Condition Monitoring

Condition monitoring is the method of assessing components within industrial equipment to identify any changes that occur within the machinery which typically indicates there is a problem. Machine condition monitoring supports a variety of goals for manufacturers, including reducing and eliminating unplanned machine downtime, optimizing machine health and performance, improving quality, and reducing scrap parts, driving a higher performing maintenance program based on accurate machine data, and enabling automation based on real-time machine condition data.

Real-time monitoring of the health and condition of your machines enables smart manufacturing. This allows you to predict and protect against potential equipment failures before they have a chance to impact quality and maintenance costs. Online condition monitoring technologies help engineers find, diagnose, and prioritize problems from manufacturing lines across the whole company.

Modern ongoing real time monitoring means that engineers can schedule planned maintenance as required, rather than simply scheduling maintenance for a fixed date. This allows maintenance to be scheduled at a more efficient time, as and when required, leading to less downtime.

Condition monitoring can also prevent other components in a machine from failing as a knock-on effect from single part breaking down. This use of predictive maintenance is a big step forward from reactive maintenance, which involves running a machine to end of life and then replacing either the whole unit or its components. This heightens efficiency and removes unexpected downtimes from a work schedule as well as minimizing inspection procedures.

With the monitoring system installed, you can begin to measure the performance of your entire base. The data collected can include vibration, rotor speed, temperature, and process sensor data. This will give you a starting point against which you can monitor your equipment against its best operating conditions going forward.

Electrical monitoring involves the use of the principles of deviation in electrical parameters to find defects or failures. These parameters include capacitance, frequency response, induction, pulse response and resistance to identify potential issues. The use of this method ensures the measurement of degradation trends to determine whether action is required to prevent system failure.

The system can now monitor your systems using sensors and condition monitoring software that will evaluate performance and provide diagnostic feedback. The system can also send out an alert when an operational failure is detected and assess the data to determine if immediate action is required or if the machine can continue operation until maintenance is scheduled.