Delivering Effective Condition-Based Maintenance and Condition Monitoring

In the first blog of our five-part series about Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) and Condition Monitoring (CM), we explained that CBM is where a machine is maintained on condition rather than at a fixed frequency and CM is how machine condition is determined to allow CBM to be enacted. In our second blog, we introduced the key roles and their responsibilities. We continue the series by discussing the management controls necessary to successfully deploy CBM. Effective controls are required to ensure that a CBM strategy delivers increased equipment uptime and minimized lifecycle costs.

Management controls can be classified under the following headings:

• Objectives
• Planning
• Processes and procedures
• Financial controls
• Quality controls
• Performance measurement
• Communication strategy

The objective of the management controls is to achieve the following:

• Monitor the appropriate equipment—critical machines with failure modes that can be detected with enough warning to allow effective action to be taken
• Use the appropriate CM techniques that are technically feasible and economically viable
• Monitor at the right interval, taking account of the warning time for the selected technique
• Provide accurate diagnosis and prognosis
• Recommend the most suitable course of action

Objectives are needed to set the direction of the strategy and to set the basis for measuring success.

Structured planning helps identify critical assets. It also:

• Selects the optimum monitoring techniques and associated tools
• Establishes a data management system
• Creates a timeline
• Allocates competent resources
• Sets the program up for success

Detailed processes and procedures specify how work is to be managed and implemented in a consistent manner, maximizing efficiency and quality.

Financial controls are needed to control the costs of the CM program and to measure the benefits achieved from a lower-cost maintenance strategy with fewer, but earlier maintenance interventions.

For confidence to be retained in the CBM strategy, it is important that quality controls are implemented to:

• Minimize undetected failures
• Reduce false alarms
• Ensure the accuracy of diagnoses, prognosis and recommendations

Performance measures provide evidence of how successful the CBM strategy is and provide input to the financial and quality controls. Any performance shortfalls should be investigated and corrected. Performance measures are discussed in more detail in part four of the blog series.

CM without effective communication of equipment condition and necessary corrective actions will have little positive impact on uptime or costs. A comprehensive communication strategy helps ensure that benefits are both realized and recognized by stakeholders. This is discussed in more detail in part five of the blog series.

John Crane offers a variety of condition monitoring services that help minimize the overall maintenance expenses throughout the lifecycle of your equipment and enhance operational uptime. Through a collaborative approach, we can work closely with you to create a maintenance strategy based on reliability principles to optimize your plant's operational costs. Learn more here.