All successful Predictive Maintenance Programs, whether they use Vibration Analysis, Infrared Thermography, Oil Analysis, or any other predictive technology, have certain common characteristics:
The frequency between checks must be adequate enough for failures to be predicted, thereby avoiding expensive downtime and interruptions to production.
Data must be captured and stored on all points for future reference should the need arise.
There must be some method of trending data.
Provisions must be made to follow-up on anomalies to ensure that corrective action has been effective.
Most importantly, reporting must meet management's needs, be specific about problems, and clearly indicate corrective work required and provide some sense of urgency.
Common Predictive Maintenance Objectives
Before committing to any Predictive Maintenance Program, it is imperative that specific objectives be set. These goals should be quantifiable and in line with the organization's corporate objectives. After a reasonable period of time, the success of the program should be measured against these predefined goals.
Some of the more common goals are:
Control downtime
Reduce damage to equipment
Lower maintenance costs
Target maintenance efforts
Increase production
Schedule repairs
Reduce overtime
Maximize return on maintenance dollars
Vibration Analysis Predictive Maintenance Program
In Predictive Maintenance Programs, the amplitude (or severity) of the readings becomes secondary to the rate of change. It is just as important to know how a machine is changing over time as it is to know whether or not a given reading is over or under alarm points. For example, a machine's bearing vibrations may be in ranges which, by themselves, would indicate that it needed to be changed. However, when viewed over time, the vibration levels may be changing very slowly and the repair may be delayed. Conversely, readings which are barely in alarm may not seem to be of much concern, but the rate of deteioration over time may indicate that replacements should be made immediately.
Predictive Maintenance Programs vary widely from company to company in both the quality of readings and reporting structure. Click on the tab "Our Standards" to view Vibtech's minimum standards for data collection.
Vibration Analysis Predictive Maintenance Reports
The most important aspect of a Predictive Maintenance Program is the reporting structure. It is the reports which provide the information on which the whole program is based. If the reports are too technical, they will not be understood and corrective action will not be taken. Conversely, if they are not specific in their calls and recommendations, they are of no value.
Our Predictive Maintenance reports are designed to be read by people with little or no background in vibration analysis. We do not include spectral graphs which can be confusing to untrained analysts. Instead, we give very specific comments (in plain English) on the work that needs to be done. Our Exception Report is the standard report given to our customers following each routine PM check after the initial start-up is complete. This report is designed to provide the maintenance manager with the information needed and eliminates unnecessary reporting. It even has a "Priority Bar" which graphically tells the customer our level of concern.
Vibtech Analysis Ltd., is an ISO 9001:2000 certified company.
In the certification process, Vibtech received a letter of QS 9000 compliance from our auditors. It states, "... In reviewing the file we confirm that Vibtech's level of compliance with QS-9000 is ... particularly evident in the areas of cross-functional planning, business planning, benchmarking, disciplined problem solving and monitoring of delivery performance...".
