If you’re running a business that relies on tools, then maintenance matters. The more expensive and complex those tools are, the greater the degree to which this is so.
Of course, the best kind of maintenance is predictive maintenance. If you can address the root cause of a malfunction before it actually happens, then you’ll be able to avoid downtime.
Doing this successfully and efficiently means gathering information about the internal states of your machines. And that, for the most part, means deploying sensors.
The Link Between Sensing and Predictive Maintenance
How can we tell when a machine is likely to fail? While the exact symptoms might vary from one machine and situation to another, we might look to local temperature, pressure, noise levels and vibrations in order to establish which machines are at risk. When we already have data about machines that have gone wrong, we might have a better idea of what to look for.
Why Construction and Warehouse Assets Need Real-Time Monitoring
Certain kinds of machines are more essential than others. We need to know immediately when they begin to exhibit the warning signs we’re looking for. In a warehouse and construction setting, this might mean looking at cranes, conveyor belts, forklifts, and HVAC systems. When we can monitor these in real time, we can respond to problems more quickly.
What’s more, we can prevent safety risks from occurring, and thereby protect our workforce. This is a legal responsibility imposed on employers, not just in the United States, but elsewhere in the developed world. When you protect workers, they’re not only more productive; they’re also less likely to sue you.
From Raw Data to Actionable Maintenance Decisions
In the modern age, we tend to sift through sensor data with the help of machine learning. We don’t need to understand why a particular set of signs leads to a malfunction, we just need a level of risk associated with a machine, so that we can allocate maintenance resources accordingly.
The machine learning algorithms in question are not a substitute for human judgment when it comes to sensing danger and allocating resources. But they can be a worthwhile supplement for it.
Building a Stronger Maintenance Strategy Through Better Sensing
The sensors we choose really matter. Different kinds of sensor can detect different kinds of failure. In most cases, a combination of them is appropriate. That way, we can reduce the likelihood of false readings, and build redundancy into the system. For example, if you’re building a boiler, you might need to know not just the temperature of the water within, but also the pressure of it. You’ll also need to be sure that the sensors you choose can cope with the extremes they’re likely to be faced with.