Fire fighting or predictive diagnostics?

Developments in diagnostics now enable the prediction of failure to be taken to component level, dramatically improving first-time fix rates, minimising losses and improving profitability.

At the first level, simple diagnostics involves monitoring the overall system either locally or remotely via the internet for important information.

The second level introduces prediction, which demands closer monitoring of the overall system. At this level there would still be a need for technicians to carry out further investigations to identify the precise cause of problems.

The key to minimising unplanned stoppages is to take diagnostics to the third level which allows precise identification of faults within individual machine components before failure occurs. Diagnostics at this level relies on sensors built directly into components to measure their operation.

When components wear, machine controllers can use this information to predict when and where faults are likely to occur, allowing for planned maintenance rather than unplanned stoppages.

Considering that a great deal of the processing power and sensor technology is already on your line and paid for, it makes sense to to use it more effectively.

Steve Land is industry segment manager for automation specialist Festo

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