Your assets are talking to you. Are you listening?

Aim for zero breakdowns!

Use near-real time data that your assets produce to determine asset condition. Use this data to schedule inspections and replacement / repair work before the asset breaks down.

Embrace Root Cause Analysis to diagnose the source of recurring problems and drive out defects.

By filtering near-real-time data that is generated now-now-now through maintenance-sensitive filters, we can detect the operating condition of the asset. Is it healthy or starting to wear out? Oooops! We'd better schedule work on that asset before it breaks.

Asset-intensive organizations have large amounts of capital invested in their existing asset infrastructure. Sensors are mounted on these assets to generate raw real-time data used by operators to monitor the production process using SCADA, DCS or PLCs. A pulp or paper machine might have 10-15,000 sensors detecting physical characteristics such as temperature, flow, vibration, pressure, speed. Historically, operations protected their domain to ensure security and response time was not compromised by the interference of other stakeholder needs.

Advances in technology have made it possible for this raw shop floor data to be shared without threat to the integrity of the production process. When this raw data is filtered through a maintenance lens, these assets provide data generated by the asset that tells the maintainer about its condition and when it may fail. Additional sensors may be needed to provide the required data.

The next step is Intelligence. Advances in analytics using Artificial Intelligence now predict asset failure according to abnormal asset behaviour detected by Machine Leaning algorithms. New assets, already Smart and Connected, have the potential for Intelligence to self-diagnose issues, to order the correct part to be replaced (eliminating server people steps in the process), or to send feedback to the OEM to monitor operating equipment and improve design decisions. This is a longer term view, but it's the beginning of real-time operations of assets that is influencing future product designs.

Wow. Now we can act upon the condition of the asset, and repair-replace in advance of asset failure.

These are exciting innovations in how assets are managed. But the governance of the physical asset as defined by ISO 55000, the management standard for Asset Management, remains constant. Check out FORTIG, ISO 55000's digital twin.