A ‘Doctor’s Call’ From Predictive Maintenance

Apprentices get training on how to diagnose their mechanized patients

Photo: Rebecca Cook

Joe Ennis left, and Steve Long observe as Dan Dunbar, Jim Bryant and Robert McAlister practice with their diagnostic tools.

A doctor can predict, based on sound medical science, that if a patient doesn’t lose weight, change poor eating habits and get some exercise, he or she likely will have a heart attack.

The doctor analyzes blood, does an electrocardiogram and other high-tech tests, then determines with a degree of medical certainty that the patient is headed for serious trouble if he or she doesn’t take action.

John Mosko and other members of the UAW-GM Delphi Quality Network Planned Maintenance Team (QNPMT) are helping 1,400 apprentices perform similar examinations on the machines they service. They want the apprentices to use their high-tech diagnostic tools like doctors use X-rays, ultrasound and lasers to see signs of trouble before a machine fails and costs hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost production — or worse, costs a life.

It’s called predictive maintenance, and Mosko, a toolmaker from Local 735 in Canton, Mich., and fellow trainers Don Cox, a pipefitter from Local 653 in Pontiac, Mich.; Steve Long, an electrician from Local 594 in Pontiac, and Joe Ennis, HVAC from Local 160, in Warren, Mich., teach the apprentices to see problems well in advance.

“The technology gives you an early-warning system for failure,” Mosko said.

Predictive maintenance is different from preventive maintenance.

In preventive maintenance, equipment is generally serviced according to a set schedule, usually provided by the manufacturer, Mosko said. And while that might work fine for a car owner who changes oil every 3,000 miles, preventive maintenance doesn’t always suit industry.

“A vendor’s estimations might not be correct based on usage,” Mosko said. “We can, in fact, extend oil life and fluid life.”

But the point is not to save money on oil and filters so much as it is to get the most out of the machinery, with safety being paramount, he said.

The apprentice training program was pushed by UAW Vice President Richard Shoemaker, with the assistance of the Skilled Trades Department, in the 1999 UAW-GM negotiations. They convinced General Motors that the program is a sound business decision.

The training consists of 24 hours of classroom instruction and 80 hours of on-the-floor training in vibration analysis, infrared technologies and laser alignment for all approved UAW-GM Apprentice Training Schedules, with the exception of the design and engineering classifications.

“They kind of get a look inside all the latest and greatest technologies,” Mosko said. “It’s the first time many of them have seen them.”

Mosko compares vibration analysis to a doctor’s electrocardiogram. It even looks similar. By taking a reading and knowing what the level of vibration means, an apprentice can schedule the machine for maintenance or even immediate shutdown.

“When something is starting to go, usually the vibration in the machine increases,” he said.

Apprentices can use tribology, which includes oil analysis, to see why a machine may be performing poorly.

“That’s kind of like taking a blood test,” he added. “By taking an oil sample, we can tell what’s going on inside the machine.”

Apprentices are trained to use infrared thermography to determine where electrical problems might be.

“Anything hot sticks right out,” Mosko said. “It’s a fantastic tool.”

QNPMT trainers conduct the initial three days of classroom instruction in-plant, at UAW regional offices or at UAW Center for Human Resources locations around the country. Those who train apprentices at their plants are also being trained to conduct future sessions.

“They will take it over,” Mosko said. “It will become an in-house activity. These are the folks who are going to carry the baton the next time around.”

The QNPMT began training apprentices in mid-2001. So far the team is training two regions at a time. They have finished with regions 1D and 1C and will finish Region 3 by June before moving on to the remaining regions, all of which are expected to receive the training before the contract ends next year.

“We take evaluations every week,” Mosko said. “It’s been very positive.”