The 2015 OpEx Maintenance and Reliability Workshop at PaperCon 2015 on April 21 in Atlanta, Ga., USA, will be split into two halves. Last week’s issue of Over the Wire included a look at the information-packed first half of this year’s program, which focuses extensively on maintenance excellence. Below is a summary look at the second half of the 2015 program, which examines maintenance strategies and operations from the perspective of break downs and improving reliability of critical components such as pumps and motors. It also includes three special "technology sessions."

Following lunch and networking in the PaperCon exhibit area, Tor Idhammer of IDCON and Tim Dunton of Reliability Solutions LLC explore root cause problem elimination—the process and forensics of break downs. Jay Stallings then takes an inside look at a preferred partner program, followed by Bill Boyd of SKF, who makes a deep analysis of maintenance strategies for motors, pumps, and fans.

Completing the afternoon lineup of presentations, three experts explore the interplay of technology and the reliability function. Patrick Parvin of SPM Instruments, N.A., first explores pulp and paper case studies involving applications of low RPM bearing monitoring reliable down to 1 RPM. Tim DUnton of Reliability Solutions LLC discusses precision maintenance craft skills training, and Greg VanHabdel of Valmet completes the afternoon program with a report on "Roll Maintenance and Modernization: A Methodology for Optimizing Roll Run Times and Performance."

More information about this year’s OpEx program at PaperCon and how to register for this practical, mill-based workshop is available online.