SMRP's 18th Annual Conference

Having fun in Milwaukee!

2010-10-20T16:44:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe the conference is almost over, but it's been a great few days here in Milwaukee! See for yourself...

Some of our board members enjoying breakfast

Our exhibitors enjoyed networking with attendees on the show floor

Our keynote speaker, Clyde Fessler, wowed the crowd when he rode into the session on a Harley!

Ali and Nicole and the rest of our staff are working hard but

smiling all the way through!

There has been lots of networking!

The Harley Davidson museum reception was a big hit and I sat on my first motorcycle!

Here's to making more memories and connections!

Maureen Gribble
SMRP

See YOU in Milwaukee!?

2010-10-14T05:52:00.000-07:00

During my almost 20 year career as an association professional, I have been privileged to produce or participate in many of the leading professional society’s Annual Conferences. Instead of this making me jaded, I have to share how much I am excited about and looking forward to SMRP’s 2010 and 18th Annual Conference in Milwaukee!!

Your SMRP Conference Team, led by Conference Chair Craig Seibold, meeting staff and all of the SMRP staff have been working hard since the beginning of this year – to produce one the best programs SMRP has offered! Did you know we had 33% more abstracts submitted this year!? That speaks to the high quality educational sessions at SMRP. You can easily figure the best session for you as we’ve formatted these sessions into the Five Pillars from the Body of Knowledge as well as into Fundamentals or Advanced Levels of education.

In addition to the stellar education in these 50+ sessions, we have 11 Workshops and 3 top notch Plant Tours at three high profile facilities. I enjoyed my first Plant Tour back in March to a DuPont Houston facility – I’ve been hooked on these educational and interesting tours ever since!

We have a high profile Keynote Speaker in Clyde Fessler (former VP of Business Development for Harley- Davidson. We have our networking reception at the Harley-Davidson Museum. We have our annual golf tournament at one of the top award winning golf resorts in the country. We have an Exhibit Hall featuring leading companies, a bookstore featuring the latest in M&R publications, and our own SMRP Body of Knowledge Metrics and Benchmarking products for sale.

Milwaukee boasts so many great features and attractions to get attendees excited. They have a convenient, downtown, state-of-the-art convention center now called the Frontier Center [our meeting location!] They have so many unique, off-site meeting venues, they have major attractions within walking distance, and dining and nightlife that turn down time into good times. With value, accessibility, and affordability and friendly people who will make you feel at home, there’s so much to choose here – they say, “Milwaukee is where you want to be!” Check them out in advance at http://www.visitmilwaukee.org/index.php/visitors.

With all of this quality education and all of these incredible features – can YOU really afford to miss this conference? Don’t you want to be Driven by Performance and emPowered by Professionals!?

This economy has left us all reeling…but it’s time to start reinvesting now so we can grow into the future. Let the reinvestment start with you and you commitment to this profession by learning and growing at the SMRP 18th Annual Conference. I look forward to seeing you in Milwaukee!

Barb Dunlavey, CAE
Executive Director
SMRP

Asset Reliability Maintenance… Getting Production More Involved!

2010-10-14T05:30:00.000-07:00

In an industrial environment, maintenance is generally considered one of the most important activities utilized for improving reliability, and as such, the first one to be blamed for the lack or poor performance of it. If production goals are not met, or there are quality issues, or if there are safety or environmental issues, etc… maintenance is often seen as the guilty party.

Today, managers are feeling the pressure to respond to these changes and a continuously increasing pressure to achieve higher plant availability and lower costs; as a result, there is a growing awareness of the effect of maintenance in safety and the environment, accompanied by a growing awareness of the connection between maintenance and product quality and a continuously increasing pressure to achieve higher plant availability and lower costs.

However, everything said above in association with reliability, typically refers to the maintenance function, not just the maintenance department. The maintenance function is a responsibility shared with every department in the plant. The production department is responsible for operating the equipment within its established parameters, to perform certain tasks to maintain the equipment within those parameters and to report operating anomalies to maintenance so corrective action can be planned and scheduled. In this day and age, Production/Operations must be more involved in the whole asset care (maintenance) function. They must work with the Reliability/Maintenance department as “partners”, forgoing the old “customer/supplier” relationship.

Before any effort to improve asset reliability has any chance of success, all departments and all personnel, managers and workers alike, must have a complete understanding of the process and a firm commitment to support organization asset care.

In this upcoming workshop, "Basics of a Sound Asset Reliability Maintenance Management Program...Getting Production and Operations More Involved," we will explore three main ways to accomplish this objective:

1. The principle of the Production/Operations Maintenance Coordinator
2. The basics of Operator Basic Care (OBC)
3. Production/Operations use of EAM

Jim H. Davis, CMRP
VP-Business Development
Performance Consulting Associates, Inc.

Workshop on Leading Change...

2010-10-12T05:57:00.000-07:00

I did some interesting reading over the weekend. Two recent reports, one by IBM and one by McKinsey, found that organizations continue to struggle with effectively managing organizational change. Compared to research performed 20 years ago, organizational effectiveness in successful change has improved little and is still less than 50%.

As reliability professionals, a 50% failure rate borders on unconscionable. As leaders in our organization, learning how to successfully lead and manage change is critical. One thing that has happened over the past 20 years is that there is significant information, tools, and research related to organizational change management. Many, if not most, organizations are more cognizant of the people issues related to change. What they are not getting better at is application. This was the primary driver in focusing this year’s post-conference workshop on how to change. On Thursday, October 21, the workshop “Real World Change Management: Putting Theory to Practice” will give you a chance to develop and advance your change management skills. Based upon the Prosci change management methodology, the workshop uses real-world examples and tools to evaluate your current change efforts, quantify risks, and develop a change management strategy. We had a great workshop last year on change management theory. I hope you will join me this year as we get our hands dirty.

Scott Franklin, CMRP
Life Cycle Engineering

How is Maintenance Reliability like Yoga?

2010-10-06T11:59:00.000-07:00

Lot's of people call me crazy because I practice Bikram Yoga - a rigorous 90 minute Yoga workout in a room heated to 105 degrees (minimum) and about 50% humidity. (they call me crazy for many other reasons as well - but this blog post is about Yoga).

It was very difficult to get started but soon I was putting together many of the required elements and doing my best to advance into the correct postures with maximum effort. Having a satisfying Yoga practice requires putting together all the required elements (focus, breath, flexibility, strength, being hydrated, and many more) continuously while doing the work to the best of my ability.

If I only focus on one or two elements - I do not get very far and do not make much progress. If I am tired and I dog a posture - the result is also substandard.

There is a beginning to every Yoga posture but there is no end. You can progress as deep as you care to go.

Maintenance reliability is very similar in that we must learn all the required elements, and practice them all at the same time - to the best of our ability. If we loose focus on some of the elements we do not get very far and we do not make much progress.

My Yoga teachers say 90% right and 10% wrong = 100% wrong. You must try to do it all right and your must try do it all right all of the time.

There is a beginning to maintenance reliability but there is no end. You can go deeper and deeper daily. The journey is continuous.

Does that mean you will not make mistakes as you progress?

No - like Yoga - you will fall as you move to deeper levels of maintenance reliability - but that is not important if you are making progress. What is important is that you return to your maintenance reliability focus and go as deep as you can. With small incremental progress daily - you will be surprised at how fast you develop your maintenance reliability practice.

Dig in and learn as much as you can at this year's SMRP conference. Get back to work with new elements to add to your maintenance reliability practice and go as deep as you can. Then come back next year and learn about more of the elements you need to go even deeper.

The benefits of Yoga and the benefits of maintenance reliability make the world a much better place.

Serenity now!

OM

Terrence O'Hanlon, CMRP
Reliabilityweb.com, Inc.

**Join us for Bikram Yoga in Milwaukee! There are 6:00 a.m. classes on Monday and Wednesday. Start your day off right and get energized to spend the day learning!
http://www.bikramyoga-milwaukee.com/

Book Authors at SMRP Annual Meeting

2010-09-28T05:07:00.000-07:00

Be sure and bring your copies maintenance reliability books by Ricky Smith, Ramesh Gulati, Doc Palmer, Terry Wireman and Howard Penrose and get them autographed by the authors themselves. This elite group of subject matter experts will be attending and presenting at the SMRP Annual Conference and would be happy to sign your copies before or after their presentations.

You can find books by these and other great authors at the MRO-Zone.com bookstore located near the SMRP registration/check-in counter.

BONUS! You can ensure you get the books you want by pre-ordering for pick-up in Milwaukee - and get FREE shipping. Visit http://books.mro-zone.com to pre-order your books.

Terrence O'Hanlon, CMRP
ReliabilityWeb.com Inc.

Track 6, Day One: SMRP Initiatives

2010-09-22T10:51:00.000-07:00

Track 6 is the SMRP track. Day One is filled with useful information about SMRP. This track will be of particular interest to new members and to existing members who want to learn about the many useful tools developed by SMRP volunteers that are available to them.

The day begins with SMRP’s Value Proposition presented by outgoing SMRP Chair, Michael Eisenbise with BP. Michael will provide an overview of all of the valuable benefits to be derived from active membership in the association. Michael will be followed by Best Practices Committee chair Dick Olver with Agrium who will review the committee’s development and publication of dozens of maintenance and reliability metrics. Dick will also review the numerous guides published by the Best Practices Committee that are available free of charge to association members. After lunch, Shelley Whitener with Sandia Labs and the M&RK Committee Chair will demonstrate the new conference proceedings search tool. Hundreds… yes hundreds of abstracts from SMRP conferences over the past 11 years will be available to you with easy search capability. So look no further, log into SMRP to find information on the latest maintenance and reliability tools and technology. Shelley will be followed by Jackie Lovette with Boeing and Benchmarking Committee Chair who will announce the launch of the second generation of SMRP’s benchmarking tool. Jackie will also share key learning’s derived from the 2009 study results. Jackie will be followed by SMRP Membership and Component Relations manager Erin Quinn who will educate association members on how to form and grow a SMRP chapter or SIG (Special Interest Group). Erin will review chapter and SIG best practices. This will be invaluable information for those interested in starting a chapter and SIG and will provide a chance to network with existing chapter and SIG leaders.

If you’re unable to make any of these track sessions, SMRP’s BoK Directorate will have a booth at the conference staffed by committee volunteers who will be available throughout the conference to educate association members and answer questions regarding the benefits of membership provided through the BoK. With all of this available to you at the conference… you can’t afford not to go! I look forward to seeing you in Milwaukee!

Al Poling, CMRP
Track 6 Leader
Solomon Associates

What’s new from the Body of Knowledge

2010-09-16T06:13:00.000-07:00

The SMRP Body of Knowledge Directorate is pleased to offer two valuable new resources every maintenance & reliability professional should have. First, the M&RK Committee has catalogued over 400 papers that have been presented at SMRP’s annual conferences since 1999. The result is a searchable database which makes this wealth of knowledge more accessible. Think of it as a virtual M&R library at your fingertips. The SMRP Conference Proceedings Database will be available FREE to SMRP members beginning in October.

Second, the SMRP Best Practices Metrics Compendium, 2nd edition, will be available for sale at the SMRP products table. This updated compilation of over 60 metrics definitions, along with the companion guideline documents and glossary, will provide clear guidance on how to measure and calculate key performance indicators. Other BoK products, including individual metrics and the Guide to the Body of Knowledge, 1st edition, will also be for sale at the SMRP products table throughout the conference.

For the first time, Body of Knowledge volunteers will be available to discuss BoK products, activities, and plans at the BoK Booth in the Exhibit Hall. We invite everyone to stop by and chat with us anytime throughout the conference. At the BoK Booth, you will also be able to browse past papers using the new Conference Proceedings Database search tool.

Also check out our Track 6 (SMRP Initiatives) Sessions on Tuesday, October 19:
• M&RK (Conference Proceedings Database) – 11:15-12:15
• Best Practices – 1:30-2:30
• Benchmarking – 3:00-4:00

Shelley Whitener, PE, CMRP
Sandia National Labs
Chair, M&RK Committee

Become an approved CMRP proctor

2010-09-14T11:47:00.000-07:00

Are you trying to get more folks at your organization certified as CMRPs? If so, take advantage of three opportunities to become an approved proctor at this year’s annual conference.

In order to be an approved proctor you must meet the following criteria:
1. Have been a CMRP for at least one year
2. Shadow an already approved proctor during an exam administration
3. Be approved by our Exam Administration Committee

Assuming steps 1 and 2 are fulfilled, step 3 really is just a formality.

We will be offering the exam three different times during the conference and we invite anyone interested in shadowing to help us out. The exams will be given on the following days:
Monday, October 18; 12:30-3:00 p.m.
Wednesday, October 20; 6:00-8:30 p.m.
Thursday, October 21; 8:30-11:00 a.m.

If you are interested, we ask that you send me an email at mgribble@smrp.org. I'll let you know where to show up and when. Keep in mind this is also a great opportunity to earn some credit hours for your recertification.

Maureen Gribble
SMRP

Still time to save!

2010-09-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

Don't miss out on the opportunity to save $145 by registering today for the conference. Our early bird rate is still available so you've got a little more time to get that "a-ok" from your boss to attend what's sure to be our best conference yet!

In an effort to make this as easy as possible for you, we've done the leg work to draft up a business justification letter that you simply need to personalize and pass up the ranks. You can download that by clicking here.

Sign up before September 24th to take advantage of this great discount and put that savings towards one of our workshops, plant tours, or even a round of golf!

Looking forward to seeing you next month!

Maureen Gribble
SMRP

Learn more about the CIMM

2010-09-09T07:44:00.000-07:00

The annual conference will give you the opportunity to learn more about the Certified Industrial Maintenance Mechanic (CIMM) exam. The CIMM certification provides an unbiased, third party, objective assessment and confirmation of the skills of industrial maintenance mechanics. Certified Industrial Maintenance Mechanics are responsible for preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance, and perform troubleshooting and analysis.

Plan on attending the CIMM Exam Team meeting to meet the team members, understand the purpose of the exam, and provide your personal input. This is a great opportunity to get engaged and help in the development of the CIMM exam.

CIMM Exam Team Meeting will take place Wednesday, October 20 from 1:00-3:00

Vlad Bacalu, CMRP
CIMM Exam Team Chair

Workshop: Planning and (Re)implanting Your EAM System:

2010-09-01T06:12:00.000-07:00

Most every company has gone through an EAM System Implementation.

Did you get the functionality you thought you would?

Are you able to retrieve useful data?

Are your “power users” able to effectively utilize the system?

How long does it STILL take you to retrieve specific history on those critical systems?

More often than not, the important piece to the puzzle that is missed is the foundational data and/or metadata required to make your system useful.

In this workshop, learn how to effectively organize that data for load into your system. Break-out session will allow you to work with your peers and discuss failures / successes on your implementations. Compare your ideas to accepted best practices. Build data for a manufacturing plant.

Tim White, the workshop facilitator, has helped several organizations truly realize the benefits of having an effective EAM System. His understanding of the “real world” needs for maintenance and reliability organizations will come through in this exciting workshop being given on Thursday, 21 October.

Don’t miss this valuable opportunity to take back to your organization ideas that could help you realize real benefits from your EAM System!

Tim White, CMRP
Management Resources Groups, Inc.

Fore!

2010-08-30T12:13:00.000-07:00

Those of you reliability folks that enjoy the outdoors, a great event, and a great golf course, make plans to join your fellow SMRP duffers the award winning Grand Geneva Golf Resort on Sunday, October 17th for our 7th Annual SMRP Golf Outing.

This outing will give you the opportunity to meet your fellow SMRP colleagues, practitioners, and industry partners. Grand Geneva Golf Resort is regarded as one of the top award winning golf resorts in the country, home to championship golf on The Brute course. The magnificent Brute, at over 7,000 yards, is one of the most challenging layouts in the Midwest. Enhanced with 68 bunkers, this par-72 course has huge rolling greens averaging over 8,000 square feet. Perfectly manicured and immaculately maintained.

Past attendees have come from a wide variety of backgrounds and geographical locations. Each of these events has provided some great memories for those that participated. Come have a good time, play some good golf (or some not so good golf, we don’t care!), enjoy good food and most importantly, good company.

A bonus, we do award prizes for the top finishing teams, not to mention you’ll have bragging rights for the remainder of the conference!

See you on the links!

Mike Mills, CMRP
Chairman, Golf Outing Committee
The Mundy Companies

Organization and Leadership-Track 4

2010-08-27T06:04:00.000-07:00

What part do people play in your efforts to build and maintain a competitive, effective, and rewarding approach to maintenance and reliability? The answer, of course, is EVERYTHING and that’s why this track has attracted such a large number of timely, relevant, and well-attended presentations over the years. This year’s collection of topics will focus once again on ways to counteract the challenges of an aging workforce, including recommendations and case histories that address how to organize for effectiveness, how to teach leadership, how to attract and train the new workforce, and how to measure the effectiveness of your efforts.

I have the pleasure of being the Track Leader this year and working with Nick Roberts, CMRP, of Dupont and John Johannemann, CMRP, of Ascend Performance Materials, to facilitate the Track 4 presentations. Please join with us to learn and to share your own experiences.

Bill Dockrey, CMRP, PE
Luminant Power

Equipment Reliability—Track 3

2010-08-23T07:08:00.000-07:00

Equipment Reliability is one of the pinnacles of the SMRP Body of Knowledge. Optimum Reliability, Reliability as it applies to Safety, KPIs, Enhanced Inspection Performance and much more! Papers within this track will address multiple aspects of all of these key efforts. In fact it’s entirely possible you might even come to appreciate a few acronyms you were not familiar with previously. These papers address both the practical methodologies and some of the how to off applying the principals contained throughout the presentations.

Check out the full list of papers that will be presented during Track 3 by clicking here: http://www.smrp.org/Conference/2010/agenda.asp

I am very excited to serve as a Track Leader and look forward to working with my fellow track co-lead, Scott Brack, CMRP, of Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold. Stop by Track 3 and say "hi!"

Carl Schultz, CMRP
Management Resources Group, Inc.

ISO Asset Management Project gets the green light!

2010-08-18T13:05:00.000-07:00

There is very good news from the International Standards Organization that the ISO Technical Management Board has decided to develop an International Standard on Asset Management. This is a chance to incorporate knowledge, techniques and good practice from all around the world within a single set of requirements.

The starting point will be the British Standards Institute's PAS55. With the assistance of global asset management professionals, we expect an already good document to quickly become the global standard for Asset Management framework in leading organizations.

If this topic is of interest, you may wish to consider attending "What’s PAS 55 and ISO? — Asset Management Process by Ramesh Gulati, CMRP, and Christopher Mears,CMRP, ATA/AEDC; and Terrence O’Hanlon, CMRP, Reliabilityweb.com Inc." in the Manufacturing and Process Reliability Track at this years SMRP Annual Conference (11:15 am Tuesday October 19)

The MRO-Zone.com Bookstore will also have limited copies of the PAS55 Asset Management Specification at the SMRP Annual Conference.

Terrence O'Hanlon, CMRP
Reliabilityweb.com Inc.

Track 1-Business and Management

2010-08-12T05:53:00.000-07:00

This year’s Business and Management track has some powerful presentations. Shon Isenhour will be discussing the phenomenon of “initiative overload” and “flavor of the month” syndrome. Terry O’Hanlon and Terry Wireman will be discussing the results of a SAP-PM/EAM survey. Sure to shed some light on the ease of use debate. Nick Roberts will be presenting the “DuPont Production System” and I personally can’t wait to see the details of this. Bradley Peterson will compare Safety culture to Maintenance culture and how behaviors are the root-cause of performance. Adamantios Mettas will be discussing when and how to use RCM, FMEA, and Weibul. Mark Callahan and Greg Lapps from Pfizer will discuss what they did to reduce maintenance cost and increase reliability! Liebherr Mining will be presenting on KPIs and OEE using RCM and how this relates to culture change. CH2MHILL will be explaining how to create a measurable and repeatable process to evaluate the consequence of failure and condition of each work process. RasGas Company will share its initiative to optimize spare parts. Something we all need to do, but can’t seem to find the time. This year is shaping up to be very informative and great learning opportunity for improvement.

Check out the full list of papers that will be presented during Track 1 by clicking here: https://www.smrp.org/Conference/2010/downloads/TRACK%201.doc

I am very excited to serve again as Co-track Leader and look forward to working with my fellow track leader, John Barker, CMRP, Fluor Company and Co-lead Dave Rousseau, CMRP, of PCA Consulting. Stop by Track 1 and say Hello.

Jeff Stegemiller CMRP
Gallatin Steel Company

Put your career in gear

2010-07-30T04:12:00.001-07:00

The Industry Partner Relations Committee is looking forward to hosting the 2nd Annual SMRP Job Fair on Monday, Oct. 18, 2010 in Milwaukee, WI. After listening to feedback from job-seekers and employers, we have made many improvements for this year's fair.

We've moved the time to the Monday prior to the conference to allow for more privacy and to be sure you don't have to choose between a session and the Fair. The Job Fair will be in a private room and contain private interview spaces available for reservation.

This Job Fair is a must-attend event for the movers and shakers in the M&R industry. It's timing is perfect as it is in conjunction with one of the world's largest gatherings of industry professionals, and the price is right! Job-seekers attend free of charge, while employers may take advantage of several cost-effective options. If you are already exhibiting at the conference, your table is free, just be sure to reserve it ahead of schedule. If you are an SMRP executive member, your table is only $150, and if you are a non-SMRP member, your table is only $250. We're able to do this because as a not-for-profit organization,
our commitment to advancing professionals drives our business strategies.

We saw the need and opportunity to host this event, and we seized it.
Will you seize your opportunity?

Erin Quinn
Membership and Component Relations Manager
SMRP

Get certified!

2010-07-22T06:45:00.000-07:00

Have you been looking for an opportunity to become a Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional (CMRP)? If so, then the annual conference is a great opportunity for you to make that goal a reality!

We’ll be offering the exam three different times during the conference:

Monday, October 18; 12:30-3:00 p.m.
Wednesday, October 20; 6:00-8:30 p.m.
Thursday, October 21; 8:30-11:00 a.m.

The CMRP program involves a more robust curriculum than other certifications. It's an internationally-recognized, ANSI-accredited exam with all-inclusive M&R content. Covering the five pillars of M&R, it's all the knowledge you need to gain confidence and advance your career.

• Business and management
• Manufacturing process reliability
• Equipment reliability
• Organization and Leadership
• Work management

You can register for the CMRP exam with your conference registration-how easy is that?
Join the nearly 3,000 CMRPs worldwide and begin reaping the benefits of being a CMRP!

Maureen Gribble
Certification and Education Director
SMRP

Keynote Speaker...

2010-06-28T06:42:00.000-07:00

This year we're excited to welcome Clyde Fessler as our keynote speaker. Clyde is retired Vice President of Business Development for Harley-Davidson Motor Company.

While working for Harley-Davidson, Clyde played an integral role in the company's dramatic turnaround. His presentation will encapsulate the Harley-Davidson turnaround story, including testimony for how designing reliability into its products and manufacturing became the critical foundation for success.

Clyde will challenge our members to find ways in which they can grow both personally and professionally, by setting clear strategic goals for themselves and their organizations. He'll drive home the point that if you can continue to exceed expectations, you'll always be able to out drive the competition!

We hope you'll join us for what is sure to be a motivational and intriguing keynote session.

Maureen Gribble
Certification and Education Director
SMRP

Calling for volunteers

2010-05-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that we are already into the thick of things with this year's annual conference. It feels like we were just gearing up for our meeting in St. Louis!

That being said, we are really looking forward to an excellent conference in October, however the conference experience is really beginning now. This will be the second year that we've hosted this conference blog and we really see it as a way to get folks talking and engaged prior to stepping onto the plane for Milwaukee.

We are looking for volunteers who are willing to contribute to this blog, either by writing posts for us, or simply by spreading the word. Those willing to write, I promise it won't take much effort. We'll just ask that you put together some informal thoughts on either a paper that will be presented, a workshop, or really anything related to the conference. If you are interested, shoot me an email at mgribble@smrp.org and I'll work with you to make this an easy, yet fulfilling, volunteer experience.

Let's get the buzz for this year's conference started now!

Maureen Gribble
Certification and Education Director
SMRP

Welcome to the 2010 SMRP Annual Conference

2010-05-26T07:02:00.000-07:00

Dear SMRP Members,

It is my pleasure to welcome you to and introduce the largest independent global Maintenance and Reliability Conference supporting your industry! We encourage you and your colleagues to be a part of the 18th Annual SMRP Conference… held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this October
Our theme, “Driven by Performance, Powered by Professionals”, is reflective of this year’s energized agenda. The Conference Committee has worked with great diligence to meet your expectations of providing some immediate value to your own professional expertise, and to deliver broadened principles of Best Practices enabling gains for your organization’s continued reliability journey.

The conference has maintained and broadened our core educational offerings with a record number of papers submitted, making this a truly high-quality educational experience. Following on with many years of past successes, we will continue with: the Six Tracks of Practitioner Presentations, full and half-day Workshops (now Monday and Thursday), Plant Tours (Thursday), Exhibits, CMRP Exams, Networking Receptions, Committee Meetings, and the SMRP Annual Business Meeting. Our Exhibition Hall and educational sessions are located in the Frontier Airlines Center, conveniently located next to our conference hotels in downtown Milwaukee.

Based on feedback, we have implemented some additional conference enhancements. We will officially kickoff with Workshops on Monday, have a SMRP BoK Booth available throughout the conference for questions; offer panel discussions with subject matter experts; invite you to two off-site networking receptions in addition to the two receptions in the Exhibit Hall ; give you personal interaction time with the keynote speaker; and for the golfers- we’ve provided a chance to play one of the most challenging golf course layouts in the Midwest - now on Sunday afternoon so you don’t have to miss a second of the conference.

You won’t want to miss our keynote speaker, Clyde Fessler, former Vice President of Business Development for Harley-Davidson Motor Company for over 20 years. As always, the growing exhibition will be widely accessible from Monday evening through Wednesday morning. You will have the opportunity to dialogue with the industry professionals regarding the latest in their offerings and developments to help you in your day-to-day operations.

The Milwaukee area offers some great opportunities to out-of-town visitors. The SMRP Conference Committee has provided for the conference attendees opportunities to experience some of the best. Our Tuesday evening reception is at the Harley-Davidson Museum where you will get a feel for the freedom, camaraderie and pride that Harley-Davidson riders experience every time they fire up their motorcycles. Additionally, we have added a Wednesday evening plant tour and reception at the well known MillerCoors Brewery. This extensive tour will take you through various departments of the massive brewery, including the brew house, packaging center and historic underground caves. You will see the production lines in operation and get a real glimpse at how quickly and efficiently the macro-brewery lines operate. For those that might generate a thirst from the tour, a sampling will be available afterwards.

The creative energy that has been put forth by this year’s Conference Committee assures us of another successful event. I want to thank the dynamic conference team, our track leaders, the officers, directors and committee chairs who have all contributed to the conference.

For those regular attendees, I think you would agree that every year the annual SMRP conference only gets better! We are confident that this year’s conference has all the elements to continue this tradition. Join us as we carry on SMRP’s mission to “promote and advance Reliability Excellence worldwide.” I look forward to meeting each of you at the 2010 SMRP Annual Conference – see you in Milwaukee!

Be SAFE and Be RELIABLE,

Craig Seibold, CMRP, PE
2010 SMRP Conference Chair