Predictive Maintenance – does it pay off?

According to Market Research Future, the global Predictive Maintenance (PdM) market will reach $ 6.3 billion in 2022. Over the next 2 years, as much as 83% of all manufacturing companies will actively use Predictive Maintenance. Why is PdM growing so dynamically? Does it pay off at all? Let’s check it out!

What is Predictive Maintenance (PdM)?

The basic assumption of Predictive Maintenance (PdM) is to monitor the health and performance of enterprise resources in real time in order to predict when the resources will require maintenance. All for the sake of optimal use of the equipment and reduction of uncontrolled downtime caused by failures of production lines. Parts are maintained or replaced exactly when they need it. Correct application of the Predictive Maintenance strategy allows to reduce repair costs, which in the long run generates huge savings.

What are the goals of PDM?

All activities related to Predictive Maintenance are performed mainly with the use of technological means: dedicated systems or IT solutions. Their goal is to increase efficiency and ensure increased productivity. It is also important to reduce the maintenance costs of machines and ensure their uninterrupted readiness to work. The development of technology has made it possible to create advanced algorithms that help collect and comprehensively analyze data. Thanks to this, it has become possible to significantly improve the process of predicting when to carry out maintenance or repair, and to what exactly these parts should be applied. Predictive Maintenance allows you to reduce the number of previously used maintenance, because it allows you to perform them exactly when it is necessary.

Another primary goal of Predictive Maintenance is to significantly reduce the number of unexpected failures. Traditional maintenance methods are based on regular standard repair procedures. Full control over the actual state of wear of production line elements allows you to predict many failures and counter them early enough. Predictive Maintenance can be described as more advanced maintenance. It allows you to detect possible faults faster and repair them before a serious problem occurs.

Differences between Predictive Maintenance and Preventive Maintenance

Maintenance is traditional preventive maintenance. While the goals of both strategies are the same: failure prevention, their mechanisms differ significantly. Preventive maintenance is performed on a regular basis (e.g. monthly, annually) or based on wear on parts (after a certain number of cycles). There is always a predetermined schedule here, which in practice may lead to too many service activities on a given element, even if its technical condition does not require it at the moment. Predictive maintenance requires more advanced steps to perform much more precise service activities. Predictive Maintenance uses technology to assess when certain equipment requires maintenance.

PDM – technology in the service of business

Predictive Maintenance activities are based on the analysis of data collected thanks to advanced technologies. The basic element are machines monitoring the condition of machines, equipped with sensors that collect information about temperature, vibration, noise level, pressure, etc. It is possible to convert this information into digital signals that can be measured and analyzed at a specific time. All this to predict when a service technician’s intervention is required.

Machine Learning uses data generated by sensors to understand the normal behavior of a given piece of equipment. After some time, this system has enough data to detect any anomalies in the machine’s operation. For machine learning to bring real benefits, it must be based on high-quality data. On this basis, it is possible to predict when the equipment should be serviced.

Predictive Maintenance – custom software

The key to Predictive Maintenance is a system that is comprised of devices for monitoring, learning and maintenance management. Only an advanced combination of these elements allows you to gather reliable information. If the company already has certain mechanisms to obtain data on the technical condition of parts, it is worth optimizing the process of their analysis. In practice, proper grouping of data and clear and transparent messages that should reach employees in real time become a big challenge. These are the possibilities that dedicated software opens up for itself. A system tailored to the needs and capabilities of a specific company is a mechanism that allows you to generate real savings.

The decision to apply the assumptions of Predictive Maintenance can bring real benefits:

• better management of funds – expenses incurred only for the necessary maintenance and repair work
• fewer failures – most of them can be prevented by replacing defective or worn parts early
• maximizing the life of the equipment – minor repairs can significantly extend the time of effective operation of machines
• higher revenues – although the implementation of Predictive Maintenance generates costs at the implementation stage, in the long run it brings real savings by protecting valuable production equipment and reducing costs related to unplanned downtime of the line.

If you see the need to introduce changes in this field in your own company, please contact us. Perhaps only a specific dedicated application is enough to improve operations, perhaps it will be necessary to create an extensive system. We will certainly present you all the options and advise you on solutions tailored strictly to your business.