How to Start a Predictive Maintenance Program

Device and equipment advances, on display in our MT IIoT web section, is past the early adoption stage, but operations and maintenance (O&M) teams are still wrapping their arms around predictive maintenance programs. A recent interview with ARC Advisory’s Ralph Rio via SAP’s Enterprise Asset Management discusses this very issue and more.

Excerpt below:

Q: So how do people begin moving toward predictive maintenance – how do they get there?

Ralph Rio: The first thing people need to do is to educate themselves to understand what is available from a technology standpoint. People just entering this area are no longer “early adopters” so there is plenty of information out there. Get comfortable with the platforms and the business processes.

Sometimes technology education is coming from your machine builder (OEM) with improved data acquisition capabilities. From this post, “Are Smaller IIoT Applications The Next Wave for End Users?” and discussion with Erl Campbell at Aventics, MT found out how this is working:

“By actually monitoring the spool position, the machine can track exactly how each valve performed during a motion cycle: where that valve started, whether it fully shifted or only partially shifted, and its final position. These data points help machine builders and end-user operators correct issues that may affect overall packaging quality and integrity,” the white paper states (written by Erl Campbell.

Campbell added in a recent interview that the company is working on whether the (valve) reliability data should communicate with the factory floor or maintenance. Is it going to be some kind of wireless communication or will techs plug into the manifold and download that data?

>> For more on how to create a predictive maintenance program with Ralph Rio

For more IIoT coverage in maintenance and operations, click here!