Dominic Ivankovich, Business Development Manager, Fluke Corporation

discusses the importance of implementing predictive maintenance in the plant.

CE Asia: Tell us about the benefits of plant maintenance in the modern manufacturing world.

Ivankovich: Plant maintenance is one of the last areas of investment to drive cost reduction for many modern manufacturers. Many manufactures have or are currently instituting lean principles but will not be able to fully realize their potential until they develop world class maintenance practices. These types of practices focus around managing the productivity and lifecycle of facility assets. Using preventive (time-based) maintenance with predictive maintenance technologies, manufacturers will be able to optimize the return on their assets and ensure their facility delivers goods at the quality, delivery, and cost levels that customers expect.

CE Asia: How would you classify particular industries that have a more urgent need for predictive maintenance (PM)?

Ivankovich: Over the last 20 years, PM adoption has largely be concentrated in large scale, 24-7 process (oil, pulp and paper, chemical, etc.) facilities who could easily demonstrate the significant cost of downtime. Today, more smaller manufacturers are realizing that even if they only operate for 16 hours a day, downtime to them can be very costly as well due to the fact that most of them are trying to maximize production for their daily operating period. Until recently, PM test equipment was prohibitally expensive for these smaller scale facilities. However, as companies like Fluke are bringing technology like thermography to the market at significantly lower cost than previously available, more small and mid-sized facilities will increasingly adopt PM programs.

CE Asia: Give us an overview of the basic strategies toward implementing PM in the plant.

Ivankovich: PM programs often must overcome several hurdles in order to be successful. The primary hurdle is a cultural one. Although many studies exist demonstrating the value created by PM and preventive maintenance programs over a purely reactive (fix it when it breaks) program, often maintenance teams do not understand how to move from a reactive way of doing things to an effective PM program. In addition to the work process change, maintenance must be seen as an opportunity to invest in a competitive advantage in the market place. Investment is required since most PM programs require some period of time to generate the desired results.

Once management is committed to implementing a PM program, they key is to understand what technologies to apply to which piece of equipment. Many different technologies exist for condition monitoring, but each has a specific application for which it is best suited. For example, thermography is highly effective for electrical equipment where non-contact measurement is highly desirable from a safety perspective. For mechanical equipment,vibration monitoring is often the most effective technology since many pending bearing failures can be detected far in advance of the actual problem. Other technologies used for PM programs are: insulation testing, power quality, motor-circuit testing, oil analysis, and ultrasonic testing PM programs must get traction as early as possible to sustain momentum and commitment. Therefore, companies should be selective in which technologies to apply early in the PM program.

Typically, most manufacturing sites focus on thermography and vibration as the two starting technologies of choice.

CE Asia: What are the methods and steps needed to achieve this?

Ivankovich: The steps to achieving an effective PM program include: (1) identification and prioritization of critical equipment in the plant, (2) selection of appropriate technology for monitoring the condition of that equipment, (3) performing baseline measurements on that equipment and setting up routes to continue collecting that information based on a specific time interval, (4) comparing new measurements with the baseline and other prior measurements to determine degradation of the equipment, (5) scheduling repair prior to the failure of the equipment, and (6) perform baseline measurement on the new installation.

CE Asia: How would you justify the cost required to manufacturers looking to implement PM in their plant?

Ivankovich: PM can be justified on many levels including: (1) reduced maintenance labor costs driven by effective maintenance planning, (2) lower parts costs on repair due to fewer catastrophic failure of equipment, (3) reduced parts inventory since identifying failures far in advance reduces the amount of equipment kept on hand for emergency repair, (4) improved quality since with fewer unplanned failures operators can more effectively control their systems, (5) increased capacity utilization allows for fewer redundant systems to be installed, (6) improved energy efficiency since equipment is maintained better, (7) longer overall equipment life expectancy, and (8) improved safety due to fewer catastrophic failures.