Richard Bierman, Vibration Analyst,
Chevron Phillips.
With his invaluable knowledge and impressive work experience in the industry, Richard will be a huge asset when putting together an informative conference program. Here he discusses his involvement with the conference and what this event will offer to attendees.
Q: What is the importance of being involved in a Conference like Pump Summit Americas?
The industrial market is flooded with a tremendous amount of solutions for every issue imaginable, provided by an even greater number of suppliers. Most facilities resist any new non-proven technology for the sake of safety and budget concerns. Networking with other professionals at conferences such as the Pump Summit Americas helps individuals learn first hand what works for specific situations. It also provides personal non-biased insight on specific issues from front end users that you can’t get from an article or supplier that may not work in the same environment that their products are used. Getting very specific answers from actual users and product specialists empowers attendees with the information needed to make critical decisions when they return to their workplace.
Q: Can you speak to the success of our initial Steering Committee meeting?
The committee is a diverse team of professionals from different types of manufacturing. Everyone on the team works well together to ensure that the conference does not focus on one specific craft, field, or process, and to ensure that everyone who attends will gain useful information that pertains to the industry in general. Such range will also provide enough individuals to speak about specific subjects on a more granular level and help with more detailed questions when they arise.
Q: What topics are you particularly interested in bringing to the table and how do they serve the industry?
My focus is on preventative and predictive maintenance. I truly believe that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. With many Predictive Maintenance Programs, customers will spend a tremendous amount of time and effort on prevention, and have no way of monitoring its success. My approach on vibration analysis and lubrication preventative maintenance (PM) is that of a minimalist one. When these practices are executed properly and effectively, a facility can easily reduce its spend, manpower and efforts and yield much better measurable results. The trend-based narrowband envelope alarming for vibration analysis will reduce the amount of effort by 80% and yield 6 times better results versus what’s typically seen in the industry. Likewise, ridding a facility of routine oil changes can eliminate its entire lubrication PM backlog in 1 day by doing much less than what is typically done in the industry.
Q: What presentations/role will you be delivering at the Conference?
I will be presenting “Adapting Lubrication Practices” in the Maintenance, Service & Repair workshop, and also “Trend Based Narrow-Band Envelope Alarming Method for Vibration Analysis” in the Reliability Best Practices workshop.
Q: What is the importance of bringing young professionals into these types of Conferences?
Young professionals are more focused on long term solutions compared to team members that will soon retire, be promoted, relocate or have completed their career development. This type of conference allows this group to learn new ideas and hone their understanding with seasoned specialists, outside of their workgroup, thus, widening their perspective. This is critical to the implementation of a successful project, as well as for the development of the individual’s career.
Q: What kind of networking opportunities do you foresee arising from the Conference?
Conferences such as the Pump Summit Americas draw a combination of individuals who want to learn and those who want to share. Professional relationships are quickly developed, and often not everything can be addressed during the short duration of the conference. Hence, the networking between colleagues frequently extends beyond the conference itself, and sometimes lifetime partnerships are developed.
To learn more about Pump Summit Americas please visit www.pumpsummitamericas.com