What If You Don't Train Them and They Stay? New MPACT Schedule Includes Four Special Classes Our web site now contains all the classes we have scheduled through the end of February, including four special classes back by popular demand early next year, and two that we schedule infrequently. Register online at MPACTLearning.com Maintenance Management, February 21 – 24 The MPACT Learning Center is pleased to announce a Maintenance Management class, taught by MPACT® President Pete Little. Learn how to double the productivity of the typical maintenance department while cutting downtime on critical equipment in half. The topics covered in this course include: evaluating maintenance organizational options; operating a work order system; determining realistic priorities; properly utilizing critical work order codes; planning jobs and controlling materials; using the work order backlog to determine manpower requirements; dispatching and supervising maintenance technicians effectively; using the weekly schedule to drive toward better performance; establishing practical preventive and predictive maintenance programs; understanding the importance of ownership; and taking advantage of downtime. This course is appropriate for plant engineers, maintenance managers, maintenance engineers, supervisors, planners, and maintenance clerks, as well as production management personnel. The class starts at 10:00 AM on the first day and 8:30 the remaining days. $1,075 Systematic Troubleshooting, January 24 – 26 Students learn this important process and can apply it as soon as they return to their facility, reducing the time required to solve problems, thereby reducing downtime. The course will pay for itself in a matter of weeks. This unique course gives individuals the skills to solve problems consistently and effectively, and to do so far faster than the “shotgun” approach. The course focuses on case studies to give students multiple opportunities to hone their skills. A recent student said, “Very good information on how to structure thinking when tackling ‘sticky’ problems. Knowing how to ask questions and exactly what questions to ask is very helpful.” Bob Rowley, Loxcreen, Roxboro, NC The class starts at 10:00 AM on the first day and 8:30 the remaining days. $950 Attend Systematic Troubleshooting and stay an extra day for: NASCAR Racing and World Class Maintenance, January 27 MPACT is pleased to announce that Robert Williamson, of Strategic Work Systems, Inc., will again present his course entitled "NASCAR Racing: A Model for Equipment Reliability & Teamwork" on January 27, 2006, 8:30 – 5:00. Look behind the scene in NASCAR racing to find the secrets of equipment reliability and teamwork. NASCAR’s world-class stock car racing business, the Nextel/Winston Cup series, provides an easy to understand model for world-class manufacturing, equipment maintenance and reliability. Every competitor in this business has access to the same technology. They all have to follow the same rules. What makes the difference between the champions and the winners in their business? How do the teams insure the highest levels of equipment reliability? How does equipment reliability translate into income? These questions and more will be answered in ways that focus the equipment “problem elimination” practices of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) on real, tangible, measurable results both in NASCAR racing and world-class maintenance and reliability. Participants will examine actual case examples and learn how to apply the “six key principles for improving equipment performance and reliability” in their facilities. Applied “visual systems” will be explored as ways to make equipment easier to operate, easier to maintain, and easier to inspect. About Robert Williamson: Bob spent nearly 10 years studying the relationship of NASCAR Winston Cup racing to improvements in manufacturing and maintenance. In 1996, he directed and co-produced DuPont’s highly acclaimed “Uptime Excellence in Action” video program in English, Spanish, and Portuguese for worldwide distribution in DuPont. He has been teaching and consulting on the people-side of TPM for well over 10 years, most recently incorporating the NASCAR themes for improving equipment effectiveness. His 30 years in manufacturing and maintenance training and work culture design gives him a keen insight to the solutions of today’s challenges of equipment reliability. Who Would Benefit: Plant managers, plant/facilities engineers, maintenance managers and supervisors, production managers and supervisors, production operators and maintenance technicians, training staff, manufacturing and maintenance improvement leaders. $350 Centrifugal And Rotary Pumps: Theory, Applications, and Hands-On, February 16 and 17, from 8:00 – 4:00 The MPACT Learning Center is privileged to have Dr. Lev Nelik, P.E., APICS (AKA Dr. Pump) teach his two-day pump class at our facility. This 2-day action-oriented course is prepared for maintenance personnel, engineers, equipment reliability leaders, plant operators, purchasing and facility management who are involved with pumps, and want to get a better understanding of pump designs, application-related differences between the pump types, as well as obtain a practical and unique hands-on reassembly experience to supplement the theory. At the end of this course participants will: Be familiar with different pump classes and types Be able to operate pumps as close as possible to the design efficiency Be able to monitor pump efficiency, availability and reliability Have learnt about selection, operation and maintenance strategies Be able to evaluate and implement energy savings and determine best operating zones Be able to troubleshoot pump problems The course will introduce participants to the different types of pumps and their associated terminology. Centrifugal and Positive-Displacement pumps, packing, mechanical seals and sealing systems, bearings and couplings will all be discussed. The application of the different types of pumps will be discussed along with their suitability for different operational duties. Pump operation, troubleshooting and maintenance will be dealt with in depth. Pump to motor alignment, effect of piping loads and energy savings through efficiency improvement and identification of the regime of operation to avoid problems present practical and immediate opportunities for implementation at the plant level. Actual testing of live pumps is conducted by the attendees in class, and the obtained performance curves are plotted. In additional to theory and hands-on reassembly work, the participants will be testing pumps, obtain and plot H-Q curves using a single centrifugal seal-less mag-drive pump, and then two pumps operating in parallel. The attendees should have some basic knowledge of machinery, such as pumps, or mixers, motors, turbines, etc. Dress casual, prepare to work with tools, although no heavy lifting. Bring a calculator. Dr. Nelik has 30 years experience with pumps and pumping equipment. He is a Registered Professional Engineer (NJ, GE03076200), who has published over fifty documents on pumps and related equipment worldwide, including a "Pumps" section for the Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology (John Wiley), a section for the Handbook of Fluids Dynamics (CRC Press), and a book "Centrifugal and Rotary Pumps: Fundamentals with Applications", by the CRC Press. $800 Advanced registration is required. You can register on-line at our web site. ===== TWO ADDITIONAL INFREQUENT CLASSES ===== Sheet Metal Layout, January 2 – 6 The class starts at 10:00 AM on the first day and 8:00 the remaining days. Very practical, hands-on course – and all the students learn how to do it! $950 PC's for Maintenance Mechanics, January 17 – 19 The class starts at 10:00 AM on the first day and 8:00 the remaining days. Sure, most people have a PC at home now. But not everyone knows how to do the basic Windows tasks. This course is designed with technicians, not white collar workers, in mind. $600 Approved Sponsor of Continuing Professional Competency credits for Professional Engineers and Registered Land Surveyors licensed by the State of North Carolina, and Provider of Related Instruction that meets the Approved Apprenticeship Program requirements of the North Carolina Department of Labor. MPACT Learning Center, LLC  The MPACT Advantage