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March 9, 2009, Deerfield Beach, FL – The producers of The Economic Report are pleased to announce that the Society for Maintenance & Reliability Professionals (SMRP) will be featured in an upcoming segment on topics, trends and issues related to “Leading Developments in Equipment Reliability” as part of the show’s American Manufacturing series.

Changes in the world's overall business climate are creating a need for many industries to search for new and more competitive ways to participate on a global scale. Industry currently faces challenges that were not as prevalent 50 or even 20 years ago, including a mass exodus of skilled labor as a result of the large scale retirement by the baby-boom generation. Additionally, industry is operating with aging equipment with limited access to new technology and the entrance of new countries in the global economy which are producing products at lower costs.

Maintenance and reliability has become one of the key enablers to competitiveness for these challenged industries and is providing early adaptors of effective maintenance and reliability initiatives to remain, and in some cases become, major players in the global market with competitive advantage. Businesses are turning to the financial benefits that effective maintenance and reliability improvements can deliver. Companies like DuPont, Cargill, Alcoa and others are paving the path toward excellence in maintenance and reliability and the impact it has on the return on net assets and shareholder value.

SMRP provides an environment where companies discover and leverage reliability, enabling bottom line improvements. Chartered in 1992 as a non-profit organization, SMRP promotes information exchange through a network of reliability professionals, supports maintenance and reliability as integral part of business and asset management, and seeks to be a voice that advances innovative reliability practices. With over 3,000 members worldwide, including managers, engineers, technicians, planners, mechanics, electricians, operators, consultants, and engineering students, SMRP is a global organization known for providing competitive advantage through improved physical asset management and risk reduction.

"We help practitioners and their companies address the business challenges they face. These could be in the areas of production, safety or environment because all of these are affected by reliability and can be improved through the application of the information contained within the SMRP Body of Knowledge (BoK)" says Shon Isenhour Director of Education for SMRP. "The BoK provides a number of enhanced tools for reliability improvement and cost reduction, and assists in the areas of best practice metrics. It provides worldwide standards, specifications and processes used in the industry today to allow reliable operation of equipment."

SMRP is a major proponent of education through its workshops and conferences and certification exams in order to optimize opportunities for professionals in the industry. SMRP's Certification Organization (SMRPCO) provides an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredited certification process and examines a professional's knowledge and ability to apply the Body of Knowledge standards to real life situations through a comprehensive exam. Certified individuals are an integral part of the success of a company and are perceived as a valuable company asset.

"The CMRP exam is a comprehensive integrated knowledge assessment tool and tests an individual's knowledge across five areas including people skills, business management, manufacturing processes, equipment reliability, and work management," says David Staat, Senior Reliability Consultant at Dupont and Chair of the Board of Directors for SMRP. "A successful candidate becomes a Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional, which may result in enhanced job satisfaction, rewards and new opportunities."

The five-minute segment that will appear on The Economic Report will address the challenges of the maintenance and reliability industry and will feature the solutions and opportunities offered by the Society for Maintenance & Reliability Professionals.

For more information about the Society for Maintenance & Reliability Professionals, please visit www.smrp.org.

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