Industrial Maintenance Solutions

This article provides an overview of the nine main types of maintenance, ranging from preventive to corrective maintenance and everything in between. Although specific terminology may vary, it's important to ensure that everyone is talking about the same thing and that the underlying principles are clear. Whether you refer to it as condition-based maintenance or predictive maintenance, what matters most is that we can have a meaningful conversation about when and how to use it. As such, this article also explores the appropriate applications of condition-based maintenance. Many people have questions about the different types of maintenance, so this quick overview provides a helpful starting point: There are nine distinct types of maintenance, which can be classified into two main categories: Preventive Maintenance and Corrective Maintenance.   Preventive Maintenance is performed proactively before any equipment failure occurs. This category encompasses: Time-Based Maintenance (TBM)...

The Maintenance Worker Skills Gap: An Ongoing Challenge  It's a well-known issue that has been around for a decade - the shortage of skilled maintenance workers. With fewer young people receiving proper training and experienced workers retiring, the pool of qualified workers is shrinking. To address this problem, many companies are relying on technology to support their maintenance efforts. However, the question remains - can digital solutions and vibration sensors truly fill the skills gap? The answer is not straightforward. While technology can certainly aid in maintenance efforts, it cannot replace the expertise and experience of human workers. Keeping a realistic perspective is crucial in understanding the limitations and capabilities of technology in the maintenance field. "Bridging the Maintenance Skills Gap with Technology: Moving Towards Predictive Maintenance"    As the skills gap in the maintenance industry persists, plants are turning to technology for support....

WHAT IS MAINTENANCE 4.0? Industry 4.0 is a name given to the current trend of automation and data exchange in industrial technologies. It includes the Industrial Internet of things (IIoT), wireless sensors, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Industry 4.0 is commonly referred to as the fourth industrial revolution. Maintenance 4.0 is a machine-assisted digital version of all the things we have been doing for the past forty years as humans to ensure our assets deliver value for our organization. Maintenance 4.0 includes a holistic view of sources of data, ways to connect, ways to collect, ways to analyze and recommended actions to take in order to ensure asset function (reliability) and value (asset management) are digitally assisted. For example, traditional Maintenance 1.0 includes sending highly-trained specialists to collect machinery vibration analysis readings on pumps, motors and gearboxes. Maintenance 4.0 includes a wireless vibration sensor conne...

WRITEN BY: Erik Hupje, Roadtoreliability.com Whether you are developing a new maintenance program. Or improving the maintenance program for an existing plant. All reliable maintenance programs should be based on the following Principles of Modern Maintenance: Principle #1: Accept Failures Principle #2: Most Failures Are Not Age-Related Principle #3: Some Failures Matter More Than Others Principle #4: Parts Might Wear Out, But Your Equipment Breaks Down Principle #5: Hidden Failures Must Be Found Principle #6: Identical Equipment Does Not Mean Identical Maintenance Principle #7: “You Can’t Maintain Your Way To Reliability” Principle #8: Good Maintenance Programs Don’t Waste Your Resources Principle #9: Good Maintenance Programs Become Better Maintenance Programs As a Maintenance & Reliability professional, you must understand these principles. You must practice them. Principle #1: Accept failures Not all failures can be prevented by maintenance. Some fail...

Maintenance 4.0 is the application of Industry 4.0 to operations and maintenance (O&M) activities. The goal is simple: To maximize production uptime by eliminating unplanned, reactive maintenance. Let’s look at a simplistic depiction of common O&M work streams. Figure 1 shows a graph depicting the activities that occur after an industrial asset unexpectedly fails.   Figure 1: O&M work streams in Industry 3.0 vs Industry 4.0 Once the failure event occurs and is reported, a series of activities occurs. First, repair crews are assigned and then travel to the worksite where they receive repair instructions. Parts must be ordered and transported to the site. Typically, root cause analysis (RCA) is performed and valuable time expended on identifying it. Working under pressure to resume production, work crews engage in trial and error activities to identify the cause of the failure. After repairs and an inspection, production resumes. Maintenance 4.0 brings artific...

A maintenance strategy or option means a scheme for maintenance, i.e. an elaborate and systematic plan of maintenance action. Following are the maintenance strategies that are commonly applied in the plants. • Breakdown Maintenance or Operate to Failure or Unplanned Maintenance • Preventive or Scheduled Maintenance • Predictive or Condition Based Maintenance • Opportunity Maintenance • Design out Maintenance