We assume timely serviced installations, machines and vehicles will continue to function until the next maintenance check. In reality, this is more unpredictable: despite investments in preventive maintenance, “assets” continue to fail randomly. Sometimes we replace parts still functioning, which is a waist of money. In this blog, we outline how smart technology helps reducing downtime at a lower cost.
Preventive maintenance is not nearly as cost-efficient as often thought. In 45 percent of the cases assets fail earlier than might be expected, considering their age. This causes organizations problems. Parts and technicians are not always immediately available and costs for recovery are therefore unpredictable. On the other hand, maintenance at fixed intervals often results in unnecessary wear, because assemblies could be unnecessarily dismantled.
The roadmap to predictive maintenance
Moving towards predictive maintenance requires up-to-date insights into the condition of your assets. There are three methods for gathering data:
- HSoT: Human Sensor of Things – information from inspections
- EoT: Ethernet of Things – information from systems built into machines (SCADA)
- IoT: Internet of Things – information from sensors
A good example of a system that merges these three information flows is IBM Maximo, named leader in the Gartner “Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Asset Management software” [Aug 2019, Gartner].
For example: in a wind farm, the maintenance interval for turbines is based on current and historical data. This can be determined more precisely by equipping turbines with sensors for detecting an increase in energy consumption, noise or vibrations. Integration with data from “The Weather Channel” ensures further optimization. Maintenance can now take place earlier, if it turns out that the turbines are suffering a lot from storms, while also finding a forecasted period with low wind conditions.
The technical and financial condition of your assets in one overview
By using IBM Maximo APM – Asset Health Insights (MAHI) alongside IBM Maximo, organizations are able to display the technical condition and financial health of their assets in one clear dashboard. Understanding costs helps determine how much money should be reserved for maintenance versus repairs or replacements. If a machine performs better than expected, maintenance can be postponed. The budget can then be spent on other parts to extend the overall working life of the facility.
By implementing this way of working enormous savings can be achieved in asset-intensive sectors such as water management, transport and highway infrastructure. With Asset Management improvements can also be made in durability, due to the focus on economic use of materials.
The 4 benefits of managing your assets with IBM Maximo and MAHI:
- Complete insight: the dashboard shows you in one overview the technical and financial health of your assets. This helps to make more informed decisions about maintenance and replacement.
- Lower costs: parts are only replaced when really necessary.
- Less surprises: the chance that problems occur and systems fail will decrease.
- Time savings: maintenance becomes predictable and can be better planned.
ZNAPZ is an experienced partner for IBM Maximo and MAHI. We can assist you from start to finish, so these systems optimally support your business.
Want to know more about the benefits of IBM Maximo and MAHI? Download our e-book or contact us by filling in the contact form.
1. Gartner