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Is investing in predictive maintenance for industrial machinery really worth it?

Lens Muller

Lens Muller

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I work in a manufacturing company where we still rely primarily on traditional maintenance practices, meaning that equipment is usually serviced only after a failure occurs. However, unplanned production downtime is becoming increasingly expensive, and we are more frequently considering the introduction of systems for monitoring machine conditions and predicting potential failures before they happen.
While researching this topic, I came across the website https://theindustrialist.net/ which covers various topics related to industry, automation, and modern manufacturing technologies.
This made me wonder whether any of you have already implemented predictive maintenance using sensors, data analytics, or the Industrial Internet of Things

How much were production downtime and maintenance costs reduced after introducing such a system, and did the investment prove to be worthwhile for small and medium-sized manufacturing companies?

Any advice or practical experience would be greatly appreciated.
 
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Compare the annual cost of the breakdown to the annual cost of the PM service. Also categorize the breakdown and would the PM have averted the breakdown.

This forum is not a manufacturing forum, so it's not likely that you question will get much attention. I am a retired manufacturing engineer of 40+ years, so your question is of some interest to me.
 
having been in the engineering department of a Nuclear Submarine I have participated in a rigid PMS programs. It wouldn't do to have a failure on a multi-billion dollar submarine while on patrol. A lot of the maintenance seemed mundane @ the time but I can honestly say we never had a failure of a component that was caused by normal usage and wear and tear. We even used sound level analysis to predict when bearings in machines were starting to show sign of needing replacement so that this type of maintenance could be done when Not under way. Another way to look @ Preventive maintenance is your car(s). How often do you change the oil, air filter fuel filter, flush the coolant etc. etc. This is all preventive maintenance. Just as the Navy doesn't want a submarine to have failure when they are on a mission neither do we want our mode of transportation interrupted so we do the maintenance. necessary to protect our investment on our cars and truck. Simple things like changing the air filters on our heating and AC system and cleaning the cooling coils is a form of preventive maintenance. That we do to keep those system running at peak efficiency which should prolong the life of the equipment and reduce the operating costs.

There is a lot of information about things like MTBF(mean time between failure) and MTBR mean time between repairs) online and this is where I would start to look if I were going to set up a PMS system.
 
I learned early on in the heavy construction equipment field that regularly scheduled, routine maintenance, was cheaper than "failure / repair" every time. The cost of replacing a Cat D9 transfer case would more than pay for a college student's part time job greasing zerk fittings. We kept charts (pre-internet) on every machine and documented what was done and when. There was a "full maintenance" performed every so-many-hours of operation. We had machines that were still making us money long after their expected life cycle.
 
We have a local industrial company that has went all in with AI. It monitors all their machinery, vibration sensors, temp sensors and tied into all the VFD's.

A part will arrive at the storeroom, storeroom has no idea why. Couple days later a work order will be printed out. Such and such part needs to be changed on such and such day. They do what the AI program tells them to do.

Not a fan of AI, but its here to stay.
 
I'm not sure that predictive maintenance is going to be cheaper than preventative/routine maintenance. Machine failures are going to unexpectedly happen, and it certainly would help with planning for the downtime. Most shops I've worked in/around would rather plan their downtime for PM vs doing it when failures happened. Many shops rely on vendor support and a machine breaking down in the middle of production schedule wouldn't necessarily mean that the vendor will get there anytime soon or will have the parts they need.
 
I agree on a good PM schedule, I'm afraid this company will adopt it because that company did and claimed to save a dollar.

What I seen from Rockwell today is mind blowing. It checks for motor vibration, soft foot, Amp draw, running temp. Takes it 15 minutes to learn a new motor and develop a baseline. It will also be tied in to the work order system. It will have the ability to assign the task to the qualified person who can do it the fastest and with the best record of no call backs for that issue. (I don't like that part)
 
I prefer to keep machinery greased and oil changed on time. Try to check antifreeze in the fall. Before starting a tractor I do a visual on tires, check water, oil, hyd fluid, and generally there is a transmission dipstick. It is akin to doing the pretrip on my bus every morning before going on the route. My current bus has a light check switch that goes through all the lights, turn, stop, brake, clearance, hi/low, etc. Sure makes it easier than the old bus that I had to turn on turn lights and get out and check front and back and then turn on the other.
 
I don't see that adopting Predictive Maintenance is worth it for a home wood shop.

We are likely the only ones using the tools, and when compared with industry our use is quite small in comparison. Since we are the only tool users, it's much easier for us to notice that - 1 We haven't oiled the bearings this year, 2 We haven't waxed the cast iron surfaces and the wood is getting harder to slide across it. 3 The power cord is cracking and needs replacement, etc. There are similar situations that can happen with many of our tools, but getting into predictive maintenance programs for our wood shop tools just seems a waste to me, when we are the only ones using the tools. I clean, oil, and wax on a roughly regular basis, and when I do it's usually done about two times a year.

If I notice a problem when using a tool, I frequently fix it at that time or when I finish using the tool on the project being worked on. I keep spares of things or parts that tend to need often replacement too. But I don't have or see a need for a predictive maintenance program. It's good for industry, but not for my woodshop or metal shop.

In industry, where maintaining production keeps the customers happy, and unplanned down time is expensive, I do see a need for it.

Charley
 
When I was working, they only repaired machines when they broke down, and yes, it was more expensive than making preventive maintenace, because they worked 24 hours 6 days a week. The problem was that when they broke they did it at the worst time, leaving customers without their orders, a more expensive reparation, and more time with the machine stopped than if they made preventive maintenance where the stop could be scheduled, customers warned, and so forth. The maintenace manager tried to convince the CEO for more than 10 years about implementing preventive maintenance to no avail, finally he quit fed up with it.
 
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