The 2008 Fall MRC Members’ Meeting was held September 30 – October 1 at the Airport Hilton here in Knoxville, TN. We had a great turnout, with 64 registered attendees representing 39 companies and organizations. Attendees were treated to best practice presentations, round table discussions, and multiple networking and socializing opportunities.

After a brief welcome by the Center’s Director, Tom Byerley, the meeting kicked off Tuesday afternoon with an introduction to our newest MRC member, the RAM Engineering & System Assessment Division from Redstone Arsenal. Tom Erickson, from Redstone, gave a brief overview of the Division’s organizational structure, mission, accomplishments, and goals. Tuesday’s first best practice presentation was given by Tim Holmes, from Dupont. Tim is the Senior Consulting Engineer with Dupont’s Operations Center of Competency in the M&R Systems Group. He talked to the group about the implementation of the Dupont Production System, with an emphasis on their efforts in Maintenance and Reliability. Tim was followed by Al Weber of Ivara, who spoke about Task Analysis, a reliability strategy development methodology that is ideal for the rapid analysis of less critical assets.

The formal portion of the afternoon concluded with a round table discussion entitled, “Seeking Value for MRC Membership”. Al Weber facilitated the session as the group discussed how to increase value to our member companies. The group started by listing the services/products the MRC currently provides that are of greatest value to the member companies, and in-turn noted those items that are of least value to the membership as they stand now. Attendees were also asked to suggest opportunities for the Center to increase value to the members, and they identified what the MRC should expect from the member companies and their representatives. The session ended with the introduction of the newly elected members of the MRC Advisory Board, who will be charged with taking the inputs from the round table discussion and determining what should be changed or implemented.

Attendees were then given an extended break and we reconvened for hospitality time by the pool prior to dinner. Special thanks to Commtest who generously volunteered to sponsor the bar for a portion of the evening. The group then sat down to a wonderful dinner where we were introduced to Dr. Brad Fenwick, the University of Tennessee’s Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement, and to Dr. Wes Hines, the Interim Associate Dean for Research and Technology for UT’s College of Engineering. Both gentlemen welcomed the group and spoke briefly about the opportunity to partner with MRC member companies for research ventures. Dr. Wayne Davis, Interim Dean of Engineering, then spoke to the group about the College of Engineering’s status and activities.

Hines, the Interim Associate Dean for Research and Technology for UT’s College of Engineering. Both gentlemen welcomed the group and spoke briefly about the opportunity to partner with MRC member companies for research ventures. Dr. Wayne Davis, Interim Dean of Engineering, then spoke to the group about the College of Engineering’s status and activities.

On Wednesday morning, Tom Byerley gave the status of programs, including MARCON, the intern program, and Monash. Then Justin Thibault of EPRI spoke about EPRI’s use of vulnerability to optimize maintenance task selection. Attendees also enjoyed a best practice presentation from Paul Casto of Eastman Chemical. Paul outlined how Eastman is using Maintenance and Reliability tools to impact their bottom line. He included several case studies to illustrate the work his organization is doing.

Attendees then had the opportunity to meet two of the professors from the College of Engineering, Dr. Haitao Liao and Dr. Hans DeSmidt and hear about their research interests and how they might pertain to the MRC. The professors were followed by three MRC interns, Mike Saale (Dupont), Nathan Robinson (Fluor), and Eric Watkins (Dupont) that came to share their experiences from this past summer. All three were able to stay for lunch to answer more questions and network with the attendees.

The meeting came to a close with a panel discussion on Maintenance and Reliability Metrics. The panel included: Shon Isenhour (ABB), Scott Buker (Denso), Wayne Long (BE&K), Dwain Coppenger (BWXT Y-12), and Mike Rule (Alcoa). Each panel member shared what their programs tracked or recommended as essential M&R metrics, and then they answered questions from the floor.

We would like to extend a special thank you to Dr. Bob Abernethy, who was on hand to provide perspective from his long, successful career, and who donated copies of “The New Weibull Handbook” as prizes for the best questions asked during each session.

Overall it was a successful meeting, with a great turnout, and we look forward to seeing everyone again in February for our Winter Meeting!