Congressman Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) has introduced the bipartisan National Manufacturing Strategy Act, H.R. 4692, to help American manufacturing rebound from recent job losses and to ensure it is equipped to thrive in the 21st Century.

In this installment of What Works, Smith and Wesson pulls trigger on in-house oil conditioning system.

Excerpted from Successfully Managing Change in Organizations: A User’s Guide by Stephen J. Thomas (Courtesy of Industrial Press)  Several years ago, I was part of a program to introduce the concept of “quality” into our plant. For a very large fee, we hired a consultant to work with us and make our “quality process” a success. Site management imposed ground rules on the project team, most of which (in retrospect) set us up for failure. The program had a kick-off date less than three months from the time it was introduced to management. With such a tight timeframe, there was inadequate time to prepare for the meetings that were an integral part of the process. To make matters worse, the meetings were to be mandatory for everyone. The official message was, “meetings are mandatory, participation is voluntary.”

The Meggitt group is making the transition to a new structure comprising five operating divisions: Meggitt Sensing Systems, Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems, Meggitt Control Systems, Meggitt Polymers &  Composites and Meggitt Equipment Group.  Based on core capabilities, this is designed to build stronger, more integrated operating divisions.  The transition should be completed in 2010.

Equipsoft Eagle LLC, announced the release of their latest CMMS or maintenance management product MX4 version 3.0. MX4 is a replacement for QuickMaint and AssetControllerXP, offering additional features and functionality while retaining the ease of use.

Plews/Edelmann, a division of Tomkins Industrial and Automotive, offers LubriMatic Green, a family of premium quality biobased products that include a variety of spray lubricants, penetrants and greases. These lubricants are formulated from renewable, biodegradable vegetable oils and have four times the natural lubricity of petroleum-based products. They are less likely than traditional lubricants to “thin down” at high temperatures so they provide lower equipment operating temperatures.

Many companies do not understand the importance or the “how-to” of selecting the right assets for your first RCM Blitz analysis. While it would be fantastic if every company understood the power and results that can be delivered through a focused and thorough criticality analysis, honestly, most will just point to a machine that breaks down regularly and that will be the one system that gets the RCM Analysis. Not to sound cliché…