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Every day more and more of the maintenance and reliability community is transitioning into using tools such as LinkedIn,  Twitter, blogs, and wikis. There is now a wealth of information out there for those who know how to find it. In his presentation “Who Gives a “Twitter” About Being “LinkedIn” to Reliability? Ways to Improve Plant Reliability with the Internet” at the SMRP-2013 Conference in Indianapolis, Shon Isenhour discussed what these smart people are doing, how they are doing it, and what they are gaining for their efforts.

Shon gave us real examples of problems solved via the Internet and how others can join in to find solutions to their challenges. He wrapped up his session by providing 10 ways to put the Internet to use immediately within your plant. Here they are, in no particular order:

1. For RCA preparation prior to getting the team together, pull equipment documentation and any history available via Google.
2. Search bulletin boards and user group pages for common equipment failures others are experiencing using Google. Verify that these are part of your Equipment Maintenance Plan (EMP) and your Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) and Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) efforts.
3. Locate spare parts for obsolete equipment via eBay and Google.
4. Locate new vendors and service centers for existing parts via Google.
5. Identify physical defects with pictures of similar failures from Google images.
6. Find equipment vendors’ websites via Google… It is not always so obvious.
7. Read about additional vendor, equipment, part, or product characteristics information on Wikipedia prior to and during an RCA.
8. Follow your common vendors on Twitter to be in the loop with their most recent product releases and updates.
9. Read the blogs of people interested in the same topics or that deal with the same issues you face.
10. Read the various trade publication websites for articles that target the problems you are facing.

Bonus: If you don’t find the answer in any of these places, then post your question to LinkedIn and see what you get.

Thanks to Shon Isenhour, CMRP with Allied Reliability Group for sharing his presentation and knowledge with us.

Visit Shon’s Blog at: www.reliabilitynow.com
Join the LUDECA Machinery Alignment | Vibration | Balancing LinkedIn Group
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, , by Ana Maria Delgado, CRL