It’s early June as I write this editor’s note, and it’s amazing how fast the post-COVID world is re-opening.
Last week I was able to catch a baseball game with 22,000 of my closest friends (final score: Cubs over Padres, 6-1). A school year that began with remote learning is ending with full in-person classrooms and field trips. My neighbors have already set this summer’s block party date for mid-July. And friends who postponed their weddings last year are now tying the knot and taking their honeymoons.
It’s also been a year when we’ve all adjusted to virtual events and get-togethers, from family celebrations to professional meetings, and I’m looking forward to attending the upcoming SMRP virtual case study event “Maintenance & Reliability in Practice.” On June 23-24, more than 20 industry experts will come together virtually to share real-world insights and examples from 16 case studies. Topics include “Setting Up Your Asset Performance Management (APM) Program for Success,” “Optimizing Plant Performance & Energy Conservation,” and “Deploying CMMS Systems on Mobile Devices,” and attendees can earn up to 16 recertification hours over the two-day event. For more information and/or to register, go to the case study event site.
I am equally excited about attending an in-person event just a few days later. The EASA 2021 Convention and Solutions Expo takes place this year June 27-29 in Fort Worth, TX, and includes 21 sessions covering technical, research, and leadership topics. Plant Services has been a proud media sponsor of the EASA convention for several years now, and I hope to meet many of you there this year in person.
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Finally, after two successful virtual events, the first in-person Leading Reliability event takes place Aug. 25-26 in Clearwater, FL. The conference includes a full day of workshops plus session topics such as “The Many Methods of Predictive Maintenance,” “Navigating COVID – Improving/Maintaining Reliability Remotely,” and “10 Keys to Taking the Sting Out Of Progress.”
I’d like to close this note by encouraging you to spend five minutes to take our updated Leadership Survey. The survey is designed to gain insight into manufacturing plant organizational management and leadership strengths and weaknesses. It’s been several years since Plant Services contributing editor Tom Moriarty launched the first survey, which uncovered findings such as the fact that about half of survey respondents (49%) said they either never received leadership training (23%) or received this training no more than once in five years (26%).
The 2021 Leadership Survey is open to all plant workers, and responses will be collected through June and July. Survey results will be reported by Tom in future columns as well as at professional events.
This story originally appeared in the June 2021 issue of Plant Services. Subscribe to Plant Services here.
