Repair or replace?

August 15, 2024

Repair or replace?

Sometimes capital project engineers are called to repair an exisiting asset. You know, that 10" elbow in the pulp mill that has three patches on it already?

When do you throw in the towel and replace it? It is a judgement call, but to me it is when the cost of the labor to repair exceeds the cost of the new item.

Don't forget in the cost calculation the cost of downtime and the cost of product being lost.

Many items are repaired that should be replaced. This is due to the bias in your accounting system, which is rewarding you for repairing in the short term vs. taking a long term view.

What is your opinion? Drop me a line at jim.thompson@ipulpmedia.com. I would like to hear from you.

And further by the way, I come to mills and talk to various departments about many subjects. To arrange my custom visit to your mill, just email me at jim.thompson@ipulpmedia.com or call me at 678-206-6010.

Young Engineering Manager of the Year, call for nominations

We are looking for an individual who has done an extraordinary project, one that almost defies belief. Its extraordinary features can be schedule, technology, cost or all three. There is an age limit on the manager eligible for this award: they must be under 35 years old when they completed the project.

We have often gotten nominees that go something like this, "I nominate Joe because he has done a great job of running our engineering department for the last fifteen years." Quite frankly, we are not interested in such nominees.

However, if you know someone who has led a very exceptional project in the recent past (the last two or three years) and meets our age requirement, we want to know about it. We want to honor them and hold them up as an example for Engineering Managers in every pulp and paper mill around the world.

Just send your nomination, with as much details as you can provide, to jim.thompson@ipulpmedia.com. We will seriously consider it.

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Please write when we tickle your brain cells! Email jthompson@taii.com