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Where the IoT meets the Facility Engineer

kellyhensen

In the good old days (two facility engineers talking).

Engineer 1:  “The conveyor in the southeast corner is making that noise again.”

Engineer 2:  “The grinding noise or the squeak?”

Engineer 1:  “The grind.  I hit it with the wrench yesterday afternoon and it was fine the rest of the day, but it’s making the noise again this morning.”

Engineer 2: “Better order what you need to repack the bearings before is seizes up again.”

 

Enter the IoT. . .

Engineer installs sensors on 127 mission critical areas of the facility measuring rotations, temperature, noise levels and power consumption.

Engineer has to convince IT department to invest in a server to store all the data that the sensors are collecting – outside of the DMZ, so the consultants can access the data real-time.

Wireless gateways are installed throughout the facility to communicate with the sensors and send the data to the new server.

Data is collected.

Data is modeled.

Predictive analysis algorithms are developed and tested.

 

And then, in the brave new IoT world. . .

A sensor monitoring noise attributes starts logging higher than usual levels.

An order is automatically placed for replacement parts.

The engineer receives a work order for preventative maintenance to repack the bearings.

 

The question is:  Is it all worth it?  And how to we prove that it is (or it isn’t)?

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    I was having a discussion this morning along a similar line.

    The Improvement cycle process is 4 steps, with different labels depending on is running this flavour.

     

    Essentially

    1.     Identify a problem (noise)

    2.     Identify how bad the issue is, how frequent it occurs, what downtime, solutions available to resolve

    3.     Implement the solution.

    4.     Check to see if it has resolved the issue, and repeat if necessary

     

    Most people tend to go from 1 to 3 without exploring all the options available, or without understanding why there is a problem.

     

     

    I think you forgot to add the two levels of management involved.

    One for the IoT and the other to ensure that the PM's were generated and completed.

     

     

     

    Surprisingly we had an issue of bearings failing in the Anenometers.

    These are small bearings that were failing after a very short life in service (generally they last longer than the tech that last worked on them)

    Replacements didn't last much longer, and it was finally discovered that the oil used by the manufacturer had a shelf life of 1 year.

    If the bearing was sitting, the oil would seperate which lead to premature failure.

     

    We started only stocking bearings with 6 months from manufacture and checking before installation.

     

    Mark

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  • 0

    I was having a discussion this morning along a similar line.

    The Improvement cycle process is 4 steps, with different labels depending on is running this flavour.

     

    Essentially

    1.     Identify a problem (noise)

    2.     Identify how bad the issue is, how frequent it occurs, what downtime, solutions available to resolve

    3.     Implement the solution.

    4.     Check to see if it has resolved the issue, and repeat if necessary

     

    Most people tend to go from 1 to 3 without exploring all the options available, or without understanding why there is a problem.

     

     

    I think you forgot to add the two levels of management involved.

    One for the IoT and the other to ensure that the PM's were generated and completed.

     

     

     

    Surprisingly we had an issue of bearings failing in the Anenometers.

    These are small bearings that were failing after a very short life in service (generally they last longer than the tech that last worked on them)

    Replacements didn't last much longer, and it was finally discovered that the oil used by the manufacturer had a shelf life of 1 year.

    If the bearing was sitting, the oil would seperate which lead to premature failure.

     

    We started only stocking bearings with 6 months from manufacture and checking before installation.

     

    Mark

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