1. What does predictive maintenance do for your assets?

2. How does predictive maintenance help you optimize maintenance?

Suppose you know that one of your assets will break down in three months. And that the installation in which you use this asset will be less busy in three weeks. With that information, you not only prevent downtime or failure (and thus possible fines for late delivery). You are also able to plan your maintenance work as efficiently and adequately as possible. You do not perform unnecessary inspection or maintenance work, but exactly what is needed, at the right time. For example, in an average maintenance cycle, mechanics sometimes spend more than half of their time inspecting the condition of assets. And almost a third of the maintenance activities are carried out unnecessarily.

2. Is predictive maintenance affordable?

In many companies, a run-to-failure mentality still prevails: they continue to use their assets until they break down. From a cost point of view, however, that is not so logical. Because, for example, buying a new pump for 100,000 euros every five years is ultimately much more expensive than replacing the bearings on time. That costs a few thousand euros per year in maintenance, while the pump may last three times as long. Moreover, predictive maintenance is becoming increasingly attractive as technological investments fall. For example, the prices of sensors are falling rapidly. Add to that the fact that companies with predictive maintenance save up to 70% on their total maintenance hours and the calculation is quickly made. Predictive maintenance is therefore more than affordable.

3. Can you use predictive maintenance for all your assets?

IIoT sensors use open technology. You can therefore use them widely to monitor the condition of your assets and are not tied to systems from certain suppliers. In addition, you can place the sensors anywhere. Also in difficult to reach or dangerous places, such as pipes in which you want to measure corrosion or installations with explosion hazards. Even in the petrochemical industry, for example, it is now possible to use wireless sensors. With the IIoT sensors, you are also no longer dependent on the manufacturer of your assets to provide you with data about the performance. You collect all the data you need for predictive maintenance yourself. The knowledge you gain with this is and remains available to everyone in your organization who needs it.

5. What does the combination of big data and predictive maintenance mean?

By collecting and combining data from all kinds of sources – also in real time and in large volumes – it is possible to monitor the condition of your assets even better. Think of information about the weather and its influence on your installations. For example, extreme temperatures, gusts of wind or high waves that can damage assets on an oil rig. By then applying machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to all the collected data, your predictive maintenance system becomes increasingly smarter. This allows you to further improve the performance of your assets and the efficiency of your maintenance.

6. How does predictive maintenance help you focus on your core activities?

With predictive maintenance, you don’t have to worry about assets suddenly breaking down. Instead of chasing the facts, you are constantly aware of their condition. Without sending people out for this or being dependent on your asset supplier. You follow the situation remotely and know well in advance when maintenance is needed. This not only saves you resources, time and money, but also gives you the peace of mind to concentrate on your business.

7. What does the future of predictive maintenance look like

The future of predictive maintenance has only just begun, but is already promising. We are already using advanced technologies such as machine learning and AI to make increasingly better and more detailed maintenance predictions. But a step further is that we also receive advice on the maintenance actions that we can best perform. Think also of robots that perform dangerous maintenance tasks themselves. Or smart glasses, with which a specialist can watch remotely with a mechanic who is performing maintenance. At Gemba, we have already developed a smart helmet for a customer in the petrochemical industry. This allows the foreman to follow where a mechanic is located (with a view to safety), watch the work and see whether this person is certified to do this. The possibilities are therefore endless. And the great thing is that you can already benefit from it today.