Metrics, best practices, more than 40 key elements to implement, challenges, and opportunities all combine to make a successful implementation difficult. Where do you start, and how do you know how to work on what matters? Once you understand how it’s all related, you can focus on the vital few to leverage the maximum ROI. This presentation will clarify the importance of culture and employee engagement, along with other key plant floor performance indicators that will be clarified with data. We'll look at the current state of R&M; what’s working and what's not; survival skills for the next decade; impacts of connected technologies (edge computing, big data, machine learning, AI, 3D printing, augmented reality); the importance of getting your data ready for what's coming next; and relationships between R&M and safety, people engagement, quality, throughput/uptime, and cost.
Klaus M. Blache—PhD, MBA, CPE, RMIC—has more than 30 years of experience in various areas of manufacturing and continuous improvement (processes and people): lean implementation, benchmarking, R&M, competitive analysis, continuous improvement tools & techniques, new facility planning and implementation, industrial engineering, ergonomics, and change management. He has written and lectured globally in numerous technical and management areas. Klaus is currently at the University of Tennessee as the director of the Reliability and Maintainability Center and is a research professor at the College of Engineering. Before that, his most recent corporate jobs/assignments were manufacturing engineering director (Cadillac); engineering launch manager (new assembly plants); and global manager of manufacturing reliability & maintenance and corporate manager, industrial engineering (General Motors). Klaus is currently involved in several global benchmarking studies such as “World Class Reliability & Maintainability.” He has taught more than 200 courses regarding all aspects of operational improvement and performance. His global experiences include plant assessments and R&M improvements, and implementing effective cultures and processes. Klaus is also a past chairman of the Society of Maintenance & Reliability Professionals.
