Just days before I'll Have Another won the Kentucky Derby, I visited the 20-year-old Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky (TMMK) plant in Georgetown for a firsthand look at the buzz about a vehicle-mount AGV control system.

Toyota industrial tow tractors outfitted with AutoGuide AGV systems (www.autoguideagvs.com) had taken over parts conveyance in the body weld department at TMMK, supporting the facility's long-running track record for superior quality, flexibility and annual cost reductions.

The path to maintenance excellence is a long road that includes a variety of checkpoints along the way. Each organization takes its own route, and some are further along than others. Everyone wants to improve plant maintenance and reliability, but many often don't know where to start, let alone where they want to end.

Every day, I talk with smart, creative people who comprise the fabric of industrial manufacturing around the world. On one special morning in April, I had the chance to spend some time at Schneider Electric's North American headquarters (www.schneider-electric.com) in Palatine, Illinois, with Ted Klee, senior vice president, North America supply chain, and Mary Ramsey, senior vice president, U.S. industry business.

Metrology is an infratechnology, underpinning all other technologies, said Jeff Gust, chief corporate metrologist at Fluke (www.fluke.com), which hosted its very first press summit this past week. Fluke, at is core, is a metrology company, explained Gust. "And to advance any technology, you must measure it," he said.

Optimizing your compressed air system and saving energy are both really good ideas. The Compressed Air Challenge is holding a Web-based seminar on Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. eastern time with some tips on how to do both. Subsequent classes will be Nov. 16, Nov. 30, and Dec. 7.

Learn how to uncover common issues in compressed air systems in this interactive live seminar. Led by U.S. Department of Energy experts, this course covers a seven-step action plan for affordable system improvements.

I always enjoy a trip to the great state of Wisconsin, our neighbor to the north and home to some of the finest cheese makers in the United States. This week, I drove to Wisconsin, but not for the food. I visited Wago's North American headquarters (www.wago.us) in Germantown. It's a spectacular facility with more than 75,000 sq ft of space for assembly, warehousing, manufacturing, material handling, and research, along with administrative and marketing offices.

Looking for a maintenance or reliability job? Looking to hire a maintenance or reliability professional?

On Tuesday, some colleagues and I returned to Siemens' West Chicago plant to see what's new. We all received a double shot of newness.

Although the mass exodus of Baby Boomers retiring from our workforce has been temporarily slowed by their still-recovering investment portfolios, the wave of retiring workers and forthcoming dearth of experienced engineering veterans will be landing as sure as the Space Shuttle Atlantis' final touchdown. And as we all prematurely mourn the loss of these professionals and the expanse of knowledge they'll take with them, there's still time to do something about it - to capture that knowledge before it walks out the door. But the problem still remains: Who will fill those shoes?

I remember watching my first Space Shuttle launch in May 2000, as Atlantis lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center and headed to the International Space Station (ISS) to deliver supplies and replacement gear. The ground literally trembled beneath its awesome power. Each of the two solid rocket boosters had a liftoff thrust of around 13 meganewtons (MN). That's around 3 million pounds-force (lbf). Each.

Yeah. It was awesome. Roar-out-loud awesome.