Predictive Maintenance

Predictive Maintenance: what is it, tools, and applications [Complete Guide 2021] • Infraspeak Blog

What is predictive maintenance?

How does predictive maintenance work?

Data collection

Data mining

Calculations and Machine Learning

Predictive Maintenance Tools, Applications, and Examples

Thermographic analysis and infrared analysis

Motor circuit analysis

Oil analysis

Vibration analysis

Acoustic analysis
Does predictive maintenance solve all ills?

Advantages of predictive maintenance

Disadvantages of predictive maintenance

Is predictive maintenance worth the investment?

How to plan predictive maintenance in 4 steps

Identify critical assets

Gather information about asset history and failure modes

Implement sensors to monitor the condition

Test and try predictive maintenance

Every maintenance manager would like to predict when a breakdown will

occur. But how? The IoT lends a hand. Using sensors and new technologies

that monitor signs of deterioration and changes in the machine’s

performance, managers can estimate when a failure will occur. And so a new

type of maintenance is born, predictive maintenance.

What is predictive maintenance?

Predictive maintenance is a proactive maintenance strategy that aims to

prevent breakdowns. Depending on the data collected and predefined

Maintenance activities are then scheduled based on these forecasts.

Now, we need to make a little parenthesis. Predictive maintenance is often

confused with condition-based maintenance, but there is an important

nuance that distinguishes them. While predictive

maintenance schedules tasks based on collected data and formulas,

condition-based maintenance only acts when these parameters reach

alarming levels.

How does predictive maintenance work?

gathers data about your assets and, from that, extracts information that allows

you to calculate when you need to do maintenance. In practice, we can divide

the process into three stages:

 
Data Collection
As we have already seen, the idea is to predict when a breakdown will occur.

As this depends on obtaining quality data, the first step is to install sensors

capable of collecting information in real-time on the performance and

‘health’ of the equipment.

 
The data that these sensors need to measure and collect depends on the

techniques you intend to use to monitor the equipment. You can control

vibration, temperature, pressure, noise level, or corrosion levels, among

others, depending on which is best for your equipment. We will explore

several predictive maintenance tools in a moment.

 
Data mining
Accumulating data about your assets is of no use if you don’t know how to

exploit them. It’s the Internet of Things (IoT) that allows sensors to send

all information to a central system or software that allows you to analyse

what is going on. Predictive maintenance is much more effective, and much

more surgical, in systems where the various assets are integrated.

 
Calculations and Machine Learning
Some people may believe that predictive maintenance stops here. But if you

are only acting when the sensors detect anomalies, you are just performing

condition-based maintenance – as we saw above. The most differentiating

component of predictive maintenance is to build and apply algorithms that

offer a prognosis.

In the beginning, it can be based on equipment history, maintenance logs, and

statistics (your CMMS reports are extremely useful in this step). However, as
Artificial Intelligence becomes increasingly sophisticated, it is possible to

detect anomalies even earlier, find correlations and receive intelligent

suggestions to prevent a breakdown. This intelligent maintenance is giving

rise to a new type of maintenance, prescriptive maintenance.

Predictive Maintenance Tools,

destructive tests (NDT) are so important to diagnose failures within the

infrastructure. NDTs do not compromise equipment and can be performed

while it’s running, just like routine check-ups for humans. Blood tests,

ultrasound scans, or eye exams: we do them every year, and none of them

hurt us.

Among the predictive maintenance techniques used in the industry

are vibration analysis, oil analysis, acoustics, infrared or thermal

imaging tests (thermography), and motor circuit analysis.

 
Thermographic analysis and infrared analysis
 applications: electrical connections and systems, heating systems,
fluid analysis, discharge patterns, roof maintenance

 
Thermographic analysis can also be applied to several types of equipment to

detect wear, rusting, delaminations, and disconnections that might go

unnoticed to the naked eye. 

The advantage of infrared is that it allows you to make temperature maps,

even from a distance. This technique is used, for example, in the maintenance

of heating systems. Temperature variations are useful for assessing the

condition of motors and mechanical and electrical components, the building

insulation, and even the condition of solar panels. The major disadvantage is

that it cannot be used on reflective surfaces.

 In the future, CPU temperature analysis will be one of the main ways to

test the health of robots. 

 
Motor circuit analysis
 applications: assess engine degradation, shaft and rotor alignment,
insulation, gears, scan for short-circuits

Motor circuit analysis uses a technique known as electric signature analysis

(ESA), to find anomalies in electric motors. In addition to analysing the

circuit and its components, it evaluates the voltage and current entering the

motor. Not least important: it works on both AC and DC motors and can be

used while the equipment is running.

The purpose of oil analysis is to test the viscosity, the amount of water and

the presence of other materials, including metals, to determine the wear of

the equipment.

Let’s take into consideration a hydraulic system that consists of two essential

components – the rotating parts and their lubricant. As equipment ages, the

sample will show byproducts of overheating and erosion. Different particles

reveal many problems before you can guess a breakdown is coming. 

Different particles reveal different damages to different components. For

example, the presence of silicone above 15 ppm can indicate that the

insulation is wearing out, while sodium can reveal contamination with salt

water. Follow a metal guide (page 71) when using the spectrometer.

 
Vibration analysis
 applications: test component alignment, detect imbalances,
clearances, resonances, gear failures

 
Vibration analysis is perfect for rotating equipment and machines, such as

compressors, water pumps, and engines. Thus, this predictive maintenance

technique is ideal for infrastructures with a complex water supply

system, such as hotels, spas, or water parks.

What we do is connect them to a sensor that can detect movement or

acceleration, depending on what’s appropriate. The sensor works by

detecting sound waves created by movement, which generate electrical

impulses and make equipment vibrate. 

 
Acoustic analysis
 applications: pipes and plumbing, condensers, vacuum systems,
fans, air compressors

We’ve already established that sound waves are our allies. Acoustic analysis

is a technique used to detect problems in the material’s technical

performance, pinpoint the source of the problem, and perform “check-ups”

on the equipment’s overall health. How? By detecting changes in sound

frequencies. 

Every working machine makes some sort of noise, but its frequency and

range change whenever there are leaks or pressure changes, for example.

This predictive maintenance technique is especially useful for pipelines

and cameras to deepen the analysis at a distance.

Does predictive maintenance solve all ills?

under any illusions. There will always be random failures that are impossible

to predict or prevent. In addition, we must not forget that predictive

maintenance requires a large infrastructure. Therefore, predictive

maintenance is only recommended for critical assets and with

predictable failure modes.

 
Advantages of predictive maintenance
 The main advantage of predictive maintenance is to act in a timely
manner, which reduces downtime and increases asset availability.
 As maintenance is scheduled according to needs, it avoids wasting
stock and labor in unnecessary maintenance.
 By reducing the emergency repairs and the wastes we mentioned
above, it helps to better control your maintenance budget.
 Downtime is planned in advance, which allows for better
maintenance and normal company activity.
 Optimal use of the equipment throughout its life cycle.

  Predictive maintenance is also a cornerstone of lean maintenance and

just-in-time production.

 
Disadvantages of predictive maintenance
  The need to invest in specific monitoring equipment, as well as to
train personnel to use and interpret the data collected.
 For assets with low criticality, predictive maintenance may not offer
great savings over the alternatives.
 It is not suitable for assets with random failure modes or without
initial data to predict malfunctions (in these cases, it is preferable to
start with condition-based maintenance and gradually make the
transition).

Is predictive maintenance worth the

predictive maintenance has a high ROI, which can be up to 10 times the

investment. A study by the United States Department of Energy in 2010,

when installing sensors was even more expensive than now, points to 25-

30% reductions in maintenance costs, 35-45% less downtime, and 70-

75% fewer breakdowns.

Compared to reactive maintenance, it resulted in savings of 30-40%.

Compared to preventive maintenance, savings of 8-12% were

achieved. According to the RCM methodology (reliability-centered

maintenance), the ideal is that 45-55% of maintenance is predictive, 25-35%

preventive and only 10% reactive or corrective.

 
Deloitte, in a 2017 study, is less optimistic. Still, predictive maintenance is

very promising. This study suggests that uptime will increase by 10-20%,

and maintenance costs will decrease by 5-10% in Industry 4.0. Maintenance

planning can take 20-50% less time.

Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages mentioned above,

we can generalise that predictive maintenance pays off the investment

for:
 companies with high operating expenses and a lot of invested capital;
 companies where downtime implies great losses;
 companies with assets whose breakdowns are a security risk.

Therefore, it is not surprising that aviation was a pioneer in predictive

maintenance. Failure prediction is used both during flight – with engine

temperature and vibrations monitoring to prevent accidents – and on land, to

reduce delays and cancellations.

Manufacturing is another sector that adhered greatly to predictive

maintenance. It is easy to see why: a halt in production can cause huge

losses. In the coming years, it is likely that it will also gain greater expression

in fleet management,  healthcare, mining industry, energy extraction and

production.

 
How to plan predictive maintenance in 4
steps
If you have already decided to invest in predictive maintenance in your

company, recap the 4 steps you need to implement it:

 
 Identify critical assets.
The first step is to identify the priority assets to include in the predictive

maintenance strategy. Prioritise critical assets for your operations and assets

with high repair costs.

 
 Gather information about asset history and failure modes.
The second step is to gather the necessary information to be able to transform

the data you collected into actions. If you already have a CMMS, it is easier

to organise the history and develop the first algorithms. At the same time, it

is convenient to establish failure modes and the probability of occurrence.

 
 Implement sensors to monitor the condition.
Now that you have defined priorities and failure modes, you can start

implementing the sensors. In new equipment, it is usually a simple process,

but it can be more complicated in older machines. Investigate with the

manufacturer the best way to integrate old models with new technologies.

 
  Test and try predictive maintenance.
Test the operation of the sensors and the accuracy of the algorithms only on

some machines, following a PDCA cycle. When you are able to schedule

maintenance and meet your goals, expand this strategy to other machines!

Predictive maintenance is already a strategy that bears fruits and

returns for many companies. In the future, as the IoT and digital

transformation take hold, it will be even more dominant, accessible, and

effective in predicting breakdowns.

However, one thing is clear: predictive maintenance benefits from

intelligent and integrated systems, such as those that Intelligent

Maintenance Management Platforms provide. Talk to one of our

experts to understand how Infraspeak supports your operations, today

and in the future!