"We found a manufacturer who can replace the coupling and issued a P.O. The replacement coupling will be supplied by Flender Corp. They quoted me a lower price and a much shorter lead-time for a compatible coupling. I found them through the website mentioned in the FOMIS response. Looks like your service paid for itself pretty quickly."

"Last year, raw EDTA accidentally leaked into the nondrainable superheater during a chemical cleaning, which was then cooked out in the pendants. We were under some pressure to restart the unit," said Gene Danneman, from Northern States Power Co. "Not knowing the outcome, he put out an emergency request for advice from FOMIS members. Terry Easterwood (Area Supervisor for Rockdale) responded, and knew three other places who've had that type of incident. "I got 10 minutes of advice from one of Terry's contacts, and that advice had a major influence on our decision to repair instead of run. The subsequent outage convinced us we had made the right choice. Had we fired up, we probably would have had failures, but that was all avoided thanks to networking."

"If you are considering an emerging technology, or if you are just dealing with an issue that is new to you, FOMIS can provide a considerable savings in your research time. In some cases, you can have answers in hours, not weeks. FOMIS is a bargain in terms of finding out what really works."

"Whatever your problem is, somebody has dealt with it already. FOMIS is my consulting firm on retainer, and it costs a lot less. The people who give responses to FOMIS have a wealth of knowledge, and they'll tell you even more if you call them. Each year we encourage our staff to use FOMIS more. I know I can ask questions and I'll get feedback."

"FOMIS is an information networking service where sites, power stations, and people with common interests get to post questions on a weekly basis. As a result, all members of the FOMIS organization review those questions and the site contacts elicit experienced answers. FOMIS is not about reading text books, FOMIS is about people who have had a problem and want to tap into information from other people, with like experiences, to actually see how they've done it, how it works, didn't work, and what they are doing down the track."

"Pulliam went into FOMIS on a one-year trial period. There were a few skeptics who felt the responses would be too general. Since joining, we've asked about six questions, and the responses have helped resolve some operating and maintenance issues at Pulliam. I think several people at the plant are starting to see the value of FOMIS."

"We have used FOMIS Reports extensively to help us make purchase decisions on new equipment. With just a few minutes of research, we can survey the industry's experience with selected equipment, and obtain such details as: which brands and models are being used, operational performance, maintenance requirements, vendor response, and spare parts availability. We also learned about a lot of different equipment and its performance without having to purchase and operate it ourselves."

"A few years ago, seeking to comply with the Clean Air Act, we bought a $1 million software system - and within two months we knew we were in trouble. The software didn't deliver the required report. We then asked FOMIS members their opinion of that system, most responses came back negative. We asked about another vendor, got positive answers, and decided to buy the software and have been fine ever since."

"FOMIS provides unbiased information from the end user, with no vendor bias. FOMIS allows you to get information and details you could not obtain otherwise. The 'lessons learned' from other FOMIS participants helps us avoid making costly mistakes. All you need is one piece of information, such as resolving a union issue, scheduling personnel, an equipment repair technique - and you can pay back your annual FOMIS service fee immediately."

"Our station has been a member for more than 10 years and we have received a lot of help. The real value is the database they have. As you search this database you can get all kinds of information that you won’t find anywhere else. As new things emerge, you have the opportunity to ask a question and have other power plants provide feedback. Then you’ll find out that somebody else in the world has a solution. FOMIS is relatively inexpensive. You are never going to get a better return for your money than FOMIS."

"You’re tapping into a whole industry across the world about power plant issues people are facing. The FOMIS staff coordinates the databases, organizes the specters of the question, and consolidates the answers, which are then referred back to the people that raised the question initially. It has been a great information resource for us here in Australia."

"All my engineers, more than 20 of them, have PCs on their desks and can dial into FOMIS anytime. An engineer needs information, he knows it’s on the database, so he calls FOMIS."

"FOMIS is the best conference; it's our peer group so we need to be able to talk about deregulation, competition, all these issues. Everyone's facing the same problem. For the cost of it, FOMIS seems like a very good way to keep up."

"At a FOMIS conference: We heard a presentation from someone whose superheat spray liners were breaking up and shifting, causing numerous tube leaks. As a result at our next outage, even though the OEM said there was no need to go in, we did inspect and lo and behold, we found exactly what was described. We ended up replacing all four spray header liners. We avoided an inevitable forced outage that would have cost $25,000 to $250,000 a day."

"The Outage 'Best Practices' Seminar allows us to improve our processes and review other sites' 'best practices' quickly. As a result, a benchmarking study revealed a relationship between Mohave's maintenance costs and our corresponding outage planning efforts. Since major outages are a significant component of maintenance costs, you can really make an impact on the bottom line."

"You don't hesitate to call them because you know they've had the experience you're looking for and are willing to share it. It's like calling somebody you already know."

"FOMIS, it's almost like a brotherhood. We're all in this together. I know if someone calls me, I take it as seriously as a request from my supervisor."

"We're very small compared to most of the organizations in FOMIS. Smaller companies can't afford lots of staff, but as a member of a group like this, you can glean a lot from others' expertise. Most organizations owe it to themselves to at least try it for a year. Keep a journal. Make one person accountable. If that one person does his job, he'll be able to document savings due to FOMIS participation."