Predictive maintenance: from data to the indicator

The emergence of new technologies in the industry has not only made it possible to optimise production processes but has also helped to upgrade equipment maintenance practices. Nowadays, and thanks to real-time information analysis and monitoring, it is possible to anticipate potential failures and incorporate actions geared towards increasing system availability, reliability and service life, thus optimising OEE (Overall Equipment Efficiency) and reducing operating costs.

A maintenance strategy defines what, when and how to proceed. In the past, three scenarios applied subject to whether you were dealing with a breakdown (reactive maintenance), with a scheduled maintenance plan regardless of plant status (preventive maintenance) or were influenced by online data (condition-based maintenance). Nowadays, a fourth stage has been added that allows maintenance actions to be optimised by constantly monitoring equipment and processes by means of real-time data analysis, i.e., predictive maintenance.

This new scenario allows users to anticipate problems before they actually occur by means of real-time capture and analysis of critical process signs and equipment conditions (temperature, pressure, vibrations, speeds, power, etc.). Information of this kind allows for the permanent surveillance of equipment and greatly enhances decision-making to manage resources more efficiently.

IK4-TEKNIKER offers companies its knowledge, expertise, equipment and know-how in this joint effort aimed at implementing predictive maintenance.

In addition to providing assistance to review the initial situation and define optimisation goals, IK4-TEKNIKER plays an outstanding role in terms of development, implementation and validation. The same applies to deploying the operation and maintenance solutions required to achieve these goals.

Consequently, IK4-TEKNIKER offers two major lines of maintenance solutions that take into account the current status of the asset to be maintained in terms of its life cycle, the type of customer and their optimisation goals.

Asset Management Solutions offer technological alternatives whose aim is to optimise plant performance, operations and, ultimately, business outcomes.

Smart Component Solutions, on the other hand, offer the development of "connected" products that deliver a higher added value to the end customer and allow for the implementation of a new business model for maintenance services (servitization).

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