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M R O
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Machinery & Equipment MRO
April 2021
FIRST VIRTUAL EXPO A SUCCESS MRO teamed up with its sister publication, Design Engineering, to host a virtual expo focusing on maintenance, reliability, manufacturing, design and operations. BY MARIO CYWINSKI
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n year’s past and under normal circumstances, the MRO/ DEX Expo would be welcoming a endees live and in-person. With many exhibitors offering information in their booth as part of the table top show. As that is a no-go this year, we went virtual, and came up with an expo that is as close to an in-person event as possible. The first-ever virtual expo a racted over 400 registrations, over 300 a endees, over 20 exhibitors, and many keynotes and sessions divided into MRO and Design Engineering streams.
Keynotes and sessions The morning keynote was presented by Steve Lo¥us, President and Founding Partner, Innovative Automation, who spoke about “The Collection and Value of Machine Generated Data.” “I would like to say thank you for the opportunity to present
at the MRO/DEX Expo. This was a great opportunity for me to convey my thoughts on the planning and executing of an Industry 4.0 program for factory equipment,” said Lo¥us. “Some of the key points are the true value in proper planning, including not just positives but shortcomings, so proper actions are put in place. We must always do an “honest assessment” prior to the start. Keeping in mind the success of a project will lead you to the next one. These ongoing improvements will result in lower overhead cost and drive the competitive advance into the future. One of the key features, sometimes overlooked, is using your data for everything including inventory control and automatic reordering of consumables.” The first MRO stream session was on “Effective Asset Management Starts with Good Assets” by Leonard Middleton, Consultant, Asset Management Solutions. “There seems to be a vast difference in perspective between
