Preventive Maintenance
22 Feb 2012 | Category: uncategorized | Author: admin
Preventive and Predictive Maintenance
Predictive maintenance aims to predict the occurrence of problems so that action can be taken to avert downtime. The most common usage of predictive maintenance is with wear parts. Variations in the key dimensions of wear parts are measured and when they go below a predefined level, the part is replaced. In this way downtime and poor machine performance is averted.
There are two stages to predictive maintenance: first identify a characteristic that varies as a component nears its end-of-life and second, define the level at which action should be taken. For example when a bulb is nearing its end of life it may gradually reduce its operating temperature before complete failure. By understanding the failure mechanism and the characteristic associated with its failure, the breakdown can be predicted. The temperature of the bulb at a defined distance is measured at regular intervals and logged. And temperature variations associated with failure are noted. A procedure is set up such that any recurrence of these temperature variations with future bulbs results in the earliest possible replacement of the bulb.
There are 5 steps to effective predictive maintenance:
Step 1: List the significant functions that constitute the machine:
For example;
o The loading section
o The machine transportation system
o The Labelling system
o The tooling section
o The unloading section
Step2: Define the acceptable performance criteria for these functions:
For the transportation system, the product must move at a linear speed and no jerky motion is acceptable (it is currently not possible to quantify acceptable tolerances).
Step 3: List the consequences of the function failure:
Are there safety or economic implications or hidden elements where the consequence of failure may not be immediately detected? For example failure of the transportation system leads to product being scrapped resulting in economic loss.
Step 4: List the causes of each functional failure:
Elongation of any or the drive belts, wear out within the gear boxes or bearings may cause deterioration in the performance of the transportation system.
Step 5: Identify what can be done to prevent failure
For the drive chains:
o Weekly lubrication extends their life
o Weekly inspection of chains for tight spots
o Replace drive chains every 6 months
For the gear box
o Inspect the quality of the lubrication oil every month
o Inspect gear box for smooth action
o Change the oil at least every 3 months
o Replace the gearbox every 2 years
o Etc.
For the bearings
o Replace bearings when there is evidence of damage.
Depending on the answers to the analysis at least one of the following four options is taken
1. On-condition task maintenance
2. Scheduled restoration
3. Scheduled discard
4. Default task
On condition maintenance means inspecting the equipment components at regular intervals to find and correct potential faults. In the example, on-condition tasks include inspecting the drive chains and the gear box
Scheduled restoration involves reworking the equipment components at specified intervals to reduce the potential for failure. The example refers to applying lubrication to the chains and changing the oil in the gearbox at defined intervals.
Scheduled discard involves replacing the components at regular intervals in anticipation of failure. Returning to the earlier example, the chains are to be replaced every 6 months and the gearbox, every two years.
Default tasks involve either redesigning the machine function if none of the previous tasks can suitably control exposure to failure or alternatively not performing any scheduled maintenance where the cost of preventive maintenance is higher than the cost of rectifying the failure and its consequences. In the above example, bearing are only replaced when there is evidence that they are not working correctly.
In each case, the team considers the failure mechanism and the associated reliability data before deciding on appropriate preventive measures. Historical records of machine performance, advice from vendors and feedback from technical staff are recommended to determine the appropriateness of each preventive maintenance task. Predictive and preventive maintenance means intensive analysis of equipment to establish the tasks that will minimise breakdowns.
Initially designing preventive maintenance systems is time consuming. The http://www.passtechnique.com website may help to speed up the process by providing the maintenance team with tools for solving problems. The www.managemaintenance.com website discuses ways of implementing preventive maintenance plans.
Should I Still Buy Real Estate After All That Has Happened?
21 Feb 2012 | Category: uncategorized | Author: admin
Rehoboth Beach Delaware is called the Nation’s Summer Capital because we are such a common second home and entertainment location for the powerful and influential people of Washington D.C. There are few people making over $75,000 a year in the DC professions who do not frequent this area when they need privacy, space, fresh ocean air and relaxation. It’s not just summer that draws them anymore, they come year ‘round. And it’s not just Rehoboth Beach anymore, they populate Lewes, Dewey Beach, Bethany Beach, Fenwick Island and all the little towns near the Delaware Beaches.
During the past several years all real estate, especially waterfront real estate or beach real estate anywhere has been a phenomenal investment. Rehoboth area increases have been as much as 30-40% per year in the ocean block for the last few years! Part of this surge was just a catch-up from nearly a decade of relatively flat appreciation rates.
While Washington D.C., along with numerous other cities has seen price increases in real estate of 15-30% per year over the last few years. While the rest of the country has little if any appreciation in real estate values this year DC has remained hot, though not as hot as last year. Most areas of our country have had no appreciation in prices on average for this year – except for small portions of some metropolitan areas.
The entire economy has cooled way down. Globally, real estate is not expected to do very well over the next few years. In addition to residential real estate being hard hit -- retail, commercial and industrial real estate has been mostly languishing, unsold even at lower prices and even with commercial mortgage rates of half what they were a few years ago.
This Delaware Resort area and Washington D.C. are predictably different from anywhere else. DC is where people flock when any national emergency or military expansion is underway. We are seeing unprecedented buildups in military, government and private sectors as a result of our instant reaction to the attacks and the nearly immediate national decision to mount a world wide high-tech war against the terrorists and their allies. This Delaware Beach area is a part time bedroom, escape, business-meeting and bar community for the Washingtonian influential and powerful elite. Here they can get away and plan in private for what must be done!
The Wall Street Journal posted an interesting article “Where Housing is Headed in Wake of Attacks” on 09/21/2001 by June Fletcher and Danielle Reed regarding the future of real estate –after the attacks. Before the attacks Real Estate sales were the major factor keeping the rest of the economy from plummeting more terribly than it has. The attacks have badly shocked the world real estate market. The residential, commercial, industrial and even the government acquisition of property in the major cities has lagged or stopped almost everywhere. No one knows how long this will last of course.
Since the New York, D. C. Pentagon, and Pennsylvania attacks on the World Trade Center, The Pentagon and the attempts on The White House; we have reason to review many things. General real estate markets world wide have been drastically affected since the war began -- and the war may last a long time. Part if not most of the instant real estate market change was due to the banking industry which was one of the most severely affected of all US business. Many of the offices in New York that were destroyed were central banking centers from around the world. We are beginning to recover from the banking difficulties now. In fact our in-house mortgage broker Prosperity Mortgage which uses Wells Fargo funding is up and running full speed, no problems. We have the lowest residential mortgage rates in 40 years right now. But full technical recovery of the banking industry will take a while.
The real estate market of Washington DC, our feeder community, remains strongest in the nation. According to Case, Shiller and Weiss known as CSW; and claimed by the New York Times to be the leading residential real estate analysts in the world; we are heading deeper into a declining real estate market for this country and others, the exception being Washington D.C. CSW is predicting DC to appreciate and to increase in appreciation more than previously predicted. This prediction, of course, includes the residential areas around Metropolitan Washington D.C. such as Northern Virginia, Maryland and to a lesser degree parts of Delaware and Pennsylvania. The bedrooms for those who run our national capital reach out a hundred miles from the center of town. CSW is not predicting the 20% annual real estate property value increases of the last few years but they are predicting a 4.2 % annual increase for the DC related area now instead of the 3.8 % increase they predicted before the horrors and attacks of 9-11. They are predicting downturns in values elsewhere and deeper downturns than before in all the other major markets.
CSW acknowledges that tourism to DC will be hurt some by the attacks. Personally I know that Crystal City has increased traffic of late by sightseers who have recently come to DC and want to view the destruction of part of the Pentagon. Additionally, room rentals are only slightly hurt in the Washington D. C. area as tourists normally in DC for the fall events have been partially replaced by consultants and visiting dignitaries. Along with the upgraded appreciation predictions for the DC area real estate market CSW has farther downgraded it’s prediction for appreciation rates in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Nashville, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle.
Here are my personal predictions, based on over thirty years of selling property here in the Delaware resort areas. I also maintain an almost daily connection to the goings on of the DC real estate markets. Washington DC will experience an influx of highly paid professionals for the defense and research industries as well as computer security, personal security and warfare related services.
There will also be a terrific increase in any and all Internet related firms that service the staff of our government and government contractors who will fight the new war. Much of this war will be fought with keyboard, mouse and joystick. These new hi-tech workers and the ones already involved will be under increased stress and accepting increased pay over the next few years as we fight a high-tech war against terrorism. These same factors and more will give increased reasons and funds for more people to visit our beach areas. As always some of these visitors will decide to purchase here. The visitors and new buyers bring others with them and more of these visits are business related now.
Washington DC firms and companies that are financially related to these firms will rapidly be adding highly paid staff and subcontractors. This will require a huge increase in every kind of service industry as well as all the hospitality industry relatives. The more highly paid and more highly stressed war related workers will predictably seek vacation time, relaxation time and close by meeting sites in Rehoboth, Dewey, Bethany, Fenwick and Lewes just as they always have. More and more of these highly paid folks will also need to visit us more often, for longer periods, and increasingly throughout the year for myriad reasons. Many of them will move here and begin to work here from phones, fax, laptops and home computers. We are seeing it happen already. We, as a result, will need to have more and more of our resort infrastructure and more of our businesses open, year ‘round. We will need to employ more and better trained people in every area here and they too will need housing and services. We are growing!
We will see an every increasing growth rate for those who telecommute from here at the beach – part or full time. Already I see a large percentage of our prospective customers and buyers that are now or soon will be working from home. Those who spend long weekends here in the beach area with a laptop and cell phone to handle professional responsibilities are an ever increasing group. Kate and I work from home most of the time. Our waterfront neighbor is a mortgage broker and is often on her balcony with her laptop and phones doing business. Kate often does a full day’s work out at the end of our pier. We are home workers and every month more of our customers are as well. Several of our recent purchasers work at home full or part time.
As a result of all these property appreciating factors; I wonder if our Delaware Beach Area and Rehoboth Beach real estate will actually outstrip the appreciation of DC real estate once again.
By www.JodyHudson.com Copyright September 22, 2001
Delaware Corporations Code
20 Feb 2012 | Category: uncategorized | Author: admin
The Delaware Corporations Code is the set of laws that pertain to corporations and business entities registered in the state of Delaware. The important sections of the code are the ones on corporations, commerce and trade, counties, courts and judicial processes, decedents' estates and fiduciary relations, state government, and state taxes.
The corporations section primarily handles issues related to general corporation law, corporation franchise tax, and professional service corporations. The commerce and trade section touches upon the various forms of business incorporation. It gives information on laws pertaining to partnerships, limited partnerships, and liability limited forms of business entities. This section also details the laws regarding secured transactions and uniform commercial code filings, apart from explaining the Delaware Uniform Corporate Nonprofit Association Act.
The counties section gives information that business entities need to know on zoning and other aspects of local and state administration. The courts and judicial processes are an important section that contains three major sub-sections - Chancery Court, service of process, and uniform arbitration act. The decedents' estates and fiduciary relations sections essentially mentions the treatment of statutory trusts, apart from other related matters.
The state government section is divided into the two important offices of the Secretary of State and Department of State. The details here inform of the powers and rights of the respective offices. The last section of state taxes, which also contains a sub-section on corporate income tax, is the one of most interest to businesses. This section explains the terminology used and lists the various sources of taxation that arise during the normal course of doing business in the state of Delaware.
The entire code is available for viewing on the official website of the state of Delaware. This, and other information available on the website, provides information to corporations concerning the various aspects of doing business in Delaware.
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