Harley-Davidson’s IIoT Retrofit for Predictive Maintenance

Harley-Davidson has enjoyed a resurgence over the last 20+ years and one of the reasons has been high-quality, motor bike production. A recent Wall Stree Journal article provided an interesting overview on how companies are moving to predictive maintenance — Industrial Internet of Things — but have relatively new equipment in the factory.  In the article, Mike Fisher, gm at Harley-Davidson’s York, PA manufacturing plant said replacing new machinery with smart technology, such as sensors and better connectivity, wasn’t an option due to equipment being only ten years old.

The challenge for Harley-Davidson, once they decided to add predictive monitoring, was choosing the right sensor technology:

“Making sure you have the right ones can be difficult,” says Fisher, because sensors aren’t made with the particulars of each machine in mind. Often plant managers can’t tell which sensor will most accurately collect the date they want from a machine without a series of test runs–a time-consuming process.”

Fisher also mentioned installation wasn’t easy, either, and instructed that integration work be done by experienced engineers — 3rd party services — for proper calibration. Fisher added that the sensors need to “be placed on or integrated into the equipment so they collect the intended data—not vibrations from an adjacent machine or heat from another motor.”

The article goes on to discuss sensor costs and wired versus wireless, a great read by a mainstream media outlet.

Read the full story here >>