By
Katherine Bonfante, Managing Editor, Digital Media
This year, spring doesn’t start until March 20, and I can’t help but think that, like many other fitness-obsessed individuals, we are not as fit as we wish we could be for the coming swimsuit season. And it’s killing us. Yes, Aunt Margie’s turkey and gravy was delicious, all the holiday sweets and this month’s Valentine chocolates are to die for. However, all that food indulgence results in overhanging bellies and extra fat rolls.
Winter has been cruel to us here in Illinois. If you live in a warmer climate, bad winter conditions haven’t influenced you to dream of spring, but for me the wind-chill factor, the snowstorms and the blizzard warnings have been enough. Spring is all I can think of.
How do machine builders get ready to enjoy spring? You might not be counting calories, hitting the treadmill, cutting down carbs, calling Jenny or ordering your meals from diet companies. You might not care about fitting into that swimsuit, and you will never wonder if your belly is hanging out. For you, spring is about taking it easy, enjoying the sun. Spring vacation might simply be staying home and not doing any work. Yet, if you’re not getting fit for spring, you should be getting your machines fit. After all, if your machines aren’t working properly, you won’t be able to take any time off anyway.
Before you put in the request for those few days of peace and quiet at home or on the sandy beach of your choice, make sure to go around the shop floor to check your machines. Some might not need any work. Others might need tuning or need some parts replaced. You have to perform machine tests before those machines, and you, get to leave. Trust me, you don’t want your customer’s personnel interrupting your vacation because your machines stopped working and you are needed back to remedy it.
Senior Technical Editor Dan Hebert talks about the best test methods for verifying that your machines will work as intended when they’re fabricated in his article, “Will This Machine Work?” Hebert points out that there are tests such as software emulation, hardware simulation, prototyping and beta testing that you should have in place. Read this article and learn how mixing and matching these tests and employing different testing protocols will be beneficial to your plant operations.
Before you leave on vacation, read Executive Editor Jim Montague’s article, “Get a Grip on Machine Performance”. In this article, you’ll learn how machine builders are helping their customers’ dreams take flight while keeping overly inflated expectations under control. The perfect machine, free from maintenance, is still a dream, but machine builders are working hard toward this dream.
If you are like me, stop dreaming of the sun, the wind and the beach. Get it together. Get ready for spring. Get your machines fit.
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