What Is Predictive Maintenance? Where to Start in Automation Systems

Predictive maintenance aims to monitor equipment condition with measured data, anticipate failures before they occur and perform maintenance just in time. The goal is to reduce unplanned downtime while avoiding unnecessary maintenance.

Which data are used?

• Vibration (motors, bearings, pumps, fans)
• Temperature (motor winding, drive heatsink, cabinet interior)
• Motor current and load trend
• Operating hours and cycle counters (can be kept in the PLC)
• Drives' own diagnostic data (e.g. heatsink temperature, fan run time, fault history)

Starting without a big investment

1. 1
   Choose critical equipment

   Start with the few machines whose downtime is most expensive.

2. 2
   Use existing data

   Regularly log the temperature, current, counter and fault history data already available in PLCs and drives.

3. 3
   Set simple thresholds

   Once you know the normal values, define warning thresholds and raise alerts on the HMI or by e-mail.

4. 4
   Add sensors if needed

   Additional measurements such as vibration can be added once the first steps show benefit.

ELKAR helps you take the first step towards predictive maintenance by adding counters and alarm logic to your existing PLC, bringing drive data to the HMI and through periodic maintenance visits.