Conferences are bellwethers for the best reliability
Key Highlights
- Growth comes from learning beyond your own industry.
- Conferences act as bellwethers for reliability innovation.
- Shared expertise accelerates continuous improvement.
- Staying “good” is not enough—greatness requires learning.
Florida, California, and (for some reason) Connecticut have been traditionally considered “bellwether” states. The term “bellwether” comes from the concept of a bell loudly tolling to signal the coming of upsetting changes in weather.
New trends often start in these states. An easy example is ATM banking machines. Why these states? It is thought that in these states (Florida and California in particular), we see the collision of cultures. People of vastly different backgrounds rub shoulders together and share ideas. (Remember the commercial where Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups came from a person with peanut butter and a person with chocolate running into each other?)
Traditionally, businesses wanting to keep ahead of the competition look to see what’s going on in bellwether states. We in reliability also want to see and capitalize on the coming future. We cannot simply stay in the present as merely “good” companies. We would soon get run over as competition comes up to speed. We want to be “great” companies continually starting new practices before our would-be competition. Therein lies the continual superior profitability. We should look at maintenance conferences for bellwether reliability practices.
I still actively participate to improve myself. Why do these professionals rub shoulders and share? We are all continually growing. And the best opportunities are when you give of yourself. These conferences generate a genuine feeling of fellowship of trying to help each other: “Look what I did. Look what you could do. What do you think about…? How could I...?”
At conferences over the years, I just cannot express the wonder of the state-of-the-art maintenance concepts available for the picking. I actually met the manager at world-class Alumax, John Day! I met one of the grandaddies of RCM, John Moubray! Keith Mobley helped me talk with McGraw-Hill to publish my handbook. I met Phil Slater, one of the world’s chief authorities, on spare parts. I also met other legends Ron Moore, Jack Nicholas (not the golfer), Terry Wireman, and so many others, I’m afraid to name many lest I leave out others. These professionals befriended me and allowed me to call them throughout my career! How about that! The SMRP has many opportunities to hear both practitioners and consultants/industry partners give presentations. These persons and others not giving presentations simply enjoy chatting and discussing ideas about reliability.
And then there is the bookstore. Judy Bass along with Jana and Chris Rahrig had all of the Industrial Press reliability titles right there on tables where you could leaf through them. They even had popular titles from other publishers including mine from McGraw-Hill. Thanks Judy.
The synergy comes not from simply chatting with others in industries like your own. It is the collision of industries. Professionals attend from electric utilities, water and wastewater utilizes, mining, grain milling, oil refining (heaven for a chemical engineer as myself), chemical manufacturing of all sorts, car and truck manufacturing, tires, vehicle fleet management, and facilities of all sorts including hospitals and municipalities. Not only are practitioners there sharing, but industry partners are sharing with or without booths and presentations. These professionals were often extremely experienced practitioners that now help across numerous industries. Their specialties include the strategies, techniques, devices and software you may or may not have heard of. You get to see and sample what’s available.
I love maintenance planning and scheduling. The planning area itself is the specific application of Dr. Deming’s continuous improvement. Plans are not perfect. There is no way a single planner can be as smart as the cumulative wisdom and experience of 20-30 professional craftspersons. We expect the planner to continually seek feedback and use it to improve the body of knowledge for working on our assets. This concept applies to all of maintenance and reliability. There is a huge existing (and continually being invented) body of knowledge across all of our industries that could specifically help us at our own companies. We the professionals must actively seek out, acquire, and implement that knowledge. Conferences provide a great forum for growth.
The best performers actively pursue continual improvement. Take advantage of bellwether maintenance conferences to give yourself a competitive edge in reliability. See the latest. Talk to the people that are actively creating the future for reliability. Participate in conferences, including ones outside your own industry. Read books and magazine articles. Learn and learn fast. Don’t settle for good. Be great.
About the Author
Doc Palmer
PE, MBA, CMRP
Doc Palmer, PE (Ret.), MBA, CMRP is the author of McGraw-Hill’s Maintenance Planning and Scheduling Handbook and as managing partner of Richard Palmer and Associates helps companies worldwide with planning and scheduling success. For more information including online help and currently scheduled public workshops, visit www.palmerplanning.com or email Doc at [email protected]. Also visit and subscribe to www.YouTube.com/@docpalmerplanning.