What does it take to keep more than 280 manufacturing assets running with a small maintenance team?
In this episode of Maintenance Manufacturing Insights, Martin Engster talks with Trevor Kennedy, Plant Manager for Parker Hannifin's HELAC hydraulic actuator operation.
Trevor shares what maintenance looks like inside a busy manufacturing plant producing hydraulic actuators for mining, agriculture, and industrial applications.
The conversation explores Trevor's team's transition toward predictive maintenance. Along with regular preventive maintenance, the team is learning from equipment failures and adding its own inspection points to help identify problems before they become major issues.
Trevor also discusses one of the realities every maintenance team faces: downtime.
When critical equipment goes down, fixing the machine is only part of the challenge. Maintenance leaders must decide whether to repair equipment internally, bring in an OEM or outside specialist, find replacement parts, manage costs, and keep production moving at the same time.
One strategy Trevor's team uses is keeping certain critical replacement components available. For some equipment, having a replacement spindle or other important component ready can help reduce the time production is affected by a failure.
Martin and Trevor also discuss the people behind maintenance. Trevor's operation has more than 280 assets and a maintenance group of seven people, or eight including the manager. When several critical machines need attention at once, manpower can quickly become one of the biggest challenges.
The conversation also shows why modern maintenance is about much more than turning wrenches. Maintenance and plant leaders may be involved in troubleshooting, vendor sourcing, contract and invoice reviews, budgeting, logistics, outsourcing decisions, and operations strategy—all while working against the clock.
Trevor also shares a little about life outside the plant, including his love of sports and live music, playing acoustic guitar, and pursuing his MBA.
If you work in manufacturing, maintenance, operations, or plant leadership, this conversation offers a practical look at what it really takes to keep production moving.
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