MRO Today - Net results

Net results
You have limited Web time during the work day.
Here are tips to make the most of it.

by Joel Levitt

Ah, the Internet. It promises great access to information, communications and computer programs. However, most maintenance people are up to their belt in alligators and have no time to surf the Net.

Even if the company allowed us to go online (many still don't), when would we find time to track down all these alleged goodies?

This article outlines a game plan to minimize your time investment while still providing significant capabilities. If you don't have Internet access, the first step, of course, is to ask, beg, plead, lobby, protest until you get it.

Pull management out of their cave and explain to them that access will help you and your department:
-- locate used machinery
-- locate new sources for parts
-- communicate more efficiently with existing vendors
-- get updates to shop software quickly and cheaply
-- keep up-to-date on industry trends

All these benefits will save you, your department and your company money and time. They'll also make you a more knowledgeable maintenance professional.

When getting approval, make sure you get fast access through a dedicated server -- an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) or Digital Subscriber Line (DSL). Businesses shouldn't settle for a dial-up, modem connection. It's too slow and wastes valuable time.

If you're new to the Internet and want to hit the ground running, take a World Wide Web course at your local technology college. Many U.S. libraries also offer short orientation classes.

With that settled, the first assignment for any Internet user is to create a list of what you want to accomplish with this tool. Newbies, and even semi-experienced surfers, may find this hard to do. We'll touch on this later.

Bookmark this page!
Nearly all computer-connected maintenance pros use their computer to send and receive e-mail. But the best of the best use the Net in much different ways. The exercises that follow will give you some ideas to enhance that precious Web time.

For most of these exercises, you will use your browser's "Favorites" or "Bookmarks" function. Learn enough about that function to be able to organize the listings, and add and rearrange folders. A friend, or information technology guru, would be happy to show you this.

One quick tip is that the bookmark will read whatever the Web programmer called the page (like CS12-Type 4, or whatever). When adding a page to your bookmarks or favorites, you have the opportunity to change that name. Choose a name that means something to you. Now, let's get into our projects.

Set up a short time every day (if possible) to work on them. Thirty minutes is ideal, even 15 minutes is fine. Set a timer and stop when your allotted time is up.

After two weeks, you'll have a sense of what is available to you from your vendors. You might also have a different understanding of how you can utilize the Internet.

This project can be ongoing and you can interweave the second project on alternate days.

Project 1: Equipment
Here's the two-part battle plan.

Bookmark your vendors' Web sites. Try to do one vendor per period (day). Find the Web addresses from their literature or use a search engine. Snoop around the site and pinpoint any useful resources. Look for Web-based equipment training, recall announcements, product promotions, discounts on wear items/consumables, etc. Also seek out technical data, such as drawings, manuals and photos.

After doing this, create an electronic folder for the vendor and drop in the found resources. If you hit a mother lode, make a subfolder (such as training) and put the addresses in the subfolder.

Create a standard set of folders for all vendors of that type. Also, be sure to add any e-mail addresses to your address book.

Pick a search engine you like: After deciding between engines like Yahoo, Alta Vista, Google, Dogpile, etc., take the machine manual of your most critical piece of equipment and enter the model number in the search box. Investigate the returned hit list for useful sites. You may find used equipment dealers with that equipment, parts sources and additional manuals hidden in the manufacturer's site (ones you couldn't find going in from the home page).

File the bookmark by machine in the vendor folder you created. Another strategy is to create folders for the class or category of equipment, such as milling machines, cold headers, etc. Bookmark the used machinery dealers into the appropriate categories. Of course, you can file the same site into several folders.

Follow the same steps for subsequent pieces of machinery.

Project 2: Industry
Every industry has its space on the Internet. Some industries (like software) have so much space, it would take you many years to review what's out there. Other industries have a more modest presence. The key is finding the supersites for your industry.

Supersites have hundreds of links in one industry or area. You can spend a session reading articles, visiting advertisers and following links to trade associations, authors, distributors and more. From these supersites, you can find almost anything you want to know about an industry.

To find such supersites, start with trade journals you read. (The MRO Today supersite is, of course, www.mrotoday.com).

Also, look to trade associations. Many pack their site with useful
information and links.

The hard way to find a supersite is by entering your industry into a search engine. You're forced to do plenty of looking and legwork.

As you find useful sites, bookmark them. Someday, you might want to create a private supersite so others don't have to. In the maintenance field, visit www.maintrainer.com and push the resources button.

Conclusion
Working a few minutes a day on these projects will propel you into the forefront of companies that use the Internet. You might never finish the two assigned projects. But in a month, by investigating the Internet in a structured way, you'll have a valuable resource and a conviction about the importance of a small ongoing Net investment.

Joel Levitt is the president of Springfield Resources, a maintenance management training and consulting company. E-mail him at jdl@maintrainer.com.

This article appeared in the October/November 2000 issue of MRO Today magazine. Copyright 2000.