While the concept of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) seems abstract and foreign to many people, it can be applied across a variety of applications and industries. The IIoT was developed based on the idea that by connecting the digital and physical worlds, information exchange can be improved and elevated within industrial and maintenance…
Continuous condition monitoring is one of the first steps toward predictive maintenance and, ultimately, connected reliability, which gives teams a roadmap for moving past incremental gains to make a quantum leap to an ideal setup. Condition monitoring allows maintenance teams to obtain baseline data, trend data to detect changes and investigate these changes when abnormalities…
Predictive maintenance is maintenance that directly monitors the condition and performance of equipment during normal operation to reduce the likelihood of failures. It attempts to keep costs low by reducing the frequency of maintenance tasks, reducing unplanned breakdowns and eliminating unnecessary preventive maintenance. With predictive maintenance, organizations consistently monitor and test conditions such as lubrication…
Preventive maintenance (sometimes called preventative maintenance) is regularly performed on a piece of equipment to reduce the likelihood of failure. Preventive maintenance ensures that anything of value to your organization receives consistent maintenance to avoid unexpected breakdowns and costly disruptions. In the same way you would not wait until your car’s engine fails to get…
Though both methods work to extend the life of assets, prevent unexpected breakdowns and save organizations money, preventive maintenance (PM) and predictive maintenance (PdM) are very different approaches to reliability. The key to the most effective asset management is understanding the difference between preventive and predictive maintenance, learning to employ the right balance of each within your…
Key performance indicators (KPIs) are important metrics used to provide workers and managers with an accurate picture of the health and performance of all aspects of an organization. They measure everything from sales and performance to HR statistics, as well as a wide range of manufacturing production and maintenance performance metrics. On the maintenance side,…
While the factory of the future is just around the corner, we can’t forget the hundred-year-old plants that have always relied on human memory to manage their maintenance workflow. In these older environments, the maintenance priority is the production line: if it’s down, get it back up. That approach has kept industrial facilities operating for…
Electric motors serve as a critical component for any facility. However, electric motors can be prone to any number of issues that lead to motor faults and failures, which can disrupt business operations, decrease productivity and adversely impact a company’s bottom line. Yet, monitoring the health of electric motors is not typically a priority for…
Manufacturing continues to be a cornerstone in modern society. It plays a crucial role in today’s economy, contributing to nationwide financial gains, the job market, national security and innovations in technology. Smart manufacturing [the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), robotics, automation, etc.] has transformed the manufacturing landscape, making it more competitive by increasing productivity and…
Organizations that want to better understand the health of important assets, maximize asset life and increase overall efficiency should look into an asset management program. When considering options to optimize operations, technology is here to help. Leveraging the connectivity of an integrated system of tools — such as infrared tools , vibration sensors and a…