Maintworld 1/2018

1/2018 www.maintworld.com 

maintenance & asset management 

The Use and 

Misuse of 

Vibration 

Analysis p 16 

THE INDUSTRIAL IOT MATURITY MODEL P 12 CONDITION MONITORING IN MARITIME APPLICATIONS P 24 EFFECTIVE BACKLOG MANAGEMENT P 34

A New Dimension 

in HMI/SCADA 

Introducing the world’s first 3D Holographic 

Machine Interface. ICONICS has redefined “HMI” 

in this era of the Industrial Internet of Things by 

integrating its automation software with Microsoft’s 

HoloLens. This groundbreaking technology allows 

users to superimpose real-time information over a 

real world production environment or facility, reducing 

downtime and increasing operational efficiency. 

Experience it for yourself at Hannover Messe! 

Visit ICONICS in Hall 7, Stand C40 

Celebrating over 30 Years of Automation Software 

www.iconics.com

EDITORIAL 

The True Challenge 

IT CAN BE ARGUED that maintenance within asset management is not a very 

complex domain when considering various tasks one at a time. But at asset-intensive 

companies, such as power plants and heavy industries, the complexity 

arises from the number of tasks carried out on numerous systems involving 

many employees (hopefully) striving for continuous improvement. Moreover, 

the wellbeing and the very existent of such companies depend on a proper asset 

and maintenance management. 

This is a challenge. The domain has been relatively stable for decades. Still, 

we have in recent years seen trends towards more outsourcing and condition-based 

actions, where possible. With smart sensors and more data processing 

capabilities we can assume that these trends will continue at a quicker 

pace. While this offers opportunities, the asset and maintenance management 

challenge will not become any less, it will even become more of a challenge with 

new technology to be mastered and 

new types of specialist to be trained. 

Our domain is not only asset-intensive, 

it is also people-intensive as 

we want all managers to appreciate 

the importance of maintenance and 

contribute to it; we want operators to 

participate in maintenance and our 

maintenance people need support, 

such as from safety specialists, ICT 

people and finance. 

When dealing with people-intensive domains, culture plays a big role. As 

we know, culture is a complex phenomenon. Still, it can be nurtured and directed 

towards improvements helping us as a group to advance our strengths 

while dealing with our weaknesses. In Iceland we do not have an army. Some 

claim that this explains a certain lack of discipline and sometimes more than a 

healthy appetite for doing whatever we personally find proper at the time, policies 

and rules being more “like a guideline”. 

There is some truth to this; our culture is somewhat low on discipline. On 

the plus side, living for centuries on a small island, our cultural DNA contains 

a strong sense of survivalism and an ownership towards the assets we have; we 

must “keep our vessels floating”, there is no one else doing that for us. 

New technology will help, as will more discipline, but our main challenge 

will be to maintain this sense of ownership and to empower people to seek continuous 

improvement, improving flow of actions and eliminating waste. This is 

a lean goal. Let us remember that lean is not about cutting costs, lean is about 

growing people making use of the tools we have. That is our true challenge. 

Guðmundur Jón Bjarnason, 

Managing Director at DMM Iceland and EFNMS delegate on behalf of 

the Icelandic National Maintenance Society 

4 maintworld 1/2018 

OUR DOMAIN IS NOT 

ONLY ASSET-INTENSIVE, 

IT IS ALSO PEOPLE- 

INTENSIVE. 

26 

Detecting 

malfunctions 

before they bring a 

chemical plant to a halt not 

only makes sense for fire 

protection and security 

reasons, but also with 

regard to economic aspects.

IN THIS ISSUE 1/2018 

20 

Buying 

high-quality oil and 

grease and investing in 

training is expensive, sure – 

but not nearly as expensive 

as not funding them. 

48 

THE SIZE of the Dutch 

maintenance market stands 

between 31 and 36 billion 

Euros, which is approximately 

4-5 percent of GDP. 

6 

10 

12 

14 

16 

ENSURING A SMOOTH 

TRANSITION from OPC CLASSIC 

to OPC UA 

Is Your HMI/SCADA Network as 

Secure as You Think It Is? 

The Industrial IoT Maturity 

Model 

Integrating Legacy Data into IoT 

Initiatives: Three Methodologies 

The Use and Misuse of Vibration 

Analysis 

20 

24 

26 

30 

32 

How Proper Lubrication Can 

Enhance a Plant’s Reliability 

“Move the Data, not the People” 

– Industry 4.0 and Condition 

Monitoring in Maritime 

Applications 

"The Infrared Solution is Simply 

Tremendous" 

ULTRASOUND AND INFRARED 

COOPERATE to Find Transformer 

Failures 

Are you Spending More Time on 

Technology than on Processes 

and People? 

34 

38 

40 

44 

48 

Effective Backlog Management – 

Backlog Size Control 

Implementing Online Dissolved 

Gas Analysis 

Managing Hazardous Energy 

Safely 

PROPER OIL SAMPLING: The 

First Step in Oil Analysis 

Attract the Right Knowledge and 

Skills 

Issued by Promaint (Finnish Maintenance Society), Messuaukio 1, 00520 Helsinki, Finland tel. +358 29 007 4570 Publisher 

Omnipress Oy, Mäkelänkatu 56, 00510 Helsinki, tel. +358 20 6100, toimitus@omnipress.fi, www.omnipress.fi Editor-in-chief 

Nina Garlo-Melkas tel. +358 50 36 46 491, nina.garlo@omnipress.fi, Advertisements Kai Portman, Sales Director, tel. +358 358 

44 763 2573, ads@maintworld.com Subscriptions and Change of Address members toimisto@kunnossapito.fi, non-members 

tilaajapalvelu@media.fi Printed by Painotalo Plus Digital Oy, www.ppd.fi Frequency 4 issues per year, ISSN L 1798-7024, ISSN 

1798-7024 (print), ISSN 1799-8670 (online). 

1/2018 maintworld 5

CMMS 

ENSURING A SMOOTH 

TRANSITION from OPC 

CLASSIC to OPC UA 

Now, more than ever, industrial firms need to make 

sense of vast quantities of data having a critical impact 

on their performance. To support the variety 

of applications necessary 

today, information must be 

delivered with context so 

it can be understood and 

used in various ways by a 

variety of people. Growing 

adoption of the Industrial 

Internet of Things (IIoT) and 

Industrie 4.0 is also driving 

requirements for open and 

secure connectivity between 

devices and edge-to-cloud 

solutions. 

DAREK KOMINEK, 

Sr. Consulting Manager 

at Matrikon 

ORGANIZATIONS that deploy the OPC 

Unified Architecture (UA) will be able to 

better leverage plant floor-to-enterprise 

communications as a vehicle to participate 

in IIoT applications. OPC UA is a 

standard for moving information vertically 

through the enterprise of multi-vendor 

systems, as well as providing interoperability 

between devices on different industrial 

networks from different vendors. 

This article provides a brief overview 

of the key features of OPC UA and a 

comparison with the legacy OPC Classic 

standard, and outlines the motivation for 

upgrading to OPC UA based on a managed, 

secure and seamless migration path. 

6 maintworld 1/2018

Why 

are the 

BEST analysts 

MOBIUS 

trained? 

Simply, 

Mobius Institute students have a 

DEEPER UNDERSTANDING of the skill of 

vibration analysis, allowing them to confidently identify a wider vartiety of machine fault conditions at their earliest stage. 

Mobius Institute‘s students learn from our advanced training methodology that uses hundreds of 3D animations and 

interactive software simulations making complex concepts more easy to understand. 

Mobius Institute analyst’s CERTIFICATION IS ACCREDITED according to ISO 18436-1 and 

ISO 18436-2, meaning that your certificate is traceable to the ISO standards for Category 

I-IV Vibration Analysts and is recognized worldwide. 

Mobius Institute analysts OFFER A GREATER VALUE to their employers because of their 

ability to identify the most difficult machine fault conditions and offer clear corrective 

action. Having a Mobius trained analyst on a plant’s CBM/reliability team ensures 

competence, insight and confidence that the program can rely and build upon. 

Learn more about MOBIUS INSTITUTE by visiting our website or by reaching us by email 

at learn@mobiusinstitute.com or by phone at (+1) 615-216-4811. 

MOBIUS INSTITUTE TRAINING & CERTIFICATION 

www.mobiusinstitute.com

CMMS 

Introduction 

The OPC standard, first issued by the 

OPC Foundation in 1996, allows for secure 

and reliable exchange of data across 

manufacturing and other enterprises. 

OPC Classic is the world’s leading technology 

for integrating different automation 

products. Countless OPC–based 

systems are in use around the globe, 

ensuring the safe and reliable exchange 

of data between industrial software components. 

The most widespread specifications 

of the classical OPC standard include: 

OPC DA for the transmission of realtime 

data, OPC HDA for the communication 

of run data (or historical data), and 

OPC A&E, with which alarms and events 

can be communicated. These OPC 

variations are based on communication 

protocols from Microsoft: Component 

Object Model (COM) and Distributed 

Component 

Object Model (DCOM). All control 

systems, machine interfaces, and automation 

applications that are based on 

the Windows platform can exchange data 

smoothly with OPC Classic. Programmers 

are able to quickly realize interface 

implementations thanks to these close 

SWITCHING TO OPC UA IS WORTHWHILE, AND FOR THOSE 

DEVELOPING TOMORROW’S INTELLIGENT DEVICES, 

IT’S A NECESSITY. 

connections with Microsoft’s objectoriented 

COM and DCOM technologies, 

but this comes at the expense of the flexibility 

and expandability of interfaces. 

In order to guarantee interoperability 

using OPC Classic, a separate OPC Server 

is needed for each device in a plant 

application. The use of multiple OPC 

Servers to connect all devices and applications 

may, however, lead to the internal 

communication structures becoming 

unclear and difficult to manage. 

With OPC UA, the next generation 

OPC technology, the vision of “global” 

interoperability will become a reality. 

OPC UA supports cloud integration to 

scale operations when necessary, protects 

against IT hardware obsolescence, 

and delivers global access to connected 

systems. When integrated with the IIoT, 

it helps automation users to visualize, 

analyze and mobilize critical data without 

the need for added IT infrastructure. 

The OPC UA standard was developed 

to break down communication barriers 

that have been limited by dependence on 

Microsoft’s underlying DCOM technology. 

Furthermore, the design of the new 

architecture works with any operating 

system (OS) without compromising the 

performance of the data exchange mechanism, 

making it the perfect solution for 

embedding OPC technology into devices. 

OPC UA is a platform-independent, 

scalable, service-oriented architecture 

(SOA) that integrates all the functionality 

of the original OPC specifications 

into a single, flexible framework. It extends 

the capabilities of the original OPC 

model by improving upon security and 

employing standard web technologies. 

OPC UA represents a major step 

forward for original equipment manufacturer 

(OEM) device manufacturers 

developing the latest breed of automation 

solutions. Developers can exchange 

rich data with even greater levels of interoperability, 

while enhancing security 

and providing new levels of value and 

performance. 

Those who deploy OPC UA will be 

able to better leverage plant floor-toenterprise 

communications as a vehicle 

to participate in IIoT and Industrie 4.0 

applications. This technology supports 

multi-vendor, multiplatform interoperability 

for moving data and information 

from the embedded world to the enterprise. 

The standard is built on an information 

model that provides structure 

and context to information at its source, 

which is critical to have responsive systems. 

By adopting OPC UA, automation 

vendors get the best in open data connectivity 

today and in the future. 

Key Drivers for Technology 

Upgrade 

Growing worldwide recognition of OPC 

UA’s benefits is pushing it into mainstream 

adoption. The technology is the 

industry’s most multi-faceted and promising 

specification for data exchange. 

OPC UA offers and expands the standard 

functionality of OPC Classic and, in doing 

so, resolves the difficulties associated 

with security, platform dependence, and 

DCOM problems. 

There are several important drivers for 

migration from OPC Classic to OPC UA: 

• By natively enabling OPC UA in 

devices and applications, users no 

longer have to rely on clumsy tools 

for protocol translation and information 

modeling. This solution 

reduces both operating expenses 

(OPEX) and capital expenses 

(CAPEX) by eliminating middleware 

on the shop floor as well as 

the need for hardware to install 

servers and clients. 

• The number of attempted cyberattacks 

on industrial facilities and 

critical infrastructure is on the 

rise. Unlike OPC Classic, OPC UA 

is inherently secure, and thus does 

away with the need to layer multiple 

security gateways or software. 

• OPC UA offers a rich set of functionality, 

including the ability to 

provide contextualized data that is 

valuable for advanced analytics to 

enable improved insights and better 

decision-making. 

With the ongoing shift to OPC UA, 

engineers, IT, and system Integrators 

alike need to properly integrate new 

UA-based data sources (i.e., devices and 

applications) into their existing OPC 

Classic-based architectures. 

It is clear that switching to OPC UA is 

worthwhile, and for those developing tomorrow’s 

intelligent devices, it’s a neces- 


CMMS 

sity. OPC Classic simply cannot address 

the requirements of Industrie 4.0 or the 

latest IIoT initiatives. 

Strategy to Ensure Seamless 

Migration 

A growing number of OPC Classic users 

are starting to ask themselves how and 

when they should begin the implementation 

OPC UA. In many cases, however, 

the migration path to the new standard 

is not clear. 

It is safe to assume that OPC UA will 

one day replace OPC Classic. An immediate 

switch to OPC UA, however, is not 

necessarily required for every business. 

With the right tools and careful planning, 

the migration process becomes clear. 

Step 1: Be sure that all your 

legacy proprietary protocols 

are future ready. 

Complete migration refers to replacing 

OPC Classic via a comprehensive switch 

to OPC UA. To that end, users need to 

keep third-party data always accessible 

using an open standard that enables reliable 

communication between industrial 

human-machine interfaces (HMIs), applications 

and devices. 

Step 2: Start with partial 

migration. 

OPC UA has been designed to remain 

adaptable for the future and to support 

legacy implementations. In the intermediate 

phase, it will be possible to use 

DCOM-based OPC products together 

with UA products. 

Users can still run a variety of 

products from their current favorite 

manufacturers. This allows for a soft 

migration where they retain OPC Classic 

data sources and integrate OPC UA in 

future devices according to their needs 

and capabilities. Devices using OPC 

Classic cannot communicate with OPC 

UA on their own. For these instances, 

it is wise to use a wrapper to provide a 

partial solution for handling communication 

between existing OPC Classic 

Servers and OPC UA Clients. These UA 

Tunneller will establish a connection 

from OPC Classic to OPC UA and vice 

versa. The introduction of wrappers is 

only recommended in a few complex environments, 

as each OPC Server must be 

individually evaluated. 

Users are finding that a new breed of 

software tool provides a secure method 

of migrating OPC Classic data sources 

to OPC UA. The tool allows OPC UA-enabled 

client applications to communicate 

with OPC Classic Servers and 

Clients, as well as OPC UA Servers. The 

reverse is also true. It is designed to enable 

seamless OPC data transfer through 

multiple mediums across geographical 

locations, address problems with using 

OPC Classic components based on 

DCOM, and eliminate permission issues 

encountered across domains and work 

groups. 

Step 3: Enable OPC UA 

connectivity across products 

and platforms. 

The continued demand for open and 

secure connectivity between devices 

(machine-to-machine) and edge-tocloud 

solutions, along with growing 

adoption of the IIoT and Industrie 4.0, 

make it necessary to have a single, fully 

scalable toolkit to allow users to quickly 

and easily interconnect industrial software 

systems, regardless of platform, 

operating system, or size Today, automation 

OEMs can utilize an advanced 

software development kit (SDK), which 

provides high-performance capabilities 

(e.g., multi-threaded, load balancing, 

small memory footprint, etc.) and makes 

it easy to embed an OPC UA Server into 

a chip, device, and/or application. With 

this solution, developers can natively enable 

OPC UA Servers and Clients in controllers 

(e.g., PLCs, RTUs, DCSs, etc.), as 

well as devices, sensors and applications 

(e.g., historians, alarm management, 

SCADA, MES, ERP, etc.). 


PARTNER ARTICLE 

Is Your HMI/ 

SCADA Network 

as Secure as 

You Think It Is? 

Network security frequently makes the news, often when some 

new viral attack is discovered or, worse yet, is successful. HMI/ 

SCADA networks can be as susceptible to these unlawful breakins 

as any others, unless the proper precautions are taken. Many 

software and hardware vendors have made their own attempts to 

stay ahead of online criminals, while others have combined forces 

to thwart such attacks. 

MELISSA TOPP, 

Senior Director of 

Global Marketing, 

ICONICS, 

melissa@iconics.com 

ICONICS (www.iconics.com), a Foxborough, 

Massachusetts headquartered 

global automation software provider and 

five-time winner of the Microsoft Partner 

of the Year award, has announced 

an authentication method of its GEN- 

ESIS64 HMI/SCADA and building 

automation software suite via a control 

system root of trust provided through 

Bedrock Automation, based in San Jose, 

California. 

With this new working relationship, 

ICONICS customers will be able to 

generate Certificate Signing Requests 

(CSRs) to be signed by the Bedrock Certificate 

Authority (CA). These electronic 

certificates provide users with signed 

and encrypted communication between 

their Bedrock control system and their 

HMI and SCADA applications. 

- Security is a top priority for most 

automation customers today, said Russ 

Agrusa, President and CEO of ICONICS. 

- ICONICS has partnered with Bedrock 

Automation to provide an end-toend 

connected solution for IoT and 

Industry 4.0 that ensures safe, secure 

information exchange between PLCs 

and a variety of enterprise information 

systems. 

ICONICS GENESIS64 is an application 

development platform for real-time 

enterprise information management. It 

provides a complete set of modules via a 

unified engineering user interface built 

on Microsoft .NET and sharable with 

other open applications via OPC UA. 

GENESIS64 users building control logic 

for critical infrastructure industries, such 

as water treatment, power & utilities, oil 

& gas, and more, can now incorporate 

the Bedrock encryption keys directly into 

their SCADA applications and enjoy 

end-to-end cyber secure protection. 

In a typical protected architecture, an 

end user might deploy a Bedrock Open 

Secure Automation (OSA®) control system, 

security firmware that delivers the 

benefits of open technology to control 

field devices such as pumps, valves and 

sensors. An ICONICS end user requiring 

secure data exchange with the controller 

would request a certificate from the 

Bedrock CA. After verifying identity, the 

Bedrock CA provides a certificate that allows 

the ICONICS application to access 

data from the Bedrock PLC. This also 

provides a root of trust against which the 

developer can secure communications 

between ICONICS servers, as well as 

with web and mobile communications. 

- Once this open, yet secure, relationship 

is established, said CEO and Founder 

of Bedrock Automation. 

- Developers can enable exchange of 

production data with the SCADA system 

for supervisory and management 

improvements, and can impact control 

functions based on management information. 

Penetrating it would require 

decrypting multiple codes across multiple 

layers, which could take many years. 

ICONICS can now offer this level of 

protection to their end users, at no cost 

above that of the control system itself. 

Bedrock enables cyber security by 



starting with a secure supply chain, using 

verified electronic circuits it builds itself. 

It then draws on the power and flexibility 

of public key infrastructure (PKI) and 

Transport Layer Security (TLS) technologies 

that are similar to those that are 

used to secure online financial transactions 

and critical military and aerospace 

controls. 

Get Informed: Keep Your 

Automation Network Safe! 

Find out more about the possible cyber 

threats to your automation network and 

how to combat them in ICONICS’ Cyber 

Security Threats eBook. 

Visit www.iconics.com/cyberthreatbook. 

Visit ICONICS at 

Hannover/Messe 2018 

ICONICS will be an exhibiting partner at 

Microsoft’s booth (Hall 7, Stand C40) at 

Hannover Messe 2018 from April 23 – 27 

in Hannover, Germany. The company 

will be showing off multiple cuttingedge 

automation solutions including its 

holographic machine interface with Microsoft’s 

HoloLens holographic computing 

device, as well as its IoTWorX IoT 

gateway software suite. We look forward 

to seeing you there! 

About Bedrock Automation 

Bedrock Automation, based in San Jose, 

California, is the maker of Bedrock, the 

world’s most powerful and cyber secure 

automation platform. This Silicon Valley 

company has assembled the latest 

technologies and talents from both the 

automation and semiconductor industries 

to build an unprecedented automation 

solution for industrial control based 

on three prime directives: simplicity, 

scalability and security. The result 

is a system with a revolutionary 

electromagnetic backplane architecture 

and deeply embedded ICS 

cyber security, which delivers the 

highest levels of system performance, 

industrial cyber security 

and reliability at the lowest cost 

of ownership. 

About ICONICS 

ICONICS is headquartered in 

Foxborough, Massachusetts and 

is a global software developer of 

visualization, HMI, SCADA and energy 

solutions. With over 350,000 

installations in over 80 countries 

worldwide and running in over 70 

percent of Global 500 companies, 

ICONICS software is recommended 

for automating, monitoring and 

optimizing a customer’s most critical 

assets. ICONICS has recently 

been named the 2017 Microsoft 

Application Development Partner 

of the Year and is a five-time winner 

of the Microsoft Partner of the Year 

award. 


INDUSTRIAL INTERNET 

The Industrial IoT 

Maturity Model 

A new model 

is helping to 

guide decision 

makers along a 

successful path 

in the manufacturing 

space. 

Text: STEFAN HOPPE, 

Global Vice President of OPC Foundation 

MANY MANUFACTURING and industrial 

companies have realised that digital 

transformation will require changes in 

the way they do business. Experts will 

tell you that digital transformation is not 

about making energy discrete, and process 

manufacturing more efficient, but is 

about establishing new business models 

while continuing to make money from 

their old business models. 

These changes are so substantial that 

many talk about a revolution, namely the 

4th industrial revolution. The Industrial 

Internet of Things – abbreviated to IIoT 

and known in Germany as Industrie 4.0 

– is a technology trend that is the enabler 

of this revolution, and is bringing about 

a transformation in the way we do business. 


So, how do you know you are on the 

right path? It’s a question that many 

company executives are asking themselves 

these days. Experts have therefore 

established a ‘maturity model’ that aims 

to guide decision makers along a path 

that leads to success. We call it the Industrial 

IoT Maturity Model. Acatech 

in Germany has released a study on the 

subject, named the Industrie 4.0 Maturity 

Index. 

This is one of the most important 

insights. Many companies think that 

all they have to do is connect their 

machines to the internet and they are 

‘done’. But as always, this is just the beginning. 

In their study, Acatech built a 

great model, which is pictured alongside 

this article. 

When it comes to the Industrial IoT 

Maturity Model, the age of computerisation 

has helped make production processes 

more efficient. Many call this the 

‘mechatronic’ age or ‘Industrie 3.0’. This 

is the first stage of the Maturity Model. 

Connecting machines to one another 

and to the internet is then the second 

stage. For this connectivity to be efficient, 

a single data model for information 

exchange is required to format the 

data consistently. The protocol used for 

transporting the data on the other hand, 

is irrelevant, although many people tend 

to focus on this in error. This is where 

the power of open-source industrial interoperability 

standards like Open Platform 

Communication Unified Architecture 

(OPC UA) becomes critical. OPC UA 

has an extensible information model, allowing 

the easy mapping of many of the 

standards used in the industrial sector 

today, and allowing for the creation of a 

single data model. 

These two stages are the “table


stakes” – no more. Where the digital 

transformation journey really begins 

is in the next stage, namely the visibility 

stage. This stage requires the use 

of visualisations, either on-premise or 

on a website that can be accessed from 

anywhere in the world. This allows 

stakeholders to see what is happening at 

any given time by looking at the stream 

of telemetry data from the machines – 

usually referred to as time-series data. 

If a database is additionally connected, 

historic time-series data may also be 

viewed. 

The next stage in the maturity model 

is the transparency stage and analytics 

software can be used to understand what 

is happening or has happened. The analytics 

software usually comes with a set 

of rules created by experts – essentially 

people who understand the workings of 

the individual machines deeply. These 

can be applied to the time-series data, 

either as it is streamed through the analytics 

software (hot path analytics) or applied 

later to the time-series data in the 

database (cold path analytics). Once the 

data has been evaluated using the rules 

provided, conclusions about why something 

has happened can be deducted. 

It gets really interesting when predictive 

models are applied to the data stored 

in the database. This is the fifth stage. 

Machine learning algorithms are used in 

this stage to predict the future, given the 

historic data collected. Sometimes it is 

JUST CONNECTING YOUR 

MACHINE TO THE INTERNET 

IS NOT ENOUGH! 

useful just to be able to predict a few seconds 

into the future to prevent damage 

or accidents. Other times, it is useful to 

predict days or weeks into the future to 

allow for the maintenance of a machine 

before it breaks down. 

The final stage is where the largest 

change within an organisation is 

required. Once the previous stages are 

implemented, a company can start making 

guarantees regarding the reliability 

of the machines it sells. This leads to new 

business models, where the cost of the 

machine can be offset with a guaranteed 

service instead. If done right, the cost 

of the machine may even be able to be 

waived and a ‘pay per use’ model introduced. 

For example, a barcode scanner 

manufacturer can slowly migrate from 

selling scanners to selling scans. In addition, 

maintenance of the machine can be 

fully automated, creating ‘self-healing’ 

machines and processes. 

The tools used in stages three to six 

are readily available from internet of 

things (IoT) platform providers. To make 

these tools available worldwide and keep 

them scalable requires multi-billion dollar 

investments. Machine builders and 

factory owners should therefore not try 

to build these tools themselves, but focus 

on their machine and manufacturing 

process expertise and add value where 

they can differentiate. 

Author of this text Stefan Hoppe is Global 

Vice President of OPC Foundation 

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CONTROLLING MAINTENANCE, CREATING VALUE.


Integrating Legacy Data 

into IoT Initiatives: 

Three Methodologies 

Today’s factory floor is a melting pot of equipment, with the newest machines relying 

on technology that didn’t even exist when the oldest machines were built. Integrating 

data from different machine generations can be a huge challenge, but is vital when optimizing 

the plant floor and creating an effective Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem. 



JEFF BATES, 

Product Manager, 

PTC 

LEGACY EQUIPMENT contains valuable 

data, but most legacy tools were not built 

for seamless data access. In fact, some 

legacy equipment was specifically structured 

to prevent direct integration for 

security reasons. 

In 2016, an IDG Research Survey 

found that 64 percent of senior IT manufacturing 

executives said that integrating 

data from disparate sources in order to 

extract business value from that data is 

the single biggest challenge of the IoT. 

Data integration has been a challenge for 

IT and Operations teams for years, but 

IoT makes the need for integration more 

urgent—and more challenging. 

For more than 20 years, Kepware has 

been helping customers access their industrial 

data in order to extract meaning 

and value from that data. In that time, 

we have seen the benefits and drawbacks 

of different approaches to incorporating 

legacy equipment into IoT initiatives. 

These are the three main approaches— 

and their key benefits and potential 

trade-offs—that manufacturers have 

traditionally taken (and will continue to 

take) when integrating legacy tools with 

their IoT initiatives. 

Approach 1: Rip-and-Replace 

A “rip-and-replace” approach involves 

fully scrapping legacy equipment and 

replacing it with modern, IoT-enabled 

machinery. It is often attractive in theory 

(who wouldn’t want the best and most 

efficient equipment across the plant 

floor?), but in practice can be hampered 

by time sinks and budget restrictions. 

Sourcing activities (such as developing 

RFPs and vendor negotiations), uninstalling 

current equipment, installing 

new equipment, ensuring appropriate 

vendor support during the installation 

phase and re-training employees are just 

a few of the challenges inherent in this 

approach. Combined with the cost of 

new equipment, rip-and-replace is often 

unrealistic for most organizations. However, 

replacing outdated assets ensures 

an organization can reap the benefits of 

the most up-to-date technology, including 

improved performance, lower power 

consumption and readiness for next-gen 

features, such as augmented reality (AR). 

A large-scale rip-and-replace also has 

ramifications beyond the plant floor. 

Investing in this option may require an 

organization to forgo other lucrative 

investments. On the other hand, the benefits 

of enterprise-wide visibility into operational 

KPIs may be enough to make 

it worthwhile. So if the immediate cost 

and time concerns can be overcome, this 

approach can be lucrative over the longterm 

as it creates an efficient, futurefocused 

factory. 

Approach 2: Best-of-Breed 

Third-Party Solution 

Also referred to as a “retrofit” or “wrapand-extend” 

solution, this method 

involves using third-party, IoT-ready 

connectivity solutions—such as OPC 

servers, IoT platforms, IoT Gateways 

and sensors—that extend the capabilities 

of legacy equipment. A Best-of-Breed 

approach enables communication to the 

legacy protocols used by the equipment 

(or by the equipment’s components), 

such as PLCs, control applications and 

embedded sensors. It can also involve 

adding sensors that directly measure 

KPIs and make this data accessible to 

the IoT. Best-of-Breed solutions are IoTready 

and reach beyond the plant floor 

to provide visibility into operational data 

for the entire enterprise. 

The impact of a best-of-breed thirdparty 

solution on the enterprise as a 

whole depends on how the data is used. By 

gathering integrated data from both legacy 

and modern machines, this approach 

has the potential to enhance decisionmaking 

at all levels of an organization, and 

includes the added benefit of being extremely 

customizable to different needs. 

One drawback to this approach is that 

it often requires factories to upgrade 

their networks. Best-of-breed thirdparty 

solutions are capable of collecting 

huge amounts of data, and the bandwidth 

necessary to transmit that data 

can result in extra costs. Edge-based processing—which 

enables down-sampling 

or summary analytics before the information 

is sent to an IoT solution—can 

help mitigate this issue. A best-of-breed 

approach can be beneficial for organizations 

that need to integrate legacy equipment 

quickly and efficiently. 

Approach 3: 

In-House Solutions 

In-house solutions are typically created 

by internal personnel using internal 

technical resources, and are fully supported 

in-house. An in-house approach 

ensures that an organization’s specific, 

unique goals are met. And because the 

organization has direct control over its 

resources, technicians are more likely 

to be readily available to make changes. 

However, there may be more demands 

on the in-house IoT-support team than 

they can meet in a timely manner. They 

will be responsible for bug fixes, troubleshooting, 

training, product improvements 

and maintenance. This might not 

seem like much at first, but can add up 

over the lifespan of an IoT solution. 

INTEGRATING DATA FROM DIFFERENT MACHINE 

GENERATIONS CAN BE A HUGE CHALLENGE. 

In addition, after a legacy asset is connected, 

that data needs somewhere to 

go. Collecting data is one challenge, but 

displaying it, analyzing it, or otherwise 

turning the data into actionable intelligence 

in a timely and useful manner is 

a whole other issue. Technicians that are 

experts in both connectivity and IoT application 

development are hard to come 

by. And if your lead technician were to 

leave the company, could you find a suitable 

replacement? 

What Approach Works 

Best for You? 

Each of these approaches can serve to 

optimize data access for an organization. 

But, the best approach will almost 

certainly involve working with a myriad 

of IoT solutions and vendors, bringing 

some internal resources to bear and replacing 

some equipment. For example, 

instead of full rip-and-replace, you might 

replace just some outdated equipment 

while keeping other legacy equipment 

and incorporating plug-and-play sensors—taking 

the best of different approaches 

to fit your business needs. 

Striking the right balance will involve 

considering the specific goals of your 

organization and making strategic tradeoffs, 

with a focus on staying competitive 

and efficient into the future. 


CONDITION MONITORING 

The Use and Misuse 

of Vibration 

Analysis 

If you have any experience with vibration analysis, you will know that experienced, 

well-trained and certified vibration analysts have superhuman skills. With x-ray 

vision, they can look into a bearing and detect the tiniest spall on the inner race. They 

can see cracks in gear teeth, and broken rotor bars in induction motors. In medieval 

times, they would have been accused of practicing witchcraft. In modern times, they 

are recognized as essential members of the reliability improvement team. 

JASON TRANTER, 

CMRP, Mobius Institute, 

jason@mobiusinstitute.com 

THE TROUBLE IS, there are vibration 

analysts and there are vibration analysts. 

Vibration analysts are not all created 

equal. I have personally been involved 

with vibration analysis since 1984. My 

company has trained and certified vibration 

analysts (and other reliability 

practitioners) since 1999. In fact, since 

2005, we have trained over 25,000 vibration 

analysts in a classroom environment 

alone. Unfortunately, in addition to a lot 

of very positive feedback, I also receive 

negative feedback. 

I would love to share the positive 

feedback, but as an industry, we need to 

discuss the negative feedback. 

You see, while it is possible for vibration 

analysts to detect the onset of failure 

many months before a component will 

functionally fail, too frequently the fault 

is detected late. Or not at all… 

And while it is possible to detect a 

wide range of fault conditions and recognize 

the root causes that will lead to 

failure, too frequently the focus is on 

detecting rolling element bearing faults. 

And not much else. 

And while it is possible to generate a 

report that provides clear information 

about the required maintenance action, 

too often the reports are confusing, 

vague, noncommittal, and unavailable to 

the people who need them. 

Now, before anyone gets too upset with 

me, clearly there are a lot of vibration analysts 

providing tremendous value to their 

organizations or clients. But that doesn’t 

mean that they can’t improve, and it certainly 

doesn’t mean that everyone is delivering 

the service they should provide. 



Where is it going wrong? 

Many, many years ago, the focus of vibration 

analysis was to collect “overall readings” 

which provided a single number 

related to the vibration amplitude. This 

value could be compared against alarms, 

including ISO standards, and could be 

trended. 

Since that time, all kinds of new technologies 

have been developed, made 

affordable, and made relatively easy to 

use. Those technologies include the use 

of spectrum analysis, time waveform 

analysis, phase analysis, high-frequency 

bearing detection, the ability to detect 

faults in very low-speed machinery, 

new graphical techniques that make the 

analysis easier, and more. However, in 

some of the feedback I have received in 

recent times, so-called “vibration analysis 

programs” (even those offered by 

consultants) are relying on overall level 

vibration readings. Or even if vibration 

spectra are collected, the high-frequency 

detection techniques are not being used. 

Or analysts are using default settings 

rather than selecting appropriate settings 

for “resolution” and “frequency 

range,” to name just two. Or zero focus is 

given to root causes of failure. 

In addition, the logic used to decide 

which machines are tested, how they 

are tested, and how frequently they 

are tested is very basic, to say the least. 

Criticality analysis should be performed 

to determine which machines should be 

tested. An understanding of the failure 

modes is required to determine how they 

should be tested. An understanding of 

the “PF interval” is required to understand 

how frequently machines should 

be tested. And an understanding of vibration 

analysis, signal processing (how 

the readings are transformed into useful 

data), the mechanical transmission path, 

and other factors are required to decide 

where the sensor should be mounted 

on the machine. But often, this form of 

analysis is not performed. 

And one more thing. A great deal of 

data can be collected, but the big question 

is: how is it transformed into “actionable 

information?” The most common 

approach is for the analyst to scroll 

through screen after screen after screen 

of data, hoping to notice when the vibration 

reading has changed. Establishing 

alarm limits is difficult, but it is incredibly 

valuable. Utilizing statistics to establish 

alarms is incredibly powerful, but 

rarely used. 

Oh, and one more thing. Sometimes 

they get the diagnosis wrong, or miss a 

fault altogether, and don’t acknowledge 

the error and investigate how it happened… 

Why is it going wrong? 

Hmm…that is the million dollar question. 

Literally so, because getting vibration 

analysis wrong presents a huge risk 

to the organization. 

I think there are a number of factors. 

Training and certification 

This is the place I need to start. It is 

essential that vibration analysts are 

properly trained. The training has to be 

seen as part of their professional development, 

not just as a means to become 

certified so that they can “tick that box.” 

It is essential that vibration analysts 

understand the machine, its failure 

modes, the measurement process, the 

reasons why vibration patterns change 

the way they do, and so very much more. 

They need to understand it, not just remember 

it so it can be regurgitated on an 

exam. 

It wouldn’t be appropriate to discuss 

all of the techniques we use in our training 

to help vibration analysts understand 

all these topics, but I will comment on 

one aspect of our training. 

Recognizing that there is a lot to 

learn, we provide video recordings of 

each part of the course, which can be 

viewed before and after the course. A 

person will learn far more if they have 

been through these videos. But does 

everyone watch these videos? No, they 

don’t. And does everyone watch the 

videos after the course to reinforce what 

they learned? No, they don’t. 

Not everyone has access to fast Internet, 

and not everyone understands 

English, but everyone should take this 

opportunity to master their craft. 

Thorough training—don’t stop 

at Category II 

The ISO 18436 standard defines four 

levels of training and certification. A 

person should start with Category I to 

build a foundation. Category II teaches 

them about the basics of vibration fault 

detection. Category III adds an important 

layer of detail, prepares the person 

to deal with a wider variety of more challenging 

fault conditions, and helps them 

to design an effective program. And Category 

IV is designed for the specialists in 

our industry. They learn about the most 

advanced topics. 

The first challenge is that too many 

people skip Category I and dive straight 

into Category II. Understanding the 

fundamentals is essential. Jumping in at 

Category II can be formidable, and could 

compromise their future potential. 

The second challenge is that too many 

people stop at Category II. The Category 

III vibration analyst is properly trained 

to deal with the variety of problems 

that they are likely to experience, with 

the depth of knowledge to be confident 

in their diagnosis. Category II is insufficient, 

unless they will be closely supervised 

by a Category III analyst. 

The third challenge is that anyone with 

any level of responsibility over critical 

flexible-rotor machines (turbines, for example) 

should be trained to Category IV. 



Ongoing education 

Regardless of how good the vibration 

training course may have been, not 

everyone can retain the knowledge 

necessary to function effectively on a 

long-term basis. Vibration analysis may 

not be rocket science, but it is complex. 

Most people would run the other way 

if they looked at a spectrum and time 

waveform. 

Whether a vibration analyst attends 

one, two, or even three courses, it is not 

enough. Vibration analysts need to reinforce 

their knowledge. They need to 

examine case studies to observe the vibration 

techniques being applied to situations 

they have previously experienced, 

or may experience in the future. They 

need to learn about new techniques and 

new products that can save them time or 

enable them to detect fault conditions 

they couldn’t detect previously. 

Conferences are a good way to continue 

the education, and so are knowledgebased 

websites. There are also courses 

in specialized areas; balancing, modal/ 

ODS, etc. Every analyst should reinforce 

and expand their knowledge. 

Certification 

I see certification as an important part 

of this process, but then as a member 

of the ISO committee that develops the 

standards, and as the managing director 

of an organization that offers accredited 

certification, I am biased. 

Certification is more than just a test 

and a piece of paper. 

Accredited certification means much 

more. It is an internationally recognized 

statement of a person’s knowledge and, 

to a lesser extent, their experience. It is a 

way for organizations to have confidence 

in their condition monitoring team. 

And it is certainly a major source of 

pride for the majority of vibration analysts. 

And they should be proud. They 

have studied subjects that are beyond 

most people. They have met experience 

requirements and subjected themselves 

to a tough exam. Did you know that a 

Category IV exam is five hours long? I 

am pretty sure that the exam for rocket 

scientists is shorter. ;-) 

What does it mean to be 

accredited? 

And as a side note, I should briefly explain 

accreditation. 

There is a standard called ISO/IEC 

17024 that dictates how a personnel 

certification body should operate. Every 

country has an organization appointed 

by their government to audit organizations 

like ours against that standard. 

Boy, there is so much I could say, but let’s 

just say that the frequent audit process 

is twenty times more rigorous than our 

ISO 9000 audits. They ensure the certification 

process is independent and fair, 

with detailed psychometric analysis to 

prove it. 

The wrong people are 

becoming vibration analysts 

Now, I do not want to offend anyone here, 

but this is a real issue that needs to be addressed 

in industry. Good vibration analysts 

are not normal people. They have 

to be a cross between Sherlock Holmes 

and Einstein, with a Spock-like ability 

to mind-meld with the machine. Good 

vibration analysts investigate, challenge, 

and explore. They also need to be good 

communicators, with strong diplomatic 

skills do deal with non-believers (in the 

art and philosophy of vibration analysis). 

The question is: how are people selected 

to become vibration analysts? 

Some see it as a calling. Some learn 

about vibration analysis, one way or the 

other, and see it as a fantastic career 

path. It is challenging, it is important, you 

get to use your brain, and it can be tremendously 

rewarding. 

But others, for a variety of reasons, are 

assigned to the vibration group, either 

to collect the data or to also analyze the 

data, for the wrong reasons. Maybe it 

is so they can “get off the tools.” Maybe 

it is a matter of seniority. But they can 

simply go through the motions, without 

a true understanding of their analyzer 

or machine, with one eye on their “diagnostic” 

wall chart, and the other eye on 

the spectrum, hoping to find a match. 

We call them wall-chart analysts, and it is 

not flattering… 

It doesn’t matter whether you collect 

the data or analyze the data; you need to 

be doing it for the right reasons, otherwise 

there is every chance that the full 

spectrum of vibration analysis capabilities 

will not be utilized. 



Fear of failure 

No one likes to be wrong. When we 

perform criticality analysis, we ask the 

question: what are the consequences of 

failure? I think vibration analysts ask 

themselves that question most days. 

What if I get the diagnosis wrong? 

This story is the same for practically 

all vibration analysts. They get diagnosis 

after diagnosis correct, and they get very 

little recognition. They get one diagnosis 

wrong, and they are dragged out into a 

public square and the townsfolk throw 

stones at them. If they recommend to 

pull a bearing too early, the skeptics will 

tell them they got it wrong and wasted 

everyone’s time and money. If they are 

too specific in their diagnosis and it 

turns out to be inaccurate, they will be 

chastised. So what incentive is there to 

stick their neck out and provide an early 

warning of failure? 

Therefore, it is important for management 

to establish the right environment: 

a kinship and a culture of reliability. (And 

it is important for analysts to recognize 

their error and learn from it.) If everyone 

understood the importance of conditionbased 

maintenance and reliability, the 

basics of vibration analysis, and the challenges 

associated with vibration analysis, 

then everyone would be in a better position 

to enjoy a more successful vibration 

program. 

Culture of reliability 

Let’s explore this question a little further. 

Which of the following two scenarios 

best describes your workplace? 

Workplace A: Breakdowns are common, 

maintenance and operating practices 

haven’t changed in years, and the 

vibration team is seen as the last line 

of defense. They are there to provide a 

warning about the next failure, because 

you know there will soon be another failure. 

Workplace B: The organization, 

from top to bottom, understands the 

importance of reliability. There is a clear 

understanding of criticality and a welldesigned 

asset strategy exists. The work 

management process functions smoothly, 

and they seek the recommendations 

from the condition monitoring group. 

If your workplace is something like 

“Workplace A,” then how do you expect 

WHETHER A VIBRATION 

ANALYST ATTENDS ONE, 

TWO, OR EVEN THREE 

COURSES, IT IS NOT ENOUGH. 

VIBRATION ANALYSTS 

NEED TO REINFORCE THEIR 

KNOWLEDGE. 

the vibration analysts to function correctly? 

Will the vibration analyst feel 

well supported? How likely is it that they 

will stick their neck out with suggestions 

for improvement, early warnings of fault 

conditions, and so on? What is the likelihood, 

therefore, that they are able to 

provide the best possible service? 

Financial pressure on 

vibration consultants 

If you use vibration consultants to perform 

your vibration analysis, how did 

you choose those consultants? Did you 

check that they were trained and certified 

according to ISO standards? Did you 

check their past experience? Have you 

established clear lines of communications, 

and encourage them to perform 

additional tests as necessary to accurately 

diagnose faults. 

Or did you ruthlessly squeeze them 

on price so that you could afford to “tick 

the condition monitoring box”. Unfortunately, 

the saying “you get what you 

pay for” is true when selecting vibration 

consultants. 

If you put constant pressure on the 

consultant to reduce the cost per machine, 

they are possibly forced to use staff 

who are less trained/certified/skilled, 

and you are possibly sending a message 

to the analysts that there is no time to 

perform follow-up tests (which would 

either verify the diagnosis or establish 

the exact nature and severity of the fault 

condition). That’s not ideal. 

Now, I need to make something very 

clear. I am not making negative comments 

about all consultants, or people 

who ensure they are being fairly charged 

for the service. Consultants simply need 

to be seen as valued members of your 

reliability team, and you have to insist on 

the highest quality of service and be willing 

to pay for it. 

Fear of job-hopping 

One last quick comment I will make is 

that often people are not trained or certified 

for fear that they will leave the company 

and get a better-paid job elsewhere. 

I’ve never understood the logic of this. 

First, if they are worth more money to 

another company, why aren’t they worth 

more money to your company? 

Second, even though that risk may 

exist, what about the more important 

risk that the untrained vibration analyst 

may make an incorrect diagnosis or miss 

a critical fault condition altogether? 

I think you need to worry about your 

critical machinery failing more than the 

possibility that the trained analyst will 

leave. 

What’s the solution? 

Quality training, respected certification, 

ongoing education, and a culture of reliability 

will solve these problems. The 

first three are easy to solve. Developing a 

culture of reliability can also be achieved 

through training, certification, and ongoing 

education, but it takes a strategy, 

an investment, a commitment, and time. 

But that is for a separate article! 


LUBRICATION 

How Proper Lubrication Can 

Enhance a Plant’s Reliability 

Everybody wants 

a reliable plant 

with a predictable 

maintenance 

schedule – and 

a key part of 

achieving that goal 

is to ensure that 

your lubrication 

programme 

is organized, 

well-funded and 

employs the best 

practices across the 

board. So, what are 

they, and how will they 

affect your plant's reliability? 

ADRIAN MESSER, 

CMRP 

adrianm@uesystems.com 

Proper lubrication 

is fundamental for a 

successful maintenance 

program 

HERE ARE a couple of things to keep in mind when striving for a 

reliable plant with a predictable maintenance schedule. 

1. 

Lubrication can’t be the last priority 

It is sadly common for lubrication technicians or oilers to 

land on the low end of the seniority scale or come last in managerial 

assessments of what is important. Make no mistake – they are 

actually incredibly important. Without well-educated, motivated 

and trained lubrication technicians, your operation will literally 

grind to a halt. It is important to invest in education and certification 

for your people, so that they can excel in areas such as: 

• Storing and handling oil and lubricants 

• Learning the proper types and amounts of lubricant to 

use for various applications 

• Avoiding the pitfalls of over-lubrication 

• Regularly inspecting machines to ensure that proper 

protocols are being followed 

When your technicians feel valued and their work is considered 

a core component of overall operations, your uptime will increase 

and repairs will decrease. 

2. 

Improper lubrication gets expensive – fast 

Buying high-quality oil and grease and investing in training 

is expensive, sure – but not nearly as expensive as not funding 

them. 

Des-Case conducted a study on the True Cost of Poor Lubrication, 

and found figures from ExxonMobil which showed “less 

than 0.5 percent of the average plant’s maintenance budget is 

spent purchasing lubricants, but the downstream effects of poor 

lubrication can impact as much as 30 percent of a plant’s total 

maintenance cost each year.” 

The multiplier effect here is huge – just a small improvement 

in your lubrication programme can have a massive positive impact 

on your overall reliability. 

Overall, the study found that, given annual maintenance costs 

of $9 million, about $1.62 million of those can be attributed to 

issues arising from poor lubrication, and $567,000 of those could 

be addressed immediately. 

The study also found that simple time-based predictive maintenance 

strategies were bound to fail, because of wide variations 

in the life of different bearings. One subcomponent might be 

perfectly healthy while another is on the verge of failure. That 

is why testing for contamination, setting aggressive targets and 

taking action as issues arise will eventually prove more effective. 

3. 

Proper lubrication frees up technician time 

There are only so many hours in a day – and this feels especially 

true in the demanding environment of round-the-clock 

plant operations. Every minute spent dealing with inefficient 

lubrication protocols or the consequences of under- or overlubrication 

is time technicians are not spending on other issues. 

By ensuring that your programme is optimized to maintain 

oil health and to reduce downtime, you create space in your 


LUBRICATION 

maintenance staff’s schedules to deal with other issues proactively. 

This gets you ahead of the game across the plant, ultimately 

improving your overall reliability and in the long term, 

lowering your costs. 

4. 

The importance of oil analysis, proper 

storage & high-quality lubricants 

The most precise lubrication in the world will not help if the 

lubricants in question are poor quality, contaminated, or are 

breaking down under heat and pressure. Contracting with an 

oil analysis laboratory or investing in your own analytics kit 

will allow you to detect these kinds of issues before they result 

in machine failure. 

Many different factors can impact the quality of your lubricant. 

Improper storage or a blown seal on a component could 

allow dirt, water, or metal fragments to corrupt your supplies. 

Even new oil should be tested – while your lubrication programme 

might be top-notch, you have got little control over its 

handling before it is delivered to your facility. 

There are also many factors that can affect the storage of industrial 

lubricant, including using containers that already contain 

contaminants, storing them outside in harsh conditions, 

and not using colour-coded containers to prevent accidentally 

mixing two different oils. Any auxiliary equipment, lines, and 

vessels should also be thoroughly cleaned and certified before 

being used with fresh lubricants. 

Finally, all the maintenance, storage and analysis technology 

in the world will not serve you well if you are not using both 

high-quality and properly-selected lubricants. Most, if not all 

technicians are comfortable with selecting the right grade of 

oil for a given application, but there are more complex factors 

than that to weigh. Considerations such as additives, duration 

of use and ambient conditions can all make for a significantly 

more complicated decision process. 

5. 

Avoid over-lubrication by using Ultrasound 

Lubrication is far more complex than just buying oil or 

grease and throwing it into your equipment, of course. Selecting 

the right type or types of lubricant, storing and filtering 

them correctly, monitoring bearing noise, and ensuring that 

over-lubrication and under-lubrication do not occur all play an 

important role. Fortunately, there are more technologies than 

ever in the marketplace that allow you to manage your lubrication 

programme effectively. 

An ultrasonic instrument as the UE Systems Ultraprobe 

401 Digital Grease Caddy can bring your facilities management 

game to the next level. The Ultraprobe 401 uses ultrasound 

technology to provide critical data about baseline dB levels, dB 

levels before and after applying grease, cost analysis of lubricants 

and other vital information. 

Over-lubrication is often a problem as big as, or bigger than 

under-lubrication – in fact, 70 percent of lubrication professionals 

believe it is a problem at their plant. When excess 

grease gets into a bearing, it begins to churn and heat up. This 

churning causes the lubricant to solidify, blocking the entry of 

more fresh grease, and ultimately causing a bearing to fail. 

Another possible failure mode that can arise from over 

greasing is seal damage. Adding more than the necessary 

amount of lubricant to a bearing under the high psi of a grease 

gun can crack the seal, allowing outside pollutants to infiltrate. 

The Ultraprobe Grease Caddy uses ultrasonic technology, 

The Ultraprobe 401 

Grease Caddy from 

UE Systems will 

help reducing overlubrication 

issues. 

Sound spectrum of a bearing while lubricant is being applied. 

DMS software from UE Systems allows the creation of lubrication 

routes & alarms. 

so that lubrication technicians know when to stop adding 

grease, which can prolong the life of your equipment. Its digital 

display allows the user to gauge friction levels through the dB 

levels. Even in high-noise environments, the Ultraprobe 401 

is able to isolate the necessary ultrasonic waves and transmit 

them to the user. 

Conclusion 

In all, the field of precision lubrication and maintenance has 

grown more complex and diverse than ever before. It is easy to 

get lost in the finer points of these processes and products, and 

sometimes the measures you think are helping may actually 

lead to failures down the line. 

With the right techniques and technologies, however, it is 

possible to see real return on investment from your maintenance 

efforts. 



Text: CHRISTIAN SILBERNAGEL, Vibration Analyst, Key Account Manager - Maritime Industry, PRÜFTECHNIK Condition Monitoring GmbH 

“Move the Data, not the People” – 

Industry 4.0 and Condition 

Monitoring in Maritime Applications 

Proactive and predictive maintenance have become common practices in many 

industry sectors. In maritime applications, maintenance strategies have also continuously 

advanced – evolved from a reactive to a predictive maintenance model 

mainly on the back of Condition Monitoring (CM) developments in the sector. 

CONDITION-BASED MONITORING techniques have gained traction 

in recent years as scheduled overhauls are significantly 

more cost-effective than unscheduled repairs. An increasing 

number of fleet managers, chief engineers and crews trust 

in Condition Monitoring, where the machine condition is 

determined based on vibration monitoring and analysis. In 

addition, vibration monitoring has become an integral part of 

recognized programmes by many classification societies, such 

as Lloyd’s Register and DNV-GL (Det Norske Veritas & Germanischer 

Lloyd). 

Condition Monitoring includes techniques such as vibration 

monitoring, oil analysis, thermography, and electrical 

measurements. Compared to other CM techniques, vibration 

monitoring offers additional advantages: Experts can diagnose 

wear and damage, and identify the exact root cause. 

Vibration-based CM is the most suitable technique to diagnose 

rotating machinery, as the measurement results can be 

used to precisely identify where the malfunction is occurring, 

down to the component level. Based on this data, fleet managers, 

inspection specialists and engineers can take precise maintenance 

actions to avoid unnecessary downtime, dangerous 

situations, and secondary damage. 

Two paths, one goal 

In general, there are two ways of taking vibration measurements: 

offline measurement and online monitoring. 

Offline monitoring, on the one side, is based on handheld data 

collectors. With the use of such instrumentation, a crew member 

can manually take measurements on the machines at regular 

intervals. To reduce the error rate during data acquisition, a first 

level of automation has been introduced. Data collectors using a 

graphical measurement route function together with automatic 

identification of measurement locations, guide the user through 

the entire measurement procedure. The error rate is reduced 

noticeably. Even though we are still talking about manual data 

acquisition, a first step towards Industry 4.0 has been made. 

However, the networking of the individual components – as it 

is expected in a full-blown Industry 4.0 environment – is not 

provided. At this stage, a data upload is necessary for the measurement 

data to be analytically processed and transferred to a 

Computerized Maintenance Management System. 

Online monitoring systems, on the other side, act as an 

autonomous “black box”. It features permanently installed 

sensors and is usually installed on critical, safety-relevant, or 

difficult-to-access machines. Such a monitoring system acquires 

data 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It can generate large 

volumes of data – very much in the sense of Big Data. However, 

this data must be analyzed and sent to the onshore diagnostic 

specialists. In most cases, it is not possible to send several 

gigabytes of data via the ship’s VSAT system on a daily basis. 

Reasons for this include, for example, small bandwidths and 

high costs.This is where Industry 4.0 comes into play: Not only 

can an online system connect to the network of the ship, but it 

can also communicate with SCADA systems via different bus 

protocols. Data can be exchanged in both directions. Process 

parameters, such as output, speed, temperature, or start and 

stop variables can be transferred. In order to manage the large 

flow of data, the information can be used by an individual, or 

several networked online measurement systems. Based on the 

process parameters, online Condition Monitoring systems can 

independently relate the measured vibration signals to certain 

operating states and use variable alarm thresholds. After each 

measurement, online monitoring systems use the variables 

sent to decide whether there has been a significant change, and 

whether the data should be saved or discarded, or additional 

measurements initiated (Smart Data). 

As the vibration condition of a machine train strongly depends 

on the surrounding machines and the ship design, the 

analysis is particularly difficult on ships. Thanks to the networking 

of all the systems together with the SCADA system, it 

is possible to make reliable statements about the condition of 

the machines. Like a gold nugget, only “smart” data is saved. As 

a result, the much-praised big data lake can be filled with valuable 

content from the start. 



Online Visualization 4.0 

Fig. 1: Online dashboard visualization of a vessel 

Thanks to Industry 4.0, data volumes have been reduced to 

such an extent that they can now easily be sent to onshore diagnostic 

specialists– compact, but smart! 

Now, what about the onboard engineers? How can they 

benefit from Condition Monitoring in alleged Industry 4.0 environments? 

Measurement results can be visualized in online dashboards 

such as the Online View 4.0 by the personnel of the 

control room, where they can follow up on live data trends. 

Global warning levels are displayed as traffic lights indicative 

of a change in the operating condition as opposed to the actual 

machine condition. Following an in-depth diagnosis, the cause 

of an increased vibration level as well as the suitable maintenance 

actions are determined together with the onboard personnel 

to avoid unnecessary repairs and downtimes. 

Fig. 2: Drill down to a specific machine train with live data 

So far, we have explained both ways of taking machine 

measurement data using offline and online techniques. Only 

the online monitoring technique seems suitable for the world 

of Industry 4.0. Can we accept stereotype thinking and just follow 

one path? The answer is quite clear: No! 

A combined implementation of offline and online systems 

is often the most economical approach to reliable Condition 

Monitoring. In this context, the machines to be monitored 

must be differentiated according to the following criteria: 

• Criticality of the machine to the overall operation 

• Accessibility of measurement locations 

• Measurement duration (equipment cycle time, 

frequency range) 

• Workload involved 

• Health, safety, and environmental aspects 

Fig. 3: Online dashboard with traffic light warning system 

Using this combined approach, critical machines are monitored 

around the clock using online systems. Less critical 

machines are monitored monthly using offline measurements. 

The result is a reliable and cost-efficient condition monitoring 

programme and a general reduction of the workload for the 

onboard crew. 

The last missing piece of the puzzle is the integration of 

the offline systems into the Industry 4.0 environment. The 

good news is that some solutions already exist. Data can be 

compressed and sent onshore via e-mail, where it finds its way 

into a common database. Data will be prepared and analyzed. 

This way, the networking of information is now happening at 

a global level, connecting the information to the entire fleet of 

vessels. The results generated can be made available jointly in 

a web-based dashboard. 

Fleet managers, chief engineers, and analysts communicate 

through the dashboard and gain access to performance indicators, 

machine conditions and measurement results of the entire 

fleet down to the individual machine trains. 

There is no doubt that industry 4.0 makes life easier in 

maritime environments, both at the local and global levels. The 

costs associated with the presence of specialists onboard are 

significantly reduced as monitoring data is sent back and forth 

– for faster and more precise measurement results – according 

to the claim: “Move the Data, not the People”. 

Fig. 3 



THOMAS JUNG, 

Flir Systems, Sales 

Director Central & 

East Central Europe – 

Instruments 

Experienced engineer 

Martin Adler has been 

providing highly qualified 

industrial thermal imaging 

services since 1996. 

"The Infrared 

Solution 

is Simply 

Tremendous" 

Engineering firm Adler run by experienced engineer 

Martin Adler has been providing highly qualified 

industrial thermal imaging services since 1996. The 

Germany-based company uses top-of-the-range 

FLIR T1020 handheld thermal imaging cameras for 

maintenance applications. 

IN ADDITION TO offering thermographic 

inspections of electrical switching 

and distribution systems in all voltage 

ranges, Martin Adler’s engineering 

services also include thermography of 

mechanical equipment and components 

as well as measurements in industrial 

settings for process analysis, diagnosis, 

process optimization, product development 

and research, and the inspection 

of machines, equipment and insulation. 

Moreover, Adler also advises clients in 

the planning of installed, user-specific 

infrared measurements and offers problem 

analysis and troubleshooting for 

already installed IR-measuring systems. 

There are hardly any industrial thermographers 

in Germany that have as 

much experience as Mr. Adler. Even 

during his studies at the University of 

Applied Sciences in Gelsenkirchen at 

the beginning of the nineties, he programmed 

his own evaluation software 

for infrared measurements at the laboratory 

for energy technology. 

- There were no standardized solutions 

at the time and therefore individual 

initiative was required, Adler recalls. 

From the passion he developed as 

a student, he then established his own 

company in 1996, which celebrated its 

20th anniversary in April 2016. Even 

back then, the focus was on electrothermography. 

- It became clear to me: there was a 

great interest in thermographic inspection 

in the industrial sector, but there 

was a fairly meagre selection of qualified 

services. In 1996, there was still no recognized 

qualification for thermographers 

in Germany and only two years later the 

first certifications were introduced here 

according to the American standard. 

Measurements conducted by inexperienced 

service providers were often not 

reproducible and some of his competitors 

offered little more than colourful 

pictures with their infrared cameras. 

Martin Adler recalls a particularly horrific 

scenario involving an energy provider. 

An inexperienced thermographer 

had inspected insulators on high voltage 



lines on an extremely sunny day and 

thus found a high number of overheated 

units. 

- However, most of the insulators 

were perfectly in order, and the man 

simply did not have the necessary experience. 

Outdoor recordings often simply 

do not provide useful results in strong 

sunlight. Such faulty inspections at that 

time brought the whole industry into 

disrepute. 

Systematic approach pays off 

Based on his studies, Martin Adler took a 

very different and much more systematic 

approach, which he has remained faithful 

to. Regularly repeated inspection of 

critical components under reproducible 

conditions plays the decisive role here. 

- Back then, I first had to gain the confidence 

of my customers, Adler recalls. 

- Often a whole year passed between 

the first phone call, the first appointment, 

a demonstration of the technical 

measurement possibilities, internal coordination 

between the customer’s technicians 

and the purchasing department, 

and the actual order. 

The initial investment of 120,000 

ON A SIGNIFICANTLY SHARPER AND MORE DETAILED 

THERMAL IMAGE, YOU CAN DISCOVER PROBLEMS MUCH 

MORE EASILY AND WITH MUCH MORE CERTAINTY. 

Deutsche marks for a thermal imaging 

camera from FLIR’s predecessor 

company Agema didn’t make the start 

any easier for Martin Adler. He says it 

took several years to fully amortize this 

investment. He used this time to develop 

his excellent reputation. To this day, 

this reputation obliges him to use the 

best available thermal imaging camera 

model. 

The FLIR T1020 

With the T1020, Martin Adler is using 

the absolute top of the range of industrial 

thermography. 

- The detector’s IR resolution is huge, 

explains Adler enthusiastically. 

- This increases efficiency: On a significantly 

sharper and more detailed 

thermal image, you can discover problems 

much more easily and with much 

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more certainty. You can even discover 

small anomalies, which may not have 

been recognizable with the other camera 

or a lower resolution. 

Adler adds that camera operation has 

also become increasingly easy over the 

years. 

- This reduces the error rate, not only 

during camera usage, but also in the 

evaluation phase. 

Adler used to always have a notepad 

and pen ready to write down the errors 

found. Today, descriptions are stored in 

the camera in advance. 

- My T1020 “knows” exactly where it 

is, e.g. in property No. 1, building No. 10, 

switch room on the first floor. If, for example, 

I discover a problem in the 39 th 

object, then its position is automatically 

linked with the thermal image, thus 

avoiding confusion. 

Electrothermography 

Electrothermography is the most important 

area of use for Martin Adler. Detecting 

malfunctions before they bring a 

chemical plant to a halt, for example, not 

only makes sense for fire protection and 

security reasons, but also with regard to 

economic aspects. 

- In chemical plants, a half-hour 

standstill can incur 6-digit costs, and this 

is not only due to interrupted production. 

The plant must be commissioned 

again as stipulated and certain components 

inside the system may need to be 

removed so as not to cause negative effects. 

Fast procurement of spare parts for 

older components can also require great 

effort and thus be expensive. 

To make sure that none of this happens, 

Adler conducts regular inspections 

according to a clearly defined schedule. 

Electrothermography is 

the most important area of 

use for Martin Adler. 


Adler used to always 

have a notepad 

and pen ready to 

write down the 

errors found. Today, 

descriptions are 

stored in the camera 

in advance. 

Thermal imaging in areas at 

risk of explosion 

Inspections in areas at risk of explosion 

are also part of Adler’s everyday work, 

even though he finds far fewer errors in 

this setting. 

- Areas at risk of explosion are from 

the outset so critical that a high value is 

placed on safety. Of course this applies 

to the electrical and mechanical installations, 

so here we find errors significantly 

less often, he says. 

Nevertheless, the inspections here are 

anything but superfluous, because any 

abnormalities in such areas could pose 

very significant risks. 

Lining of furnaces 

Industrial furnaces consist of a furnace 

shell, which is protected by a fire-resistant 

inner lining against the extreme 

temperatures of the molten metal. Of 

course this lining is exposed to normal 

ageing processes: It is exposed to wear in 

operation and is eventually damaged to 

the extent that it requires replacing. The 

time between two linings is called the 

“travel time”, and the longer the journey, 

the more economic the operation can 

be. However, a furnace with a defective 

lining could also have disastrous 

consequences. The molten metal would 

destroy the shell and, in addition to high 

costs, in a worst-case scenario could even 

cause injury. Using a thermal imaging 

camera, it is possible to determine the 

condition of the lining from outside the 

furnace even during operation. Regular 

thermography inspections ensure safety 

and prevent economic losses. 

Qualification and certification 

Today, Martin Adler is one of the most 

sought after thermography specialists 

with certifications according to the European 

DIN EN ISO 9712 Level III, the 

ASNT, the CFPA and the VDS in addition 

to his many years of experience. This can 

be seen in his continually growing order 

volumes. 

Adler doesn’t worry about competition 

from inexpensive thermal imaging 

cameras. 

- Cheap devices hardly play a role 

in the area of professional industrial 

thermography. Plant operators may 

sometimes purchase them for the occasional 

inspection, but they can’t meet 

the insurance requirements with regard 

to systematics and accuracy with these 

devices.

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ALLAN RIENSTRA, 

Director of Business 

Development for SDT 

ULTRASOUND AND 

INFRARED COOPERATE 

Faults Found with Ultrasound 

Figure 1 displays an example of an electo 

Find Transformer Failures 

Processing steel requires heavy-duty electrical systems that consume massive 

amounts of energy. A single electrical component failure can be all it takes to completely 

stop production, resulting in the loss of crucial time and money. Maintenance 

crews rely on condition monitoring technologies like ultrasound and infrared imaging 

to help them predict electrical component failures. 

MOST ELECTRICAL FAULTS are the result 

of partial discharge, which is defined as 

“a localized electrical discharge in an insulation 

system that does not completely 

bridge the electrodes.” A discharge is 

described as either an “arc” or a “spark” 

and can be phase-to-phase, or phase-toground. 

Partial discharge is destructive 

to the conductor or insulator and, over 

time, will cause the component to fail. 

The integrity of insulators can be further 

damaged by corrosive gases like nitrous 

oxide. The time it takes for a system 

component to fail can be affected by system 

voltage, the shape of the void from 

phase-to-phase, ambient temperature, 

the condition of the insulation material, 

and environmental conditions such as 

pollution and humidity. The higher the 

voltage, the more destructive the partial 

discharge becomes. 

One stage of partial discharge is 

termed “tracking.” Tracking is difficult 

to detect since it doesn’t demonstrate 

any heat build-up. Like corona discharge 

and arcing, tracking exists only to seek a 

path to ground. Dirt, dust and moisture 

help tracking follow this path, which is 

why simple maintenance like cleaning 

is effective in prolonging the service life 

of electrical systems. Cleaning should 

be done on a planned schedule, but not a 

planned calendar schedule. Since hiring 

a cleaning crew represents a cost, it is 

more efficient to first detect the need 

for cleaning with ultrasound, and only 

schedule the crew based on the condition 

of the electrical system. 

Tracking begins with a low buzzing 

and crackling and builds in intensity until 

it reaches the point of flashover. After 

flashover occurs it becomes quiet again. 

It is this constant build up in intensity 

and discharge that leads to insulator 

breakdown and eventually, the progression 

to more destructive arcing. 

The Combination of Two 

Technologies for Electrical 

Applications with Gerdau 

Ameristeel 

The earlier an electrical fault is detected, 

the easier, and less expensive it is for the 

electrical repair crew to schedule and 

perform maintenance. Early detection of 

an electrical fault could be the difference 

between a simple dusting and cleaning, 

or minor parts replacement and a costly 

overhaul and total repair/replacement 

of the machine. Skip Young, a certified 

infrared thermographer (IR) and ultrasound 

inspector (UT) works for Gerdau 

Ameristeel in Calvert City, KY. Mr. 

Young provides us with a good example 

of how combined predictive inspections 

can prevent transformer outages and 

help schedule simple PMs. 

Typically, electrical faults only generate 

heat once they have reached an 

advanced stage. Relying solely on IR 

may result in a missed diagnosis but not 

for Skip Young. While conducting all 

scheduled IR scans, Young includes ultrasound 

measurements. He knows that 

acoustic energy is generated at all stages 

of discharge and that by combining ultrasound 

and infrared scans he finds all 

faults. 



Figure 1: This insulator was damaged 

by tracking and eventually arcing. 

The problem was detected early with 

ultrasound inspection. 

Figure 2: Thermal Images of A-phase 

bushing on this 161Kv to 13.8Kv step 

down transformer showed no apparent hot 

spots. 

Figure 3: The sound file can be viewed in 

both the time (top image) and spectrum 

(bottom image) domain. The top shows 

tracking picked up in the ultrasound 

range from the A-Phase bushing of the 

transformer. 

trical problem detected in its early stages 

with Ultrasound. The insulator was 

damaged with tracking which indicates 

the presence of an equipment fault. 

When caught at an early stage, it can 

often be fixed with simple maintenance 

procedures. 

Thermal images from several 161kV 

to 13.8kV step down transformers were 

provided to us by Young. While using 

infrared imaging there was no visible 

hot spots on the A, B and C phase bushings 

as shown in Figure 2, but an ultrasound 

measurement taken produced a 

sound file with obvious indications of 

early tracking shown in Figure 3. 

The top image illustrates the time 

domain showing the build-up and release 

of the ionization discharge as it 

finds a path to ground. Ultrasonically, 

we hear the build-up and then a neutralization 

of the air surrounding the 

problem. Heat does not build up here 

until the situation progresses and there 

is sufficient flow or current to produce 

heat along the discharge path. 

The bottom image illustrates the 

spectrum domain from Young’s ultrasonic 

data. There are two things to 

note here. First, the obvious repetition 

of 60 Hz events clearly tells us that, in 

addition to tracking, there is a presence 

of nuisance corona. Secondly, the noise 

level between the 60 Hz peaks confirms 

there is tracking activity. 

Similar tracking activity was discovered 

from the B and C phase bushings, 

while neither showed any signs of heat 

when scanned with an infrared camera. 

After the Successful 

Diagnosis with Ultrasound 

Once the diagnosis was made on the 

suspect transformers, the decision to 

perform simple maintenance during 

the next planned outage was made. 

Since the problem was discovered at 

an early stage the simple maintenance 

could be done on the terms of the maintenance 

crew rather than dictated by 

asset failure. 

According to Young, the simple 

maintenance merely included a cleaning 

and tightening of all connections 

on A, B, and C phase bushings. Looking 

at the time signal in Figure 4 and the 

frequency signal in figure 5, we can see 

that simple maintenance definitely 

improved the condition of the electrical 

assets. Since tracking is a stage of 

partial discharge that causes damage 

to connectors and insulators, it will be 

necessary for Young to continue vigilant 

ultrasound scans on the transformers. 

The combination of two predictive 

technologies while monitoring for 

electrical faults ensures that imminent 

problems are detected at the earliest 

possible stage of failure. Young’s detection 

of early tracking with ultrasound 

led to maintenance crews at Gerdau 

scheduling planned maintenance to 

fix their problems on their terms. Most 

significantly, the only maintenance 

required was a simple cleaning and 

re-tightening of connections. No costly 

purchase of parts was required and the 

effects of the maintenance performed 

was instantly seen. They are depicted in 

figures 4 and 5. 

Ultrasound and infrared technologies 

performed well together on Gerdau’s 

transformer issue, and there is 

no reason why the pairing should not 

be considered a winner for observing 

partial discharge on insulators, MCC 

panels and high voltage transmission 

and distribution lines. 

Figure 4: Time signal of ultrasonically 

detected tracking on A-Phase bushing 

before (left) and after (right) the simple 

maintenance of cleaning and tightening of 

connections. 

Figure 5: Frequency signal of ultrasonically 

detected tracking on A-Phase bushing 

before (left) and after (right) the simple 

maintenance of cleaning and tightening 

of connections. Dominant 60hz peaks are 

gone, as is the tracking noise between 

peaks. 


MAINTENANCE MANAGEMEMT 

Are you Spending More 

Time on Technology than 

on Processes and People? 

A common reason why reliability and maintenance improvement initiatives often do 

not generate the expected achievable results is competing priorities and focusing on 

the wrong things. 

CHRISTER 

IDHAMMAR, 

Founder & CEO 

IDCON INC, 

info@idcon.com. 

A GREAT EXAMPLE of this is technology. 

Technology is good and necessary and 

maintenance people like technology. It 

is common that the improvement effort 

will focus on technology instead of 

processes and people. There are many 

stories about engineers and these stories 

almost always make fun of our personalities. 

For example: “How do you 

know an engineer is extrovert?” “The 

engineer looks at your shoes, instead of 

their own shoes when they talk to you”. 

Many engineers are used to working 

with facts in designs and specifications. 

In a maintenance organization, you will 

have to manage people with different 

opinions and all that come with that. 

A new vibration analyzer, a handheld 

data collector for inspections or an online 

condition monitoring system are all 

good and valid technologies, but if they 

are not used by qualified people, in a 

well-defined and executed process, the 

possible improvement from the use of 

these technologies will be absent. 

For the example above there would 

be processes to do vibration analyses 

and inspections, with the right methods 

and frequencies, and a work management 

process to prioritize, plan and 

schedule the corrective action from failures 

found using these technologies. 

As mentioned before it is relatively 

easy to develop, document and communicate 

the processes. To instill a culture 


to execute work in these processes takes 

much more effort and time. 

This will include the education and 

training of people to achieve awareness, 

understanding and skills. 

To sustain craft skills to perform precision 

maintenance repairs, it is important 

to first implement the basic processes 

of inspections and work management 

in order to reduce reactive work. When 

that is done, people should be trained in 

precision maintenance repairs. 

If not done in this order, the people 

trained will fall back into reactive maintenance. 

In a reactive mode, too much 

work is urgent so there will not be time 

to do for example precision alignment. 

The skills acquired during training 

will be lost and people will be disappointed. 

In summary: Most people know 

what to do, but cannot find the time to 

do it. As Illustration1 describes. Too 

many conflicting priorities are common 

reason for this. If you implement and 

execute the basic reliability and maintenance 

processes and execute them well, 

you will free up time to do what you do 

not have time to do today. 

Christer Idhammar, is Founder and CEO 

of IDCON INC a reliability and maintenance 

consulting firm headquartered in 

the United States with partners in Norway, 

Finland, Italy, Germany, Australia, 

and South America. 

TECHNOLOGY IS GOOD AND NECESSARY AND MAINTENANCE 

PEOPLE LIKE TECHNOLOGY. 

Illustration 1: I don’t have 

time to fix the fence. I have 

too many chickens to catch. 

©IDCON INC

ASSET MANAGEMENT 

Effective Backlog 

Management – 

Backlog Size Control 

Backlog management has a number of different but, interdependent focuses: Backlog 

Work Order Quality, Age of Backlog and Backlog Size Management. This article 

will focus on Backlog Size Management. In parts 2 and 3, the Age of the Backlog 

and Backlog Size Management were discussed in detail. 

STEVE GILES, 

Marshall Institute, 

sgiles@ 

marshallinstitute.com 

DURING the 1960s many major companies 

reduced crew size by laying off 

junior workers, rolling maintenance employees 

to operations roles or temoprarilly 

laying them off. It was understood 

during that period, that a newly hired 

employee could expect several temporary 

layoffs until they gained enough 

seniority to be above the layoff threshold. 

Major companies realized the shortsightedness 

of this practice in the mid 


seventies, and began using other means 

of adjusting the crew size when business 

was slow. 

A common approach during the mid- 

1970s was to staff at a 60-80% level and 

maintain a supplement contract work 

force to meet the requirements during 

high demand periods. 

I experienced this new approach in 

the early eighties when the plant where 

I was assigned encountered an extended 

slow business period. The company reacted 

first by displacing all contractors 

with their employees – security, janitorial, 

and supplemental maintenance. 

As the slow period became extended, 

mechanics and operators were loaned to 

local community service programmes, 

such as Habitat for Humanity. For several 

months, I had mechanics building 

affordable housing while being fully paid 

by the company. Needless to say, the morale 

and loyalty of the employees grew 

tremendously. The company also gained 

from reducing turnover and training 

costs. 

Reactive organizations will have 

very large backlogs (documented and/ 

or undocumented). This may be interpreted 

as an indicator of understaffing. 

In reality, adding resources will not have 

a substantial impact on the backlog size 

without fundamental changes in how 

maintenance tasks are addressed and 

the quality of the overall maintenance 

programme. 

The nature of a reactive maintenance 

programme will keep the focus on the


emergencies of the day, causing less urgent 

work to be ignored until it becomes 

one of the next day’s emergencies. With 

this firefighting mentality, short cuts 

and Band-Aid maintenance techniques 

become the norm, guaranteeing more 

emergencies and shorter life cycles. This 

cycle will continue until a strong effort 

to implement a proactive work management 

process is taken. 

High level metric 

of staffing levels 

Organizations with a proactive programme 

and a well-implemented work 

management process can use backlog 

size as a high level metric of its staffing 

levels (overall and individual craft 

mix) and the quality of its Planning and 

Scheduling process. 

This is not a metric that triggers rapid 

action, but should cause a thorough investigation 

to determine the root cause. 

World Class maintenance programmes 

have a 5-week backlog target by craft and 

crew with a 3 to 7 week upper and lower 

control limit. This should be monitored 

ORGANIZATIONS 

WITH A PROACTIVE 

PROGRAMME AND A WELL- 

IMPLEMENTED WORK 

MANAGEMENT PROCESS 

CAN USE BACKLOG SIZE AS 

A HIGH LEVEL METRIC OF 

ITS STAFFING LEVELS. 

on a monthly basis, but only trigger an 

investigation if a trend is established 

over a number of months. Once a trend 

is recognized, an objective investigation 

should be undertaken to determine why 

the trend is occurring. There are normal 

activities that could cause a temporary 

trend in the backlog level. For example 

a major plant outage or turnaround can 

push the backlog higher when many routine 

tasks have to be delayed. 

Reaction to the trends can result in 

cleaning the backlog (see Part 1 of this 

article in Maintworld 3/2017) or reducing/increasing 

the contract crew size 

to bring the backlog within the control 

limits. Today, many companies use supplemental 

maintenance as a relief valve 

during difficult business periods. 

Some companies take a long term 

view, allowing reduced replacement of 

attrition to lower the crew size to match 

the workload. In cases of a high backlog, 

both increasing overtime and bringing 

on more contractors are commonly used 

tools. 

A note of caution if you allow your 

supplemental contractors to maintain 

their own backlog: any decisions to reduce 

or increase crew size must be done 

only after a thorough review of the quality 

of the work orders in backlog. 

I experienced the need to take this 

step a number of years ago. The supplemental 

maintenance contractor manager 

requested increasing the number 

of his staff due to a high backlog. His 

request was at first considered and he


started the process of hiring more supplemental 

mechanics. When knowledge 

of this increase reached the maintenance 

planners, a number of questions 

were raised. A thorough review of each 

work order revealed many with unreliable 

estimates, work orders that had 

already been completed or work orders 

for tasks that had no business benefits. 

The contractor’s backlog was reduced 

to normal levels and the hiring of additional 

supplemental mechanics avoided. 

To ensure this didn’t reoccur, a regular 

backlog review meeting was established. 

Contract firms do use backlog metrics 

as a means to control job security 

and profitability for the firm by moving 

personnel between jobs, if possible, or 

reducing crew size (layoffs) to match 

the available work. They will set the 

backlog targets at an appropriate level 

for the industry they are serving, normally 

much higher than the 5-week 

target of world class companies. Specialty 

contractors can have much higher 

backlog targets, especially if there is a 

limited number of firms specializing in 

their field. 

Establishing a Backlog Metric 

A clear definition of when a work order 

is placed in backlog should be developed 

first to ensure an accurate backlog. 

Some organizations include all work orders, 

even those without accurate estimates. 

This adding of work orders with 

“guesstimates” will make the backlog 

greatly exaggerated. 

To ensure an accurate backlog, only 

those work orders that have been fully 

estimated should be included. Work 

orders that are awaiting planning or being 

planned should not be added to the 

backlog. 

Any backlog size metric will only be 

as accurate as the planner's estimates. 

World class metrics for work order 

estimate accuracy is =/- 10%. Reactive 

maintenance organization’s work order 

estimates will be +/- 50% to many times 

more. 

A separate backlog metric should be 

kept for each craft and crew (multi shop 

sites) with control limits to trigger any 

possible actions. 

While the man-hours per craft and 

crew are what are pulled from the work 

orders, converting the metric to manweeks 

helps make the metric easier to 

use. 

Typical Backlog metric 

This metric should be reviewed on a 

monthly basis and investigated when 

a trend of several months is seen. The 

first step should be a quality review by 

those personnel who are familiar with 

the operations needs and maintenances 

resources (Operations and Maintenance 

supervision or managers). This 

review will need to look at all the work 

orders in backlog, not just those that are 

overdue. If the quality review doesn’t 

bring the backlog into control limits, 

a continuous improvement tool such 

as a 5 Why analysis can be applied to 


discover the cause of the out of control 

backlog. 

Possible causes of an out of control 

backlog are: 

• Work order quality – inaccurate 

estimates – invalid work orders – 

completed work 

• Major turnaround being done 

with plant maintenance or supplemental 

maintenance personnel 

• A time-driven capital project being 

completed with plant maintenance 

or supplemental maintenance 

personnel 

• Business slow period – short or 

long term 

• Crews not correctly sized to the 

workload 

• Crafts not sized correctly – too 

few or too many of one craft 

• Inexperienced mechanics 

Corrective steps that could be taken: 

• Clean the backlog 

• Be patient and let time correct 

the cause (turnaround, project, or 

a temporary business slowdown) 

• Balance crews across all shops 

• Identify areas of inexperience 

and provide training 

• Reduce or increase the supplemental 

maintenance personnel 

Regardless of what the cause is determined 

to be, any corrective steps should 

be carefully considered for their longterm 

effect. Any corrective effort should 

be discussed with all stakeholders and a 

consensus reached. 


8 

6 

4 

2 

Mech 

E&I 

Upper Control limit 

Lower Control limit 

0 

1 

Jan-16 Mar-16 May-16 Jul-16 Sept-16 Nov-16 


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SmartDGA by LumaSense 

with single valve transformer 

installation. 

Text: LumaSense Technologies GmbH, 

info@lumasenseinc.com 

Implementing Online 

Dissolved Gas Analysis 

Transformer and Load Tap Changer 

(LTC) assets are among the most 

expensive pieces of equipment for 

electric utilities. Preserve these 

assets by using an appropriate DGA 

(Dissolved Gas Analysis) diagnostic 

method to improve service reliability, 

avoid transformer failure, and 

defer capital expenditures for new 

transformer assets. 

MONITORING AND ASSESSING transformer and LTC health 

(especially with ageing and overloaded equipment) is essential 

for maintaining optimal operation and avoiding downtime. All 

transformers experience electrical and thermal stress on the 

insulating materials over time. As the stresses increase, the insulating 

oils breakdown and can result in transformer faults. 

Monitoring the dissolved gas levels in transformer oil samples 

is a useful, trusted maintenance tool for assuring optimal 

asset health. However, conventional manual methods are periodic 

and expensive, while real-time monitoring solutions are 

more proactive and lower cost in the long-term. 

Transformer insulating oils are made up of different types of 

hydrocarbon molecules. During decomposition (breakdown), 

there are chemical reactions between these molecules, which 

result in various gas formations. 

In order to measure asset health on a daily basis, utilities 

need an online 24-hour, 7 days-a-week solution for monitoring 

and assessing the gas samples. 

As experienced leaders in NDIR technology through our Andros 

brand, LumaSense chose industry-proven Non-Dispersive 

Infrared (NDIR) for our online SmartDGA® solution. The NDIRbased 

SmartDGA instrument works in cycles to obtain a sample 

of oil, detect concentrations (in PPM) of key gases, and record 

the values, making them available for review in the SmartDGA 

Viewer software or other optional communications. Operators 

can set up alerts when gases reach certain thresholds, allowing 

for true condition-based maintenance (CBM). 

With the lowest Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) in the industry, 

SmartDGA makes DGA available online 24 hours-a-day, 7 

days-a-week to help utilities lower costs while improving safety, 

reliability, and efficiency. Installation can be completed in as few 

as 4 hours and our ultra-low maintenance solution does not re- 


quire consumables, carrier gas, or scheduled calibrations. 

Each SmartDGA packing unit includes the instrument, 

mounting hardware, connection cable, the SmartDGA 

EZHub unit (for power and communications), and 

SmartDGA Viewer Software (for reviewing collected data). 

With continuous DGA values, this solution develops 

a comprehensive analysis of potential fault conditions 

through the monitoring of key gas levels, rates, and ratios. 

LumaSense has setup a dedicated website with useful 

information about implementing online dissolved gas 

analysis on www.smartdga.com. 

Besides a detailed description of the unit with accessories 

and installation options is also contains a link to the 

product video explaining the main benefits and features 

of LumaSense’s SmartDGA instruments, specifically why 

the exclusively-used composite membrane technology is 

a robust method for online DGA. 

Moreover, there is a platform enabling registrants to 

view a technical webinar entitled “Understanding DGA 

techniques and interpretations”, which aims to provide 

with the necessary foundation to understand and analyze 

dissolved gas analysis reports. 

This webinar is set up especially for industry professionals 

who want to learn how to use some of the best 

diagnostic tools available for assessing the condition of 

their equipment. In addition, it will help understand how 

gases form, and their relationship to faults. 

11 – 15 June 2018 

Frankfurt am Main 

CONTACT: 

LumaSene Technologies GmbH 

www.lumasenseinc.com 

www.smartdga.com 

info@lumasenseinc.com 

BE INFORMED. BE INSPIRED. BE THERE. 

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HSE 

MANAGING 

HAZARDOUS 

ENERGY SAFELY 

Electricity, hydraulics, pneumatics, kinetics, chemistry and 

thermodynamics – energy can be dangerous in every form if it is 

released unintentionally or in an uncontrolled manner. To be able to 

classify a machine as safe in all operating conditions, it must not only 

be able to be disconnected from all energy sources; it must also be 

guaranteed that the machine will not start up unexpectedly or that 

machine parts will not move unexpectedly due to stored energy. For 

this reason, Lock Out Tag Out programmes - as required in the USA - 

are increasingly being used in Europe. 

NIELS ALPERS, 

Customer Support 

Pilz GmbH & Co. KG 


DISCONNECTING A MACHINE from the 

power supply can be sufficient from a 

safety point of view if the isolation device 

is in the line of sight of the person working 

on the machine. It must however not 

be possible for another person to reconnect 

the machine to the electrical grid 

during the work. The safety issues of servicing 

and maintenance are of particular 

concern, as considerably more fatal work 

accidents occur during these processes 

than in production. According to statements 

by the German Trade Association 

for Wood and Metal (BGHM), 21% of fatal 

work accidents occur during servicing. 

The Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration (OSHA), a division of the 

US Department of Labour, defines hazardous 

energies and describes how they 

are to be handled. The US Regulation 29 

CFR 1910.147 clearly states that machinery 

and other work equipment in special 

operating modes such as cleaning, servicing 

and maintenance is isolated from 

the energy supply and secured in such 

a way that an unexpected switching on 

or an unexpected start-up of machinery 

and equipment, or the release of hazardous 

energy, is ruled out. The specifications 

are summarised under the term 

LoTo (Lock Out Tag Out). 

Photo: Pilz GmbH & Co. KG 

Taking a closer look 

at energy sources 

Traditionally, LoTo is associated with 

the isolation from electrical energy. All 

types of energy can be hazardous, however, 

which is why it is necessary to check 

whether LoTo can be used for all energy 

sources. For example, energy can be 

stored in mechanical parts that continue 

to move due to inertia (such as on vertical 

axes), capacitors, accumulators, pressurised 

fluids and gases as well as in springs. 

If stored energy can cause hazards, 

facilities for dissipating or retaining 

stored energy must be integrated into 

the machinery. Examples of this type of 

facilities are: Resistors (for discharging 

electrical capacitors) or valves with corresponding 

line ventilation.

HSE 


Components of LoTo: 

Lock and… 

On the one hand, LoTo comprises 

a physical lock. This can be a main 

switch or an isolation device with 

which the transmission or release of 

energy is physically prevented, e.g. isolating 

switches, slide switches, valves, 

blocks and blank flanges. There is also 

a “personal” security lock. Meaning 

a lock that is handed over to a person 

so that they can lock a main switch 

in the “OFF” position or a valve in a 

fixed closed position. Depending on 

the company rules, all keys for a “personal” 

security lock must, for example, 

be kept by the person to whom the 

security lock was issued or stored in a 

suitable place. The company must determine 

whether there are additional 

keys and who has them. 

The lock ensures that the machine 

can only be operated after this has 

been properly removed again. Furthermore, 

the operator is prevented 

from being able to inadvertently start 

the machinery. E-STOP pushbuttons 

are not categorised as isolation 

devices. 

FREE 

OWNER 

OPERATOR 

ATTENDANCE 

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WALTER PINTO 

Senior Director of 

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LYONDELLBASELL 

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Director, Digital 

Development 

BASF NA 

JOSE PIRES 

Global Excellence 

& Innovation Leader 

ANDEAVOR 

3 DEDICATED CONFERENCE STREAMS: 

MAINTENANCE & 

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Global Manufacturing 

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& Reliability 

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HERMAN VERHOEVEN 

VP - Global 

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COVESTRO 

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TURNAROUNDS 

www.downstreamevent.com

HSE 

... tag 

LoTo also includes the corresponding 

labelling of the isolation device by means 

of a sign or a tag on the lock: Why is the 

equipment secured against restarting 

and labelled accordingly? Who approved 

LoTo? Who carried out LoTo? How long 

does the lockout last? Who can provide 

additional information? 

LoTo is not just about attaching a 

lock and a label. It is a comprehensive 

programme that has far-reaching consequences 

in the company and the handling 

of machinery. The goal is a process 

with which safe handling of hazardous 

energy sources is guaranteed under 

normal operating conditions and other 

foreseeable conditions. 

As is always the case in the field of 


machinery safety, the first step is an assessment 

of the existing machines and 

energies. Specifically, this includes the 

determination and assessment of risks 

and hazards, the determination of sources 

of hazardous energy, the determination 

of cut-off points and the definition 

of additional required measures (e.g. 

vents, brakes). 

Step by Step 

At the beginning of the LoTo process, it is 

necessary to determine which people are 

responsible for LoTo and which people 

are participating in LoTo. It is also necessary 

to clarify which permissions and approvals 

are necessary for the work. Then 

a LoTo process tailored to the individual 

needs of the company must be created. 

The individual steps and responsibilities 

etc. are described below. 

Generally, a LoTo procedure comprises 

the following steps: 

1. Assessment and preparation of 

the task/work to be performed 

on the machinery 

2. Handover of the equipment: The 

equipment (lock & tag) can be 

managed centrally (foreman) or 

locally (maintenance engineer) 

3. De-energise and lockout plus apply 

tag 

4. Check point 3 

5. Performance of the task, such as 

maintenance 

6. Approval for release and cancellation 

of the disconnection 

7. Cancellation of the disconnection 

by removing the lockout and 

the tag 

Lock Out Tag Out 

is the systematic 

disconnection of 

machinery as well as 

securing it against 

restart. The LoTo 

system also includes 

the development 

of procedures for 

machinery isolation 

as part of specific 

tasks, as well as the 

training of machine 

operators. 

8. Examination 

9. Return of the equipment 

Who releases the machinery again 

depends on the specific process in the 

company. Additional components of the 

process include the determination of 

the purpose, scope and rules of the LoTo 

procedure, the description and determination 

of the energy control process 

to be applied and the description of the 

means for the implementation of and 

compliance with the LoTo programme. 

The disconnection from an energy 

supply must be visible (visible interruption 

of the energy supply circuits) 

or indicated by the clear position of the 

manual control (actuator) of the isolation 

device. Installation devices such 

as manometers or test points are to be 

provided to check whether the parts 

of the machinery in or on which the 

interventions are to be performed are 

de-energised. 

Assemblies that contain hazardous 

stored energy and that can be removed 

or disassembled are to be permanently 

labelled to warn about the hazards 

caused by the stored energy. 

Software-supported 

documentation 

When documenting Lock Out Tag Out 

processes, software tools can provide 

support to ensure machinery can be 

safely de-energised: Job specifications 

for dealing with hazardous energy sources 

can be produced and documented 

simply. Using the PASloto software, it 

is possible to produce LoTo reports and 

check the company’s own LoTo guidelines. 

PASloto produces a poster that 

documents a plant’s entire LoTo procedure 

and enables images of the machinery 

and energy sources to be added to 

the Lock Out Tag Out poster. 

Employee training is essential 

It is critical for success: The personnel 

must be trained in this procedure. 

This is true for all personnel, irrespective 

of their role in the company, as 

all employees must understand what 

LoTo stands for. Authorised employees 

require intensive training and any other 

employees involved must be informed 

of LoTo and must not undertake any 

attempts to restart the machinery. All 

employees must understand the significance 

of a lock and even employees from 

external contractors must be involved 

in the training courses. The procedure 

is to be implemented across the entire 

company. 

Finally, the system must be constantly 

monitored and checked to ensure that 

it functions properly and all elements 

are covered. In addition, a predictive detection 

of defects and weaknesses of isolating 

systems and the implementation 

of corrective actions can be enabled. The 

ability to react in the event of incidents 

should also be determined, as should the 

relationship between these incidents 

and organisational changes. 

The feedback from all participants on 

the effectiveness and usefulness of the 

(LoTo) process should be continuously 

assessed. This is then incorporated into 

any continuous process improvement. 

There will always be changes, as new 

machinery will be added and existing 

machinery changed. 


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T: +31 546 725 125 | E: info@uesystems.eu | W: www.uesystems.eu


PROPER OIL 

SAMPLING: 

The First Step 

in Oil Analysis 

For years companies 

have used oil analysis 

to determine the 

health and condition 

of their equipment. 

However, most 

companies are not 

getting the most out 

of their oil analysis 

program because they 

do not understand the 

importance of proper 

oil sampling. 

MIKE HALL, 

President, Checkfluid 

Inc., 

mhall@checkfluid.com 

OIL ANALYSIS is a highly effective method 

of determining the health of your equipment’s 

lubricant and discovering wear 

modes in your machine. With oil analysis 

you can: decide on when the oil needs to 

be changed, and prevent failures. However, 

most companies are not getting the 

most out of their oil analysis programs 

due to inconsistent oil samples. 

The importance of taking a proper 

sample for oil analysis cannot be overlooked. 

A proper sample represents the 

true condition of the equipment, it is taken 

when the machine is running, and it 

is taken from the same spot in the active 

zone every time. A proper sample is then 

compared to the baseline sample and 

trended against past and future samples. 

With oil sampling, there are two main 

objectives: safe sampling and reliable 

sampling. 

Safe Sampling 

Safety is the first objective. This means 

safety for both personnel sampling and 

the machine. Technicians need to understand 

the equipment and hazards. They 

should follow all safety procedures and 

use proper personal protective equipment 

while sampling. But even when 

following safety procedures, typical 

sampling methods can be dangerous. 

Oftentimes sampling from the drain has 

caused burns and opening up a system 

for sampling can expose the workers 

to dangerous hazards. With drain port 

sampling, it is also difficult to control 

the flow of oil out of the machine and too 

much oil loss can result in starvation. 

Furthermore, opening the equipment up 

to external particulate, moisture and water 

contamination can often defeat the 

purpose of getting a representative sample. 

It can even damage the equipment. 

Drop tube sampling is another traditional 

method that is hazardous. It is 

extremely dangerous to insert a plastic 

sampling tube into the live zone while 

the equipment is running. Without extreme 

precision there is a strong likely 

hood of the plastic tube getting caught in 

the gears. Thus in order to get a safe oil 

sample the equipment must be turned 

off. Even when turning the equipment 

off the system is still being opened up 

to external contamination. Properly installed 

oil sampling valves can help keep 

your people and equipment safe. For 

THE IMPORTANCE OF TAKING 

A PROPER SAMPLE FOR OIL 

ANALYSIS CANNOT BE 

OVERLOOKED. 



FIGURE 1: Example of remote 

access installation setup on a 

pressurized system. 

starters, burns can be avoided as sampling 

valves allow oil to be directed safely 

and cleanly to the bottle. Additionally 

there are many remote access options 

available so that sampling can take place 

away from any and all of the equipment 

hazards (Figure 1). Sampling valves 

also allow you to sample from a closed 

system, preventing contamination from 

entering the system. Also, costly downtime 

can be avoided by sampling while 

the equipment is running. 

Reliable Sampling 

While safe sampling is the first objective, 

getting a reliable sample is also important. 

Successful oil analysis is about accurate 

trending. Oil samples need to be 

taken the same way every time and from 

the same location every time. It is important 

that the trends in the oil analysis 

reports are because of changes in the oil 

and equipment and not because of who 

took the sample, or how and when the 

sample was taken. 

SUCCESSFUL OIL ANALYSIS 

IS ABOUT ACCURATE 

TRENDING. 

Drain valve sampling and drop tube 

sampling do not produce representative 

samples. For starters, taking an oil 

drain sample can lead to the oil analysis 

results showing false positives. Since 

wear particles, contaminants and water 

settle at the bottom, the oil samples can 

show elevated amounts of wear metals 

or contamination. This can lead to 

unnecessary repairs, resulting in lost 

productivity and elevated maintenance 

costs to fix a problem that never existed 

in the first place. Additionally both sampling 

methods require machine shut off. 

The samples will not be representative 

of the equipment during operation. Additionally, 

shutting off the machine and 

waiting for the oil to cool down enough 

to safely take a sample allows for more 

wear particles settling in the drain. Thus 

the sample can show elevated amounts 

of wear particles. 

Sampling valves are needed for obtaining 

consistent and reliable samples. 

They allow for oil to be taken directly 

from the active zone, safely, while the 

equipment is running. This means that 

oil samples can be taken at any time 

since shutdowns are no longer necessary. 

Technicians also no longer have to 

open the system, reducing the chance 

of moisture or contamination. Furthermore, 

sampling while the equipment is 

running ensures that the samples are a 

direct representation of the machine’s 

condition. The oil samples are reliable 

because they are coming from the same 

spot in the active zone every time. Each 

sample pulled will contain hot, information-rich 

oil that can be trended against 

previous samples to show the condition 

of your equipment. 


XXXXXX CONDITION MONITORING 

FIGURE 2: Direct installation example of a 

pushbutton valve on a pressurized system. 

FIGURE 3: An 

installation example 

of a sampling tube in 

a drain port. In this 

example the sampling 

tube is combined 

with a sight glass and 

portable filtration 

quick couplings. 

Installing Oil Sampling Valves 

Pressurized systems (such as 

engines, transmissions, 

compressors and hydraulics) 

When installing a sampling valve on 

pressurized equipment, like hydraulics, 

look for a port that will provide the best 

representative oil sample. The ideal 

port will be located downstream of 

the components to be monitored (i.e. 

pumps, bearings) but before the filter 

(unless the filter is being monitored). 

Many times a simple pushbutton valve 

can be installed directly in a port on a 

pressurized system (Figure 2). However, 

if the port is not easily accessible 

many sampling valve manufacturers 

have remote access solutions to allow 

samples to be taken from a distance 

(Figure 1). 

Low or Non-Pressurized 

Systems (Gearboxes) 

Many times gearboxes only have a small 

number of ports to choose from. The 

drain port allows an ideal location to 

insert a sampling valve with an attached 

permanent sampling tube (Figure 3). 

The permanent metal tube should be 

bent and positioned close to gears to 

get the most representative oil. The 

sampling valve with tube will reach oil 

directly in the active zone and avoid getting 

sediment from the bottom of the 

gearbox, thus producing representative, 

and reliable oil samples. The breather 

port is also another option for sampling 

tube installation. 

SAMPLING VALVES ARE 

NEEDED FOR OBTAINING 

CONSISTENT AND RELIABLE 

SAMPLES. 

Get the Right Sampling Valve 

Once a location and available port is 

determined, it is necessary to determine 

the oil viscosity range, pressure range 

(for pressurized systems), thread size 

and thread type of the port. Sometimes, 

this is available from the manufacturer. 

Often times, it is necessary to use a pressure 

gauge, micrometers, thread pitch 

gauge and a thread identification table. 

Once the information is gathered, 

contact your oil sampling valve partner 

to get help in choosing the best valve, 

fittings and sampling accessories for 

your application. 

Get the Right Procedure 

After the valves are installed, take the 

time to create proper oil sampling 

and handling procedures. Use these 

procedures to help with training and 

minimizing data disturbances within 

the samples. Additionally, all involved in 

oil sampling should make sure that the 

fluid pathways are purged, the sampling 

bottles and tubes are clean, and the 

sample goes directly to the lab for analysis. 

Even these “little” factors can make 

a huge difference in the quality of your 

oil analysis results. 

Oil analysis has a wealth of benefits 

for those who utilize it. A world-class oil 

analysis program starts with a good oil 

sample. The resulting data from a good 

oil sample will hold more useful information 

on the health of the machine. 

These results will give teams the information 

needed to maximize reliability 

and reduce unplanned downtime. 


BETTER 

OIL 

SAMPLING 

SOLUTIONS.CHECKFLUID.COM

TRAINING & PERSONNEL 

Attract 

the Right 

Knowledge 

and Skills 

The NVDO Maintenance Compass gives an overview of the trends and current 

state of the Dutch maintenance market. For the NVDO (Dutch Maintenance 

Society), the goal of the Maintenance Compass is to facilitate its members 

concerning their developments and challenges related to maintenance within 

the asset management chain. 

THE SIZE of the Dutch maintenance 

market stands between 31 and 36 billion 

Euros, which is approximately 4-5 percent 

of GDP. Moreover, almost 3.5 percent 

of the Dutch labour force is active 

in the maintenance sector. The Dutch 

maintenance market is expected to grow 

in the coming five years, according to 86 

percent of the participants. A possible 

ELLEN DEN 

BROEDER- 

OOIJEVAAR, 

NVDO 

reason behind this expectation is the growing economy. Companies 

have seen a rise in their investment budgets and are 

grabbing the opportunity to invest in deferred maintenance 

and replacements. Furthermore, high availability and reliability 

of assets has become increasingly important for companies, 

causing the demand for maintenance to rise as well. 

From the NVDO-survey several important developments 

can be distinguished. These developments, 

briefly explained below, will 

undoubtedly play a major role in 

determining the current and future 

position of maintenance. 

• Scarcity of technical work 

force – Above 40% of the participants 

expect technological employees. 

The scarcity could be caused by an increase of complexity 

regarding maintenance activities. Additionally, 

we see that supply of new employees cannot keep up with 

the booming demand. However, a positive prospect is that 

companies seem open to collaborate with educational 

institutions to improve the connection between education 

and the business world 


The Uptimization Experts. 

What does 

What does 

DOWNTIME 

DOWNTIME 

mean to you? 

mean to you? 

marshallinstitute.com 

marshallinstitute.com

TRAINING ADVERTORIAL & PERSONNEL 

• Ageing asset base – Companies 

increasingly focus on solutions to 

cope with problems and challenges 

faced by ageing assets. 30 percent 

of the asset base is considered either 

at end of life or the lifetime of 

the assets is already extended. To 

deal with this situation companies 

could roughly consider two options. 

On the one hand, companies 

have the option to simply replace 

their ageing assets, which has become 

easier due to the recent economic 

growth. On the other hand, 

maintenance organizations could 

invest in innovative/technological 

solutions to optimize the ageing 

asset base. This year, the NVDO 

Section Suto have done further research 

on this topic in the benchmark 

PrestatieManagement with 

the Technical University Twente. 

• The increasing role of technology 

and data within maintenance 

– Several of the most 

important are linked to technological 

developments. In particular, 

the combination of the need 

for ICT-systems and processing 

large amounts of data lead to 

higher demand for technological 

knowledge. As stated in the Facts 

& Figures, companies are looking 

for innovative and technological 

knowledge 

Generally, we see that the maintenance 

market is facing some problems 

due to the lack of technically-educated 

personnel and the ageing asset base. 

But, due to the improving economic 

climate in combination with technological 

innovations, the prospects are 

promising. Still, to reach sustainable 

growth, maintenance companies 

should dare to invest in innovation, 

data and technology in order to develop 

and attract the right knowledge 

and skills. 

Shortage of technically-trained personnel 

The trend of a shortage of technically-trained personnel is the development with the 

most impact for the Dutch maintenance sector in 2017/2018. This problem has been 

recognised for several years, and has been paid a great deal of attention by the business 

community, the government and the media. The current tightness of the labour 

market is due to a quantitative and qualitative shortage of personnel. 

The quantitative personnel shortage is increasing because of the ageing of the population 

on the one hand and the resurgent economy on the other. The qualitative shortage 

is caused by an insufficient supply of technical personnel with the necessary competencies. 

The qualitative shortage in particular has brought about tight labour market 

conditions. 

All-rounders needed 

Besides problems with the growing demand for technically-trained employees, maintenance 

companies have an increasing need for all-rounders, that is to say employees 

with an understanding of both technology, ICT and data: we can see a lack of experience 

in dealing with data in maintenance organisations. Now and in the future, a maintenance 

professional does not only have to be able to carry out maintenance work, but 

must also be familiar with the analysis and storage of data so that this can be effectively 

converted into useful information. 

It is vital that the educational sector and the business community come together 

more closely to alleviate the tightness in the labour market. This can be achieved by 

closer liaison on the curriculum and the competencies and knowledge that are expected 

to be needed in the future, and by partly replacing teaching in the classroom with 

learning in practice. After all, the need for technical knowledge is declining. Technicians 

want to gain practical knowledge and skills that they can put into immediate use in the 

workplace. A number of in-company training centres have already made a start on this. 

Governmental responsibility 

We can also see that a large number of companies are prepared to enter into partnerships 

with each other and with the educational sector to ease the tightness in the 

labour market. A key aspect of this is to improve the image of maintenance among 

young people. For this to truly succeed, the government also has a role to play. Encouraging 

young people to go into technology and innovation, instead of introducing fixed 

quotas for these types of courses, would help. 

Level Proportion in 2013-2014 Proportion in 2016-2017 Difference (in%) 

Pre-vocational secondary 

Education (VMBO) 20% 19% -1% 

Secondary vocational 29% 32% +3% 

Higher professional education 21% 25% +4% 

University education (WO) 34% 36% +2% 

The proportion of students, per level, that enters a technical education 


On the pulse 

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