Author: Alan Ross

Alan Ross

Alan Ross is the Vice President of Reliability at SD Myers, Inc. in Tallmadge, Ohio. He is responsible for developing and executing long-term reliability strategies and next generation leadership for all operating units, both domestically and internationally. He often presents at industry conferences and has authored several trade publication articles on transformer maintenance and reliability, including articles featured in Solutions and Uptime magazines and has written two books: Unconditional Excellence and Beyond World Class. He completed his undergraduate work in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and MBA in Marketing from Georgia State University, graduating Magna Cum Laude. Alan is a Certified Reliability Leader, SMRP designee to the DOE’s Strategic Transformer Reserve task force and member of the IEEE Reliability Society.

Intelligent Transformer Podcast #3: Alan Ross & Tony Dotson

Insurance companies require Industrial facilities to test their electric power systems, which includes transformers. Often, though, management are unsure of what to do with the test results beyond providing them to the insurance company. The results are filed away, and an essential part of the company’s reliability plan is overlooked. Alan Ross speaks to Tony Dotson, of WestRock, about how the paper company began to use that data, … Continue reading Intelligent Transformer Podcast #3: Alan Ross & Tony Dotson

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Intelligent Transformer Podcast #2: Alan Ross & Dan Smith

In the second edition of the Intelligent Transformer Podcast, Alan Ross of SDMyers speaks with Dan Smith, Vice President of Electric Service Delivery at Austin Energy, about conferences, machine learning, and the future of collaboration in the industry. Alan and Dan have both presented at the Comet Conference and the Electric Power Reliability Summit, among others, and talk about their experiences as presenters and facilitators. … Continue reading Intelligent Transformer Podcast #2: Alan Ross & Dan Smith

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Intelligent Transformer Podcast #1: Alan Ross & Jon Trout

In the first edition of the Intelligent Transformer Podcast, Alan Ross of SDMyers speaks with Jon Trout, Manager of Transmission Design at FirstEnergy, about the value of conferences for communicating legacy knowledge and wisdom to the next generation of electric power reliability practitioners. Alan and Jon have both presented at the Comet Conference, and talk about their experiences at that event and what differentiates Comet … Continue reading Intelligent Transformer Podcast #1: Alan Ross & Jon Trout

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It Takes a Village

In May, we sponsored a summit that brought electric power reliability leaders from all over the country to Houston to discuss the gap in reliability. I’ve had a few weeks now to reflect on the event, and I want to share those thoughts with you. If SDMyers was the mother of the Electric Power Reliability Summit (EPRS), then I feel like I was the midwife. … Continue reading It Takes a Village

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Safety vs Reliability

I went to Washington recently to represent the SMRP Government Relations Smart Grid Committee, of which I am now the chair. I was there with other folks from SMRP to talk about the smart grid, and we ended up talking a lot about safety. The Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals—the fastest growing reliability organization in the world—is about to become an OSHA Alliance organization. … Continue reading Safety vs Reliability

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Leaders & Losers

As professionals in the field of electrical system reliability, we have a choice. We can follow the leaders, or we can follow the losers. Um… that isn’t quite what I meant by “loser.” It may seem harsh to say that there are “losers” out there, because that’s one of the words that nobody likes to hear. Well, I don’t mean “loser” in the same way kids do when they hold up an “L” on their … Continue reading Leaders & Losers

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Why is Nobody Talking About This?

I had to learn a lot to become a transformer reliability leader. I have an engineering background and a transformer maintenance and testing background, but to be the practitioner I wanted to be I had to get educated. I sought out reliability knowledge. I found much of that knowledge through reading and research. It started with Google searches and Wikipedia articles, and it eventually led … Continue reading Why is Nobody Talking About This?

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5 Steps to Securing Commitment for a Transformer Reliability Program

When you start to put a risk and reliability program together for high voltage electrical equipment—primarily transformers—you have to go through a cultural change. I’ve seen it repeatedly, both in the industrial marketplace and the utility marketplace. It’s never a one-person decision. Step #1: The Reliability Leader As a reliability leader, we can normally veto any project, but more often than not we cannot say … Continue reading 5 Steps to Securing Commitment for a Transformer Reliability Program

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Missing the mark: Why use CMMSs for Electrical Systems?

When you think about maintenance from a reliability perspective rather than an engineering perspective, it becomes clear that transformers are somewhat of a red-headed stepchild, even though they are the heart of the electrical system. Why? Let’s take a closer look. The reliability industry has grown out of the maintenance industry. At the very core of the maintenance industry is the Computerized Maintenance Management Systems … Continue reading Missing the mark: Why use CMMSs for Electrical Systems?

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