Benchmark PdM Feature List:
A Letter from our President...

Hello, and Welcome to Benchmark PdM online!

My name is John Lambert and I served my apprenticeship in Mechanical Maintenance at Fazakerly Engineering in Liverpool, England. After emigrating to Canada in 1973 I worked in the Aeronautics Industry and Fiberglas manufacturing. I have held many positions from millwright/maintenance mechanic, maintenance foreman and supervisor as well as training instructor.  I started Benchmark Maintenance Services, Inc. in 1994 as a company specializing in rotating machinery installation, training, service and alignment equipment and condition monitoring sales. Since then, our company has grown and expanded, we have recently changed our name to Benchmark PdM (as in predictive maintenance) and I am proud to say we have become Canada's National Distributor of Easy-Laser® Alignment and Measurement systems. 

We at Benchmark PdM have a strong understanding of all forms of maintenance from the Reactive mode through to the Proactive mode. We have had training in both Reliability Centered Maintenance and Total Productive Maintenance. Our approach to maintenance is simple. Having spent the last thirty five years in hundreds of maintenance shops we are convinced that the best system for the majority of maintenance departments is in that old standby, Preventative Maintenance. Once a solid footing in and prevention is achieved, the next step into a world class system is simple.

However, the cornerstone of Preventative and Predictive Maintenance is in the installation or re-installation of your equipment. We are not just talking about coupled driven machine units, we mean all your equipment. Air cylinders, gear boxes and steam generators suffer from soft foot problems just the same as your motors do. V Belts will last a lot longer if the sheaves are installed properly and also aligned within a tolerance. Unfortunately, in the rush to get the machine up and running these issues are often neglected.

When you can guarantee that your equipment is installed correctly, one can now take simple measurements using basic instruments such as Vibration or Ultrasonics to monitor and trend the condition of your equipment. By taking these simple measurements you are taking control of your equipment.

Our Core Business is training. We started out teaching shaft to shaft alignment using dial sets in either Rim and Face or Reverse Dial procedures. It has now developed into a complete installation course. Our program is designed to be a very practical, hands on, nuts and bolts approach to training. We sell the most economical laser alignment systems in North America: the Easy-Laser®. I am pleased to say it is our strong background in training that makes the difference for us in laser sales. We can show the end user what is behind a laser system and what technology is being used. This leads to a clear understanding of what is being done during the alignment process. Dofasco (Arcelor-Mittal), City of Toronto and Ontario Power Generation are just three industries where we have trained literally hundreds of tradesmen in each company. I have conducted training on offshore oil rigs, steel and paper mills, at chemical plants and cement plants, gold mines (even under ground) and many more industries. I have participated at many maintenance conference and maintenance roundtable discussions. On numerous occasions I have been selected as the number one presenter at the Plant Engineering and Maintenance Conference (PEMAC). At the last two PEMAC conferences I have been asked to moderate the technical training day.

With the Geometric laser systems you can measure straightness, flatness, parallelism, horizontal plane, plumb and square. For these systems we customize the training to suit the customers machinery or equipment. What we are trying to do with all our training is change the mind set from one that says, "that's close enough", to one that says "it has to be done right the first and only time". We believe if you can guarantee that the installation is done properly you can reduce the operational cost by decreasing the amount of energy consumption. Also, because of a reduced amount of vibration due to the improved installation, maintenance cost will be reduced significantly. If not, the machine is doomed for failure.

We hope to continue to serve Canada with our equipment and more importantly educate you on the correct machinery installation techniques and proper machine alignment methods. 

Best Regards,

John Lambert