Renowned leadership and reliability experts to headline SMRP annual conference

The 22nd annual conference is expected to bring over 1,000 maintenance and reliability professionals.

By SMRP August 20, 2014

The Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals (SMRP) announces that leadership expert and best-selling author Chester Elton plus reliability expert Heinz Bloch will be the opening and closing keynote speakers at the 2014 SMRP Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla., October 20-23.

Kicking off the conference, Elton will speak on how managers can engage, enable and energize their team to create a productive, efficient and vibrant work culture. The co-author of several successful leadership books including All In, The Carrot Principle and The Orange Revolution, his work has been called a "must read for modern managers."

"Elton is an excellent choice in speakers for the reliability engineers, plant managers, maintenance technicians and other practitioners who will attend the conference," said SMRP Chair Nick Roberts, CMRP, with Dupont. "The maintenance and reliability industry is devoted to creating a more productive workplace with less downtime and energized employees are essential to this goal."

Heinz Bloch, who has over 20 years of experience as a machinery specialist for Exxon and has been granted seven patents dealing with high speed machinery improvements, will provide attendees with machinery-related reliability enhancements with calculated and proven paybacks. These enhancements include aspects of mechanical seal optimization, rolling element bearing selection, lube life extension, advanced lubricant application, energy conservation and cost-effective means to reduce valve failures in reciprocating compressors.

"With Mr. Bloch’s years of experience as a machinery specialist, author, speaker and consultant, attendees will gain an insider’s guide into practical machinery management and improvements," added Roberts.

With 54 track sessions and 22 workshops on business & management, manufacturing process reliability, equipment reliability, organization & leadership and work management, the SMRP 2014 Annual Conference is expected to bring over 1,000 practitioners in over 30 industries including oil & gas, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, machinery, mining, airlines and manufacturing.

Each year, track leaders cover the latest trends and practices designed to improve maintenance and reliability operations. This year, the conference will also feature a special track session on physical asset management and preparing for the new asset management standard – ISO 55000.

"Physical asset management is a very timely topic in our profession and it’s one we’re looking forward to tackling," said Conference Chair Carl Schultz, CMRP with Advanced Technology Solutions.

The SMRP Annual Conference will also feature facility tours of SeaWorld, Orlando International Airport, Regal Boats, Kennedy Space Center, and Walt Disney World. For more information, visit www.smrp.org/annualconference.

The Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals (SMRP) is a not-for-profit professional society formed by practitioners to serve leaders and advance Reliability and Physical Asset Management. SMRP provides value for individual practitioners and companies who practice and sustain Maintenance and Reliability (M&R) best practices. With 4,000 members worldwide, the SMRP community is dedicated to provide a vast array of benefits, including international affiliations, domestic public and private partnerships, educational opportunities, M&R Body of Knowledge resources, ANSI-accredited certifications, special interest groups, and many local and global networking events. For more information on SMRP, please visit www.smrp.org.