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When to Upgrade an Industrial Switchboard: A Guide for Plant Managers
Eight signs an industrial switchboard needs upgrading, what AS/NZS 61439 changed, repair versus retrofit versus replace and how to plan the outage.
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Machine Guarding Compliance for Australian Manufacturers: A Practical Guide
Machine guarding compliance in Australia: the guard types the regulation prefers, the AS/NZS 4024 parts that matter and what modifying a machine means.
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Variable Speed Drives in Food and Beverage Plants: Where They Pay and Where They Bite
Where variable speed drives save energy in food and beverage plants, where they do not, and the harmonics, bearing and cable problems to plan for.
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PLC Obsolescence: Planning a Migration Before the Platform Forces You
Siemens S7-300 and Allen-Bradley SLC 500 are now legacy platforms. How to inventory, rank and plan a PLC migration before a failure forces one.
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Labour Hire Licensing in Queensland: What Host Employers Need to Check
Queensland hosts face the same penalty as unlicensed labour hire providers. How to check a licence, avoid the register traps and record it properly.
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Arc Flash in Food and Beverage Plants: What Queensland Manufacturers Need to Know
Arc flash explained for food and beverage plants: causes, the current AS/NZS 4836:2023 standard, Queensland live work rules and how to cut the risk.
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Power Factor Correction: Cutting Demand Charges in a Queensland Plant
How power factor correction cuts kVA demand charges in Queensland plants, with a worked example, the Energex tariff windows and the harmonics trap.
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Risk Matrix Explained: How to Use One for Plant and Machinery
What a risk matrix is, how to score likelihood and consequence, where it fits in Queensland’s code of practice and why machinery needs more.
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Root Cause Analysis: Using the 5 Whys and Fishbone Diagram on a Line Stoppage
Root cause analysis for production plants: how the 5 Whys and the fishbone diagram work, a worked filling line example and how to make fixes stick.
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SWMS in a Factory: When a Safe Work Method Statement Is Actually Required
When does a factory need a SWMS? What Queensland law requires, the high risk construction work that arises in plants and what to use otherwise.
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Pareto Charts for Downtime: Finding the Few Causes That Cost the Most
How to build and read a Pareto chart for production downtime, with a worked canning line example and the six mistakes that make the chart mislead.
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RPEQ Explained: When Queensland Plant Work Needs a Registered Engineer
What an RPEQ is, when Queensland law requires a registered engineer, how that applies to manufacturing plants and six questions to ask suppliers.
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Total Productive Maintenance: A Plant Manager’s Guide to TPM
Total productive maintenance explained: the six big losses, the eight pillars, autonomous maintenance and how to start TPM on one line without it fading.
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Confined Spaces in Food and Beverage Plants: Tanks, Silos and the Rules for Entry
Confined spaces in food and beverage plants: the Queensland definition, carbon dioxide and CIP hazards, entry permits, rescue and designing entry out.
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CMMS Explained: Does Your Plant Need Maintenance Management Software?
What a CMMS does, seven signs your plant needs one, why implementations disappoint, how to choose a system and the maintenance measures worth watching.
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Lockout Tagout in Australian Plants: Isolation Procedures That Protect People
Lockout tagout explained for Australian plants: the steps of an isolation, energy sources people miss, locks and tags, and where procedures fail.
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MTBF and MTTR Explained: How Often Equipment Fails and How Fast You Recover
MTBF and MTTR explained with a worked example: how to calculate each, how they combine into availability and which one your plant should improve.
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Industrial Electrician: What They Do and How to Engage One for Your Plant
What an industrial electrician does in a manufacturing plant, five ways to engage one, the licence checks to make and what to expect at handover.
