Blog - Conscious Asset

Myth busting 21: Are manufacturer’s warranties worth it?

February 14, 2019

Many believe strongly in the value of warranties on new / refurbished equipment. They go to great lengths talking about how important it is to do the manufacturer’s recommended maintenance to maintain validity of the warranty. This is a continuation of the last blog article on having too many failures despite following manufacturer’s recommendations. Manufacturer’s usually recommend maintenance and spare parts for their products. In our last blog we can see that those recommendations are often flawed. So what about their warranty? Read more “Myth busting 21: Are manufacturer’s warranties worth it?” →

Reliability

Myth Busting 20: We must follow manufacturer’s recommended maintenance

February 4, 2019February 13, 2019

Manufacturers always publish recommended maintenance for users of their products. There are a few myths about this maintenance – one is that it will result in reliable operation of the equipment. In some cases it does, but in most, it does not. Why?

The myth is that the manufacturers always know best how to maintain their designs. Think about that for a minute. How many manufacturers actually use and maintain what they sell? Read more “Myth Busting 20: We must follow manufacturer’s recommended maintenance” →

Blog

Myth busting 19: High performing organizations spend too much…

January 29, 2019February 13, 2019

These days everyone seems to be cutting spending. It’s entirely discretionary, so it’s easy to eliminate. But is that a smart move?

But today, times are tough. Trade wars, protectionism, and generally sluggish economies before those were a factor have all contributed to poor corporate performance. Shareholders want more. But can you really cut costs to become profitable? No – of course not, at least not in the long term. Read more “Myth busting 19: High performing organizations spend too much on training” →

UPTIME

Myth Busting 18: There are a lot of savings…

January 28, 2019February 13, 2019

This one is a HUGE MYTH. Maintenance costs are a direct result of what you do and what you do produces capacity for service delivery or production (depending on your business). Cost is a consequence of your actions, available cash (in a budget) does NOT determine what you will spend. Read more “Myth Busting 18: There are a lot of savings in maintenance cost reductions” →

MRO

Myth busting 17: For spares, follow the manufacturer’s recommendations

January 27, 2019February 13, 2019

The last article speaks to who should run your storeroom – NOT maintenance. It also leaves us hanging a bit – what should go into the store room to ensure good supply of needed materials, when needed?

Many maintainers will default to the manufacturers’ recommendations for maintenance actions and for spare parts lists. After all, we are paying for those when we buy our equipment and build our plants, so why not follow them? Read more “Myth busting 17: For spares, follow the manufacturer’s recommendations” →

MRO

Myth Busting 16: Who should run stores?

November 20, 2018February 13, 2019

Perhaps the number one excuse that maintainers use for being unable to get repairs executed in a timely manner is to blame parts and their supply. For the maintenance technician on the tools, it’s a very obvious problem. No parts or materials means that work simply cannot be done without some sort of work-around / jury-rigged solution. The alternative is to get the needed materials as quickly as possible – often incurring substantial premiums on the price of the materials and premium shipping charges. Read more “Myth Busting 16: Who should run stores?” →

Training - online

Uptime Webinar – free!

November 13, 2018February 13, 2019

Did you know that Conscious Asset provides a free introductory webinar of our essential Uptime Program?

Our online learning platform provides many courses which can be taken in an efficient and timely manner, this prevents downtime with staff who would normally have to take many hours a day out of their routine to allow for training of similar courses. Read more “Uptime Webinar – free!” →

UPTIME

Myth Busting 15: KPIs

November 12, 2018February 13, 2019

Many believe that if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. That’s just not right. Measurements can only count what is countable – dollars, production numbers, headcounts, timeliness, etc. They can’t count the achievement of objectives unless those objectives are purely numeric in nature.

For instance, you can count attendance or ticket sales for an event. It might appear to be a huge success by that measure, but is it a success if those attending didn’t enjoy the event? Read more “Myth Busting 15: KPIs” →

Technology

Myth Busting 14: Integrating systems

October 22, 2018February 13, 2019

In theory, integrated computer systems enable multiple uses for any single piece of data that is input only once. Data becomes available wherever it needs to be in whatever business process is integrated into the whole. In a sense it is like our brains – information and experience is registered once and available for access whenever needed for any purpose. Integrated systems should make our lives at work easier, but they seldom do that. Read more “Myth Busting 14: Integrating systems” →

Asset Management

The bottom line

October 14, 2018February 13, 2019

Maintenance and finance may not seem like natural “allies” in the battles for business achievement. However, they share common concerns and can both do a lot of good – albeit from behind the scenes. Financial managers, directors and CFOs are primarily concerned with company financial performance. They are often the watchdogs for regulatory compliance. They are in an excellent position to see what’s going on, and spotting problem areas, but not always what to do about them. Like all of us, their expertise only goes so far. Read more “The bottom line” →

Experienced Insight, Training and Consulting You Can Trust