In the 3th Edition of his “Physical Management Asset Handbook” John Mitchell has managed to provide an almost perfect synthesis of the comprehensive, fully integrated strategies, processes, and cultures that must be considered and implemented by companies striving to excel. Using input from the most successful practitioners of reliability-focused maintenance, Mitchell’s latest version of the handbook gives no-nonsense guidance and direction to companies that wish to gain greatest lifetime effectiveness, value, profitability and return from production and manufacturing equipment assets.

 

There is more to reliability engineering than meets the eye and the 3rd Edition of John Mitchell’s groundbreaking text explains this fact to the widest possible spectrum of interested parties. The author quickly guides his readers through introductory and overview topics to current practices, financial results and performance measurements, to the actual management processes that have allowed intelligent practitioners to overtake their competitors. I particularly enjoyed reading Bob Motylenski’s highly relevant contribution on structured reliability and maintainability work processes. Bob gives stunningly important financial justifications that have prompted superior companies to perform this type of front-end engineering.

 

This large format 281-page book uses readable language to divulge and examine industry best practices, results, issues, challenges, and lessons learned. It amply provides applicable, highly useful information on, among other things, condition assessment technology, equipment defect recognition and identification, motor condition monitoring and electrical testing procedures, fluid analysis, and decision support approaches. Before concluding with highly relevant appendices that include a glossary, handbook references, listings of useful books, periodicals, organizations and specifications, this remarkable textbook gives a glimpse of the future: open systems, smart sensors---the future is already here for the daring innovators. Indeed, the future is tantalizingly close to companies that use sound reasoning and take the time to carefully examine what we perceive to be one of the very finest, relevant and readable texts on the one subject that clearly separates industry leaders from the pack: understanding and optimizing physical asset management.

 

No reliability professional should give asset management advice or make business decisions without first consulting it. I promised myself to keep this book on my desk.