Wireless sensors paired with condition monitoring software can improve reliability programs, decrease costs and increase uptime.
Regardless of the facility’s size, maintenance and reliability teams often have a difficult time finding sufficient resources such as skilled labor, time and budget to meet growing demands. As a result, the prioritization of equipment maintenance tasks is more crucial than ever.
In many cases, critical assets have built-in sensors that provide early indications of problems that must be addressed. These are the assets that bring an entire production line to a standstill a breakdown occurs. However, what happens when other vital assets such as pumps, heat exchangers or motors that also keep the plant up and running, but aren’t equipped with built-in sensors, experience an issue? This equipment typically does not have sensors to indicate any potential problems.
Nuisance events from these assets can create a slippery slope as maintenance teams chase down the next mid-tier equipment breakdown, rarely getting ahead of never-ending to-do lists. This leads to a reactive, run-to-failure approach, resulting in unbudgeted expenses, unpredictable outcomes and unexpected equipment failure or downtime.
That’s where condition monitoring with remote, wireless sensors comes in. These sensors collect and stream valuable equipment information that you can access with your mobile device or computer.
Here are five ways condition monitoring software can strengthen your maintenance and reliability program:
Continuously and safely monitor assets
Total production shutdown is every maintenance professional’s nightmare. To prevent this, condition monitoring software continuously saves power, vibration and temperature measurements. For over four weeks, sensors continuously send data that syncs with your computer or mobile device.
Discover the root cause faster
By leaving the sensors in one place and employing continuous monitoring, it is easier to troubleshoot and identify intermittent events. It is also possible to conduct point measurements for troubleshooting, commissioning and calibrating, as needs arise. Quickly identify events based on measurement data and visualize measurements over time to determine comprehensive asset health.
Monitor equipment safely from anywhere
You and your maintenance team can feel like you’re in more than one place at one time by placing sensors on assets and simply walking away as they stream data and measurements for you. Redeploy your team to a more productive project now that you can eliminate daily or hourly readings. You can also monitor your equipment using real-time measurements and quickly identify where a recorded event or events have exceeded a preset threshold.
Deliver real-time alarms
You can set the threshold options and assign who will be notified if the threshold is exceeded. Receiving real-time alarms means users are notified when the defined parameter has been exceeded.
Fast and cost-effective setup and maintenance
Wireless sensors equipped with condition monitoring software are easy to install and can be moved by your own technicians. The sensors have no screens, which maximizes battery life. By spreading a number of sensors over a series of assets, more comprehensive monitoring is possible without the expense of a fixed system.
With a robust and cost-effective solution such as the Fluke Condition Monitoring system, you have an equipment monitoring solution that is easy to set up and maintain. This in turn allows you to improve upon existing reliability programs, lower costs and increase uptime.
To learn more about Fluke Connect™ Condition Monitoring and how a condition monitoring system will improve your predictive maintenance program, please call our sales team or visit our Fluke Connect page.