In This Month's Issue Alan Tait (President of SAAMA) gives feedback on the ISO 55 000 design workshops in Washington DC By Gina van Ganswyk Read more Why is PAM a good idea in an economic downturn? By Louis Volschenk Read more Pragma introduces a refurbishment plant in Brasil By Gina van Ganswyk Read more Pragma partners with Aurecon Pragma and Aurecon have signed a formal agreement to deliver turnkey asset management solutions in the African market. Read more PAM Tips 5 Tips to stifle waste in your operation By Simone Theron Read more Out and about - see you at: International Maintenance Conf: 5 - 8 Dec '11 Mining Indaba: 6 - 9 Feb '12 African Utility Week: 21 - 24 May '12 PAMTL Conference: 13 - 15 Aug '12 We are the Deloitte 2011 Best Engineering Company to Work for in SA. Our team is expanding and we are looking for talented people to join us. Positions available REGISTERED YET? PAS 55 course: 23 - 24 Feb - JHB, SA PAS 55 course: 16 - 17 Feb - CPT, SA PAS 55 course: 8 - 9 March - DBN, SA Click here to view our full Physical Asset Management Improvement Best Practice Series 2012 Public Training Calendar. Find our offices Pragma Cape Town, SA Pragma Johnnesburg, SA Pragma Port Elizabeth, SA Pragma Durban, SA Pragma Brasil, BR Chat to us on: Facebook From the Editor It is only 2 weeks to go to Christmas and most of us feel as though we still have enough work to fill another 20 weeks before we wave 2011 goodbye. Is your business ready to tone down or do you still have a zillion to-do's on the planning board? Many companies neglect to plan for this time of year and find they are chasing last minute projects to catch up on their schedules, often times to the detriment of quality and targets. One of the biggest allies of a lack of planning is waste. When we fail to plan, we waste: Man hours - our staff hanging around, not using their time productively; Uptime of equipment; Materials; and Energy. We have prepared some tips to help you eliminate waste in your operation. We conclude this year with a message from Adriaan Scheeres, our CEO. "With yet another challenging year behind us and new challenges facing us in 2012, I would like to share the following thoughts with all our clients and employees. Be thankful for challenges. Do what you think is necessary to achieve results and don't blame others for not achieving or reaching your own goals or those set for you. Stay positive. Constantly remind your team to assume positive intent about others. As mentioned, it's always easier to put the blame for a problem on a function, customer, supplier, colleague or other scape goat - anyone but yourself. To counter this inclination, remind your managers that most people don't wake up in the morning with the goal to disrupt the lives of others. People generally do their jobs in the best way they know and no amount of whining will change that. A more productive path would be to better understand the nature of the problem and move towards creating a joint solution. This can be applied at work, at home and especially during those challenging times during Christmas time with family and friends." Take special care of yourself, your loved ones and those less privelidged than you over the festive season. Your's in asset management, Liza Liza.Burger@pragmaworld.net Contact us www.pragmaworld.net Liza.Burger@pragmaworld.net