On Fri, 31 Aug 2007 05:15:15 -0700, John B wrote:

I don't know if you've ever worked in manufacturing industry, but if
you can find a complex electromechanical machine that works non-stop
for eight years and doesn't require a shutdown for refurbishment and
extended maintenance, then I'd be interested to see it...

The continuous-filament glass fibre industry tends to run for 7 or 8
years without a shut down of its furnaces and fibre-drawing machines.
Some items, like the bushings from which the fibre is drawn, are
replaced at regular intervals, maybe every 12 months, but the
operation does not stop for this work. All the major maintenance is
done when the glass melting furnace is being rebuilt.

I know of one glass bottle making furnace which ran for 14 years
before a shutdown, making champagne bottles and wine bottles all that
time.
--
Terry Harper
Website Coordinator, The Omnibus Society
http://www.omnibussoc.org