How to cut Your Hydraulic oil and PM labor costs by 80%

If computers are the “brain” then hydraulic systems are the heart, circulatory system and muscle for most robotics, CNC machines, plastic injection molding machines, and many other industrial machines and systems. Just as electrical storms can “fry your brains,” hydraulic contamination; water, dirt, acids, and varnishes (cholesterol) in your circulatory system, cause over 80% of all hydraulic system downtime, malfunctions and early death to your machines.

The Problem:

Hydraulic contamination is much more critical than contamination in your car oil. However, both the oil filter in your car and your hydraulic systems are thin “paper vane filters” they stop dirt larger than a certain micron size, but they do not stop water and they do not stop acids and varnishes from building up and damaging your mission critical machines. So, every year you have to change the oil and the filter and you move on with life. Right?

1. First Problem: These cycles of clean oil to dirty oil, clean oil to dirty oil, allow periods of stress and wear – malfunctions and failures.
2. Second Problem: The fivefold costs of replacing hydraulic oil;

1. Cost of the oil,
2. Cost of old oil disposal,
3. Cost of technical labor to change oil & filter,
4. Likely cost of failures when dirt is introduced into the system as filters are changed, and
5. Lost production from oil change downtime.

Because of these costs, along with the logistics of every day operations, Dept. politics and PM risks, oil changes get ignored or past over, time-after-time. Even if changes are done on schedule, the system suffers from problem #1 (above).

A Solution:

Amemco will analyze, specify and provide a cost effective solution, based on your hydraulic system size, oil type, pressure, flow rate, and duty cycle. The Amemco solution will allow you to:

1. Save the cost of new hydraulic oil and oil filters at 9 out of 10 oil changes,
2. Save labor costs for changing oil & filters,
3. Eliminate oil disposal costs for 9 out of 10 oil changes,
4. Avoid 80% of future malfunctions, failures and downtime,
5. Prolong machine life,
6. Eliminate machine downtime and lost production for changing of oil & filters,
7. Keep contamination from being introduced into the system (which now occurs during system inline filter changes),
8. Eliminate machine wear, damaged gaskets, hosing, solenoids, servo valves etc.,
9. Eliminate downtime and scrap parts due to #4,
10. Eliminate future maintenance repair time due to #4,
11. Avoid lost productivity due to #4, #5, and #7,
12. Avoid costs of early machine replacement due to #4 – #7.

You can easily calculate the above savings and increased productivity. Return on investment (ROI) is usually 6 – 12 months. Call Amemco at 801-859-2073 or e-mail us to discuss your application and needs.

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What Others Have Said About Us 

“By following your program we have cut equipment malfunctions and downtime to near zero. Thanks, we will expand application of these most cost effective concepts.”
- Dick Kohli (Maintenance Manager)
Minster Machine Tool 

Lightning Protection – Power Surge Protection

Nothing effects your profitability as instantly and as dramatically as unscheduled equipment downtime!   Let our 26 years experience show you how to prevent future scrap, rework, malfunctions and downtime losses.EPRI, the Electric Power Research Institute reported that system downtime is doubling in cost every year due to power line sags, surges and transients? It’s not software: 

• In 1999 EPRI stated power sags, surges and transients cost US industry over $50 billion in downtime. 
• In 2000 the figure doubled to over $100 billion, 
• In 2001 related downtime doubled again to $200 billion.
• By comparison, the 2 day NE USA blackout of 2003 is estimated to cost the US economy 17 billion.  

Are these voltage transients and power surge malfunctions hitting you?

Our experience indicates that lightning, or no lightning, power surges generated within your own facility are the root cause of much of your downtime.   It is one of six key stresses we focus on when we survey a facility.  All six stresses cause over 92% of all electrical and electronic system malfunction and failure.  We’ve found transients and surges to be the root cause of many repeatability problems, yield problems, unexplained glitches and malfunctions that cause rework and scrap parts.  In electronic assembly “final test” stands as well as in semiconductor manufacturing plants and in HALT/HAST Test Stands and HASS Quality Test, a good part of their yield problems, “die rejects,” CND (Can Not Duplicate) errors and throughput problems can easily be eliminated.

FREE Teleconference Seminar

Request this 45-60 minute PowerPoint slideshow presentation and see how you can have…

Power Quality to meet new national standards and provide increased profitability, uptime and profits”

You need not continue suffering these interruptions, malfunctions and losses! You can draw on our 26 years experience solving such problems to quickly and easily eliminate transients and power surge related problems.  70% of these are created within your own facility (according to the IEEE-587 report)! 

Had you done this a year ago, how much additional profit would you have retained?  So, why didn’t you?  Not the right expertise?  You will find just a few thousand invested into Amemco analysis and lightning protection can yield a ten, hundred, or thousand times return on your investment, in increased reliability, equipment availability, increased yield and increased profits. 

How To Start

Run an estimate of your savings and additional profit.  Simply multiply your equipment hourly cost of downtime by the number of hours per year you have in unscheduled downtime. Then add your losses in scrap parts and other error costs. What does it come to? 

With Amemco you can usually implemented an effective solution in 30-60 days.  This is a good solid place to start. Don’t spend another 2-5 years playing with “home-grown solutions” with marginal success. Get Amemco in there, install the right solutions, and then “send Amemco packing.” That’s what our clients do. We’re use to it. And that’s the way it aught to be. What would this program have saved you if implemented a year ago? 

Request a FREE copy of our 7 page report:  

“We selected Amemco because most of the lightning rod companies and surge suppressor companies we called, concerning our lightning problems, referred us “to Howard Cooper of Amemco for effective system protection design for our varied industrial controls and electronic systems.  Now, two years later, I made a survey (after another direct lightning strike) of all the equipment that previously has been affected by lightning and all equipment is still operational and showing no signs of damage. I even went up to the fingerboard on the derrick and checked solenoids, and you know how much I enjoy climbing the derrick.  All of the fingerboards & solenoids are in good working order.  We previously had suppressors on our power panels but  replacing them with filtering suppressor, the addition of TVSS modules on controls, the new derrick grounding and the new systems ground bonding laid out by Amemco has paid off!. We have had many storms and several direct hits the past couple of years with no problems.  If past performance means anything we would now be “down” and wrestling with repairs, considering the points of impact of this last “direct hit” lightning bolt.“
   –Roger Sanford (Electrical Tech)
     Helmerich & Payne IDC, on the
     Exxon-Mobil Jade Platform,
     Equatorial Guinea, West Africa 

“How To Eliminate 92% of Your Equipment Unscheduled Downtime – within 30 Days!”

or

Phone Howard Cooper.  He will speak with you directly (no charge) to further analyze your situation and help you determine the best and quickest route to proper protection, before lightning storms  and power surges take further toll on your profits.  Call: (801) 859-2073.

Three Steps to Solution

1. We visit your facility to conduct a detailed survey analysis of your critical machines, computer systems, automation and process controls, servo and equipment, process controllers, telecom systems, etc. We focus on protecting your equipment from lightning, power surges, grounding problems and the other six key stresses that cause over 92% of all malfunctions, failures, rework, scrap and downtime. We thus identify the stresses and the needed protective devices and/or methods to stop problems from occurring.
2. While in your facility, we usually conduct a seminar to orient your technical and management personnel to our methods and how we can work together to implement these most cost effective improvements in the immediate future. In that orientation your people help us set priorities for the equipment analysis and we transfer our methods & experience to them.
3. During the week, or two, after this equipment survey, we prepare a detailed equipment protection report, specifying machine by machine, and system by system, exactly what to do, model numbers of needed protective devices, how to install them and exact location & connection points for each. Implementing this report normally results 70-92% reduction of unscheduled downtime, a significant permanent improvement in reliability, equipment availability and profits. The report also sites national codes & standards these devices and methods comply with. It gives straightforward methods that can be applied on all your equipment to further improve uptime and equipment performance. The report concludes with a complete cost summary for protective devices needed to implement the report recommendations.  

We also provide discount prices on most protective devices you need, and just one place to get them all (5 best manufacturers) with the best in technical support.   We help you achieve maximum reliability and protection from the stresses now causing most of your downtime and equipment failures. Retain Amemco for 30-60 days.  It doesn’t cost, it pays!

We look forward to being a valued asset to your efforts hardening equipment and preventing further malfunctions, rework, scrap, damage and unscheduled downtime. Don’t let power surges and lightning storms “have the last word.”   

Think Profits

How To Increase Reliability & Profits in a Stagnant Economy

Which is the best way to increase profits?

Should you first focus on;

1. Increasing your sales? or
2. Reducing your costs?

The table below will help you answer:

1. What is your net profit percentage?
2. What increase in sales is needed to increase profits by $10,000?
3. What amount of cost reduction is required to increase profits by $10,000?

% Net Profit from Sales	Required Sales Increase	Required Cost Reduction
15% 12% 10% 8% 6% 5% 4% 3% 2% 1%	$66,667 $83,333 $100,000 $125,000 $166,667 $200,000 $250,000 $333,333 $500,000 $1,000,000	$10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000

Of course when the economy is growing or your market niche is growing, every company wants to expand sales and market share. But, what is the most immediate and long lasting way to increase annual profits? Reduce costs?

Amemco will help you sharply increase profits and uptime by eliminating 70% – 92% of your unscheduled equipment downtime and related overhead – within 30 days! A side benefit is that our process hardens your systems against terrorists attack, heat, lightning, power surges, as well as other catastrophic events and chronic stresses. The process readies your new and old equipment for true Lean Manufacturing capability and Six Sigma reliability, uptime and increased profits.

Why have Amemco help maximize uptime?

Because, Amemco has over 25 years of experience in minimizing costs by maximizing equipment and systems uptime for medium and large companies like yours, nation wide. This expertise is needed for just a few weeks to turn things around and put you on a permanent course of increased profits with improved equipment uptime and productivity. If you had people with this same level of expertise, they should have made these improvements already. If they haven’t done it already, it is usually because they won’t or they don’t know how. Being an outside consulting firm, Amemco sees no advantage or reason for frequent malfunctions, failures and downtime. Our mission purpose is to eliminate downtime and increase client profits.

Your ROI for Engaging Amemco?

This is a simple calculation. Just subtract our consulting fee and the cost to install the resulting recommendations from the profits reaped by increasing uptime, productivity and eliminated downtime. To complete this calculation you simply need to get a good handle on your “cost of downtime”:

Total Cost of Downtime = Repair parts & labor + Scrap & Error Costs + (Hours of DT x Hourly cost of $Downtime)

Compare or average this with the cost of Outsourcing:

Hourly cost of $Downtime = Cost of outsourcing (the hourly shop rate) – less 10%

Calculate your Savings (increased profits) by looking at the difference between your current Total Cost of Downtime or Average $DT above and the reduced downtime costs enjoyed by other Amemco clients:

• 50% reduced machine tool downtime
• 80% reduced hydraulic systems repair costs & downtime
• 92% reduced D.T. on electronic, computer, automation, telecom systems, etc.

If you had done this two years ago, what would your profits have been by now?

Stop to Calculate here:

Downtime – Your #1 Overhead Expense

Commonly maintenance downtime is the companies largest overhead expense. Yet maintenance costs are just a fraction of the associated downtime losses. Both maintenance costs and downtime losses can be shifted to your bottom line profits, when equipment reliability and uptime are maximized.

What is it Amemco really does to boost uptime?

1. We first talk with you by phone to assess your potential savings and need.(no charge – just call: 801-859-2073)
2. If needed, we then conduct a survey of your facility & equipment to analyze needs and prescribe solutions.The first 3 hours in your facility we hold a seminar to orient your management and technical personnel. Sharing expertise with your people and listening to them helps maximize the benefit of the survey to create a more immediate jump in your profits.
3. We then produce a written report detailing system by system, machine by machine, what must be done to minimize unscheduled malfunctions, failures, scrap, re-work, and downtime by as much as 92%.
4. We then guide you through implementation,
5. Act as technical support till project completion, then help measure and report your improvements.
6. Retain Amemco for 30 days. It doesn’t cost, it pays.

E-mail us to request Amemco’s Free seven (7) page report:

• “How To Eliminate 92% of Your Unscheduled Equipment Donwtime – within 30 Days!” or

• “Lean Maintenance via Six Sigma DMAIC”

Six Sigma Keys to Lean Maintenance Reliability

I have written various articles on FISHing (Field Implemented Stress Hardening) and for Six Sigma DFR engineers, articles on “FISH DMAIC” (First Integration of Stress Hardening). My website also addresses this powerful methodology for maximizing equipment reliabilty. But, continued questions in my seminars and from my website (at: www.amemco.net), have encouraged me to start this blog on lean maintenance reliability and FISHing so that others my find a ready source for these commonly asked questions and answers.

Questions such as what is FISH DMAIC or FISHing and how does it fit into the Six Sigma tool set for quickly and effectively maximizing equipment uptime, reliability, availability and this profits. Why is FISHing needed when we already have FTA, FMEA, HALT/HAST, Reliability Growth tracking, etc.? Does FISHing replace or augment these powerful methodologies? No.

However, FISH DMAIC fills a critical gap in the DFR Reliability Engineering Methodology and FISHing provides possibly the only opportunity to increase reliability on IB (install base) equipment now deployed by the thousands into the market place. I acknowledge to opportunity of going back on the IB and conducting FMEA and/or PofF to press for re-design, but this rarely happens. Even when they are being utilized, FISHing will greatly reduce the need for such redesign.

Why? Because FISHing is the exact 180 degree complement, counter-part complement to HALT. Highly Accelerated Life Testing presses or percipitates, by increased stressing during the design phase, weak components or “weak links” in the desing so that they can be corrected before building 2,000 or 100,000 units for market distribution. HALT is probably the most productive thing that can be done in the design phase to increase reliability when done properly (well discuss this further on). But, HALT allows for finding the weak points and correcting with a more rubust design. The opposite of that, and equally productive in increasing reliabilty, is FISH. By Stress Hardening the component, sub-system, or system, we find MTBF stretching way out, by orders of magnitude because the “normal stresses” can no longer get to the system to do their havac.

Therefore, once a system or piece of equipment is put into production and thousands are out in the field, FISHing is a most effective way to identify the actual “real world” environment and the root cause stresses effecting shorter than expected MTBF and ways (usually simple and easy to install ways) can be identified to protect the unit or system from those root cause stresses. Thus to the new “protected environment” the design acts as “more robust” overall and greatly improved MTBF is observed. For example, why would electronic devices ever fail or malfunction if not stresses by over current, heat, vibration, dirt build-up, oxidation, corrosion, power surges or lightning storm transients. FISHing as an evaluation in the field, sees these stresses for what they actually are, in the field, and provides effective ways to eliminate or protect any given system from those stresses. Thus, maximized uptime, reliability, life, availability and productivity.

Enough for now. I’ve got to go to bed. Leave your comments or questions and I’ll try to answer.