William Santos is the International Sales Manager at ABI Electronics – Manufacturer of Test, Repair & Reverse Engineering Equipment. He had the opportunity to share the mission of “Repair, Don’t Waste” with Interesting Engineering. “Repair, Don’t Waste” is a movement fighting to reduce e-waste and encourage the repair of industrial electronics. Santos explains why time is up for the break-and-replace mentality, and how the world needs to change to usher in a new era of sustainability in industry.

The modern world runs on electronic systems that are designed to last many years. The problem is that, over time, the components that make up these circuit boards get tired and die. A technician or engineer armed with the right diagnostic tools and training could diagnose the issue, replace the broken down and generally inexpensive components and save other components in the device from being dumped along with the circuit board. So, why do so many circuit cards, and sometimes entire pieces of equipment, continue to be thrown away?

Never has there been a greater responsibility for every business to maximise its efforts to drive to net zero. Correct machine maintenance coupled with Lean processes (once just the domain of operations) is now proving to be a force multiplier across maintenance and engineering in the drive to net zero. 

As a part of a reliability improvement programme, many process industries assign the losses resulting from each downtime or lost production event to the department “responsible” – usually operations, mechanical or electrical (and perhaps others). Frequently this allocation is based on someone’s perception of who is to blame, which can have significant negative effects.

Supervisors make things happen on the shop floor and are the primary salesperson for new changes that will affect the front-line workers. Effective shop floor management is essential to the success of any corporation. Communication makes shop floor management effective and fluid. If all of the levels communicate on a normal basis changes will happen more efficiently and effectively. The main point to remember is that the supervisor is the first line in the training of tomorrow’s shop floor leaders.

We know that we need the support of operations in order to reach top-notch reliability in our plants. But does your operations manager know exactly what your expectations are? Have you identified, communicated and agreed upon exactly what you need operations to do? This exact question came up at a plant in Chile.

Few areas of a plant provide as much opportunity for the spread of bacteria, mold, fungi, and dust as the floor. Hazardous materials from a contaminated floor can easily be spread from worker’s shoes and mobile equipment. Food processing plant hygiene presents a unique set of challenges that require careful consideration of floor properties and installation.

Picture this. Personnel from a plant are driving along a road in an automobile. The maintenance manager is driving blindfolded. Sitting beside the maintenance manager is the mill manager who is peering in the rear view mirror. In the back seat, the production manager is urging the maintenance manager to proceed at top speed while simultaneously warning him about a flat tire.