Independent insights for industrial operations and technology.

Principal of Prelical Solutions, LLC and former CEO of Reliability Center, Inc. (RCI), Bob has 38+ years of global experience in Root Cause Analysis (RCA). He’s trained over 10,000 professionals in 25+ countries and co-authored ten books on RCA, FMEA, and Reliability. Bob serves on the Board of the Community of Human and Organizational Learning (CHOLearning), and is Series Editor for CRC Press’s “Reliability, Maintenance, and Safety Engineering” series.

Ricky Smith, CMRP, CMRT is the Vice President of World Class Maintenance and a leading Maintenance Reliability Consultant with over 35 years of experience. He holds certifications such as Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional (CMRP) and Certified Maintenance and Reliability Technician (CMRT). Ricky has worked with global companies like Coca-Cola, Honda, and Georgia Pacific, delivering expert maintenance solutions across 30 countries. His career began in the U.S. Army, advancing to leadership roles, including a position at the Pentagon as Facility Investigator for the Secretary of Defense. Ricky is also the co-author of Rules of Thumb for Maintenance and Reliability Engineers and Lean Maintenance: Reduce Costs, Improve Quality, and Increase Market Share.

Drew Troyer is a seasoned expert with over 30 years of experience in sustainable manufacturing, physical asset management, energy management, and reliability engineering. He has a proven track record of helping companies in the mining, resource, process, and manufacturing industries optimize their operations to be more sustainable, reliable, and profitable. Drew is a thought leader and a prolific author, with over 350 published works and extensive experience as a keynote speaker at global conferences. He is also a Certified Reliability Engineer (CRE) and Certified Energy Manager (CEM), holding advanced degrees in business administration and environmental sustainability.

Sanya Mathura is the Founder, Managing Director, and Senior Consultant at Strategic Reliability Solutions Ltd in Trinidad & Tobago. She has 15+ years of experience in the machinery lubrication world. Sanya specializes in reliability and asset management, and works with global affiliates. Sanya holds a BSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering and an MSc in Engineering Asset Management and is the first ICML-certified Machinery Lubrication Engineer (MLE) in the Caribbean. She was also the first woman globally to earn the ICML Varnish badges (VIM & VPR) and Mobius FL CAT I certification.

Sanya is the only registered MLE by the Board of Engineering Trinidad & Tobago. She serves on the Editorial Board of Precision Lubrication Magazine, is a digital editor for STLE’s TLT Magazine, and is a columnist for Equipment Today. Additionally, she is on the Lubricant Expo North America board and an external steward of UWI's Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Mainstreaming Committee.

She is the author and co-author of six books; Lubrication Degradation Mechanisms, A Complete Guide, Lubrication Degradation – Getting into the Root Causes, Machinery Lubrication Technician (MLT) I & II Certification Exam Guide, Preventing Turbomachinery ‘Cholesterol’ – The Story of Varnish.  She was assigned the Series Editor of the series including Empowering Women in STEM, Empowering Women in STEM – Personal Stories and Career Journeys from Around the World, and Empowering Women in STEM – Working Together to Inspire the Future.

Joel Levitt is a renowned trainer in the maintenance industry, having trained over 20,000 professionals from 3,000 organizations across 42+ countries. Since 1980, he has led Springfield Resources, a management consulting firm specializing in maintenance solutions. With 35 years of experience in various maintenance roles, including process control, field service, and maritime operations, Levitt is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and the author of 10 books and numerous articles on maintenance management. He has also served on several boards and committees and is an active member of AFE.

Susan Lubell P. Eng CFAM CAMA2 MMP is the Principal Consultant at Steppe Consulting Inc, and author of Root Cause Analysis Made Simple – Driving Bottom Line Improvements by Preventing One Failure at a Time. She specializes in asset management and reliability strategy, cost-effective maintenance programs, and operational excellence within 24x7x365 asset-intensive companies. In her industry association roles, Susan currently serves as the Past-Chair of World Partners in Asset Management (WPiAM) and previously served as President of PEMAC Asset Management Association of Canada.

Jeff Parker, CMRP, spent 29 years at Cargill learning what separates plants that run reliably from plants that don't. As Regional Reliability Excellence Leader for Cargill's Agricultural Supply Chain in North America, he led reliability efforts across more than 140 plants, delivering a 22% increase in overall asset health and significant reductions in emergency losses and maintenance spend. He's captured that experience in his book, The Reliable Method: What Separates the Best Plants from the Rest. Jeff's passion is helping industrial organizations get better at asset strategy, maintenance execution and working across functions.

Andrew Gager, CEO of AMG International Consulting, Inc., is an industry-leading expert in manufacturing best practices, maintenance systems, and supply chain optimization, with over 20 years of Operations Leadership experience spanning from shop floor operations to plant management. The last 20+ years working with M&R organizations across industries such as manufacturing, oil & gas, food & beverage, pharma, and transportation, specializing in OpEx, reliability-based solutions and materials management. A Certified Maintenance Reliability Professional (CMRP), Certified in Planning & Inventory Management (CPIM) and Six Sigma Green Belt (CSSGB), Andrew is a sought-after speaker and trainer, known for his dynamic presentation style. He is regularly published in multiple trade periodicals. He holds a BS in Business & Operations Management from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Matthew is a maintenance and reliability professional with over 25 years’ field experience in condition monitoring and reliability engineering. As Director of Reliability Solutions at Uptime Solutions, he designs and implements tailored programs that boost facility reliability and profitability. His expertise spans asset reliability, vibration, ultrasonic and oil analysis, alignment, balancing, and other CM technologies. Matthew holds certifications as a CAT III Vibration Analyst, and CMRP, CMRT, and CRL credentials, with a foundation in electromechanical engineering. He is also passionate about sharing his knowledge through education and public speaking.

Ken Bannister has 40+ years of experience in the lubrication industry. For the past 30, he’s been a Managing Partner and Principal Asset Management Consultant with Engtech Industries Inc., where he has specialized in helping clients implement best-practice asset-management programs worldwide. Ken is currently on the ICML Board of Directors and is a founding member and past director of the Plant Engineering and Maintenance Association of Canada. He has written several books about lubrication, predictive maintenance, and energy reduction strategies.