3/2020 www.maintworld.

com

maintenance & asset management

Maintenance
and reliability
in the pandemic p 8
PEOPLE, THE MOST VALUABLE ASSET IN YOUR ORGANIZATION PG 24 UNITED NATIONS OF AUTOMATION PG 32 ČSPÚ 20 YEARS OF CZECH INDUSTRIAL MAINTENANCE PG 46
You need knowledge. Your colleagues need knowledge.
Techniques, solutions, strategy, and the business case - it is all
critical knowledge.

Whether your focus is condition monitoring or the bigger

picture of reliability improvement, our websites, live events,
and worldwide communities provide easy access to the
information you need.

We invite you to be part of MOBIUS CONNECT. With MOBIUS

CONNECT you can...
• Learn and share
• Customize your learning pathway
• Continue your educational journey, live or online
• Engage with industry leaders from around the world

The maintenance and

www.mobiusconnect.com reliability industry’s
professional network.
 Find
Your
Learning
Path

Join thousands of other industry professionals by creating your free

custom profile today at https://mobiusconnect.com/

DOWNLOAD THE MOBILE APP

Turn Your Remote Workers
Into Remote Experts
Now more than ever we need to make our workforce more
efficient, productive, and safe to stay ahead in this current
climate. With Remote Expert, companies with a highly mobile
workforce are able to do just that. Learn how connected field
worker solutions enable organizations to keep more accurate
records of where their workforce are, and at what times, and
allow them to more intelligently schedule worker tasks.

Learn more about this and other digital transformation

solutions by checking out ICONICS’ virtual event:

iconics.com/Connect2020
Automatically Detect Faults

ROI Typically Within 12 to 18 Months

Library of Preconfigured Fault Rules

Rich Visualization and Reporting

Predict, Reduce and Eliminate Downtime

Improve Maintenance Efficiency

EDITORIAL

People are Key –

Also in the Digital Age

THE TREND OF DIGITALIZATION IN

MAINTENANCE IS definitely pushing
through. And the proof is in the pud-
ding, because the first virtual con-
ference on digital strategies and new
technologies in maintenance & asset
management, Asset Performance 4.0,
welcomed over 670 participants who
enjoyed more than 100 presentations
and keynotes on the future of main-
tenance.
In his opening keynote, Knud
Lasse Lueth, CEO of IOT Analytics,
stated that an overwhelming amount
of companies say Industry 4.0 creates
value for them. 78 percent of compa-
nies experimenting with 4.0 technologies see a positive ROI change. But they still
face major challenges. It is no surprise that the main challenge is investing in peo-
ple, training and cultural change. In an all-technology era, the human factor still
stays the most important.
This vision is shared by Terrence O’Hanlon of ReliabilityWeb: “You need tech-
nology and processes, but ultimately, you need leadership because everything
depends on the people”, he stated in his keynote, “4.0 technology alone will not get
you reliability, the first step is to empower your workforce.”

I takes two to tango

Where technicians in the past manually inspected machines and manually sched-
uled repairs, 4.0 technologies allow us to let machines do the thinking: they can de-
tect the failures, report them automatically, and, when needed, schedule in a main-
tenance intervention automatically. In coming years, we will depend more and
more on Artificial Intelligence to tell us what to do and when to do it. But before
we are there, the algorithms will need to learn from the knowledge and experience
in the head of our technicians and engineers. And the technicians and engineers
will need to learn how to learn from the algorithms.

Huge gap
Research by BEMAS, the Belgian Maintenance Association, with some companies
adopting maintenance and industry 4.0 technology, revealed a huge gap between
what workers and managers should know about AI and their current competency
level.
Covid-19 accelerated the digital revolution, which is having an impact on 4.0,
too. Remote working inspires many companies for having remote monitoring. As
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella put it at Asset performance 4.0: “We have seen two

48
years’ worth of digital transformation in two months”. The ball of digitalisation is
rolling. If you are active in the field of maintenance, reliability and asset manage-
ment, then it is time to step up your digital skills… Acoustic signals are
grouped into three risk
classes depending on their
Wim Vancauwenberghe number, activity, intensity
Maintenance Evangelist. and location.

6 maintworld 3/2020
 IN THIS ISSUE 3/2020

30 Historically, condition
monitoring of balanced
machine bogie wheel bearings
has been challenging.

38 The best organizations

reduce reactive maintenance
to less than 10 percent of all
work.

8 Maintenance and reliability in the

pandemic
26 Low Rotation Speed Machine
Control Using Ultrasound
38 Reliability and Maintenance (RM)
Management: Are You Doing
the Wrong Things?
14 ssisting Maintenance Technicians in
28 Wireless Sensors Can Now Replace
Today’s Work Environment Traditional Systems in Condition
Monitoring
42 Disaggregated Asset Structure
and Taxonomy
18 Achieve Greater Efficiencies in
Maintenance Scheduling Automatically
30 Detection of Bearing Defects on
Balanced Machine Bogies
46 ČSPÚ 20 years of Czech
industrial maintenance
22 Failures and Diagnostics of
Asynchronous Motors.
32 United Nations of Automation
48 Acoustic Emission Testing

24 People, the Most Valuable Asset

in your Organization
34 The Skills Gap and the
Covid-19 Impact

Issued by Promaint (Finnish Maintenance Society), Messuaukio 1, 00520 Helsinki, Finland tel. +358 29 007 4570 Publisher Omnipress Oy,
Väritehtaankatu 8, 4. kerros, 01300 Vantaa, tel. +358 20 6100, [email protected], www.omnipress.fi Editor-in-chief Nina Garlo-Melkas
tel. +358 50 36 46 491, [email protected], Advertisements Kai Portman, Sales Director, tel. +358 358 44 763 2573, [email protected]
Layout Menu Meedia, www.menuk.ee Subscriptions and Change of Address members [email protected], non-members tilaajapalvelu@
media.fi Printed by Reusner, www.reusner.ee Frequency 4 issues per year, ISSN L 1798-7024, ISSN 1798-7024 (print), ISSN 1799-8670 (online).

3/2020 maintworld 7
 ASSET MANAGEMENT

Maintenance and Reliability

in the Pandemic
A well-run maintenance and reliability improvement program must monitor the
economic and competitive environment and adjust accordingly. We must ask
questions such as: can we invest more money or be conservative, is the goal
higher production or cost reduction, and so on. That could never be truer about the
situation we face today.

JASON TRANTER,
ARP-L
Mobius Institute

IT IS WORTH CONSIDERING two possible

approaches: a conservative approach to
weather the storm, and an aggressive
approach to take advantage of vulnera-
ble competitors.

A conservative approach
If the plan is to “hunker down and
weather the storm”, then it is important
that the reliability improvement strat-
egy is adjusted accordingly. The focus
will be on minimizing costs.
Let’s quickly review some opportu-
nities.

EQUIPMENT FAILURE
If we experience fewer failures, then we
avoid the costs of repairing the equip-
ment: parts, materials, and overtime
labor. ity improvement tasks (eliminating the the inventory as an asset and thus tax
Pareto analysis can tell you which root cause) and we can ensure we have must be paid. If you are holding parts or
items of equipment are costing you the condition monitoring and inspections materials that have not been fully depre-
most. If our Pareto analysis only tells in place so that we can see the problems ciated but are no longer required in your
us which items fail most frequently, that coming. plant then you may be able to sell those
will be useful, but if we know the costs Equipment failures also impact pro- parts, even if it is just for scrap. They may
associated with each failure, then we duction output and potentially safety/ not be required to be held in inventory for
will know exactly which items of equip- environment, but we will discuss that a few reasons:
ment we should focus on. separately. • They are too old to be used
Once we know which equipment is • You have changed the design of the
the biggest drain on our maintenance STOREROOM INVENTORY process and those parts/spares will
budget, we can investigate why the There is a great deal of money tied up in not be required
equipment is failing, and what we can spares/material inventory and the hold- • You are holding such a high volume
do about it. We can implement proac- ing costs can be a drain on the business. that a reduction would not have an
tive steps (lubrication, cleaning, etc.) In many countries/regions the tax impact for a very long time (but you
we can consider cost-effective reliabil- system requires organizations to treat will need to weigh up the benefits

8 maintworld 3/2020
 ASSET MANAGEMENT

of selling those assets versus the there are fewer failures, which we have
likelihood that you will have to already discussed. But if you have an
repurchase them in the future) effective condition monitoring program,
It is also important to evaluate where and an effective planning and scheduling
the inventory is being held, and the system, then you can perform the correc-
restocking policy. tive maintenance work more efficiently
and avoid the necessity to perform that
HOLD INVENTORY WITH work outside of normal hours.
A TRUSTED VENDOR
If you have a clear understanding of the QUALITY LOSSES
likelihood of equipment failure and the Every organization wants high first pass
lead time available to order the neces- quality, but it is especially important
sary parts, then you can consider hold- when the organization must reduce its
ing stock with a supplier (i.e. at their costs. You must understand the needs
facility and not yours and you do not of your business so that you understand
pay for them until you need them) and the importance of improving quality. The
you can reduce the quantity ordered costs associated with poor quality can
when stocks are low. It is unfortunately include:
common for purchasing departments 1. Wasting precious materials if the
to order higher volumes, especially if product is scrapped
there is a volume discount. When times 2. Wasting energy (and incurring
are tough, it is even more important to overtime labor costs) during
review those decisions. rework or catchup production
3. Regulatory fines and other
KNOWING WHICH SPARES potential costs when disposing of
WILL BE REQUIRED poor-quality product
One key element of this is the require- There are two basic ways to address
ment to understand the future demand this issue. One is to wear an Engineer’s
for spares and material. If the plant hat and look at the logic of how quality
suffers a high level of reactive mainte- is being affected, and the second is to
nance, then we will need quick access to wear an Journalists’ hat and engage with
the necessary parts and materials which people to understand what they have
probably means holding a larger inven- observed that impacts quality.
tory. Pareto analysis will tell you which Ultimately, we need to perform root
equipment fails most frequently which cause analysis to understand what is at
helps you to plan which spares must be the heart of quality losses so it can under-
held on site. But Pareto analysis is based stand what we can do to eliminate them.
on historical data - we are worried a service, wastewater treatment for
about the future. WASTE example, then the requirement to
Every business needs to reduce waste, minimize downtime will not change.
SEE PROBLEMS COMING but it is especially important when the Only you understand your organiza-
With an effective condition monitoring focus is on reducing costs. Downtime, tion. If reducing downtime is still criti-
program, we can see the problems com- quality losses, inefficiencies, and excess cally important, then all the normal goals
ing with enough time to order the parts spares/material inventory are all forms apply. Reducing equipment failure and
without having to pay a premium for of waste which we have already discussed. effective planning and scheduling
the parts or their transportation. Pareto If you are engaging with operators (supported by effective condition moni-
analysis, criticality analysis, and a clear and technicians and asking them for toring) will help you reduce downtime.
understanding of failure modes will their observations and ideas for im- What about safety and the environ-
enable us to review whether we have the provement, you will learn about all ment?
appropriate condition monitoring and forms of waste. If you conduct plant Safety, environmental protection, and
inspections in place. walk-throughs and you stop and regulatory compliance apply regardless of
If we can reduce the number of fail- observe people going about their work, the business conditions, so we must never
ures through improved reliability, and you will observe many forms of waste. lose focus on those critical areas.
gain an earlier warning of future fail- Your challenge is to assess which cost
ures, we can reduce our inventory and the business the most and then set WHAT NOT TO DO
order fewer replacements when stock about eliminating those forms of waste. A common reaction to the demand to
gets low. reduce costs is to cut out all training and
WHAT ABOUT DOWNTIME REDUCTION? reduce the maintenance department
OVERTIME REDUCTION Downtime may be more tolerable if headcount.
Overtime that results from equipment there is reduced demand for the prod- Given that the author runs a training
breakdowns will obviously be reduced if uct being manufactured. If you provide business, I obviously have a conflict of

10 maintworld 3/2020
 ASSET MANAGEMENT

a great opportunity to leap forward and

grab market share. Who knows, maybe
we can become strong enough to acquire
a competitor.
One of the ways to grab market share
is to offer a higher quality product, in
greater volume, at a lower cost.

HIGHER QUALITY
You must examine what it takes to im-
prove quality and determine whether you
have any influence over those factors.
We discussed this in the previous section,
although in that case our primary goal
was to reduce costs.

GREATER VOLUME
There is a relationship between product
cost and volume. If you reduce your
internal costs in the ways discussed in
the previous section and you can produce
more product, you can reduce the price
of your product or service and still be
profitable. If you reduce the price of your
product or service, and there is additional
demand for that product or service, then
there will be a need to increase your
capacity to deliver on the higher volume.
Equipment reliability is obviously
important when there is a requirement
to increase output. But there are several
factors that ultimately impact on output:

INCREASE THE OVERALL EQUIPMENT

EFFECTIVENESS (OEE)
The OEE is a measure of our ability to
produce the saleable product. An OEE
of 100% means the equipment is always
available, it is able to operate at 100% of
EVERY ORGANIZATION WANTS HIGH FIRST PASS QUALITY, the desired rate, and there are no quality
BUT IT IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT WHEN THE ORGANIZATION losses. We have discussed quality but let
us take a quick look at the other factors.
MUST REDUCE ITS COSTS. Obviously, reliability affects the
availability. Eliminating the root causes
interest, however if people are not THE MAIN MESSAGE of failure will increase the reliability of
skilled or qualified to perform their There are basically two ways to reduce the equipment. Condition monitoring,
roles they will make mistakes which costs: cut and slash versus improving effective planning and scheduling, and
will cost the business more money. efficiency and reducing waste. effective spares management ensure that
The good news is that virtual train- History has told us that the organiza- periods of downtime are minimized.
ing, and elearning, are less expensive tions that cut and slash do not succeed But there are other factors that affect
than instructor-led public training. unless the situation is truly urgent. Im- availability and production rate:
Reducing headcount is also coun- proving efficiency, improving quality • We must minimize the number of
terproductive. You need people to and throughput, and reducing waste in minor stoppages. They will not be
perform the proactive tasks of clean- all its forms (which includes equipment recorded officially as “downtime,”
ing, lubricating, adjusting, inspect- failures) not only helps an organization but they still reduce our ability to
ing, and monitoring equipment con- through a crisis but it sets it up for fu- produce product. Minor stoppages
dition in order to avoid future fail- ture success. may be due to reliability issues,
ures. When you cut the headcount, operator error, and for several oth-
not only does impact morale, but the An aggressive approach er reasons. You must understand
number of equipment failures will When the market is down, and your what those reasons are. Pareto
increase. competitors are struggling, it presents analysis can help in this regard,

3/2020 maintworld 11
 ASSET MANAGEMENT

but only if the length of the delay

and the reason for the delay are
recorded.
• We must minimize changeover
losses. If you use the same equip-
ment to produce different prod-
ucts, and there is a delay while
equipment is set up for the new
product run, then it is critically
important to reduce those delays.
The best analogy is the racecar
pit crew. They can change the
tires, refuel, and perform repairs
in a fraction of the time it would
take you or me because they have
streamlined the process and
they are prepared before the car
reaches the pit. We must investi-
gate how we can achieve optimal
levels of efficiency.
• We must also examine the pro-
duction rate, i.e., the number
of widgets per hour. Why is the
equipment unable to operate at
the desired rate? Is it possible
to operate at a higher rate? We
must answer those questions and
address the root causes.
A traditional reliability specialist
might look at these items and believe
that they are outside their sphere of
influence and experience to attempt to
address these issues. The author hum- • A plant that understands reli- operator driven infant mortality
bly disagrees. If you engage with people, ability theory will utilize condi- failures.
ask for their suggestions and ideas, but tion-based maintenance and thus
do not wear maintenance/reliability perform less time-based mainte- LOWER COST
blinkers, you will find ways to eliminate nance. As a result, less work will There is a great deal you can do to cre-
waste and increase production output. be required during the outage. ate an environment where your compa-
If you are smart enough to be involved • A plant with an effective planning ny can reduce the price of its products
with maintenance and reliability, you process, with written procedures or cost of your service.
will be able to handle any opportunities for every task, and kitting and As described above in the “con-
for improvement that are revealed. staging, will ensure that the time servative approach” section, you can
during the outage is used effi- eliminate failures and waste to reduce
INCREASE PLANT CAPACITY ciently. the cost of doing business. It is worth
Plant capacity can be affected by sea- • A plant with highly skilled and noting, however, if you increase output
sonal factors, limited product demand, motivated maintenance tech- without increasing overhead costs, the
and other factors. But one of the major nicians who have the training cost-per-unit-product goes down even
contributors to restricted plant capacity and tools to perform precision before you focus on cost reduction.
is scheduled maintenance (shutdowns, maintenance, will perform the
turnarounds, and outages). necessary work correctly the first What will you do?
At one extreme, a plant with poor time. Rework will not be required, You must decide what changes you can
reliability, a lack of understanding of and infant mortality failures will make in the shortest period of time (giv-
the failure mechanisms and reliability be eliminated. The plant will en that this is an urgent situation), and
theory, and ineffective planning, will start up the first time and begin the relative importance of quality ver-
suffer frequent long outages. producing quality products more sus output versus cost. The more you
At the other extreme: quickly. understand about your organization, its
• A plant with higher reliability will • And a plant with documented goals, constraints, risks, and opportuni-
have less work to perform during startup procedures will ensure ties, the more likely you will be to sur-
the outage and the time between the equipment is not stressed vive this difficult period, and potentially
outages can be extended. during startup thus eliminating flourish.

12 maintworld 3/2020
 YOUR PARTNER IN
ULTRASOUND
INSTRUMENTS
Leak Detection
Bearing Condition Monitoring
Bearing Lubrication
Steam Traps & Valves
Electrical Inspection

TRAINING
CAT & CAT II Ultrasound Training
Onsite Implementation Training
Application Specific Training

CONTINUOUS SUPPORT
Free support & license-free software
Online Courses
Free access to our Learning Center
(webinars, articles, tutorials)

UE SYSTEMS
www.uesystems.com CONTACT US FOR AN
[email protected] ONSITE DEMONSTRATION
 PARTNER ARTICLE

MELISSA TOPP,
Senior Director of
Global Marketing,
ICONICS,
[email protected]

Safety (and Productivity) in Numbers

ASSISTING MAINTENANCE TECHNICIANS IN TODAY’S WORK ENVIRONMENT

The working environment for today’s maintenance technicians is tricky. The

COVID-19 pandemic has certainly changed the way that many people perform
their jobs around the world. At the same time, many maintenance technicians
may have found that their workload hasn’t changed too much, or may have
increased due to related factors. In either case, the work still needs to be done
and it’s often reassuring for on-site techs to know, sometimes through modern
technology, that they’re not alone in their responsibilities.

14 maintworld 3/2020
 PARTNER ARTICLE

ICONICS (https://iconics.com), a global contains a set of digital tools that provide knowledge sharing. This solution can
automation software developer and mem- real-time monitoring of field equipment, be used through technicians’ existing
ber of the Mitsubishi Electric Group, has real-time monitoring of service worker mobile devices, as well as through head-
created multiple software tools that can availability and location, and alerts to mounted computing devices such as Re-
help maintenance technicians, and other field workers when field equipment re- alWear’s HMT-1, for instance.
employees throughout an organization, quires service.
remain productive while simultaneously In addition, CFSWorX can be inte- NOTE: ICONICS is offering FREE use of
adhering to current social distancing grated with Remote Expert assistance its CFSWorX solution for the remainder
requirements. A specific combination of features. In this challenging time, compa- of 2020 for new applications. Those inter-
these solutions; featuring connected field ested can inquire about the free trial offer
worker/remote expert capability, IIoT at https://iconics.com/CFSWorX-free.
connectivity, and fault detection and diag-
nostics (FDD); is specifically recommend- THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS IIoT Connectivity
ed for those involved with maintenance
management and operations.
CHANGED THE WAY THAT How does IIoT connectivity assist with
these same safety and productivity con-

Connected Field Worker

MANY PEOPLE PERFORM THEIR cerns? IoT-integrated software can pro-
vide the trusted connection to an organi-
/Remote Expert JOBS AROUND THE WORLD. zation’s equipment to provide extensive
Since the emergence of the COVID-19 remote monitoring and KPI analysis,
pandemic, many organizations with main- which can assist in maintenance task
tenance requirements have sought the nies are embracing video conferencing, assignment. Real-time conditions can
right combination of employee collabora- chat, and dispatching of remote experts be determined off site, which can some-
tion mixed with required social distanc- to resolve issues and provide support and times reduce the need for on-site inves-
ing. To aid in these efforts, ICONICS has collaboration. CFSWorX with Remote tigation or determine a reduced number
introduced its CFSWorX™ connected field Expert functionality helps to guide field of required personnel. IoT-connected
service solution, with integrated remote technicians and customers with live an- software also helps to provide the up-
expert feature. CFSWorX empowers or- notations, as well as utilizes live video to-the-minute detailed information
ganizations to alert the right field worker and audio streaming with remote experts that maintenance personnel need when
to respond to equipment service needs. It to improve issue resolution and remote they are required to be on site. ICONICS

3/2020 maintworld 15
 PARTNER ARTICLE

IoTWorX™ IoT software for any edge Connections for the Task
device provides the bridge between an at Hand
enterprise and ICONICS’ HMI/SCADA, The successful maintenance depart-
data analytics, and mobile solutions run- ments, and organizations in general, that
ning in the cloud. Customers are able to emerge from this global pandemic will be
take advantage of key IoT technologies those that can make rational, data-driven
including connectivity to digital assets, decisions to safely keep their business
secure cloud communications, and built- processes up and running. Such decision-
in real-time data visualization. making is enabled through vendors such
as ICONICS and through modern soft-
NOTE: ICONICS has announced virtual ware solutions such as CFSWorX, IoT-
machine offers on the Microsoft Azure WorX, and FDDWorX. This combination
Marketplace that contain the complete of software tools can help maintenance
installation of GENESIS64™, Hyper departments triage which job tickets ab-
Historian™, IoTWorX, and AnalytiX® solutely require on-site technicians, help
Suite, currently available for the recently decide which field worker is best to assign
released version 10.96.1 and previous and seamlessly notify that person with
version 10.96. Leveraging these virtual failures or excessive use of energy. When the required details, provide real-time
machine offers on Azure accelerates the equipment failures occur, the solution equipment operational data (as well as
onboarding of new projects or lets users provides automatic guidance to a list of schematics, if necessary) via IIoT connec-
quickly test out new functionality without causes sorted by probability, resulting tivity, and even provide the on-site tech
lengthy installation times or having to in reduced downtime and lower costs to with connection to a remote coworker
procure new hardware or equipment from diagnose and repair. who can apply their own years of exper-
IT. Visit https://iconics.com/azureoffers FDDWorX collects equipment pro- tise and familiarity to the task at hand.
for more info. cess data using industry-standard data Maintenance tasks can often seem
collection mechanisms. It can automati- like an individual effort, perhaps even
Fault Detection and cally generate alert notifications and more so during the pandemic. In these
Diagnostics (FDD) reports. Operators can use real-time challenging times, through technology
In tandem with IoTWorX IoT connectiv- displays to analyze relevant data such solutions such as those from ICONICS,
ity integration, ICONICS’ Fault Detec- as the status of equipment operating it may be reassuring to know that even
tion and Diagnostics (FDD) technology outside rules parameters. FDDWorX when you’re alone on a job, you still have
can help determine whether certain helps organizations evolve from a legacy connections. To see these technologies in
conditions warrant an on-site technician break-fix maintenance method to a more action, check out ICONICS’ virtual event,
in the first place. ICONICS FDDWorX™ proactive one, using insights from data Connect 2020: Digital Transformation
incorporates algorithms that weigh the analyses to make smarter technician Solutions for a New Normal, streaming
probability of faults and advises manage- assignments and decisions, including on October 15. Register ahead of time or
ment, operators, and maintenance per- whether or not to even send personnel view the sessions on demand by visiting
sonnel of actions to prevent equipment on site at all. https://iconics.com/Connect2020.

16 maintworld 3/2020
 PARTNER ARTICLE

ACTENUM CORPORATION

Achieve Greater
[email protected]

Efficiencies in Maintenance
Scheduling Automatically
Across a range of industries around the world, Plant MECHANICAL UNDERPERFORMANCE
can lead to decreased efficiencies,
Operations have heavy investments in expensive and machine failures can result in un-
machinery that are critical to their success. Meticu- planned downtime and lost produc-
lous planned and reactive maintenance of this ma- tion, which can be financially devas-
tating in today’s competitive market.
chinery and infrastructure is a key component of Inconsistent maintenance of equip-
continuous and efficient operations. And in today’s ment can cause not only problems
with production runs but can also
environment, any advantage can mean the difference have serious impact on the lifespan of
between gaining new work and losing a customer. the equipment.

18 maintworld 3/2020
 PARTNER ARTICLE

automation at their fingertips and use questions

Daily Hurdles to Overcome software’s predictive capabilities to cre- • It enables the creation and evalu-
A maintenance manager’s typical day ate an effective and efficient schedule of ation of schedule scenarios that
involves scheduling required mainte- maintenance work orders. may be used to plan for any con-
nance work by assigning it to the avail- tingency
able maintenance crews, and other Better Maintenance from
resources. Over a typical week, a man- Scheduling Software The Power of Automation
ager may have to schedule hundreds of Today, advanced maintenance schedul- Maintenance teams are made up of
these maintenance activities, some of ing software—incorporating AI-powered intelligent individuals. But their time
which may be critical. But what if the optimization—effectively addresses the could be going to waste when it’s spent
software used to build and manage the challenges of scheduling maintenance on the clerical tasks that keep a mainte-
maintenance schedules is out of date or activities and provides answers to ques- nance program going. This means that
unsophisticated? Then there will be a lot tions. Such software enables a mainte- the more automation available to build
of manual work being done, and because nance manager to schedule much more and manage the maintenance schedule,
there is no time to carry out the required rapidly and efficiently: the less time the team will waste on
analysis of the schedule, important • It empowers management to keeping the wheels turning, so they are
questions will go unanswered, like the determine the best time to take free to complete work orders and keep
ones below: equipment down for maintenance machinery running smoothly when it’s
1. How will maintenance activities • It is sensitive to production re- needed. That’s where today’s schedul-
impact production? For example, quirements and schedules ing software outshines traditional tools.
will today’s maintenance shut- • It is aware of production run gaps Modern scheduling software streamlines
down cause a production problem and slow downs the maintenance needed to keep opera-
next week? • It takes availability of certified and tions running and eliminates the need
2. Can we reduce non-productive skilled technicians into account for multiple additional applications
time a little more and still com- • It considers the parts and tools re- or spreadsheets and time-consuming
plete the work on time? How quired for each maintenance task manual calculations that are used to as-
much money will that save? • It links schedules to user-defined semble and manage a schedule.
3. If we have any medical issues and Key Performance Indicators Today’s scheduling software elimi-
crew members are out, what will (KPIs) that may be used for pre- nates the guesswork from manual
be the impact on the schedule? dictive analysis and to answer processes and ensures that no key steps
4. Should I move up any work on are missed. Not only are process errors
specific equipment to lessen the eliminated, the manpower that was once
impact on the plant production?
5. What’s the best response to un-
METICULOUS PLANNED AND allocated to these repetitive steps can
now be devoted to other aspects of the
anticipated events, such as a REACTIVE MAINTENANCE plant’s operations. Furthermore, mod-
breakdown or outage that we can’t
control?
IS A KEY COMPONENT OF ern scheduling software presents crucial
information in real time for evaluation,
To ensure reliable ongoing produc-
tion, maintenance managers need to
CONTINUOUS AND EFFICIENT so management can develop alternative
action plans when necessary to ensure
have a higher degree of scheduling OPERATIONS. critical targets are not missed.

3/2020 maintworld 19
 PARTNER ARTICLE

Faster and More Flexible process units are kept running, regula-
Scheduling software with built-in op- tory requirements are effectively met,
timization capabilities assigns tasks to and systems are responsive and highly
the right resources in seconds, tracks adaptive to changes in feedstock proper-
work progress until completion, and ties. To maintain competitiveness, oil
builds history for future reference. refineries are constantly searching for
Maintenance managers can instantly optimization opportunities to improve
see all open maintenance requests, what their operations.
each department is working on, and Scheduling software is a valuable
the upcoming scheduled maintenance decision support tool that provides fast,
they need to plan for. Through robust accurate and transparent information
reporting, stakeholders can access real- on activities, with the flexibility to solve
time data and evaluate the status of any short-term problems. It enables refiner-
project. And they can allocate workloads ies to maximize project collaboration
based on work requirements and avail- and efficiency, shorten project time-
ability and adjust intelligently when frames, reduce risk, and achieve predict-
there’s a change in one part of the main- able and reliable production. More than
tenance schedule. a valuable tool, scheduling software is
In addition to eliminating the need an important information system. The
for error-prone manual data entry and scheduling information, which was pre-
un-auditable collections of spreadsheets viously restricted to a limited group, is
and project files, today’s advanced now democratized within the refinery
scheduling software centralizes equip- and allows for a collaborative effort, and
ment and resource information in a better, faster responses. It also replaces a
database, designed to manage all types set of non-standard and personal spread-

SCHEDULING SOFTWARE WITH BUILT IN,

AI-POWERED OPTIMIZATION CAPABILITIES ASSIGNS
TASKS TO THE RIGHT RESOURCES IN SECONDS
of maintenance activities, and it makes sheets that can cause confusion. Produc-
that information available to all team tion scheduling definitions, data and
members involved in operations. Moreo- information are structured and stand-
ver, today’s scheduling software will ardized allowing for quick comprehen-
find those activities that can be aligned sion and best work practices. With one
so any equipment shutdown period is application for all maintenance activi-
minimized. Another significant benefit ties, companies can enhance their pro-
of scheduling software is the flexibility cess and create new workflows that drive
it provides to maintenance managers in greater efficiencies and productivity.
terms of mobility. Maintenance manag-
ers no longer have to be at their desks to Scheduling Empowerment
view reports about their plants’ produc- In today’s environment, maximizing
tivity and progress. Instead, all critical every minute of operations is critical to
information is available online, enabling staying ahead. Because of its many ef-
access anywhere, anytime. ficiency, safety and accuracy benefits,
production scheduling activity must be
Case Study: Refineries understood as a strategic advantage. By
Refineries present an excellent example adopting advanced scheduling software
of how scheduling software can enable as part of their digital push, organiza-
better maintenance scheduling and tions can automate and schedule main-
execution. Intelligent production plan- tenance activities faster, more reliably,
ning and scheduling are vital to ensuring and more accurately. At the end of the
refinery profitability, logistic reliability day, it empowers maintenance managers
and safety at the local and corporate and their companies to drive operations
levels. Refiners must ensure that key forward with confidence.

20 maintworld 3/2020
 ASSET MANAGEMENT

Failures and diagnostics

of asynchronous motors
DESPITE THEIR HIGH reliability Asyn- Rotor faults
chronous motors suffer from some The rotor of an asynchronous motor
RADIM SGLUNDA malfunctions of machine parts. We consists of a shaft, insulated sheets
www.adash.com can divide failures in an asynchronous pressed on the shaft that form the rotor
[email protected] motor into failures of mechanical and magnetic circuit and windings. Mostly
electrical origin, and also on stator, ro- the winding of the rotor consists of a
tor and bearing failures. cage structure, which is formed by bars,
which are connected at the ends.
Stator faults Rotor eccentricity (unevenness of
Asynchronous motors Stator winding faults are major- the distance between the rotor and the
are the most common ity problems of stators. The most stator) is the most common fault, fol-
common source of faults due to the lowed by rotors bars interruption. The
type of motors used. winding is broken isolation. Thermal cause of these faults can be the use of
They are known for their stress has the greatest impact on the poor quality materials, overloading or
advantages such as low life and quality of isolation. Another heavy starts. In the case of rotor bars,
undesirable effect is the electrical the fault may increase the resistance
purchase price, high stress of the transient voltage. In the of the bar, or completely break the bar
efficiency, easy regulation case of more and more frequent use electrical circuit. Rotor bars failures
and simple but robust of inverters for soft-start, rectangu- result mainly in engine starting dete-
lar voltage pulses are modulated at rioration and generating parasitic mo-
construction. the output of the inverter. ments. Also the broken bar causes addi-

22 maintworld 3/2020
 ASSET MANAGEMENT

Bearings faults detection is almost automatic detection function. It is the

WE CAN DIVIDE FAILURES cover by vibration analysis. All me-
chanical (and some electrical) faults
similar idea as ADASH automatic Fault
Source Identification Tool (FASIT) for
IN AN ASYNCHRONOUS have unique signature in vibration vibration analysis. The device can auto-

MOTOR INTO FAILURES spectrum of machine and vibration

analysis can recognize them.
matically recognize the main causes of
failures as unbalance, looseness, mis-
OF MECHANICAL AND Electrical (and some mechanical)
motor faults have unique signature in
alignment and bearing faults. The MCSA
module of the VA5Pro device is able to
ELECTRICAL ORIGIN, AND frequency spectrum of motor current. automatically identify rotor and stator
ALSO ON STATOR, ROTOR AND And the MCSA method can recognize
them. The MCSA abbreviation means:
faults, eccentricity and power quality.

BEARING FAILURES. Motor Current Signature Analysis.

In motors with faults, excessive side-
BEFORE THE ADASH
bands are created, which distort the
tional faults in others bars, because the frequency spectrum. Each fault then
current in them is bigger due to miss- has its specific signature. Individual
THE ADASH founders, Adam Bojko and
ing bar (the broken one) current path. defects can be distinguished from each Radomir Sglunda first met at the Phys-
other according to the amplitude bands ical-Technical Testing Institute in Ostra-
Bearings faults and the frequency. va in the late 1980s.
All parts of the bearing are subject to The basis of this method is to meas- THEIR FIRST JOBS were related to
degradation. The cause of bearing fail- ure the course of the stator current of seismic measurements in coal mines.
ures can be considered as mechanical one or more phases in the time domain That was the first experience of using
stress during rotational movement and (with sufficient resolution) and its sub- a vibration analyser, which supporting
bearing currents. Mechanical stress sequent spectral analysis. written materials referred to “rotating
can be caused by poor: installation, as- The ADASH VA5Pro vibration machinery analysis”.
sembling, or using and maintaining. analyzer offers unique possibility of FURTHER STUDIES of this topic led to
The bearing currents can be caused by analyzing vibration and current in one various side jobs such as modal analy-
sis, operating deflection shapes, on-site
induction (due to asymmetric electrical device. The MCSA module allows you
balancing, vibration analysis etc. while
circuit or power supply) and by frequent to do analysis of current signature from still working as government employees.
voltage changes (caused by power sup- the spectrum - based on your knowl-
ply from semiconductor converters). edge and experiences. Or you can use

3/2020 maintworld 23
 ASSET MANAGEMENT

People, the Most Valuable

Asset in your Organization
Electrical motors, pumps, tion and communication all around the
world. But despite this, in many cases we
turbines, generators, ROMAN MEGELA
GAZDOVA still struggle to achieve reliability. Why
blowers, compressors. Senior reliability is that?
The amount of rotating engineer at
EASY-LASER AB Take the ownership
equipment is huge in My background comes from assem-
industry. bly, service, and commissioning of gas
compression systems where I gained
ALL THESE MACHINES have been de- installing and maintaining it. Today, we experience for more than 20 years. Since
signed with a purpose, but they differ have many tools to help us to be more I was involved in the assembly, I got the
from each other depending on the ap- reliable, efficient, and accurate. We have chance to learn installation procedures.
plication. There is one thing which all got fantastic tools such as process simu- I grew up using API 686 from the begin-
rotating machinery has in common, lation software, 3d printers, laser align- ning and I spent my apprentice life train-
and that thing is people. There is always ment tools, and many others. Computers ing those procedures which the company
people behind each machine, design- with high-speed internet connection was following very strongly. And I was
ing, drawing, calculating, transporting, provide access to the required informa- not left on my own until I was certified

24 maintworld 3/2020
 ASSET MANAGEMENT

and ready to make my own decisions. Trust your team

But over the years, I realized I will never MY THREE RULES
Recently, I had the pleasure of talking to
stop training and learning. I was always OF SUCCESS ARE: a neurosurgeon. A doctor who performs
learning new installation standards, brain surgery on a daily basis. We had a
specifications, and assembly procedures 1. Set up standards for your teams. chat and we discussed reliability issues.
such as ISO standards, Norsok standards 2. Train your teams to be able to I asked him about his reliability strategy.
or ANSI standards. I quickly found out, perform the required work. He gave me an explanation which makes
that people who had the knowledge and 3. Document all your work for future perfect sense for me. The key in his pro-
proper training were the most efficient references. fession is to perform only brain surgeries
performing their tasks. I learned from Empower and motivate your people 95% to 100% of the time. No less, no more
my senior colleagues to take ownership to take ownership of their work. Pro-
and no other surgeries. There are num-
of assets. Even if the machine belonged vide them with the necessary training
bers of patients in his hospital which are
to the organization and I was an external to understand the tasks and the con-
distributed between a number of doctors.
service technician, I took care of it as sequences. Allow them enough time
If the number of patients increase, they
to properly perform their work.
if it were my own. I had the interest in will also increase the number of doctors. It
“We are responsible for the deci-
performing proper assembly and instal- is extremely important to keep the brain
sions we are making, but also for the
lation work. decisions which we ignore.” centred and focused, but also the muscle
This interest makes you want to learn memory. They are taking important deci-
more things, see details and creates aware- sions and within the seconds. And we re-
ness. You get to recognize sounds, noises, ally want to them to be reliable.
and behaviour of the machines. If you I perfectly align myself with this philos-
keep your interest in place you will be ophy. As I always said, there are no magic
able to install the machinery in a proper
way, and you will detect any disturbances
EMPOWER AND MOTIVATE wands in the industry. With all the amaz-

because you will measure and compare. In YOUR PEOPLE TO TAKE ing tools and advanced technologies avail-
able, we cannot stop relying on the people.
the end, the machinery uptime and reli-
able operation is what matters.
OWNERSHIP OF THEIR WORK. The people will give value to the tools by
using them properly.

Reveal Your Potential

Get a Reliability and Maintenance Assessment

Call us +1 919-847-8764
 PARTNER ARTICLE

Low Rotation Speed

Machine Control Using
ULTRASOUND
The founding principle of
predictive maintenance
could be “better safe
than sorry”. It requires
sound knowledge of the
machines, taking into
account of early signs
and economic realism.
PATRICE DANNEPOND, Area Sales
Manager SDT Ultrasound Solutions

TODAY, PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE IS

based on different technologies that
maintenance departments can use to
assess failure risks, frequency ratio
and severity level.
But it is another matter when it
comes to selecting the right analy-
sis tools, the right technology and
the right indicators for the early
detection of a failure on a rotating
machine, in particular low-speed ma-
chines. Ultrasonic technology is used
to issue this diagnosis, as it can be
easily and efficiently implemented.
Recently, SDT International took
up this challenge on a rotating ma-
chine with a rotation speed of 8 RPM.
More than a week earlier, the
maintenance department of a
world-renowned company had de-
tected unusual noise on a strategic
production asset. The sudden stop of specific bearings and the cost of the A diagnosis could be issued using
this machine would have led to the maintenance labour. the new ultrasonic measuring in-
complete shutdown of the production There was a dual stake here: con- strument, SDT340, and its FOCUS
site. Not to mention the financial cost trol the condition of these bearings mode that can generate sampling
of replacing these 4 bearings, the time and attempt to detect the origin of frequencies up to 256 K samples
required for the procurement of these this noise. per second.

26 maintworld 3/2020
 PARTNER ARTICLE

The spectrum shows an impact at characteristic spectrum for a rota- The time spectrum shows that the
the rotation speed (0.139 Hz) of the tional clearance due to friction or observed impacts are indeed associ-
shafts of the rotating machine, along significant impacts. No impact due ated with the rotation speed of the
with its harmonics. Sub-harmonic to bearing frequencies are observed. shafts of the machine at 0.139 Hz, i.e.,
frequencies can also be observed at Our diagnosis is confirmed by the a rotation speed of 8.34 RPM.
0.5 x the rotation speed, which is a time spectrum.

In terms of energy, these impacts

PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE are not necessarily constant for
each shaft revolution (time signal
IS BASED ON DIFFERENT recorded over a period of 2 min-
TECHNOLOGIES utes).
The encountered problem is due
THAT MAINTENANCE to the wear of the shafts and of the
disks that are mounted onto these
DEPARTMENTS CAN USE shafts and generate friction.
TO ASSESS FAILURE RISKS, Now, the maintenance depart-
ment knows the origin of the noise
FREQUENCY RATIO AND and the condition of the bearings,

SEVERITY LEVEL. which need just to be monitored on

a periodic basis.

3/2020 maintworld 27
 PARTNER ARTICLE

Wireless Sensors
Can Now Replace Traditional Systems
in Condition Monitoring
Online condition Now with the latest technology Nome systems already in 2010. Back then the
has been able to develop wireless online problem was high power consumption
monitoring has been systems to be competitive with most of vibration sensors and wireless data
waiting for wireless wired systems. Wireless sensors can transfer. Good quality vibration meas-
measure time signals, waveforms, trend urement requires sample rates close
solutions for over 10
values, envelopes and surface tempera- to 10 kHz and with a signal length of
years. Now with the tures. All saved to a secure cloud storage 3 - 5 seconds. Vibration signal analysis
latest technology, Nome or via interfaces to customers internal requires the time signal to be available
systems. To get the most out of online for analysis. This means high power
has been able to develop condition monitoring Nome also offers a consumption on both measurements
wireless IoT systems to remote analysing service where certified and data transmission. When comparing
be competitive with most professionals can analyse the results. to example temperature measurement
one good quality vibration time signal
wired systems. Why Wireless Technology is can include 30 000 samples when one
Now the Way to Go? sample temperature data with 60 second
MECHANICAL WEAR is inevitable in all With thousands of wired accelerometer sample rate requires 30 000 samples in
machines and equipment and bear- installations we have experienced wir- approximately 20 days (30000 / (60*24).
ing failure is one of the most common ing to be the most time consuming and That is why vibration measurements
faults in industrial machines. Vibration many times even the most expensive require the best sensor and data trans-
measurements of rotating machinery are part of online condition monitoring mission techniques. Optimising the
considered the best method of determin- system installation. Moreover, wired power consumption engineers need to
ing a machine´s condition. Depending systems are often exposed to electrical compromise. When these optimizations
on the industry one unplanned down- interferences. In many cases there is no are done compromising the data quality
time can cost from several thousand up sense to start building up an online con- in measurements or analysis the whole
to millions of euros in just one hour. A dition monitoring system for only a few idea why measurements are done is lost.
single failure prevented is can be enough critical machines, while start-up costs Nome has solved the problem with
to cover years of wireless condition get very high per measurement point. power consumption by combining BLE5
monitoring costs. In any case, there are Often there is not enough down time and LPWAN data transfer technologies.
benefits other than direct cost savings. to perform the installations for wired These are two extremely low power
Keeping track of machine health ensures systems. technologies and they are most suit-
good product quality, safe operation, Condition monitoring has been wait- able for IoT sensors. LPWAN can also
minimal environmental impact and pre- ing for wireless systems for more than 10 penetrate walls and other barriers more
serves assets. years. Nome took part in testing wireless easily. Machines run inside thick walls,

28 maintworld 3/2020
 PARTNER ARTICLE

ships, and other structures so this can be • Prioritized and planned mainte- condition monitoring system to utilize
a crucial factor when thinking of using nance actions LPWAN network. Multiple sensors can be
wireless systems for condition monitor- • Increased efficiency of mainte- connected via BLE 5 to the router which
ing. LPWAN technology with implemen- nance management transfers information to cloud service using
tations is coming along with the new 5G • Avoiding opening up of equipment LTE-M network. This results in a system
networks. This gives even more reasons at fixed intervals that is ready for the future needs without
to utilize the technology. • Reduced environmental impact sacrificing any functional quality or battery
Wireless technology is also suitable • Savings from route measurement life.
for Artificial Intelligence. AI can open costs
whole new ways on how machine main- • Savings from startup costs Simple steps for installing nmas
tenance and condition monitoring is • Daily monitoring Chess system:
executed. The technology already exists • Almost immune to electrical dis- 1. Mount the sensor using M8 thread,
but there hasn’t been a sensible way to turbances magnetic base or adhesive.
collect enough data for AI until now. • Remote data collection, analysis 2. Mount the router to a suitable dis-
Now with the right algorithms and accu- and reports tance and power with USB cable pro-
rate sensors machine learning is possible • Can be installed by own staff vided.
for condition monitoring. The AI could 3. Install the application and configure
learn the behaviour of each individual Wireless nmas Chess Condi- the sensor to suit your needs.
machine and compare it to other similar tion Monitoring System The system features:
machines. This reduces the time needed nmas (nome monitoring and analysing • wide frequency range 0 – 10 000Hz
to analyse results by personnel. In system) Chess is most suitable for ma- • 24-bit resolution
other words, artificial Intelligence could chines that have no previous monitoring • Highly developed analysing software
replace humans in vibration measure- system or old systems that are outdated. with browser access
ments. The time saved from basic meas- Connection to the analysing database is • Remote analysing service
urements can be harnessed for more established automatically and the instal- • Android app
complicated work such as problem solv- lation can be done by anyone. Warning • Cloud storage
ing or special measurements. and alarm limits and threshold levels can Nome has also developed the system to be
be adjusted with an Android application suitable for OEM. Thresholds, warning lim-
Benefits of Wireless Condition to suit individual machines and needs. its, alerts, data interface and even the design
Monitoring in Short: nmas Chess is the world’s first wireless can be customized to meet the needs of dif-
• Reduction of unplanned failures ferent manufacturers. By offering an online
• Reduced overall maintenance condition monitoring service, manufactur-
costs
• Increased asset life
CONDITION MONITORING ers can add significant value to their prod-
ucts. Sensors can also deliver valuable usage
• Improved equipment perfor- HAS BEEN WAITING FOR information to manufacturers. This data can
mance - Key Performance Indica-
tors (KPIs)
WIRELESS SYSTEMS FOR be used when improving warranty policies,
developing new products or offering new
• Reduction/elimination of collat-
eral damages
MORE THAN 10 YEARS. services to customers. The system is easy to
send with the machine to the customer.

3/2020 maintworld 29
 ASSET MANAGEMENT

Detection of bearing
defects on balanced
machine bogies
Historically, condition
monitoring of balanced
machine bogie wheel
bearings has been chal-
lenging, due to the very
slow speed rotation and
furthermore, in most
cases, the variable speed
adds even further compli-
cation.

ADRIAN MESSER ,
CMRP
[email protected]
sites, revealed an incredible $3,491,146
in maintenance costs, directly related to
bogie bearing failure, not to mention the
additional unscheduled time loss, also
WE WILL BE EXPLAINING how these spe- important to consider.
cific assets were successfully monitored
at a mining company, using an ultra- SURVEY USING ULTRASOUND
sound inspection instrument. TECHNOLOGY
Within this mining company, the Next, a team of experts was asked to as-
coastal operations had many examples sist in this matter with identifying bear-
of failed bogie wheel bearings and, in ing defects using ultrasound technology,
each case, there was a great potential which is a proven technic to identify
for subsequent damage to the shaft or early bearing failures, especially when it
the bearing bores in the bogie housing, comes to slow speed bearings.
which would add even more to the re- A survey was conducted with an
build costs. Ultraprobe 15.000 ultrasound inspec-
Thus, the maintenance team was tion instrument, and an identified bogie
working through multiple failures on set was removed and sent for strip and
the CLB Stacker long travel bogies. Led assessment, after the ultrasonic instru-
by the balanced machine specialist, the ment showed signs of bearing damage
team built historical maps including re- – which could be perceived by the sound
build vendors and the use of OEM spares. quality heard & confirmed after a sound
A study of SAP data for 16 of the 37 spectrum analysis of the recorded ultra-
stackers in this company, across different sounds.

30 maintworld 3/2020
 ASSET MANAGEMENT

This is a screenshot taken from the Spec- Stacker 13 Bogie#2 – Prior to removal
tralyzer software (for sound analysis), Again, when performing sound analysis, we can find evidence of bearing damage. A
time series view. The peaks clearly point bearing in good condition would be uniform on the time series view. But in this case we
to a damaged bearing, since a healthy see again peaks in amplitude, corresponding to impact points or increased friction.
bearing will present a very uniform
wave, without any peaks in amplitude.
In this case, we can clearly see peaks
in amplitude, representing harmonics
equally distanced. This is an obvious sign
of bearing damage.

HISTORICALLY, CONDITION
MONITORING OF BALANCED
MACHINE BOGIE WHEEL
BEARINGS HAS BEEN
CHALLENGING.
Stacker 6P Bogie#4 – Post workshop strip.
As diagnosed using spectrum sound
analysis, the raceway is displaying
spalling damage.

Stacker 13 Bogie#2 – Post workshop strip

As we can see, during strip and assess-
ment, in both cases, severe spalling was
found on the raceways.

CONCLUSION
Whilst the detection of defects in these
bearings is certainly possible through
diligent inspections such as the daily
rounds, categorising severity is extreme-
ly difficult, if not impossible. And because ultrasound surveys are
This can be achieved by using an easy and quick to conduct, they can be
ultrasound inspection instrument with performed in relatively short intervals
sound recording capabilities. This will of time.
allow maintenance teams to load the file Given the history of this particular
on a sound spectrum analysis and iden- case study, the point of failure detection
tify issues in an early stage, quick and was between 6 and 12 months from the
easily, even in very slow speed bearings. scheduled change out. Therefore, an ul-
It is important to note that, while trasound survey frequency of 3 months
bearings rolling at a medium/high speed could be considered appropriate for
can normally be monitored by relying on stackers, and of 6 months for reclaimers
dB levels and verifying them against a dB and ship loaders (given their lower duty
baseline, this is not always the case with cycle). The recommendation to extend
Stacker 6P Bogie#4 slow speed bearings. Since slow speed the surveying of balanced machine bogie
– Sound Spectrum bearings, in many cases, will not produce bearings across the coastal fleet at the
Prior to Removal enough energy to show a relevant dB above intervals would allow the compa-
increase, it is necessary to rely on the ny to potentially save millions in main-
sound quality and posterior sound spec- tenance costs, as we seen before. A clear
trum analysis. That is how issues can case where predictive maintenance,
be identified when using ultrasound for using a technology such as ultrasound,
slow speed bearing monitoring. clearly pays off.

3/2020 maintworld 31
 PARTNER ARTICLE

United Nations of Automation

The OPC Foundation will continue to
expand its role as the “United Nations STEFAN HOPPE,
of Automation” - the foundation where President,

different organizations work together OPC FOUNDATION

to standardize and harmonize.

THE BASIC IDEA FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OPC

Foundation in 1996 was to create a communication
standard based on the Microsoft COM/DCOM architec-
THE TREND TOWARDS DATA AND INTERFACES
ture of that time – “OLE for Process-Control” – was thus
established as the de-facto standard “of the last mile” for
BEING STANDARDIZED WILL CONTINUE
controllers.
The new architecture OPC Unified Architecture “OPC
UA” is much more than just an operating system inde-
pendent, neutral platform for data communication: OPC
UA is the so-called Lego building block for the standardi-
zation of data and interfaces and their secure exchange
scaling from the sensor to the cloud (and back) – includ-
ing discovery of devices, onboarding and more. The
milestones consisted of the definition from 2003 to 2006,
the validation of the technology and publication of the
core functionality in 2008, followed by the international
standardization as IEC 62541 standard in 2011. First
products were available on the market in 2007 and these
are stably addressable via today’s OPC UA clients – there
was no break in the technology.
OPC UA will probably never be “complete” as the
framework is constantly being expanded: In 2018, the
first major expansion to the existing client/server com-
munication model with a publish/subscribe communica-
tion model (PubSub) was released – in addition to other
deployment scenarios such as distribution in broadcast,
integration in smaller devices, communication to the
cloud via MQTT or AMQP, this was also an important

32 maintworld 3/2020
step as preparation for use at the field level: PubSub ini-
tially enables a high-performance controller-to-controller
communication in order to connect devices of different
eco-systems horizontally with a neutral approach.

“Holistic approach blurs the boundaries of

process and factory automation”
The OPC Foundation Initiative “Field Level Communica-
tion” (FLC), newly founded in November 2018, has larger
goals than the reduction to “OPC UA with TSN for the
factory”. The harmonization of requirements from pro-
cess and factory automation will result in common device
services: Device management, firmware updates, OOE
data, power management, MES services or even common
data types will blur the boundaries of process and factory
automation in device handling - of course, special techno-
logical requirements will remain. The work is already ad-
vanced, OPC Safety and OPC Motion are currently being
developed and can be used in the future - with an option-
ally switchable TSN if determinism is required.
The OPC Foundation has joined the Ethernet APL
initiative: In process automation “OPC UA over APL/
SPE” will be established as the successor of the current
de facto Hart standard and will gradually be installed as a
new solution - initially only as a “second diagnostic chan-
nel” (NOA channel) but increasingly also in the first data
channel.
In the long term of two decades, the number of field-
bus systems will be reduced to a maximum of the “Big 5”
including OPC UA. Many products of the future will be
hybrid products that will have integrated the OPC UA so-
lution in addition to the established technology - like cars
that have electric drives for different scenarios in addition
to conventional combustion engines.
The trend towards data and interfaces being standard-
ized as far as technically possible at the data source will
continue – if feasible directly in the device and sensor:
A flow meter will provide standardized “OPC UA flow
measurement data” as soon as the APL cable is plugged
in. Otherwise, other transmission techniques will remain
for special scenarios, to become interoperable via OPC UA
gateway at the appropriate point.
However, I am concerned about the large number of
“user organizations” that have been started, often with
a promising “Open” in their name. More and more new
organizations often take care of the same tasks. The key
to the future is not to initiate new organizations - but the
much closer cooperation of existing organizations. Just
as the climate challenge cannot be solved by individual
states, but only by the community of states - so it is in au-
tomation.
The OPC Foundation currently cooperates with other
organizations in more than 55 initiatives - as “United
Nations of Automation” – in order to fulfil the vision of a
Plug&Produce solution with an open, uniform, secure and
standards-based IIoT communication solution - from the
sensor through all levels to the cloud with all the require-
ments of industrial automation. The challenge of the OPC
Foundation in the next decade is to channel the global
“OPC UA movement” and structure the many activities.
The goal is a plug&play of standardized information.
 TRAINING

The Skills Gap and GREGORY L. FOLTS,

President/ CEO,
Marshall Institute,Inc.

the Covid 19 Impact

For years, especially in WHILE THE 4 TO 6-YEAR degree is clearly room built by skilled construction work-
the correct choice for many, for some ers, HVAC technicians and electricians,
the United States, we unexplainable reason, technical training being maintained by facilities mainte-
have seen a widening has been treated as a lesser alternative nance? The backup generators, oxygen
gap between the need path, if you can’t cut it in the college generators, filters, elevators, and all
degree program. It is a strongly-held other key equipment are maintained by
for skilled trades and belief that if you wish to succeed in a real skilled trades. The stark reality is that
the inflow of young career, you need a Bachelor’s degree or the highly educated surgeon is required
candidates to fill the higher. We need only to look to Euro- for the surgery, but all of the infrastruc-
pean countries, like Germany, to see ex- ture around the surgeon is required as
positions. We have seen amples of skills development paths that well.
a general bias in our are highly respected as craftsman and According to NCTAP’s website
education system, away essential for society. (https://nctap.org), a partnership be-
When you consider the role of skilled tween local businesses and local com-
from technical training trades in society, skilled workers are munity colleges for skilled trades ap-
and skilled trades, leaning responsible for many essential activi- prenticeship:
strongly toward 4 to ties, on which society is dependent to “In most cases, apprentices, due
6-year degree paths. function. How would a surgeon perform to their superior education, assume
amazing surgery without an operating managerial responsibility early in their

34 maintworld 3/2020
 TRAINING

careers. Not surprisingly, most NCTAP training, resulting in a $40k-$100k year been ongoing for several years, Covid-19
partner businesses were founded by for- job, debt-free. I just described an ap- has introduced some new twists and
mer apprentices; some are world leaders prenticeship program. turns to the discussion. First, it is likely
in their field... You would think that students from we will see increased retirement from
high school would be flocking to such a the aging skilled trades group, due to
DESIGN 85% programs, to the skilled trades, but you Covid-19 exposure risk. If a skilled
MACHINE LEARNING 90% would be wrong. In the Raleigh, N.C. ar- trades employee is at higher risk due to
ELECTRICAL 78% ea there is a program called NCTAP, with age, underlying health conditions, or
FABRICATION 93% similar programs in Charlotte, N.C. and increased exposure at work, this could
ENGINEERING 85% Franklin County N.C. But the number of accelerate the consideration of an earlier
AUTOMATION 94%” students that consider this a valid career retirement. Second, Covid-19 has accen-
choice is relatively small. I attended a tuated the digital skills gap. Very quickly,
It turns out that many Plant Managers, large pharmaceutical plant tour with po- almost overnight, large groups of our
Plant Engineers, Maintenance Manag- tential apprentices on a Saturday, and all society have had to adapt to digital inter-
ers, Supervisors, and small business senior leadership was present and pitch- action; working, meeting, learning, and
owners began their careers as skilled ing their apprenticeship program. This teaching. This exposes the gaps in digital
trades, even further expanding their ca- shows how important this is to the plant. literacy. It reveals the fact that many of
reer opportunities and income potential. The inflow of potential skilled trades us have “fragmented” understanding of
While the college experience is a de- candidates is insufficient to maintain the our digital tools. We might be familiar
velopmental experience in many ways, workforce required. with our phone or Facebook, but have
and we do need accountants, business If we look at the other end of the spec- no proficiency in Word, Excel, Zoom,
leaders, legal counsel, etc. there are other trum, many current skilled trades are ei- Teams, remote network access, or securi-
career choices (skilled trades) that can ther eligible for retirement or soon to be ty, and lack a comprehensive knowledge
lead to equal, if not higher pay, with less eligible. According to the labour depart- of integrated computer systems. A phone
incurred debt. Imagine an opportunity, ment, the average age of skilled trades is is no longer just a phone! This lack of
whereby your employer pays for your 56*. With looming retirement possible knowledge and the social distancing cur-
college degree (associate) instead of for these skilled trades, the need for a rently required increases the frustration
you incurring student loan debt, taking pool of apprentices to understudy, and of the daily work routine and exposes a
the same 4 years to complete, earning ultimately replace, the retirees is large. new, important, skills gap, potentially
$15-$18 per hour during your hands-on In addition, while this discussion has leading to accelerated retirement.

3/2020 maintworld 35
 TRAINING

What can we do to help close the gap?

How can we make a difference? First, we
have a marketing problem. Manufactur-
ing and skilled trades are not viewed by
our youth as premium career opportuni-
ties. This starts at home, with your chil-
dren or grandchildren. We must view
trades as noble, sought after, high paying
professions. Thanks to Covid, we know
that “essential workers” include electri-
cians, mechanics, plumbers, machinists,
auto technicians… skilled trades!
Next, schools must adopt a positive
message around the skilled trades. High
schools and Community Colleges must
educate teachers and counsellors around
the value of skilled trades. Recently I
was introduced to an apprentice that was
involved in a similar program to NCTAP.
He was apprenticed at work, learning a
trade, and was sent to a local community

SKILLED WORKERS ARE

RESPONSIBLE FOR MANY
ESSENTIAL ACTIVITIES,
ON WHICH SOCIETY IS
DEPENDENT TO FUNCTION.
funding for skills development. Pro-
posed changes to the Pell Grant would
allocate funds not only to higher educa-
tion, but to skilled worker development.
The College Transparency Act would
increase visibility of a specific school’s
data on completion and post-college out-
college by his employer, working on his discussing, with state representatives, comes of degree programs.
associate degree. His college guidance the need for skilled worker development. Finally, I would share that one of
counsellor challenged him one day “I We met with representatives of Senators the key “aha” moments for me was a
know this machinist trade thing is ok around the country to represent how discussion with Senator Burr’s office
for now, but what are you going to do for businesses need this support. I was es- on automation, robotics, and artificial
your “real” career?” This is exactly the pecially struck by Senator Virginia Foxx, intelligence. We were talking about how
wrong message. of western N.C. She has her doctorate in people have feared for years that tech-
Finally, there are opportunities to education, but has strong passion around nology would eliminate jobs. We were
engage local and federal governments supporting skills development in the U.S. discussing the increased need for skilled
to support change. There are currently She shared a story about her brother’s trades with increased automation. I was
(in the U.S.) grants available to help with success, starting as a carpenter. She struck with the thought that for all of our
training and skills development. While shared that he has incredible skill, crea- fears regarding automation/industry
much focus has been on Covid-19 fund- tivity, and intelligence, humbly claiming 4.0 changing our workplace, IT WAS A
ing as of late, there are several acts in it was greater than her own intelligence. VIRUS that caused the most significant,
congress to help support skilled worker It was inspiring to hear a woman of such rapid change to manufacturing in the
development. Due to my involvement amazing accomplishment support skills, last 100 years.
with The Society for Maintenance & Re- not just in word, but action. Although These are certainly challenging times,
liability Professionals (SMRP) I recently Covid-19 issues have been the focus of but I am confident that we will adapt to
attended a Business Leaders United legislation in early 2020, there is pend- our changing environment, find crea-
(BLU) virtual fly-in to Washington D.C. ing legislation designed to help skilled tive ways to close the skills gap, and face
The two-day meeting was focused on trades, that if approved would increase whatever challenges lie ahead.

36 maintworld 3/2020
 The Uptimization Experts.

BROKEN PROCESSES ARE NOT

“JUST A FLESH WOUND”

OUR PROCESS GUIDE LIBRARY

IS THE HOLY GRAIL OF
MAINTENANCE DOCUMENTATION

Includes MRO storerooms and maintenance work management

process maps, procedure details, KPI’s, RACI charts, and process
guides templates, ready for you to customize.

Based on Best Practice Speed and Customization

Use our best practice documentation You don’t have to start from scratch.
to train your people and increase Our procedures are meant to be
their performance, and your overall customized to fit your environment and
workflow performance. will save you time.

High-performance Scalable
Drive higher performance by reducing Purchase what you need. Whether that’s
variation during the execution of tasks. a single procedure or the full library.

FIND IT AT:
marshallinstitute.com/holygrail
 ASSET MANAGEMENT

CHRISTER IDHAMMAR

HE IS THE FOUNDER OF IDCON INC

and an internationally recognized
expert in Reliability and Maintenance
Management. He is one the Top 50
influencers in the Pulp and Paper
industry and is the author of two
books and hundreds of published
articles. His latest book: “Knocking
Bolts: Six Decades in the Reliability
and Maintenance Management Arena”
details his life in industry.

Reliability and
Maintenance (RM)
Management CHRISTER IDHAMMAR, Reliability
and Maintenance Management Expert
and Founder of IDCON INC

Are You Doing the Wrong Things?

In this article, I will discuss your strategy. The next step would be to 1. Busy people are not necessarily pro-
involve your organization in implement- ductive unless they are working on the
the five most common ing each element of the RM strategy by right things. More importantly, people
wrong things to do in doing the right things right. do not like to be "spied" on, so this
Reliability and Maintenance Most organizations I work with are measurement will not be received well
doing the right things, but many do not by the tradespeople - the most impor-
(RM) Management. execute all the elements of their strategy tant people to motivate. In a modern
well. Some do the wrong things. I will plant with a good maintenance organi-
I HAVE BEEN IN THE INDUSTRIAL elaborate on what I believe are the top zation having the time to think, finding
OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE 5 wrong things to do. solutions to problems and implement-
MANAGEMENT BUSINESS ARENA for six ing improvements is more important
decades. For the past four decades, I have 1. Using Wrench Time as a than just keeping people busy.
been preaching that it is more important Performance Indicator 2. It drives the wrong behaviour. To in-
to first do the right things, and then do “Wrench time” or “hands-on-tools time” crease the wrench time, people might
them right. In my view, leadership and is a decades-old philosophy focusing on take more time to do a repair, pretend
management decide on the right things. measuring if craftspeople are busy or to be busy, or hide so you cannot
When you have decided on the right not, with tools in their hands. Even if you measure, etc.
things to do and documented and com- have another definition of wrench time, 3. It is a violation of what Deming said
municated these to your organization, it is not the right thing to do and here are many years ago and it still holds true.
you have completed an important part of the reasons why: “People cannot be more efficient than

38 maintworld 3/2020
 ASSET MANAGEMENT

the system they work in allows

them to be.” Ask any tradesperson
why they are not busy and they will
answer, “They [management] do
not plan and schedule work well
here, and because of that we are
very reactive, have to find scope of
work, get parts and tools, etc.”.
4. For daily work you might have
more wrench time if you have a lot
of breakdowns. I agree that during
a shutdown people should be busy
doing the right thing safely and cor-
rectly with the right tools and spare
parts/material. What some call
wrench time will be higher and that
is because shutdown work is better
planned and scheduled!
So, what do you measure instead? The
answer is that you plan, schedule and
communicate. Measure planned jobs in
schedules, schedule compliance and jobs
added to schedules.Then find what you
can improve. You'll probably find that you
can improve how priorities are used. Are
they emotional or based on true impor-
tance? Maybe you'll find that schedules
are not frozen in advance and that it's too
easy to add jobs for the same day. Improve
MOST ORGANIZATIONS ARE DOING THE RIGHT THINGS,
where you have gaps in the planning and BUT NOT MANY EXECUTE ALL OF THE ELEMENTS OF THE
scheduling process. Doing this ensures the
right people will safely do the right work
STRATEGY WELL.
more efficiently.

2. Put All Maintenance

People on Shift
I do not believe this is the right thing to do.
It often happens when the maintenance
organization reports to operations. They
might want to have maintenance coverage
24/7 because they have experienced many
breakdowns. Why do I think this is the
wrong thing to do?
1. Maintenance work will become
very reactive because it will be com-
plicated to plan and schedule work.
2. Communication between mainte-
nance employees will be difficult.
3. Getting maintenance people to-
gether for training and information
sessions is difficult.
The best organizations I have worked
with have a good call-in process and no,
or very few, maintenance people on shift.
Instead of reacting to a high volume of ur-
gent maintenance work and putting more
maintenance people on shift, their strat-
egy has been to improve Preventive Main-
tenance (PM) and Root Cause Problem
Elimination (RCPE), reduce urgent work,
plan and schedule better, teach opera-

3/2020 maintworld 39
 ASSET MANAGEMENT

tors to do some maintenance work and make sure action would be taken on all patterns at an earlier stage than existing
gradually reduce maintenance people on bearings in alarm level, so many still ran technology. It will improve reliability,
shift to move them to day shift. to breakdown. I am sure similar chal- but only if all the information can be
lenges are true today and perhaps even channeled into the work management
3. Use New Technology Before more so. system so failures will be repaired be-
you are Ready for it Many young engineers entering the fore a breakdown. Imagine how this will
I am all for new technologies and have field of industrial maintenance have all work if a technology like this is intro-
introduced many while working with been introduced to a flood of good new duced in a reactive maintenance organi-
plants worldwide. It was easy to get technologies in their education and zation. I can tell you the system will be
people interested and even enthusiastic conferences. The “people” part of using overloaded with work requests, and with
about new technology, but how to use all these technologies is not included in limited resources the risk is that not
it efficiently was more difficult. As an the training, so it is understandable that much will improve.
example, I worked with a plant who they will focus more attention on the in- The best organizations improve the
purchased an SPM instrument, it was troduction of the new technologies than basic work management system and re-
challenging for them to set up a round to on people and processes. duce reactive maintenance to less than
do measurements and then have people Most "new" technologies, including 10% of all work before introducing new
execute the rounds on a regular basis. data collection, are used to "learn" about technology. They use the technology
Sometimes it could be more difficult to equipment to detect failures and failure they are ready for.

It might be in place to reiterate what

Bill Gates said many years ago:

“The first rule of technology used in a business is that automation

[new technology] applied to an efficient operation will magnify
the efficiency. The second is that automation [new technology]
applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.”

Bill Gates

40 maintworld 3/2020
 ASSET MANAGEMENT

4. Decentralize Maintenance • Equipment reliability starts Thus, it is crucial to explain how any
to Report to Operations declining. At this point the total new tool fits into a holistic reliability
A common wrong thing to do is to de- maintenance cost has gone up, and maintenance system, and that,
centralize a maintenance organization but operations managers might just like safety, performance indica-
so they report to operations. not see the whole picture. tors for reliability and maintenance
There are additional typical phenom- performance will continue to be rein-
The justifications to do this include: ena to be observed and sometimes forced to drive continuous improve-
• Maintenance personnel will actions to improve the situation do ments. Some common tools/processes
develop more ownership of the not happen. This is often because the include:
operations area. manager(s) who initiated the change • Computerized Maintenance
• Maintenance will achieve a refuse to see or admit that it was a mis- Management System (CMMS)
closer working relationship with take. Often it takes up to three years, Without a CMMS, it is virtually
operations. or an earlier change of management, impossible to efficiently manage
• There will be fewer managers before someone with enough clout in reliability and maintenance in
(which saves money). the organization realizes that mainte- today’s plants and facilities.
I have worked with many organiza- nance is out of control and you need to • Single Minute Exchange of Die
tions that used these justifications to reinstitute the practices you used to (SMED)
decentralize maintenance. Many did have. The fact is that many organiza- Used to develop standard job
it in an effort to save money. Here are tions can repeat the above-mentioned plans, SMED separates what is to
some reasons, in my experience, why it cycle many times over a ten to fifteen be done before, during, and after
doesn't work. years period. Well, it keeps consult- a job is completed.
First, if your basic maintenance ants like me in business! • Reliability Cantered Mainte-
practices (Planning and Scheduling, I am not in favour of handing over nance (RCM)
Preventive Maintenance, Stores, Tech- maintenance to operations. I have This is a tool, NOT a complete
nical database) are not instituted as seen too many situations such as de- system. RCM methodology can
a way of life, do not make this move! scribed above and no examples of sus- help determine the right PM
Why? It leads to many poorly perform- tainable improvement from handing tasks and frequency for compo-
ing maintenance organizations rather over maintenance to operations. nents in complex systems.
than having just one poorly performing It is not possible to say which main- • Kaizen
maintenance organization. On top of tenance organization structure is best Referencing the Japanese word
this, you will expect several managers, for everyone as it depends on size of for “continuous improvement,”
most who are inexperienced in reliabil- organization, skill levels, geographic a kaizen event can focus on one
ity and maintenance management, to location, how well the basic processes task to improve.
implement and/or improve these main- are instituted, etc. • Six Sigma
tenance basics. A lack of time, interest, The majority of the most successful Leveraged to improve the qual-
willingness, knowledge of maintenance organizations I have worked with have ity of the output of a process, Six
management or a combination of these had maintenance resources designat- Sigma identifies and removes the
could cause the following (usually in six ed to each production area that report causes of defects and minimizes
to nine months): to a central maintenance organization. variability in manufacturing and
• More maintenance people on business processes. It uses a set
shift because it feels more secure 5. Confusing the Holistic of quality-management meth-
that way. One consequence is Reliability and Maintenance ods, mainly empirical, statistical
that operators will request a lot System with Tools methods. Every Six Sigma project
of “honey do” jobs. There are many excellent tools and follows a defined sequence of
• More maintenance people will be supporting processes that a plant can steps and has specific value tar-
stationed in areas to be available leverage to enhance performance of gets i.e. to reduce failure rate, re-
and ready to react to problems a holistic reliability and maintenance duce shutdown time, and prolong
because this leads to faster re- system. The holistic reliability and electric motor life, among others.
pairs of problems. maintenance system centres around • Five S
• Work requests will not be en- work management and includes pro- Short for “sort, set in order,
tered into computer system cesses for Preventive Maintenance, shine, standardize, and sustain,”
because it is easier and more con- Prioritization, Planning, Scheduling, the Five S method can be used
venient to just call people. Bill of Materials, interface with Stores to organize a workshop, stores,
• It will become more difficult to and Root Cause Problem Elimination. workplace, and the like.
move people between depart- Most organizations have gone All of these tools are great, but again,
ments for shutdowns. through a multitude of improvement explain to your organization that these
• Overtime and contractor hours programs over time. Many of these ini- are tools you might want to use to en-
will start increasing even though tiatives aren’t completed or sustained. hance the outcome of the holistic reli-
there are more people on shift. In many cases, if a new tool is intro- ability and maintenance management
• Backlog will start to go up. duced, people tend to think of it as system.
• You lose equipment history. just another “program of the month.” Never stop improving the basics!

3/2020 maintworld 41
 ASSET MANAGEMENT

ALEXIS LÁREZ
ALCÁZAREZ, CMRP,
Technical Director at
Enova Group, Speaker
and Senior Consultant
Asset Management,
Maintenance and Reliability

Disaggregated Asset Structure and Taxonomy

The adequate management of the life cycle of an organization's assets is a
fundamental element to guarantee that it can generate value through its assets, and
that they can contribute in a sustained way to the achievement of the objectives in
order to reach the profitability levels established by the direction.
HAVING SAID THAT, it is important to from the point of view of maintenance: an industry, etc., and has different sub-
mention that establishing a robust base Establishment of policy, definition of systems and components.
that sets the standard and facilitates strategies, development of plans, deter- There is an additional point of great
the management of the organization's mination of quantities and types of spare importance, as he states (Ciliberty,
assets in an agile manner is an excellent parts to be kept in stock and develop- 2014), that there is that a clear disag-
starting point. Therefore, establishing a ment of staff skills, among others. gregated asset structure which facilitates
clear disaggregated asset structure and Therefore, this article seeks to es- the management of the information
an adequate taxonomy from the early tablish some guidelines to carry out an system (EAM / ERP) associated with
stages of the life cycle will facilitate the adequate disaggregated structure of the assets, representing the systems in
handling and management of informa- assets and their correct taxonomy that assets, the subunits of assets and their
tion on these assets, contributing to the facilitates the management of life cycle components through maps. This clear
management of risks (ISO 31000) during information. hierarchy of classification and functional
the entire life cycle. locations within the organization facili-
The management of the risks inherent DISAGGREGATED ASSET STRUCTURE tates the management of maintenance
to the assets is part of those key processes AND TAXONOMY information and also provides multi-
on which the organizations must direct Asset taxonomy is defined according to level fault reports.
their efforts, so, making it one of the dif- ISO 14224(2016) as the systematic clas- Therefore, establishing a clear and
ferentiating elements, allowing them sification of assets into generic groups ordered taxonomy of the assets, allows
three great benefits; sustainability, com- based on possible common factors in to obtain a description of the limits and
petitiveness in the market and finally to various systems. On the other hand border of these within the systems, and
generate the value (to make profitable) (Crespo, et al.2016), it is claimed that the it is essential for effect, to obtain the
the actions carried out on the assets. physical structure is the most intuitive necessary information, as well as for the
The adequate management of the way to observe the reality of the system. analysis of the data of the maintenance
risks associated with the assets is In the physical structure the system and the reliability in any type of indus-
decisive for making the best decisions belongs to the plant, an installation, tries, plants or intensive organization

42 maintworld 3/2020
 ASSET MANAGEMENT

in assets. In addition, it facilitates com- 1. What is my organization's asset of asset, etc.), as shown in figure.1,
munication and interaction between all inventory? according to ISO 14224,2016.
enabling areas and those who exercise 2. What is the current status of my
actions on assets that can impact the assets? BENEFITS AND INTERRELATIONS OF THE
generation of value of the organization. 3. Where are they located? TAXONOMY WITH THE DIFFERENT EN-
Additionally, in requirement 7.5. 4. What type of interventions, types ABLING AREAS OF THE ORGANIZATION
Information required for Asset Manage- of maintenance and costs are as- An adequate taxonomy of assets allows
ment, the standard (ISO 55001,2014), sociated with the assets? to obtain some competitive advantages,
states the following: 5. Is it possible to establish replace- related to the facility of interaction and
• “The organization must deter- ment strategies for the assets? fluidity of the information. it is neces-
mine: In addition (Kleinhammer,2014), states sary to clarify that this will be fulfilled, as
• The attribute requirements of the that this taxonomy, or mode of classifi- long as the information documented and
identified information; cation and identification, is influenced registered is reliable and of quality; some
• The quality requirements of the by the data analysis protocols used to of the areas of the organization that will
identified information; derive aggregate reliability performance benefit from it are the following:
• How and when to collect, analyse parameters based on similar equipment
and evaluate the information”. types and failure modes from multiple Planning and Scheduling
The organization must specify, imple- data sources. Management and administration of
ment, and maintain processes to manage From this point of view, it means that maintenance activities (work orders,
its assets information; an adequate taxonomy has a positive requests for services and purchases),
It can be stated then, that seen from impact on the collection of data and stor- cost management, cataloguing of spare
this perspective, the correct identifica- age of the information necessary for the parts, management of indicators, KPI,
tion and registration of assets is one of management of the information of the history of interventions, etc
the first and fundamental actions that life cycle of the assets.
any asset-intensive organization can Therefore, it is possible to say that Maintenance and Reliability Engineering
undertake, since in this way the neces- taxonomy allows for the establishment Optimization of maintenance plans
sary information can be obtained and of a hierarchical structure based on fac- through the use of methodologies such
documented to answer the following tors possibly common to several of the as RCM, FMECA, RBI, statistical loss
questions: assets such as (location, use, subdivision analysis, root cause analysis, use of

ASSET RELIABILITY
PRACTITIONER®
[ARP] Training & Certification
A growth path for Asset Reliability Leaders and Practitioners
The only way to enjoy success in a reliability improvement initiative is to appreciate what it takes to achieve culture
change and the process improvements necessary to change the current practices into those that ensure equipment is
maintained and operated in a manner that achieves peak performance.
Mobius Institute™ has developed a series of training courses that provide the breadth and depth of knowledge
necessary to achieve success.

ARP-A® ARP-E® ARP-L®

Reliability Advocate Reliability Engineer Reliability Leader

Visit www.mobiusinstitute.com today for more details.

 ASSET MANAGEMENT

Figure 1. Taxonomy 1 Industry Installation

classification with
taxonomic levels. 2 Business
category

O
Plant/unit 1 Plant/unit 2 Plant/unit 3

Use/location
ISO 14224,2016

3 Installation

4 Plant/Unit System 1 System 2

I
5 Section/System
R
Sub System 1 Sub System 2
6

Equipment subdivision
Equipment unit

7 Subunit Equipment unit

8 Component/Maintainable Item Maintainable Item

9 Part
Figure 2. Disaggregated asset structure

historical information for reliability On the other hand, the ISO 14224-2016 The different levels of the asset struc-
simulations (RAM), establish asset standard provides a reference frame- ture or how far to disaggregate the organ-
replacement strategies. work for the assignment of unique codes ization's assets will depend largely on the
for each asset within the management size of the organization and how easily
Execution of Maintenance system, and this can be applied to differ- the associated information is managed.
Work Order deliveries, field notification ent types of industries. That this type of The appropriate disaggregated struc-
generation, Work Order feedback taxonomic structure however, does not ture of the asset facilitates the interac-
Segmentation by assets the costs associ- apply to the electricity generation indus- tion and fluidity of the information
ated with maintenance. try that generally uses the KKS system. needed to control and monitor the asset
maintenance management, provided the
Operations HOW FAR TO DISAGGREGATE THE ASSET information documented and recorded is
Generation of Work Order requests by STRUCTURE OF THE ORGANIZATION? reliable and of good quality.
the user (operators), direct interaction It is important to point out that in con-
with maintenance, unique identification sulting processes carried out by our or- CONCLUSIONS
for each active ganization, we have had the opportunity A clear and adequate disaggregated V
to find organizations that have their pro- structure of the organization's assets and
Finance cesses of disaggregation of assets thor- their correct identification (Taxonomy),
Support in the financial management of oughly documented and clear. However, according to international standards, is
the life cycle costs of assets: IAS 16, IAS we have found many organizations that the fundamental principle of a system
36 (Revaluation of assets, etc.), divesti- classify maintainable parts or re-changes for the asset information management.
tures, obsolescence, etc. (bearings) as an asset; this can be con- The correct allocation of costs associ-
sidered a conceptual error, since this ated with the life cycle of assets is funda-
WHERE DO I GET THE INFORMATION FOR distorts the information to be recorded mental to establish strategies for asset
PROPER REGISTRATION? within the information system for the replacement.
• Asset Drawings and Systems purpose of further analysis. An adequate structure disaggregates
Layout While it is true that there are some assets, facilitates the implementation of C
• Manufacturers Manual particular criteria, depending on the reliability tools and contributes to im-
• Technical Specification Sheets type of organization, especially for those prove the control of data and information
• P&ID changeable parts that have a high impact of the equipment.
• Photos and videos of equipment on costs and a special process of manu- It is necessary to establish an ad-
in the field facture, these are usually considered as equate hierarchy of assets from the early
• Other sources of information. assets. As an example, we can mention, a stages of the project as part of reliability
It is important to point out that the turbine blade. tools that allow managing the informa-
taxonomic identification of the assets is In the figure. 2. We share a disaggre- tion of the assets to increase their useful N
normally defined by the organizations. gated asset structure up to level 6. life.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ciliberti, V. A. (2014). U.S. Patent No. 2014/0214801 A1. South Ben,IN: U.S. System and method for enterprise asset management and failure reporting..
Guillén, A. J., Crespo, A., Gómez, J. F., & Sanz, M. D. (2016). A framework for effective management of condition based maintenance programs in the context
of industrial development of E-Maintenance strategies. Computers in Industry, 82, 170-185.
Kleinhammer, R. K., & Kahn, J. C. (2014). Constructing the Best Reliability Data for the Job.
ISO 55001:2014 Asset Management. Management systems - RequirementsThe British Standards Institution. 2014
w
ISO 14224, 2016. Petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries — Collection and exchange of reliability and maintenance data for equipment. Swit

44 maintworld 3/2020
OPCF_
 OPC BROCHURE
AVAILABLE
NEW EDITION – NOW cua-en.pdf
g/op
www.opcfoundation.or

OPC UA based Industrial Interoperability

INTEROPERABILITY 52+ JOINT WORKING GROUPS
ROBUSTNESS & SECURITY DATA MODELLING / HARMONIZATION
52+
➞ Vendor, Platform, Market and OS agnostic ➞ Graph Support, preserves source context
➞ Specifications open available / Open Source on GitHub ➞ Vendor extendable data model via
➞ Certification: OPC Labs open to everyone Companion Specifications
➞ Scalable From Sensor to Cloud (and back) ➞ Relevant: Enables domain specific
➞ Discoverable Services Oriented Architecture information models
➞ Independent of transport protocol (TCP, UDP, MQTT, …) • Discrete: Robotics, Machine Vision, …
➞ Extendable for TSN, SPE, APL, 5G, Wifi6 • Process: FDI, FDT, PA-DIM, MDIS, NOA …
➞ Widely Adopted: > 50 M install base • Energy: IEC61850, …
➞ Security Design from Ground up:
• Security on 3 layers: User / Application / Transport
• Security include Authentication / Signing / Encryption Engineering Industries

➞ OPC Foundation: Non-Profit with modern IPR policy also IT Process

Automation

protecting implementers and users

Consortia IO Level

Energy Factory Automation

LNI4.0
LABS NETWORK INDUSTRIE 4.0

Industrial
Value Chain
Initiative

IEC61850
IEC61970

VALIDATION / CERTIFICATION ONLINE REFERENCE

Validation of OPC UA and Companion Specs ➞ Public reference with all specifications and all models
Compliance Test Tool (CTT): www.reference.opcfoundation.org
➞ Open available
➞ Online searchable to simplify reuse of modeling
➞ 1800 test scripts for the OPC UA core functionality
concepts
and for the Companion Specifications –
available now PA-DIM / PLCopen / MDIS
Online Reference
CS Template Validator OPC UA CTT

Search

Base for
writing CS
Content
NodeSet-File

Check if NodeSet and

Electronic
Spec are in sync Browse
description
of Model

www.opcfoundation.org

OPCF_Anz_P&A Fachmedien_210x275_lay02.indd 1 15.07.20 11:48

 EVENT

ČSPÚ 20 Years of Czech

Industrial Maintenance 20 years of Czech industrial
prof. ING. VÁCLAV
maintenance
ING. JAN HROCH
LEGÁT, DRSC. ČSPÚ was established in 2000 and has
Executive director of
Honorary chairman of
the Czech Maintenance
been active in the field of maintenance
the Czech Maintenance
Society continuously for the past 20 years. It
Society
is an independent, non-for-profit and
non-political organisation, that brings
together individuals, institutions and
In 2020, in the same year of European Federation industrial companies interested in the
of National Maintenance Societies (EFNMS) 50th development of integrated manage-
ment of fixed assets, mainly focusing
anniversary, the Czech Maintenance Society (ČSPÚ), on industrial asset and facility manage-
member of EFNMS since 2001, is celebrating 20 years ment and management and engineer-
ing of maintenance.
of existence.

46 maintworld 3/2020
 EVENT

Annual conferences organized by ČSPÚ in Liblice Chateaux attended by ca 130 participants.

The mission of ČSPÚ is the develop- 1. Bringing together professionals maintenance personnel and aligned with
ment, acquisition and dissemination and organizations in the field of the recommendations of EFNMS.
of new knowledge in the field of asset maintenance The offered education programs are
management and maintenance en- 2. Organizing maintenance confer- divided into 3 levels and provided as life-
gineering to satisfy the professional ences. (twice per year) long learning mainly for professionals
needs of its members, to support or- 3. Organizing a providing training from industry:
ganizations in achieving success in in maintenance (it offers certifi- • Maintenance Manager (160 study
maintenance and improvement of asset cation of Maintenance Manager, hours, 20 tuition days, with final
management and maintenance and op- Maintenance Technician, Master thesis)
eration of their production equipment. of Maintenance) • Maintenance Technician Special-
ČSPÚ has more than 60 individual 4. Performing audits and analysis of ist (96 study hours, 12 tuition days)
and more than 50 collective members maintenance management and • Maintenance Supervisor (64 study
(companies and other organizations). also providing consultancy in hours, 8 tuition days)
Any person or organization that is general The courses have been finished by more
interested in working in the field of 5. Contributing to maintenance re- than 600 graduates, 127 of them with
maintenance is welcome to become search professional certificates.
the member. ČSPÚ is governed by The target audience of the educa-
an eleven-member board, headed by Bringing people together tion program are maintenance manag-
the chairman and executive director, The two key events, that ČSPÚ annually ers, asset managers, facility managers,
and its activities are controlled by a organizes, are traditional industrial con- maintenance managers, chief mechanics,
three-member supervisory board. The ferences – „International conference TPM facilitators, maintenance engineers
supreme body of the CSPU is the Gen- of Maintenance“ and „Maintenance and planners, maintenance technicians,
eral Assembly – very much like in the for TOP Managers“, both with ca 130 mechanics, specialists, foremen etc. with
EFNMS. participants. ČSPÚ organizes the con- university or high school education.
ČSPÚ is partnered with Czech ference since 2003 with a great success. The aim of the course is to familiarize
Automotive industry association (Au- The conference is sponsored annually the course participants with the basic
toSAP), Chemical industry association by the Ministry of industry and trade of requirements of asset management in
ČR (SCHP ČR) and National Center the Czech Republic or the Association general and machinery in particular, in-
of Industry 4.0 (NCP 4.0) and is also of industry and transport and among its cluding all aspects of maintenance man-
a member (as mentioned above) of general partners, is also the EFNMS. agement, execution as well as practical
the European Federation of National techniques. The course makes use of real
Maintenance Societies (EFNMS) and Educating and case studies and teach its participants
the Chamber of Commerce of the Czech knowledge-sharing with help of practical examples. Finally,
Republic. ČSPÚ offers complex training and edu- emphasis is placed on the application of
While ČSPÚ has a number of activi- cation of maintenance personnel accord- the principles of economic thinking in
ties, it focuses mainly on: ing to EN 15628:2015 Qualification of maintenance management.

3/2020 maintworld 47
 ASSET MANAGEMENT

Acoustic emission testing

How to listen to pressure equipment
Pressure equipment maintenance activities in chemical plants need to comply
with statutory inspection intervals and ensure regular condition monitoring. TÜV
SÜD shows how this can be done cost-effectively using acoustic emission testing
(AT), a procedure which also benefits predictive maintenance.
DIPL.-ING. KLAUS MICHAEL FISCHER, Innovation Manager & Technical Director for Fire and Explosion Prevention, TÜV SÜD Chemie Service GmbH
DIPL.-ING. LEVENT SAHIN, Manager Acoustic Emission Testing, TÜV SÜD Industrie Service GmbH,
DIPL.-ING. HERMANN SCHUBERT, Head of Digital and Continuous Inspection, TÜV SÜD Chemie Service GmbH

THE CHEMICAL-PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY delivers essential Large-sized columns at a refinery

goods such as medicinal products and sanitation articles or In the case on hand, the large-sized column was to be checked
is involved in their supply chains and has thus also played a using AT instead of interior inspection, i e. examination from
special role in the coronavirus pandemic. As a basic rule, de- the inside. This involved the advantages that the system did
tailed information about a component facilitates the planning not have to be taken out of service and the column did not need
of servicing and maintenance. This fact also benefits users of to be cleaned for inspection. Further, the method did not re-
acoustic emission testing (AT), a particularly sophisticated quire any actions to ensure occupational health and safety or
digital test method. A column at a refinery is one possible use incur costs caused by the shutdown of the plant.
case. The column at the refinery is a large-sized vessel used in
process engineering. The high, slim columns contain numer- Key data of the vessel:
ous installations and valve trays and predominate in the typical • Material: Fine-grain structural steel (P 355 NH)
appearance of a chemical plant. They are used to break down • Service period: 14 years to date
mixtures into their constituent components. • Height: 74.3 metres

Acoustic Emission Testing (AET)

of pressure equipment: reliable
statements during operation
(Source: TÜV SÜD)

LEGAL REGULATIONS REQUIRE

PRESSURE VESSELS, PIPING AND
OTHER PRESSURISED PLANT
COMPONENTS TO UNDERGO PERIODIC
TECHNICAL INSPECTION (PTI).
http://www.tuvsud.com •
•

48 maintworld 3/2020
 50%
Discount code:
SPSXXAZ2
AUTOMATION GOES DIGITAL
• Trend topics in automation • Top-class speakers
• Interactive expert panels • AI-powered matchmaking

Be part of the digital meeting of the automation

industry from 24 – 26 November 2020.

Tickets from 14 September 2020

sps-exhibition.com/tickets
 ASSET MANAGEMENT

• Diameter: 4.44 metres Background information on health and safety

• Volume 1,160 m3 in the use of work equipment
• Wall thickness: Between 22 and 26 millimetres Legal regulations require pressure vessels, piping and other
Proceeding according to a layout plan, TÜV SÜD Industrie pressurised plant components to undergo periodic technical
Service distributed 88 piezoelectric sensors across the outside inspection (PTI). The relevant requirements are laid down
wall of the scaffolded column. The number of sensors was in the German Regulation on Health and Safety in the Use of
sufficient to ensure easy and reliable inspection of the entire Work Equipment (BetrSichV), which targets all employers.
structure, including its complex geometries and poorly acces- PTI focuses not only on the leak-tightness of pressure equip-
sible installations. To be able to affix the sensors directly to the ment, but also on possible cracking or corrosive attacks on
metal using a couplant, the experts had temporarily removed walls. Generally, PTI requires examination of the pressure
20 square centimetres of insulation at the points at which the equipment from the inside. According to the German BetrSi-
sensors were affixed. chV, employers (previously pressure-equipment operators)
are permitted to use alternative non-destructive test methods
Equipment under test pressure such as AT or the UT phased-array method for this purpose,
The test pressure required for AT – which must be at least 1.1 provided an authorised inspection agency (AIA) confirms that
times the maximum service pressure – was controlled by the the assessment of plant safety delivered by the test concept is
plant manager via the control centre using the fluid in the ves- of equivalent quality.
sel. In this case, the online AT process took around 12 hours.
AT analyses acoustic ultrasonic waves at high frequencies in- Applicable standards
audible to the human ear. DIN EN 13554 lays down the general approach to AT. The har-
These waves are caused when active defects, such as cracks monised standard DIN EN 14584 governs the test method for
in the material, expand minimally under the applied pressure. metallic pressure equipment using proof testing with planar
The resulting sudden mechanical motions set their environ- location of acoustic emission sources. According to DIN EN
ment into vibration, resulting in a transient elastic acoustic ISO 9712, testing must be performed by qualified and certified
wave. This wave propagates from its point of origin to the sen- personnel. DIN EN 13477-2 describes the requirements to be
sor’s piezoelectric crystal, which transforms it into electric fulfilled by test equipment, which also needs to undergo regu-
signals. The signals are then presented graphically by a test lar verification of its operating characteristics.
computer and interpreted by experienced test engineers.
This method enables discontinuities to be identified in the Outlook: digital monitoring –
steel structure before they can cause critical states. In most continuous monitoring
cases, AT enables far more accurate statements to be made Recent years have seen exponential growth in computing
than conventional visual examinations or pressure tests. This power, which has also benefited AT. Faster processors and
also applies to the assessment of non-critical inhomogeneities user-friendly software produce real-time visualisation of sev-
or microcracking that do not propagate in operation and can eral hundreds of localisations per second. The speed at which
thus be left unchanged. In the case discussed here, TÜV SÜD equipment can detect and analyse potential inhomogeneities
recommended subsequent dedicated inspection of some spots or anomalies has increased a thousandfold. Owing to its high
on welds using the UT phased-array method. level of maturity and real-time capability, AT can also be used
for in-service monitoring of plants and systems. It supplies
Assessment of signals data which are of fundamental importance for forward plan-
Acoustic signals are grouped into three risk classes depending ning of maintenance and turnaround intervals. This informa-
on their number, activity, intensity and location (Table 1). This tion can also be transferred via data network (also as a cloud
categorisation allows for better planning and prioritisation of solution). Rounded off and complemented by a separate online
any follow-up actions that may be necessary. Ideally, the plant NDT method (continuous monitoring), these non-destructive
manager works with the inspection organisation to document test methods may be used for applications such as monitoring
the quantitative criteria of assessment before the actual in- of the wall thickness of vessels by UT – information that can
spection. likewise be realised via remote data transmission.

Classification Assessment Method and actions

Class 1 Insignificant source No actions required

Class 2 Active source Visual examination or other subsequent inspection and evaluation

Class 3 Highly active source Test interruption or termination, pressure relief, visual
examination, other subsequent inspections and evaluation prior to
the return to service.

Table 1: Clarification of signals and actions

50 maintworld 3/2020
 VIBRATION ANALYSIS
THERMAL IMAGING
ULTRASOUND
MEASUREMENT

eyesight – hearing – sensitivity

we have in common

MASTER THE LANGUAGE OF YOUR MACHINERY WWW.ADASH.COM

VIBGUARD® IIoT
The world‘s first and only state-of-the-art solution for
predicitive maintenance in Industry 4.0 environments

Online Condition Monitoring System:

• Available with 6 up to 20 analogue channels
• Applicable in any Industry 4.0 environment
• Featuring MQTT protocol for global
remote status overview
• Process quality enhancement due to
seamless integration into control systems

www.VIBGUARD-IIoT.com