Condition-Based Maintenance Archives

Introduction Maintenance managers, industrial automation professionals, operations directors, and asset management specialists sometimes feel like they’re juggling flaming torches while riding a unicycle. The pressure is constant, and there’s no shortage of unexpected breakdowns, last-minute patch-ups, or complicated planning sessions that stretch far into the night. These challenges drive a collective longing for technology that can smooth out the rough edges and reduce surprise failures. Within factories and power plants, production lines move faster than ever, feeding a global appetite for everything from consumer electronics to automobile components. If a system falters, daily output and safety can both take a...

Introduction Running a power plant without minimized blackouts and breakdowns is like keeping a complex machine on its best behavior. But how do you pull it off? Well, with good spare parts inventory management. Why? Because power plants are complex, interconnected systems. They are like the heart of an electricity network. When something goes wrong, it's an attack on the grid. And even a single component failure can quickly snowball into significant operational disruptions. Unplanned outages? They’re like those surprise bills that ruin your month. Nobody wants that. So, the strategy to maintain inventory needs to go beyond and stand...

You rely on your assets, and you need to know if they are at risk of failure or degradation. Even the most well-maintained machines eventually break down. Unpredictable failure leads to expensive repairs, lost productivity, and even safety-related hazards. Before condition-based monitoring and predictive maintenance were feasible, companies estimated failure rates based on historical data. They knew, for instance, that a given asset might perform for 20,000 hours, so they planned for downtime between 15,000 and 25,000 hours. They had to manage their assets reactively and prepare for disruption. Today, we have better technology like sensors, 5G, and predictive maintenance...

Condition-based maintenance (CBM) differs from other approaches to maintenance in that it involves monitoring an asset's actual real-time conditions and operating parameters to determine what maintenance is needed. CBM ensures that maintenance is performed only when certain indicators show a decline in performance or an impending failure. Because maintenance is performed on an as-needed basis, the time between repairs is extended. Today we will discuss various condition-based maintenance benefits. We will then explain how manufacturers and maintenance managers can easily incorporate CBM by using a top-shelf platform like LLumin's CMMS+. What Is Condition-Based Maintenance? Condition-based maintenance is a method of...