Rob’s first step should be an open conversation with the vice president to learn exactly what the new boss is trying to accomplish.

It’s a reasonable assumption that the vice president is trying to achieve an improved level of efficiency.

This will probably mean that Rob needs to break out of his comfort zone. He may have the plant running smoothly based on his years of hard-earned knowledge, but maintaining smooth operations while improving efficiency requires a more sophisticated set of processes.

If the new vice president is committed to improvement, he will want to determine whether the plant’s smooth operation is dependent on Rob’s own knowledge, or if there is documentation to allow operations to continue running if Rob were absent – due to vacation, injury, illness or any other circumstance.

And if Rob wants to secure his future under the new regime, his best bet is to support – even encourage – a high-level audit of all machinery and motors, along with implementation of a database that documents the “tribal knowledge” Rob has accumulated over all these years.

Often, managers in Rob’s position fear that sharing such knowledge will make them less important to the company. In reality, the opposite is usually true. The process can move the company toward a competency in predictive maintenance – reducing unscheduled downtime by fixing motors and other equipment before failure.

It can also be used to make decisions that support long-term company strategies – such as whether to rewind or replace motors based on lifecycle costs v. short-term expenses.

And it can be used to support process improvements throughout the plant that save time and energy.

As an example, a large piece of equipment may be powered by a 200 hp motor that runs most of the time at 25% load – requiring the extra horsepower only on startup. When the motor is close to retirement, they could invest in redoing the mechanicals, allowing specification of a lower-power motor. The changeout may cost $10,000 more than simply repairing the current motor but could hypothetically save $5,000 every year thereafter.

Still other opportunities may exist where DC motors are used. These require a lot of costly maintenance and repair; in some cases, it makes economic sense to change to variable-speed AC motors.

Motor performance across an entire facility or enterprise is a time-consuming and complex discipline that cannot be optimized on the back of a napkin. The essence of motor performance management (MPM) is bringing together the existing data from preventative and predictive maintenance to generate more effective plans for the technicians to follow, managing the supply chain for lower costs, and guiding culture change. It requires an on-site presence and strong relationships because – like any optimized process – MPM can reveal conflicts that must be analyzed, discussed and settled based on organizational strategies. It’s a full-time discipline that simply does not fit into the day-to-day workflow of many maintenance departments.

Many companies find the best way to improve the efficiency in this area is to outsource motor maintenance planning. That way, while important managers like Rob are regularly pulled to work on the crisis of the week, there is still someone to focus on the longer-term situation, so you don't sacrifice the important for the urgent.

Derek Norfield is a Motor Performance Management Engineer at ABB Group, based in Westerville, Ohio. With a BS in mechanical and electrical engineering from Croydon College, he is responsible for managing motor maintenance of large manufacturing customers. He previously operated his consulting company Vibration and Balancing Solutions, served as Director of Applications Development for Datastick Systems Inc., and as Vice President of Marketing and Application Development for American Hofmann Corp.