CHRISTER IDHAMMAR
is president and CEO of IDCON Inc., Raleigh, N.C., a company specializing in training and implementation of improved operations, maintenance organizations,and practices.

PIM ’99: A good time for education

In February 1986, I was traveling in Sweden with 20 pulp and paper industry professionals. We were on our first Scandinavian tour in search of better operations and maintenance practices. The tour included a visit to Underhåll ’86 (Maintenance ’86) in Gothenburgh, Sweden. In a country with only 8.5 million inhabitants, this event had attracted more than 25,000 visitors. As a consequence of this visit, Ken Smith, then an executive editor of Pulp & Paper, and I agreed to create an international reliability and maintenance event for the pulp and paper industry.

From the very beginning we have made an effort, including several polls, to make this conference an event designed by and for the pulp and paper industry. The conference advisory committee consists only of people employed in the pulp and paper industry.

During the past 13 years, our industry has gone through many changes. Ever increasing automation reduces the number of operations people but puts more pressure on maintaining additional and sophisticated equipment. Many of us have seen organizational changes that have resulted in fewer layers of management, more empowerment, and team building efforts. Whether we work as managers or crafts people does not matter—our work calls for multiple skills, flexibility, and an increased awareness for the need to improve productivity.

I dare to say that this year’s program for Paper Industry Maintenance ’99 is the best and most comprehensive program we have ever been able to put together.

• Eight workshops will focus on teaching not only what, but, how and when it comes to maintaining equipment. You can learn about loop control analysis, alignment, predictive maintenance techniques, condition monitoring and trouble shooting electric motors, troubleshooting variable speed controllers, lubrication, high-performance work systems, and water use reduction.

• Outsourcing of maintenance will be covered in-depth during the general session. Five different levels of outsourcing and a case study on making your own maintenance department a separate company will be presented.

• If you are looking for a new computerized maintenance management system, you must attend the presentation of four of the most successful computerized maintenance management systems in the pulp and paper industry. The following day you can visit the exhibit to learn more about these systems.

• In the Maintenance Productivity Game, you and your partners in operations can simulate operations and maintenance management in competition with five other companies.

• In the tutorial Results Oriented Maintenance ’99 you will learn what the best performers in the paper industry do different than the others.

• The keynote kickoff to the general sessions features two mill managers—Göran Ericsson of Korsnäs AB in Sweden and John Crowe of Buckeye Cellulose in Perry, Fla.—will tell how their mills became world class in operations and maintenance.

• On the human resources side, Richard Allison, personnel expert at Willamette Industries in Bennettsville, S.C., will describe how his company applies compensation for skills, hiring practices, and integration between operations and maintenance.

• Richard Canipe, IDCON, will present the essential elements of planning, scheduling, and control of maintenance in a two and a half hour mini-work shop.

• Measuring maintenance productivity will be discussed by John Yolton and me.

• Extending component life—an important issue in many of today’s mills—is presented in a separate track.

This is only a brief summary of the official conference program. In addition, the exhibit hall will be filled with companies offering the latest available technologies and services, and the hall will feature a special presentation theater where exhibitors have volunteered to make short presentations on new technologies and money-saving ideas. Some of the companies scheduled to present include The Coldwater Group, Lubrication Systems Co., Exxon, Machine Service Inc., Deublin, HSB Reliability Technologies, Lawton, Performance Consulting Associates, and VibrAlign. More information, including details on registering for the event, is included on p. 76.

I hope to see you in Atlanta during Oct. 11 through 15, 1999. I doubt there is a better reliability and maintenance conference and exhibit for the pulp and paper industry anywhere in the world.

Next column—continuation on contract maintenance—will be published in the October issue.