Schedule
4–6 November 2025 • Plaza San Antonio Hotel & Spa, Autograph Collection • San Antonio TX, USA
Tuesday 4 November 2025 | |
| 8 a.m. | Welcome, Introduction and Conference Overview Terry Adams, Cleveland-Cliffs Rockport Works |
| 8:10 a.m. | Ice Breaker |
| 8:45 a.m. | Keynote Presentation Barclay Simmons, The Timken Co. |
| 9:30 a.m. | Break |
| 9:45 a.m. | Fall Hazard Awareness and Control: Identifying Risks and Preventing Accidents Steve Ungphakorn, LJB Engineering Fall hazards are one of the leading causes of workplace injuries and fatalities, making proper identification and control essential for safety. This presentation will cover the key aspects of fall hazards, including common risks such as unprotected edges, unstable surfaces and improper use of fall protection equipment. This presentation will explore how to systematically identify these hazards and assess their severity. Additionally, it will discuss the Hierarchy of Controls, a structured approach to mitigating risks. This includes elimination (removing the hazard), substitution (replacing it with a safer alternative), engineering controls (such as guardrails), administrative controls (training and procedures), and personal protective equipment like harnesses and lanyards. By applying these principles, we can create safer work environments, reduce incidents and ensure compliance with safety regulations. The goal is not just to react to hazards but to proactively prevent falls before they occur. |
| 10:15 a.m. | Reliability Achievement Award Gold Winner: REXA Electrohydraulic Actuators on Blast Furnace Turbo Blowers Nick Dres, Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor |
| 10:45 a.m. | Break |
| 11 a.m. | Variable Frequency Drives |
| 11:30 a.m. | Electrical, Furnace Transformers, Testing and Basic Operations |
| Noon | Lunch |
| 1 p.m. | Torque and Stretch — Knowing Your Real Tinsel Fasteners Bill Slatosky, Nordlock |
| 1:30 p.m. | Torque Monitoring Brent Teubel, Regal Rexnord |
| 2 p.m. | Break |
| 2:15 p.m. | Best Practices on Electrical Rooms, Heat Loading and HVAC Systems Kyle Elkins, D&L |
| 2:45 p.m. | Benefits of Scanning/Drones Ryan Freund, Orbital Engineering |
| 3:15 p.m. | Break |
| 3:30 p.m. | Reliability Achievement Award Silver Award: Cloud-Based Troubleshooting and Reliability Tool for Hydraulics and Controls Patrick Cavanguah, EVRAZ Portland |
| 4 p.m. | Hydraulics Filtration, Fluid Contamination and Vacuum Dehydrator Dan Kicker, EVRAZ Rocky Mountain Steel |
| 5 p.m. | Reception |
Wednesday, 5 November 2025 | |
| 7 a.m. | Breakfast |
| 8 a.m. | Operations to Maintenance: The Building of an Apprenticeship Program James Sberna, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. |
| 9 a.m. | Break |
| 9:15 a.m. | Reliability Achievement Award Bronze Winner: MRO Inventory Optimization Algorithm Nicholas Galbincea, Metallus |
| 9:45 a.m. | Modernizing Maintenance With AI and Robotics Dan Mohan, Gecko Robotics Learn how leading mills are optimizing with advanced artificial intelligence and robotics technology. |
| 10:15 a.m. | Break |
| 10:30 a.m. | Submersible Pumps Terry Larson, HeavyPumps |
| 11 a.m. | Waters Impact on Maintenance AJ Feller, ChemTreat |
| 11:30 a.m. | Lubrication, Tribology, and Sustainability and How to Implement and Document Results for ROI Doug Sackett, Dilmar Oil Co. Lubrication and reliability have taken on a whole new meaning with new corporate responsibility to achieve “net zero” or “carbon neutrality” by 2035–2050, and how as tribologists or reliability/lubrication engineers do we look at all the avenues that we can utilize to achieve and document this goal? Not only do we have to be good stewards of our environment during the production process, but we also have to calculate and show the return on investment (ROI) on lowering production cost to keep the process profitable. We have to work with companies in the field to teach, train and asses this process to integrate the leading tribology research and development and how to use it properly in the field. This presentation will look at new and old lubrication formulation, technology, and how to implement tribology knowledge into plant reliability strategy to lower your greenhouse gas or carbon footprint while assessing and calculating how to achieve the highest ROI. |
| Noon | Lunch |
| 1 p.m. | Blending Dedicated Wireless and Hardwired Systems With Traditional Route-Based Vibration Monitoring Shawn Sikora, ITR |
| 1:30 p.m. | Practical Application of Mass Damping on a Turbo Blower Dave Suarez, Cleveland-Cliffs Cleveland Works LLC Tuned mass dampers were designed built, and implemented to remove energy from a damaging frequency of vibration on a turbo blower. This allowed the turbo blower to continue operations while maintenance planned the outage to eliminate the root cause of the vibration. |
| 2 p.m. | Break |
| 2:15 p.m. | Mitigating Human Factor Errors in Structural Inspections Mike Falk, Falk PLI |
| 3:30 p.m. | Industrial Cleaning: Are Your Services Efficient and Reliable Victer Crenshaw, Victory Industrial Cleaning |
| 4 p.m. | Fire-Resistant Fluids, Types and How to Choose the Right One for the Right Application Scott Southworth, KOST USA |
| 4:30 p.m. | Break |
| 4:45 p.m. | Panel Discussion and Reception |
Thursday, 6 November 2025 | |
| 7 a.m. | Breakfast |
| 8 a.m. | Plant Tour of CMC Steel Texas |
| Noon | Conference Adjourn |