The 5 Questions No Maintenance Supervisor Should Ask

I’ve never been a maintenance supervisor, but I have worked for several.  And when a machine has had problems, most maintenance supervisors have 5 questions: What’s wrong with it? How bad is it? How much longer can we run it? What do we have to do to fix it? What can we do to prevent…

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A Craftsman NEVER Blames the Tools!

I heard this saying recently, and I like it a lot!  Whether we are talking about woodworking, precision maintenance, shaft alignment, or any number of other crafts or technical operations-it is true. In my time as a trainer for Acoem USA, I have heard mechanics say (more times than I could count) “my (current alignment…

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Recycle, Recycle, Recycle

  Often times customers ask the question how can we keep it going? “How can I continue to train my technicians with the principles they learned in your class?” Craftsmen and women often admit we don’t perform precision shaft alignments often enough to keep our skills current. To this I say recycle! One of the…

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Pay Me Now, or Pay Me Later!

Years ago, an automotive oil filter company’s ad campaign, capitalized on the phrase “pay me now, or pay me later”. The premise was that you could pay less upfront for an inferior oil filter, and then pay again because the oil filter would fail, and your vehicle’s engine would require an overhaul. Or, you could…

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Installation Errors Part 4 – Hold Down & Jacking Bolts

Correct fastener torque is important for proper assembly of rotating machinery components to machine bases. Proper torque insures that the fastener will perform as designed. This will in turn help your machine to perform as designed. Hold down bolts and jacking bolts are typically manipulated while performing a precision shaft alignment. These are often the…

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Installation Errors Part 2 – Shims and Shim Handling

The difference between luck and success is this; Luck is when you achieve a desired result despite mistakes made along the way. Success is when you follow a known process to achieve the expected result. When attempting a precision shaft alignment, precise practices must be followed. One thing for certain in precision alignment is the…

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Hammer Time-and When it’s NOT!

    At VibrAlign, we are in the precision maintenance business.  Our tools, our training, and our people, are all about precision maintenance.  While teaching the field alignment portion of our shaft alignment training, at a customer site, we went out to align a particularly troublesome pump.  They didn’t think they were getting the life…

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