Condition monitoring offers benefits for maintenance scheduling, operating costs, reduced downtime and safety. It allows users to determine whether an asset is likely to break down, what will cause the problem, and when the failure may occur. This gives owners time to organise maintenance before the failure happens, avoiding unplanned downtime and allowing repairs to be set for a suitable time in a production schedule.
Avoiding unplanned downtime offers a range of beneficial outcomes for an industrial environment. By removing unplanned downtimes you prevent unplanned production delays which can lead to a loss of reputation if orders are not completed on time and the need to pay overtime to complete a job. In addition, there is no need to pay for an emergency call out to maintenance staff, which is more expensive than pre-scheduled maintenance.
A machine failure can cause damage in other systems, compounding the problem further while also increasing repair or replacement costs. As a result, there will be no need to buy and store large numbers of replacement assets or parts in case of an unexpected failure. Instead, you will be forewarned of the need to replace a part and can order it as required in time for scheduled maintenance.
Using condition monitoring as part of a predictive maintenance programme can increase the return on investment (ROI) of mechanical assets. Preventive maintenance programmes are set at regular intervals (i.e. annually) or after a set number of operating hours, irrespective of whether the maintenance is required or not. Through condition monitoring, it is possible to eliminate unnecessary maintenance and downtimes by only scheduling repairs when required. This means that you can get more working value from each machine, reducing the total cost of ownership and maximising the ROI for your equipment.
Condition monitoring allows for more efficient maintenance by indicating where a fault may lie. This means that maintenance engineers do not need to check working components while locating the fault. This not only saves time and gets your maintenance completed faster, but also saves the cost of paying a maintenance engineer for wasted time.
Checking and repairing machines before they break safeguards employee safety and helps ensure safer work practices. Condition monitoring means that owners can plan maintenance before failure occurs that could pose a threat to employees working nearby.
Condition monitoring can also improvements the efficiency of assets. By having a record of which parts are running poorly, you can focus efficiency improvement efforts on those specific parts, thereby improving the overall capabilities of your equipment.