Electrical Tape Tricks

Now that you've learned the importance of having more colors of tape than you thought necessary, it's time to learn some a few like tricks.

Why you need colored electrical tape

Colored Tape is Your Friend

We all have a need for electrical tape. You likely have a roll in your bag, pouch, box or with a majority of your tools back in the shop. But what color is it? Most will answer black unless, of course, they have been an electrician. Some people may have never seen the variety of colors, or may even question the usefulness of such colors.

The Danger of Oily Rags

Don't Throw Them in the Garbage!

You could burn down your shop or your yacht! Though I doubt anyone with a yacht has a need to read about rags. The key take away, that oil and chemical-soaked rags are surprisingly dangerous. The yacht in that story was burned down from simple linseed oil. Yes, the same kind you use on your weekend woodworking projects.

Why You Need to Carry a Reflector

Photoelectric Sensor or Photo Eyes

They are all over almost every machine you will work on in an industrial setting. You will find hundreds to thousands of them on most types of material handling equipment. Think of your shipping sorters and conveyors.

Stop Pencil Whipping PMs

Your lies screw up metrics

Close all work orders by the end of the shift! We've all heard this line. Managers always talk about metrics and how we need every PM completed no matter what. In theory, it makes sense. We need to complete these jobs to keep the equipment running as efficiently as possible. If the work is done, great no problem. When we complete work orders for the sake of completion, problems start to arise.

How to Justify Money on PMs

It's Costs More to Not Spend Money

Maintenance departments are often the first to have their budgets slashed or be denied approval for increased funding. This is often on account of the people in charge of finances up the chain of command being quite unaware of how much money is actually being saved by a properly maintained facility. The term no news is good news is very true when it comes to maintaining your facility.

Why you need low-tech

Your phone isn't enough

Having a phone is obviously a great tool to keep on you during the workday. Being able to send and receive pictures, documents and important messages will always be beneficial. That said it is still limited. Phones have certainly come a long way. The variety of apps and software that can make your life easier is unquestionable. Of course, you can take notes on your phone, you can even draw diagrams with a stylus, and you can share these all with the touch of a button. But what about when you can't?