Greg Geist (left) presents a plaque of appreciation to Brian Schart (right) for hosting the tour of Nucor Steel–Berkeley.

The Reliability Achievement Award – Bronze was presented (left to right): John Accurso, Abhishek Bhansali, Glenn Aker, Mike Horne and Jeff Blankenship.

The CCTC and MRTC met jointly 27–28 February 2024, Charleston, S.C., USA
The two committees met separately and discussed recent safety issues, nominated officers for the next year, and discussed upcoming fall Technology Training Conferences. That afternoon both committees went on a tour of Nucor Steel–Berkeley.
The MRTC presented the Reliability Achievement Award – Bronze to the maintenance team at Nucor Steel–Berkeley for their water reduction project at the degasser. After that award presentation, the CCTC members toured both the sheet caster as well as the beam caster.
The next day, the CCTC and MRTC met together for a series of presentations focused on caster-
related maintenance issues and upgrades including air-oil lubrication, bearing configuration, caster upgrades, and turret bearing change-outs.
 

The MRTC toured Nucor Steel–Berkeley.

The MRTC met 25 September 2023, Greenville, S.C., USA.
The Reliability Achievement Award Audit teams met to discuss the projects that were submitted for nominations and the winners were chosen — see page 78 for the winners!
In the afternoon, the entire committee met and discussed the AISTech 2024 technical sessions, a location for the maintenance specialty conference for 2024, and the location of the next committee meeting. A roundtable discussion was also held.

John Accurso (left) presented the MRTC service plaque to Jeff Kusnier (right).

The MRTC met 8 May 2023, Detroit, MI, USA.
The following officers were elected:

• Chair: John Accurso - Quaker Houghton

• Vice Chair: Rachel Schmidt - Hydro Inc.

• Papers Chair: Mike Allega - TimkenSteel Corp.

• Education Chair: Terry Adams - Cleveland-Cliffs Rockport Works

• Young Professional Chair: Landon Woody - Nucor-Yamato Steel Co.

• Digitalization Liaison: Eric Almquist - Star Tool & Die Works Inc.

The ETC and MRTC toured Mercedes-Benz during their joint meeting (left to right): Shannon Owen, Tom Maher, Peter Petrov, Sequoia Murray, Deke Perkins, Kevin Deliman, Nick Hladek, Jeff McKain, Carl Garringer and Landon Woody.

The MRTC and ETC met 28 February–1 March 2023, Birmingham, Ala., USA.
Both committees participated in discussions about their sessions for AISTech, safety and fatality data, committee awards, and Technology Training Conferences. 
Mike Allega, TimkenSteel Corp., and Vern Martin, Flowcare Engineering, both gave presentations regarding bearings and fans. The next day the two committees went on a tour of the Mercedes-Benz plant in Tuscaloosa, Ala., USA, where they were given an in-depth tour of the all-electric SUV production line.

The MRTC met 16 May 2022, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
The following officers were elected:

• Chair: Jeff Kusnier  /  Titan Bearings – MRSI

• Vice Chair: John Accurso  /  Quaker Houghton

• Papers Chair: Terry Adams  /  Cleveland-Cliffs Rockport Works

• Education Chair: Rachel Schmidt  /  Hydro

• Young Professional Chair: Landon Woody  /  Nucor-Yamato Steel Co.

Ken Flowers (left) presented the MRTC service plaque to Carl Garringer (right) at AISTech 2021.

The MRTC met 29 June 2021, Nashville, TN USA.
The following officers were elected:

• Chair: Carl Garringer, Steel Dynamics Inc. – Structural and Rail Division

• Vice Chair: Jeff Kusnier, Titan Bearings – MRSI

• Papers Chair: Steven Heavyside, EVRAZ Inc. North America

• Education Chair: Bijay Prakash, Cleveland-Cliffs Steel LLC

• Young Professional Chair: Rachel Schmidt, Elwood Corp.

The MRTC and LHTC held a Joint virtual meeting 23 February 2021.
 Carl Garringer, MRTC chair, opened and led the joint meeting. The group reviewed the Steel Industry Fatalities statistics for the year and had a roundtable discussion about safety and travel restrictions within the attendees’ companies.
The AISTech 2021 sessions for both committees were reviewed. The committee officers have all decided to stay on for the 2021–2022 term.
Garringer discussed the AIST Reliability Achievement Award and encouraged attendees to reach out to iron- and steel-producing or processing companies to apply. Award applications are due 30 May 2021.
The committees reviewed plans for their next joint Technology Training Conference, Maintenance Solutions: Fundamentals and New Frontiers, which has been scheduled for 21–23 September 2021 in San Antonio, Texas, USA.
Brad Jensen, LHTC chair, gave a progress update on revisions to the Lubrication Engineers Manual 5th Edition. 
Presentations:

• “Extending Bearing Service Life in Severe Service Operating Conditions,” by Jeff Bernthisel, McNeil Industries.

• “Basics of Roller Bearing Lubrication,” by Mike Allega, The Timken Co.

• “Compressed Air Systems Maintenance and Reliability, “ by Wendy Domino, Universal Compressed Air.

The MRTC held a virtual meeting 7 October 2020.
The MRTC discussed their AISTech 2021 session planning along with digital transformation strategies. 
The Reliability Achievement Award was discussed and the committee would like to actively encourage nominations this year.
Education chair Jeff Kusnier gave an update on the upcoming Maintenance Solutions: Fundamentals and New Frontiers, which will be held in person and in a virtual format in February.
Presentations were given by Mike Clark, Sumitomo Machinery Corp., and Bob Jennings, Hydroaire.

The MRTC held a virtual meeting 6 May 2020.
The MRTC hosted a virtual meeting with 35 participants. First, the committee mission statement and AISTech 2021 Call for Papers were reviewed and approved. The group also discussed the committee’s objectives for the upcoming year.
Jeffrey Kusnier gave an update on the upcoming Maintenance Solutions Specialty Training Conference, which has been postponed until February 2021. A roundtable discussion followed in which attendees discussed how they are handling the COVID-19 pandemic, how their plants are adapting and how they are navigating company travel bans.
The following officers were elected for the 2020–2021 term:

• Chair: Carl E. Garringer, Steel Dynamics Inc. – Structural and Rail Division.

• Vice chair: Jeffrey Kusnier, Titan Bearings – MRSI.

• Papers chair: Steven Heavyside, EVRAZ Portland.

• Education chair: Bijay Prakash, ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor.

The MRTC and LHTC met 24–26 February 2020, Columbus, Miss., USA.
The LHTC met Monday afternoon to discuss the final chapter of the Lubrication Engineers Manual revision. Tuesday morning, MRTC and LHTC members met for a productive joint meeting. The meeting began with a review and discussion of the AIST Steel Industry Fatalities Report. The committees then held a deeper conversation regarding corporate culture as it relates to safety. Each committee finalized their slate of officers for the 2020–2021 term and added a Young Professional chair. The final vote will take place at AISTech 2020.
Updates were given on the upcoming Maintenance Solutions Technology Training Conference and there was discussion focused on if a specialty conference based on the Lubrication Engineers Manual would be held as a stand-alone conference. Wednesday morning, the entire group went to Steel Dynamics Inc. – Flat Roll Group Columbus Division to present the mill with the Gold Reliability Achievement Award. They were greeted by many members of upper management, given a full presentation, toured the project and ended with a fabulous lunch.

MRTC vice chair Carl Garringer presented the team at Steel Dynamics Inc. – Flat Roll Group Columbus Division with the 2020 AIST Gold Reliability Achievement Award (left to right): Madhu Ranade, Garringer, Richard Thomas, Don Bryant and Wade Allen.