Machine health is the underlying propeller for asset reliability in the manufacturing industry. Machines that are maintained in optimal conditions are increasingly available for mission-critical operations. They are also at a lower risk of defective performance or sudden failure. This helps operations and maintenance teams move towards total plant reliability and depend on assets for uninterrupted production.
For decades, this understanding has pushed the preventive maintenance approach in manufacturing setups. Maintenance leaders are keen on monitoring individual machines and performing maintenance activities at predefined intervals. But this expensive approach forces them to carry spare inventory at all times and carry out replacements even before the remaining useful life of the component has been realized. Furthermore, the root cause analysis of declining machine conditions is rarely ever performed and similar problems keep happening repeatedly.
As manufacturing leaders are prioritizing maximum production uptime and plant reliability, they are attempting to figure out a holistic metric that can report overall plant condition. From a cost and ROI standpoint, machine health score is emerging as the metric that can generate real-time business intelligence and guide strategic decision-making. This article will cover what machine health score is and how it’s imperative for managing asset reliability.
What is Machine Reliability?
Machine reliability is the measure of how dependable a machine is in consistently performing its intended functions without unexpected breakdowns or failures. It indicates how trustworthy the machine is in maintaining its operational capabilities over time under normal operating conditions.
What is Machine Health Based on?
Before delving into machine health score as a metric, it’s important to understand what exactly machine health is made up of. Machine health is based on three main factors:
Maintenance requirements: For any equipment, basic maintenance standards and instructions are defined by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM). Furthermore, industry regulators can define equipment maintenance mandates to ensure a safe production environment for shop-floor workers. Machine health takes into consideration these standards and regulations to determine a frame of reference. If a machine is performing as per the pre-defined frame of reference, its maintenance needs can be predicted and planned. Any deviation from the standards can, however, give rise to unique maintenance requirements and indicate diminishing machine health.
Operating conditions: The operating condition of a machine is another important factor in determining its overall health. With cloud-enabled condition monitoring and predictive maintenance solutions, equipment conditions can be tracked in real-time. Advanced data analytics is deployed to capture machine vibrations and report them in the form of detailed frequency spectrums and waterfall diagrams. These in turn can be used to check anomalous behavior and deteriorating machine conditions, even before a physical inspection is due to be performed.
Running history: Finally, the running history of a machine tells a lot about its health. The number of times a machine has broken down since installation, the duration of every breakdown, and underlying cause of machine failure, and the impact on total production throughput are covered in running history. Historic machine performance and availability data need to be recorded and analyzed to determine the useful life of a machine. The useful life can, in turn, help determine the health in which the machine may be operating.
All these factors, when measured collectively, can generate machine health insights. Quantifying these insights results in the generation of machine health scores, which can be used by maintenance and operations teams to plan maintenance events.
What is Machine Health Monitoring?
Machine health monitoring refers to the systematic process of assessing and tracking the operational condition and performance of industrial machinery. It involves the continuous evaluation of factors such as maintenance requirements, operating conditions, and running history to gauge the overall health and reliability of machines. This monitoring is crucial for preemptive maintenance planning, as it enables early detection of potential issues, thereby reducing the risk of unexpected breakdowns and optimizing equipment uptime and performance. Machine health monitoring typically utilizes advanced technologies like predictive maintenance solutions, condition monitoring systems, and digital reliability platforms to generate actionable insights and machine health scores. These scores provide quantifiable metrics that aid maintenance teams in making informed decisions and implementing effective maintenance strategies to ensure optimal operational efficiency and prolonged asset lifespan.
To know more about Asset Reliability:https://www.infinite-uptime.com/understanding-machine-health-score-and-its-importance-in-asset-reliability/
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