Welcome to Splashes from the equipment pool

Charles Motzko- August 1, 2012

In this blog, I’ll explore, examine, dissect, and attempt to find the innovation and common best practices for TME (test-and-measurement equipment) pools. My goal is to bring TME pool management processes and practices into alignment with the rapidly evolving infrastructure that TME pools typically support across the diverse landscape of  technology, research, defense, aerospace, utilities, and manufacturing, just to name a few.

In February 1984, Charlie Sides (Boeing), Gary Davidson (TRW), and I hosted a National Conference of Standards Laboratories (NCSL) workshop in San Jose, CA. At the workshop, we explored forming a new NCSL committee devoted to TME management. The result: the formation of the NCSL Equipment Management Forum. That committee is still going strong today and is currently designated as the NCSLI TEAM (Test Equipment Asset Management) 144 committee. James Smith of  Boeing is the current committee chair.

As more institutions adopted TME management into their business process model, there was a change in the traditional role of equipment management. The role evolved from the lending library model towards a more technology-based innovative model. This was driven by broader access to information (more on this in future blogs) and a better understanding of the role of TME management in providing test resources, capability, availability, capacity, and competence.

This new understanding has led towards the optimization of the balance between efficiency (lower testing cost) and effectiveness (satisfying the mission goals and objectives). This change in the shift from a cost towards results has changed  the role of TME equipment managers from equipment custodians towards facilitators in the total test management process (more on this in future blogs).

This new blog is particularly exciting to me, as it offers a chance for the TME Management community to promote the spirit of innovation and advancement. It takes a bold manager, with a pioneering essence, to take a chance and explore new possibilities and techniques.

The TME Management field has evolved rapidly over the past several decades and many institutions are reaping benefits from the successes. This has inspired me to act as curator for this blog to bring those successes to the community at large.

Over the coming weeks I’ll investigate the topics below. I encourage you to comment, challenge, or offer your own views and suggest new topics. This blog is as much yours as it is mine.

Some of the topics I hope to explore, plus the curation and addressing responses from the readers, are:

• Why TME Management?
• Is ROI type measures relevant to “good” TME Management?
• Should TME Management be Organic to the Calibration/Metrology Function? (Part 1 – Pro; Part 2 – Con; Part 3 – Consensus)
• The Roles of TME Management and Property Management
• TME Management vs. Tool Control (cribs)
• Accessory Management and Control (Part 1)
• Accessory Management and Control (Part 2)
• Treatment of Options and Configurations (Part 1)
• Treatment of Options and Configurations (Part 2)
• Treatment of Firmware and Software (Part 3)
• Should TME Management be involved in:
  • Equipment Selection/Disposal?
  • Scheduling and Reservations?
  • Supplier Qualification for Goods and Services?
  • Service Outsourcing?
  • Equipment selection, substitution, or engineering equivalent determinations?

• TME Management and ATE
• Software Selection Criteria for the TME Management functions and support with some of the Required/Desired Functionalities identified
• TME Management and Contract/Regulatory Compliance