Abstracts
*We are still working to update this page with all 2025 abstracts.
“Dear Reliability, Why Won’t You Work? A Diary of Derailed Deployments and System Snafus”
Reliability is the cornerstone of any robust system, yet the journey toward achieving it is often fraught with unforeseen obstacles. This presentation explores the complex path of reliability implementation through a series of diary entries, capturing the daily struggles, breakthroughs, and setbacks faced by engineers and managers alike. By presenting the raw, unfiltered experiences documented in diary form, we delve into the human aspects of technical challenges: the frustrations, solutions, and valuable lessons learned. This unique narrative sheds light on how these “woes” reveal essential strategies and insights for improving reliability practices in future projects.
“Enhancing Leadership Reliability: A Structured Approach to Elevate Maintenance Excellence”
What drives excellence in Maintenance Leadership within industrial organizations? Is it a well-organized organizational structure? Clearly defined roles and responsibilities? Or perhaps it’s effective planning and scheduling processes? While all these components are essential, a truly reliable maintenance organization requires leadership that not only upholds best practices but also promotes alignment, clarity, and consistent execution across the team.
Our initiative, “Leadership Reliability Enhancement,” was designed to address gaps in maintenance leadership by establishing expectations and fostering accountability. Although preliminary structures and processes were in place, a lack of clarity in Planning and Scheduling, backlog management, and shop-floor supervision limited the plant’s potential to achieve high reliability. Furthermore, the absence of well-defined roles for Maintenance Supervisors created inefficiencies and dispersed focus, causing team efforts to lack coordination despite the presence of good practices and standards.
To remedy these challenges, we developed a series of focused deliverables aimed at solidifying reliability practices within maintenance leadership. These included implementing a revised organizational chart, defining and tracking key metrics, establishing clear planning and scheduling protocols, and refining maintenance routines. Additionally, we created a comprehensive Maintenance Business Process framework to clarify workflow, roles, and accountability and rolled out targeted training programs to ensure adherence to these new standards.
Join this session to learn how a structured approach to enhancing leadership reliability can help unify your team, align maintenance activities with plant needs, and build a foundation for sustainable reliability excellence.
Barry Cease
President, Cease Industrial Consulting
“Customer Case Study”
Abstract coming soon.
“Ultrasound 2.0: Unlocking Hidden Insights Beyond ISO Standards”
Dive into the future of bearing health with Ultrasound 2.0! Discover how this next-gen of ultrasound surpasses ISO 29821 standards to provide new insights into asset health. Through real-world case studies and a vast dataset of research, learn how Ultrasound 2.0 empowers maintenance teams to make faster, smarter decisions, reduce downtime, and extend the life of critical assets.
“How to Design a CBM Program from Scratch”
Learn how to build a Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) program from the ground up in this insightful session. You’ll gain practical strategies for creating an effective CBM framework that optimizes asset performance and minimizes downtime.
● Identify key assets for monitoring and data collection.
● Choose the right technologies and tools for your CBM program.
● Establish maintenance triggers based on data insights.
● Implement best practices for continuous improvement.
This session is perfect for anyone looking to design a robust, scalable CBM program from scratch.
“Field Balancing High-Speed Compressors”
Balancing high-speed compressors in the field is essential for minimizing vibration, reducing wear, and extending equipment life. This process involves precise adjustments to ensure optimal performance under operational conditions.
● Identify and correct imbalance in high-speed rotating equipment.
● Techniques for performing in-situ balancing without disassembly.
● Benefits include increased reliability, reduced downtime, and enhanced efficiency.
Mastering field balancing ensures compressors operate smoothly and reliably, even in demanding environments.
“Understanding the Power of a Work Order”
The maintenance process starts and ends with a work order. The POWER of it is all up to YOU! There are different kinds of work orders. There is the napkin type of work order with a little mustard and a McDonald’s emblem for the true craftsmen. There is the pocket 3” X 5” spiral wire work order book with lines or without. There are countless ways you can configure a work order and many ways you do not want to. I will show you how it was implemented and the process we use at US Steel to ensure a quality work order. This will most likely not be the same in a year from now. When you stop changing because you are perfect, then you have settled for just being okay!
“Redefining Failure: Paving the Way to Lasting Success”
Data-driven decision-making can revolutionize predictive maintenance programs, but achieving this transformation starts with a fundamental shift in how we define failure. In this session, Stephen Ford of FedEx and Jeremy Bey from UE Systems will take attendees through FedEx’s journey in redefining failure and embedding ultrasound technology across their network. With insights from Stephen’s hands-on experience, they will explore how FedEx moved from reactive to proactive maintenance by focusing on early-stage defect detection—long before equipment breaks down or operations are disrupted.
This presentation will emphasize the importance of a cross-functional understanding of failure, not as the moment a machine stops, but as the point when a defect arises, risking the performance, safety, or reliability of an asset. Through the establishment of the Regional Ultrasound Champions program and tailored training, FedEx has leveraged this nuanced approach to drive sustainable improvements in operational resilience.
Attendees will walk away with practical lessons on how focusing on the details—like recognizing and addressing potential defects early—can lead to long-term success. This session is ideal for leaders looking to elevate their predictive maintenance strategies by adopting a data-centric mindset and fostering a culture that values early, actionable insights.
“Large Scale Improvement as Frito-Lay’s First Class of Certified Maintenance Planners Graduate”
Abstract coming soon.
“Safety & Reliability – How Infrared Windows Help You Achieve Both”
During this session, you will learn more about how IR windows are critical to any cabinet-based electrical inspection, and how performing these inspections in the absence of needing full PPE to perform the inspection is both a time savings and increases the safety of your team. We will discuss FLIR’s complete IR Window and new IR Port offering to capture consistent images over time for trending and analysis, leading towards informed decision-making and increased reliability.
“Implementing Reliability the ‘One-Point Preaching’ Way”
Is your organization juggling so many reliability initiatives that progress seems elusive? Despite a growing list of action items, are you uncertain about the tangible results? With limited resources, the journey toward reliability can feel endlessly grueling, leading to discouragement, burnout, and a lack of buy-in at all levels of the organization.
In this session, we’ll highlight the importance of identifying where to focus your efforts — and, just as crucially, where not to. By pinpointing the “one point” of reliability for your organization to prioritize, you can make meaningful progress. Join me for a conversation about how I stopped trying to fix everything and chose to just fix something.
“Getting the Most Out of Your CMMS System”
Abstract is coming soon.