The plant engineer said you are the new “star” and he expects you to solve the recurring issues with this machine. Where do you start?
This machine isn’t old enough to have routine failures, if properly maintained. The use of the word “star” indicates that the plant engineer entrusted the care of this machine to one person, who is now gone. The timing of the problem streak is a clue, and if you look in the maintenance records they will almost certainly confirm this.
That the other techs are often “working on” this machine is another clue to the nature of the root problem: Nobody is qualified to maintain or repair it.
Machines like this are custom-built; contact the manufacturer and ask to speak with the project engineer responsible for building this one.
