Forgive me if you’ve heard this story before. I’ve often shared it. But, it’s a simple example of the need for those in the RAM arena to plan ahead and be prepared for a variety of contingencies. After all, an opportunity may only knock once, and not answering could be costly later on.

In the years since 1962, I have continued to be an avid reader and absorber of reliability-related documents.  And, because I grew up before computers became a necessity, over the course of my full-time working life, I compiled extensive files with tabs such as “Reciprocating Compressors” or “Bearings: Se also Main Bearings for Recip Compressors.”

When, in 2001, I moved to where “the grass is greener,” I downsized by packing my 39-year collection of engineering files into a dozen or so large cartons, and offered them to a Senior Reliability Supervisor at Company Y.  He expressed sheer delight over the prospect of a small in-plant reliability library being seeded with all that well-organized “engineering stuff.” All he needed to house it was two five-foot tall four-drawer metal cabinets from a distressed office furniture dealer.

Two days before the movers came, I called him again. He seemed embarrassed having to explain that he couldn’t accept the files after all. His immensely profitable company had no budget to pay for shipping my collection to his refinery. At that point, I asked the local garbage service to send a pickup truck on the following day. I paid them $40 to take the cartons to the local dump. Case closed, and I moved on. Or so I thought.

THE REST OF THE STORY
On two occasions after 2001, I was asked to participate in troubleshooting and defect-analysis sessions at “Company Y,” following some serious equipment failures that had occurred at the site.

Over time, I’ve often thought about (and commented on) the various payback options associated with the above chain of events: (a) my consulting fees versus shipping cost for 12+ cartons of engineering files; or (b) one avoided pump fire versus my consulting fee; or (c) one avoided compressor-frame-bearing replacement versus whatever.

Based on any of these foreseeable payback options, if I had been Company Y’s Senior Reliability Supervisor, I would have made my shipping-cost appeal to the Maintenance Manager, or the Plant Manager, or the Corporate Vice President for Asset Preservation. If my career would have suffered as a result, I would have looked for another job. I certainly would not have enjoyed continuing to be employed by people who lacked common sense.

heinzpbloch@gmail.com

By Bob Williamson, CMRP
CPMM, MIAM., Editor
Despite the stark reality of today’s horrific unemployment statistics, once the global economy begins to recover, industry’s owner/operators could find themselves dealing with many of the same skills gaps that have plagued their plants for years.