According to the McKinsey Global Institute, a leading business, and economics research establishment, manufacturing companies could reduce product development costs by up to 50% and operating costs by up to 25% if they fully utilize the data available to them. But many plants still operate on the “run to failure” maintenance strategy. This is a reactive solution; the plant engineers or maintenance staff act only after a machine stops working, leading to high production losses.
Industrial Automation Market
Between The Great Resignation and the COVID-19 pandemic, workforce scarcity and remote work make it more difficult to maintain industrial machinery. The Global Industrial Automation market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.2% until 2028. The market is projected to be worth $355.44 billion USD; it’s currently $191.74 billion USD. Keeping up with maintenance needs for a growing number of assets in the future will lead to more unplanned downtime, bigger production losses, and negative impacts on long-term machine health. To avoid this, many organizations have moved to calendar-based maintenance approaches in which they maintain machines on a scheduled basis regardless of the condition of the equipment. But using this approach increases operating costs because fault-free machines are repaired unnecessarily.
Vibration Sensor
Several methods are used to diagnose machine health using modern technologies. The most important method is vibration testing. The first vibration sensors were developed in the early 1990’s. Now, modern vibration sensors are used for plant monitoring applications. A vibration sensor is a device that measures the amount or frequency of vibration in a given system, machine, or piece of rotating equipment. Vibration sensors give maintenance teams insight into the condition of key assets, allowing them to predict machine health, reduce operating costs, increase machine efficiency, and improve machine performance.
Vibration Sensors are Key to Maintaining Machine Health
Understand Causes of Damage: Whenever a machine runs, it gradually accumulates wear and tear. With time, the machine’s efficiency decreases. A vibration sensor installed on the machine can detect wear and tear in advance and help with the root-cause analysis. The wear and tear on the machines can easily be diagnosed using the vibration sensor and preventive action can be taken to improve the efficiency and health of the machines.
Monitor Repair Needs: If improperly executed, purchasing and storing spare parts in the manufacturing industry can cost millions of dollars. However, using vibration sensors, factory operators can monitor machine health in real-time. Based on the vibration analysis, factory workers can identify which parts of the machine are causing the damage and when they need to be removed or replaced. This helps regulate the spare parts inventory, reduce repair needs, and reduce long-term operational costs.
Supervise Equipment Health: With the advent of vibration sensors, machine health can be monitored on a regular basis from a central location without any additional laborers on site. Overall equipment health can be checked on a regular basis by monitoring the vibration data from the essential assets. Using this data, workers can improve the performance and efficiency of the machines.
Preventive Maintenance: By combining AI/ML with vibration sensors, industries can predict machine failures in advance and use the components to their fullest potential. Repairs can also be performed before breakdown occurs, thereby reducing downtime and operating costs. Using a sensor like VIBit, which has advanced AI/ML capabilities, the efficiency of any rotating machinery is increased due to predictive maintenance done by it.
Real–Time Alerts and Reports: Any maintenance staff can improve their operation with real-time alerts and reports on machine health. Using a Vibration sensor, along with a proper cloud-based health management platform can help to provide real-time alerts for machines and provide reports on how to improve machine efficiency. This helps the maintenance staff keep track of machine operation and gives you peace of mind.
Industrial Applications of Vibration Sensor
Common industrial applications of vibration sensors include rotating equipment such as pumps, motors, fans, compressors, gearboxes, gas turbines, bearings on conveyor systems, wind turbine gearboxes, and more. Some of the major industries in which vibration sensors play a key role are automotive manufacturing, water treatment, food processing, building automation, oil, and gas industry, chemical plants, and the power industry.
With CIMCON’s 30+ years of expertise in several of these industries, they leverage experience to provide a vibration sensor with advance analytics. This sensor is used to improve machine efficiency and reduce unplanned downtime, thereby reducing operating costs and improving machine health.
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