Plant and assets

The biennial Plant & Asset Management show, which runs from 8 to 10 April at the NEC, Birmingham, is an interesting one. Aimed widely at plant, works and maintenance engineers and managers, the event covers everything from condition monitoring to health and safety, training, energy efficiency, handling and storage, and CMMS (computerised maintenance management systems). So there's a lot to see. Add to that organiser DFA Media's popular strategy of co-locating relevant shows – in this case Fluid Power & Systems, Air-Tech, Drives & Controls, and the new European Offshore & Energy Exhibition – and it's hard to argue against spending at least a day in Hall 3/3A. Top that off with an event-wide seminar programme, designed to help engineers and managers get their plants, factories and staff working smarter and more efficiently, and it becomes a no brainer. The latter runs across all three days although sessions are not repeated so, to avoid disappointment, go to the show website for dates, times and details. The following are, however, representative. If TPM (total productive maintenance) is your next goal, get along to Paul Hardiman's (Industry Forum) lecture in the Maintenance Seminar Theatre. Hardiman says this seminar will examine the links between TPM and other initiatives before reviewing some of the best TPM practices he's seen and experienced, with case study examples. Similarly, Shane Golaup of asset management software specialist Infor will discuss why reliability programmes should be considered part of energy and operational efficiency improvement projects, if the real goals are driving down costs, meeting regulatory requirements and remaining competitive. Moving on to the Drives & Controls Theatre, Stewart Robinson of TUV SUD will explain the current state of functional safety standards for machinery – bringing together EN ISO 13849-1 and EN 62061 eventually to form the single ISO/IEC 17305 standard. Then, back in the Maintenance Theatre, Dr Andrew Starr of Cranfield University will cover latest developments with maintenance system, including mobile operations – not only in terms of enabling condition-based maintenance, but also accommodating bigger data sets from, for example, factory health monitoring equipment. Meanwhile, for those with mothballed plants, Richard Vann of plant decommissioning specialist RVA Group will tackle what he describes as "the challenges and opportunities associated with redundant asset management planning". He promises to reveal often unconsidered routes that might be pursued to minimise cost and maximise profits – even with high-hazard sites. On an entirely different note, Peter Walsh, CEO of the SOE (Society of Operations Engineers, the umbrella organisation for IPlantE – the Institution of Plant Engineers), will be extolling the virtues of professional institution membership. Members not only receive recognition for their professional skills through post-nominals and professional registration with the Engineering Council and the Society for the Environment, but also have the opportunity to shape best practice and influence policy and legislation, he says. Moving on to the show floor itself, delegates can expect to find products and services ranging from humble bearings and lubrication systems to boilers and burners, facilities management systems, CMMS, energy management systems, generators, industrial cooling equipment, thermal imaging cameras, and security and fire prevention equipment. Exhibitors include Artesis, Bosch Commercial and Industrial Heating, Byworth Boilers, C-Cubed, the Combustion Engineering Association, Fluke, Idhammar, Infor, IPlantE, IRIS, Mainnovation, MCP Consulting & Training, Real Asset Management, Reliability Maintenance Solutions, Shell Lubricants, Shire Systems, SPM Instrument, TWI and Valveforce. If improving operational efficiency with vehicles and mobile equipment is on your agenda, get over to RAM's stand and ask about its project with waste management and recycling firm Casepak. Casepak says that not only does the firm now have a much better understanding of how much each vehicle is costing, with performance measured against KPIs, but also it can easily identify problem areas and respond to them rapidly. Then, for asset management systems, see Infor's new EAM Enterprise Edition, now at v11.0.