Maintworld 3/2020

3/2020 www.maintworld.com 

maintenance & asset management 

Maintenance 

and reliability 

in the pandemic p 8 

PEOPLE, THE MOST VALUABLE ASSET IN YOUR ORGANIZATION PG 24 UNITED NATIONS OF AUTOMATION PG 32 ČSPÚ 20 YEARS OF CZECH INDUSTRIAL MAINTENANCE PG 46

You need knowledge. Your colleagues need knowledge. 

Techniques, solutions, strategy, and the business case - it is all 

critical knowledge. 

Whether your focus is condition monitoring or the bigger 

picture of reliability improvement, our websites, live events, 

and worldwide communities provide easy access to the 

information you need. 

We invite you to be part of MOBIUS CONNECT. With MOBIUS 

CONNECT you can... 

• Learn and share 

• Customize your learning pathway 

• Continue your educational journey, live or online 

• Engage with industry leaders from around the world 

www.mobiusconnect.com 

The maintenance and 

reliability industry’s 

professional network.

Find 

Your 

Learning 

Path 

Join thousands of other industry professionals by creating your free 

custom profile today at https://mobiusconnect.com/ 

DOWNLOAD THE MOBILE APP

Turn Your Remote Workers 

Into Remote Experts 

Now more than ever we need to make our workforce more 

efficient, productive, and safe to stay ahead in this current 

climate. With Remote Expert, companies with a highly mobile 

workforce are able to do just that. Learn how connected field 

worker solutions enable organizations to keep more accurate 

records of where their workforce are, and at what times, and 

allow them to more intelligently schedule worker tasks. 

Learn more about this and other digital transformation 

solutions by checking out ICONICS’ virtual event: 

iconics.com/Connect2020

Automatically Detect Faults 

ROI Typically Within 12 to 18 Months 

Library of Preconfigured Fault Rules 

Rich Visualization and Reporting 

Predict, Reduce and Eliminate Downtime 

Improve Maintenance Efficiency

EDITORIAL 

People are Key – 

Also in the Digital Age 

THE TREND OF DIGITALIZATION IN 

MAINTENANCE IS definitely pushing 

through. And the proof is in the pudding, 

because the first virtual conference 

on digital strategies and new 

technologies in maintenance & asset 

management, Asset Performance 4.0, 

welcomed over 670 participants who 

enjoyed more than 100 presentations 

and keynotes on the future of maintenance. 

In his opening keynote, Knud 

Lasse Lueth, CEO of IOT Analytics, 

stated that an overwhelming amount 

of companies say Industry 4.0 creates 

value for them. 78 percent of companies 

experimenting with 4.0 technologies see a positive ROI change. But they still 

face major challenges. It is no surprise that the main challenge is investing in people, 

training and cultural change. In an all-technology era, the human factor still 

stays the most important. 

This vision is shared by Terrence O’Hanlon of ReliabilityWeb: “You need technology 

and processes, but ultimately, you need leadership because everything 

depends on the people”, he stated in his keynote, “4.0 technology alone will not get 

you reliability, the first step is to empower your workforce.” 

I takes two to tango 

Where technicians in the past manually inspected machines and manually scheduled 

repairs, 4.0 technologies allow us to let machines do the thinking: they can detect 

the failures, report them automatically, and, when needed, schedule in a maintenance 

intervention automatically. In coming years, we will depend more and 

more on Artificial Intelligence to tell us what to do and when to do it. But before 

we are there, the algorithms will need to learn from the knowledge and experience 

in the head of our technicians and engineers. And the technicians and engineers 

will need to learn how to learn from the algorithms. 

Huge gap 

Research by BEMAS, the Belgian Maintenance Association, with some companies 

adopting maintenance and industry 4.0 technology, revealed a huge gap between 

what workers and managers should know about AI and their current competency 

level. 

Covid-19 accelerated the digital revolution, which is having an impact on 4.0, 

too. Remote working inspires many companies for having remote monitoring. As 

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella put it at Asset performance 4.0: “We have seen two 

years’ worth of digital transformation in two months”. The ball of digitalisation is 

rolling. If you are active in the field of maintenance, reliability and asset management, 

then it is time to step up your digital skills… 

6 maintworld 3/2020 

Wim Vancauwenberghe 

Maintenance Evangelist. 

48 

Acoustic 

signals are 

grouped into three risk 

classes depending on their 

number, activity, intensity 

and location.

IN THIS ISSUE 3/2020 

30 

Historically, 

condition 

monitoring of balanced 

machine bogie wheel bearings 

has been challenging. 

= 

38 

The 

best organizations 

reduce reactive maintenance 

to less than 10 percent of all 

work. 

8 

Maintenance and reliability in the 

pandemic 

14 

ssisting Maintenance Technicians in 

Today’s Work Environment 

18 

22 

24 

Achieve Greater Efficiencies in 

Maintenance Scheduling Automatically 

Failures and Diagnostics of 

Asynchronous Motors. 

People, the Most Valuable Asset 

in your Organization 

26 

28 

30 

32 

Low Rotation Speed Machine 

Control Using Ultrasound 

Wireless Sensors Can Now Replace 

Traditional Systems in Condition 

Monitoring 

Detection of Bearing Defects on 

Balanced Machine Bogies 

United Nations of Automation 

34 

The Skills Gap and the 

Covid-19 Impact 

38 

42 

46 

48 

Reliability and Maintenance (RM) 

Management: Are You Doing 

the Wrong Things? 

Disaggregated Asset Structure 

and Taxonomy 

ČSPÚ 20 years of Czech 

industrial maintenance 

Acoustic Emission Testing 

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

Väritehtaankatu 8, 4. kerros, 01300 Vantaa, 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 

Layout Menu Meedia, www.menuk.ee Subscriptions and Change of Address members toimisto@kunnossapito.fi, non-members tilaajapalvelu@ 

media.fi Printed by Reusner, www.reusner.ee Frequency 4 issues per year, ISSN L 1798-7024, ISSN 1798-7024 (print), ISSN 1799-8670 (online). 

3/2020 maintworld 7

ASSET MANAGEMENT 

Maintenance and Reliability 

in the Pandemic 

A well-run maintenance and reliability improvement program must monitor the 

economic and competitive environment and adjust accordingly. We must ask 

questions such as: can we invest more money or be conservative, is the goal 

higher production or cost reduction, and so on. That could never be truer about the 

situation we face today. 

JASON TRANTER, 

ARP-L 

Mobius Institute 

IT IS WORTH CONSIDERING two possible 

approaches: a conservative approach to 

weather the storm, and an aggressive 

approach to take advantage of vulnerable 

competitors. 

A conservative approach 

If the plan is to “hunker down and 

weather the storm”, then it is important 

that the reliability improvement strategy 

is adjusted accordingly. The focus 

will be on minimizing costs. 

Let’s quickly review some opportunities. 

EQUIPMENT FAILURE 

If we experience fewer failures, then we 

avoid the costs of repairing the equipment: 

parts, materials, and overtime 

labor. 

Pareto analysis can tell you which 

items of equipment are costing you the 

most. If our Pareto analysis only tells 

us which items fail most frequently, that 

will be useful, but if we know the costs 

associated with each failure, then we 

will know exactly which items of equipment 

we should focus on. 

Once we know which equipment is 

the biggest drain on our maintenance 

budget, we can investigate why the 

equipment is failing, and what we can 

do about it. We can implement proactive 

steps (lubrication, cleaning, etc.) 

we can consider cost-effective reliability 

improvement tasks (eliminating the 

root cause) and we can ensure we have 

condition monitoring and inspections 

in place so that we can see the problems 

coming. 

Equipment failures also impact production 

output and potentially safety/ 

environment, but we will discuss that 

separately. 

STOREROOM INVENTORY 

There is a great deal of money tied up in 

spares/material inventory and the holding 

costs can be a drain on the business. 

In many countries/regions the tax 

system requires organizations to treat 

the inventory as an asset and thus tax 

must be paid. If you are holding parts or 

materials that have not been fully depreciated 

but are no longer required in your 

plant then you may be able to sell those 

parts, even if it is just for scrap. They may 

not be required to be held in inventory for 

a few reasons: 

• They are too old to be used 

• You have changed the design of the 

process and those parts/spares will 

not be required 

• You are holding such a high volume 

that a reduction would not have an 

impact for a very long time (but you 

will need to weigh up the benefits 

8 maintworld 3/2020


of selling those assets versus the 

likelihood that you will have to 

repurchase them in the future) 

It is also important to evaluate where 

the inventory is being held, and the 

restocking policy. 

HOLD INVENTORY WITH 

A TRUSTED VENDOR 

If you have a clear understanding of the 

likelihood of equipment failure and the 

lead time available to order the necessary 

parts, then you can consider holding 

stock with a supplier (i.e. at their 

facility and not yours and you do not 

pay for them until you need them) and 

you can reduce the quantity ordered 

when stocks are low. It is unfortunately 

common for purchasing departments 

to order higher volumes, especially if 

there is a volume discount. When times 

are tough, it is even more important to 

review those decisions. 

KNOWING WHICH SPARES 

WILL BE REQUIRED 

One key element of this is the requirement 

to understand the future demand 

for spares and material. If the plant 

suffers a high level of reactive maintenance, 

then we will need quick access to 

the necessary parts and materials which 

probably means holding a larger inventory. 

Pareto analysis will tell you which 

equipment fails most frequently which 

helps you to plan which spares must be 

held on site. But Pareto analysis is based 

on historical data - we are worried 

about the future. 

SEE PROBLEMS COMING 

With an effective condition monitoring 

program, we can see the problems coming 

with enough time to order the parts 

without having to pay a premium for 

the parts or their transportation. Pareto 

analysis, criticality analysis, and a clear 

understanding of failure modes will 

enable us to review whether we have the 

appropriate condition monitoring and 

inspections in place. 

If we can reduce the number of failures 

through improved reliability, and 

gain an earlier warning of future failures, 

we can reduce our inventory and 

order fewer replacements when stock 

gets low. 

OVERTIME REDUCTION 

Overtime that results from equipment 

breakdowns will obviously be reduced if 

there are fewer failures, which we have 

already discussed. But if you have an 

effective condition monitoring program, 

and an effective planning and scheduling 

system, then you can perform the corrective 

maintenance work more efficiently 

and avoid the necessity to perform that 

work outside of normal hours. 

QUALITY LOSSES 

Every organization wants high first pass 

quality, but it is especially important 

when the organization must reduce its 

costs. You must understand the needs 

of your business so that you understand 

the importance of improving quality. The 

costs associated with poor quality can 

include: 

1. Wasting precious materials if the 

product is scrapped 

2. Wasting energy (and incurring 

overtime labor costs) during 

rework or catchup production 

3. Regulatory fines and other 

potential costs when disposing of 

poor-quality product 

There are two basic ways to address 

this issue. One is to wear an Engineer’s 

hat and look at the logic of how quality 

is being affected, and the second is to 

wear an Journalists’ hat and engage with 

people to understand what they have 

observed that impacts quality. 

Ultimately, we need to perform root 

cause analysis to understand what is at 

the heart of quality losses so it can understand 

what we can do to eliminate them. 

WASTE 

Every business needs to reduce waste, 

but it is especially important when the 

focus is on reducing costs. Downtime, 

quality losses, inefficiencies, and excess 

spares/material inventory are all forms 

of waste which we have already discussed. 

If you are engaging with operators 

and technicians and asking them for 

their observations and ideas for improvement, 

you will learn about all 

forms of waste. If you conduct plant 

walk-throughs and you stop and 

observe people going about their work, 

you will observe many forms of waste. 

Your challenge is to assess which cost 

the business the most and then set 

about eliminating those forms of waste. 

WHAT ABOUT DOWNTIME REDUCTION? 

Downtime may be more tolerable if 

there is reduced demand for the product 

being manufactured. If you provide 

a service, wastewater treatment for 

example, then the requirement to 

minimize downtime will not change. 

Only you understand your organization. 

If reducing downtime is still critically 

important, then all the normal goals 

apply. Reducing equipment failure and 

effective planning and scheduling 

(supported by effective condition monitoring) 

will help you reduce downtime. 

What about safety and the environment? 

Safety, environmental protection, and 

regulatory compliance apply regardless of 

the business conditions, so we must never 

lose focus on those critical areas. 

WHAT NOT TO DO 

A common reaction to the demand to 

reduce costs is to cut out all training and 

reduce the maintenance department 

headcount. 

Given that the author runs a training 

business, I obviously have a conflict of 



a great opportunity to leap forward and 

grab market share. Who knows, maybe 

we can become strong enough to acquire 

a competitor. 

One of the ways to grab market share 

is to offer a higher quality product, in 

greater volume, at a lower cost. 

HIGHER QUALITY 

You must examine what it takes to improve 

quality and determine whether you 

have any influence over those factors. 

We discussed this in the previous section, 

although in that case our primary goal 

was to reduce costs. 

GREATER VOLUME 

There is a relationship between product 

cost and volume. If you reduce your 

internal costs in the ways discussed in 

the previous section and you can produce 

more product, you can reduce the price 

of your product or service and still be 

profitable. If you reduce the price of your 

product or service, and there is additional 

demand for that product or service, then 

there will be a need to increase your 

capacity to deliver on the higher volume. 

Equipment reliability is obviously 

important when there is a requirement 

to increase output. But there are several 

factors that ultimately impact on output: 

EVERY ORGANIZATION WANTS HIGH FIRST PASS QUALITY, 

BUT IT IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT WHEN THE ORGANIZATION 

MUST REDUCE ITS COSTS. 

interest, however if people are not 

skilled or qualified to perform their 

roles they will make mistakes which 

will cost the business more money. 

The good news is that virtual training, 

and elearning, are less expensive 

than instructor-led public training. 

Reducing headcount is also counterproductive. 

You need people to 

perform the proactive tasks of cleaning, 

lubricating, adjusting, inspecting, 

and monitoring equipment condition 

in order to avoid future failures. 

When you cut the headcount, 

not only does impact morale, but the 

number of equipment failures will 

increase. 

THE MAIN MESSAGE 

There are basically two ways to reduce 

costs: cut and slash versus improving 

efficiency and reducing waste. 

History has told us that the organizations 

that cut and slash do not succeed 

unless the situation is truly urgent. Improving 

efficiency, improving quality 

and throughput, and reducing waste in 

all its forms (which includes equipment 

failures) not only helps an organization 

through a crisis but it sets it up for future 

success. 

An aggressive approach 

When the market is down, and your 

competitors are struggling, it presents 

INCREASE THE OVERALL EQUIPMENT 

EFFECTIVENESS (OEE) 

The OEE is a measure of our ability to 

produce the saleable product. An OEE 

of 100% means the equipment is always 

available, it is able to operate at 100% of 

the desired rate, and there are no quality 

losses. We have discussed quality but let 

us take a quick look at the other factors. 

Obviously, reliability affects the 

availability. Eliminating the root causes 

of failure will increase the reliability of 

the equipment. Condition monitoring, 

effective planning and scheduling, and 

effective spares management ensure that 

periods of downtime are minimized. 

But there are other factors that affect 

availability and production rate: 

• We must minimize the number of 

minor stoppages. They will not be 

recorded officially as “downtime,” 

but they still reduce our ability to 

produce product. Minor stoppages 

may be due to reliability issues, 

operator error, and for several other 

reasons. You must understand 

what those reasons are. Pareto 

analysis can help in this regard, 



but only if the length of the delay 

and the reason for the delay are 

recorded. 

• We must minimize changeover 

losses. If you use the same equipment 

to produce different products, 

and there is a delay while 

equipment is set up for the new 

product run, then it is critically 

important to reduce those delays. 

The best analogy is the racecar 

pit crew. They can change the 

tires, refuel, and perform repairs 

in a fraction of the time it would 

take you or me because they have 

streamlined the process and 

they are prepared before the car 

reaches the pit. We must investigate 

how we can achieve optimal 

levels of efficiency. 

• We must also examine the production 

rate, i.e., the number 

of widgets per hour. Why is the 

equipment unable to operate at 

the desired rate? Is it possible 

to operate at a higher rate? We 

must answer those questions and 

address the root causes. 

A traditional reliability specialist 

might look at these items and believe 

that they are outside their sphere of 

influence and experience to attempt to 

address these issues. The author humbly 

disagrees. If you engage with people, 

ask for their suggestions and ideas, but 

do not wear maintenance/reliability 

blinkers, you will find ways to eliminate 

waste and increase production output. 

If you are smart enough to be involved 

with maintenance and reliability, you 

will be able to handle any opportunities 

for improvement that are revealed. 

INCREASE PLANT CAPACITY 

Plant capacity can be affected by seasonal 

factors, limited product demand, 

and other factors. But one of the major 

contributors to restricted plant capacity 

is scheduled maintenance (shutdowns, 

turnarounds, and outages). 

At one extreme, a plant with poor 

reliability, a lack of understanding of 

the failure mechanisms and reliability 

theory, and ineffective planning, will 

suffer frequent long outages. 

At the other extreme: 

• A plant with higher reliability will 

have less work to perform during 

the outage and the time between 

outages can be extended. 

• A plant that understands reliability 

theory will utilize condition-based 

maintenance and thus 

perform less time-based maintenance. 

As a result, less work will 

be required during the outage. 

• A plant with an effective planning 

process, with written procedures 

for every task, and kitting and 

staging, will ensure that the time 

during the outage is used efficiently. 

• A plant with highly skilled and 

motivated maintenance technicians 

who have the training 

and tools to perform precision 

maintenance, will perform the 

necessary work correctly the first 

time. Rework will not be required, 

and infant mortality failures will 

be eliminated. The plant will 

start up the first time and begin 

producing quality products more 

quickly. 

• And a plant with documented 

startup procedures will ensure 

the equipment is not stressed 

during startup thus eliminating 

operator driven infant mortality 

failures. 

LOWER COST 

There is a great deal you can do to create 

an environment where your company 

can reduce the price of its products 

or cost of your service. 

As described above in the “conservative 

approach” section, you can 

eliminate failures and waste to reduce 

the cost of doing business. It is worth 

noting, however, if you increase output 

without increasing overhead costs, the 

cost-per-unit-product goes down even 

before you focus on cost reduction. 

What will you do? 

You must decide what changes you can 

make in the shortest period of time (given 

that this is an urgent situation), and 

the relative importance of quality versus 

output versus cost. The more you 

understand about your organization, its 

goals, constraints, risks, and opportunities, 

the more likely you will be to survive 

this difficult period, and potentially 

flourish. 


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PARTNER ARTICLE 

MELISSA TOPP, 

Senior Director of 

Global Marketing, 

ICONICS, 

melissa@iconics.com 

Safety (and Productivity) in Numbers 

ASSISTING MAINTENANCE TECHNICIANS IN TODAY’S WORK ENVIRONMENT 

The working environment for today’s maintenance technicians is tricky. The 

COVID-19 pandemic has certainly changed the way that many people perform 

their jobs around the world. At the same time, many maintenance technicians 

may have found that their workload hasn’t changed too much, or may have 

increased due to related factors. In either case, the work still needs to be done 

and it’s often reassuring for on-site techs to know, sometimes through modern 

technology, that they’re not alone in their responsibilities. 



ICONICS (https://iconics.com), a global 

automation software developer and member 

of the Mitsubishi Electric Group, has 

created multiple software tools that can 

help maintenance technicians, and other 

employees throughout an organization, 

remain productive while simultaneously 

adhering to current social distancing 

requirements. A specific combination of 

these solutions; featuring connected field 

worker/remote expert capability, IIoT 

connectivity, and fault detection and diagnostics 

(FDD); is specifically recommended 

for those involved with maintenance 

management and operations. 

Connected Field Worker 

/Remote Expert 

Since the emergence of the COVID-19 

pandemic, many organizations with maintenance 

requirements have sought the 

right combination of employee collaboration 

mixed with required social distancing. 

To aid in these efforts, ICONICS has 

introduced its CFSWorX connected field 

service solution, with integrated remote 

expert feature. CFSWorX empowers organizations 

to alert the right field worker 

to respond to equipment service needs. It 

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS 

CHANGED THE WAY THAT 

MANY PEOPLE PERFORM THEIR 

JOBS AROUND THE WORLD. 

contains a set of digital tools that provide 

real-time monitoring of field equipment, 

real-time monitoring of service worker 

availability and location, and alerts to 

field workers when field equipment requires 

service. 

In addition, CFSWorX can be integrated 

with Remote Expert assistance 

features. In this challenging time, companies 

are embracing video conferencing, 

chat, and dispatching of remote experts 

to resolve issues and provide support and 

collaboration. CFSWorX with Remote 

Expert functionality helps to guide field 

technicians and customers with live annotations, 

as well as utilizes live video 

and audio streaming with remote experts 

to improve issue resolution and remote 

knowledge sharing. This solution can 

be used through technicians’ existing 

mobile devices, as well as through headmounted 

computing devices such as RealWear’s 

HMT-1, for instance. 

NOTE: ICONICS is offering FREE use of 

its CFSWorX solution for the remainder 

of 2020 for new applications. Those interested 

can inquire about the free trial offer 

at https://iconics.com/CFSWorX-free. 

IIoT Connectivity 

How does IIoT connectivity assist with 

these same safety and productivity concerns? 

IoT-integrated software can provide 

the trusted connection to an organization’s 

equipment to provide extensive 

remote monitoring and KPI analysis, 

which can assist in maintenance task 

assignment. Real-time conditions can 

be determined off site, which can sometimes 

reduce the need for on-site investigation 

or determine a reduced number 

of required personnel. IoT-connected 

software also helps to provide the upto-the-minute 

detailed information 

that maintenance personnel need when 

they are required to be on site. ICONICS 



IoTWorX IoT software for any edge 

device provides the bridge between an 

enterprise and ICONICS’ HMI/SCADA, 

data analytics, and mobile solutions running 

in the cloud. Customers are able to 

take advantage of key IoT technologies 

including connectivity to digital assets, 

secure cloud communications, and builtin 

real-time data visualization. 

NOTE: ICONICS has announced virtual 

machine offers on the Microsoft Azure 

Marketplace that contain the complete 

installation of GENESIS64, Hyper 

Historian, IoTWorX, and AnalytiX® 

Suite, currently available for the recently 

released version 10.96.1 and previous 

version 10.96. Leveraging these virtual 

machine offers on Azure accelerates the 

onboarding of new projects or lets users 

quickly test out new functionality without 

lengthy installation times or having to 

procure new hardware or equipment from 

IT. Visit https://iconics.com/azureoffers 

for more info. 

Fault Detection and 

Diagnostics (FDD) 

In tandem with IoTWorX IoT connectivity 

integration, ICONICS’ Fault Detection 

and Diagnostics (FDD) technology 

can help determine whether certain 

conditions warrant an on-site technician 

in the first place. ICONICS FDDWorX 

incorporates algorithms that weigh the 

probability of faults and advises management, 

operators, and maintenance personnel 

of actions to prevent equipment 


failures or excessive use of energy. When 

equipment failures occur, the solution 

provides automatic guidance to a list of 

causes sorted by probability, resulting 

in reduced downtime and lower costs to 

diagnose and repair. 

FDDWorX collects equipment process 

data using industry-standard data 

collection mechanisms. It can automatically 

generate alert notifications and 

reports. Operators can use real-time 

displays to analyze relevant data such 

as the status of equipment operating 

outside rules parameters. FDDWorX 

helps organizations evolve from a legacy 

break-fix maintenance method to a more 

proactive one, using insights from data 

analyses to make smarter technician 

assignments and decisions, including 

whether or not to even send personnel 

on site at all. 

Connections for the Task 

at Hand 

The successful maintenance departments, 

and organizations in general, that 

emerge from this global pandemic will be 

those that can make rational, data-driven 

decisions to safely keep their business 

processes up and running. Such decisionmaking 

is enabled through vendors such 

as ICONICS and through modern software 

solutions such as CFSWorX, IoT- 

WorX, and FDDWorX. This combination 

of software tools can help maintenance 

departments triage which job tickets absolutely 

require on-site technicians, help 

decide which field worker is best to assign 

and seamlessly notify that person with 

the required details, provide real-time 

equipment operational data (as well as 

schematics, if necessary) via IIoT connectivity, 

and even provide the on-site tech 

with connection to a remote coworker 

who can apply their own years of expertise 

and familiarity to the task at hand. 

Maintenance tasks can often seem 

like an individual effort, perhaps even 

more so during the pandemic. In these 

challenging times, through technology 

solutions such as those from ICONICS, 

it may be reassuring to know that even 

when you’re alone on a job, you still have 

connections. To see these technologies in 

action, check out ICONICS’ virtual event, 

Connect 2020: Digital Transformation 

Solutions for a New Normal, streaming 

on October 15. Register ahead of time or 

view the sessions on demand by visiting 

https://iconics.com/Connect2020.


Achieve Greater 

ACTENUM CORPORATION 

info@actenum.com 

Efficiencies in Maintenance 

Scheduling Automatically 

Across a range of industries around the world, Plant 

Operations have heavy investments in expensive 

machinery that are critical to their success. Meticulous 

planned and reactive maintenance of this machinery 

and infrastructure is a key component of 

continuous and efficient operations. And in today’s 

environment, any advantage can mean the difference 

between gaining new work and losing a customer. 

MECHANICAL UNDERPERFORMANCE 

can lead to decreased efficiencies, 

and machine failures can result in unplanned 

downtime and lost production, 

which can be financially devastating 

in today’s competitive market. 

Inconsistent maintenance of equipment 

can cause not only problems 

with production runs but can also 

have serious impact on the lifespan of 

the equipment. 



Daily Hurdles to Overcome 

A maintenance manager’s typical day 

involves scheduling required maintenance 

work by assigning it to the available 

maintenance crews, and other 

resources. Over a typical week, a manager 

may have to schedule hundreds of 

these maintenance activities, some of 

which may be critical. But what if the 

software used to build and manage the 

maintenance schedules is out of date or 

unsophisticated? Then there will be a lot 

of manual work being done, and because 

there is no time to carry out the required 

analysis of the schedule, important 

questions will go unanswered, like the 

ones below: 

1. How will maintenance activities 

impact production? For example, 

will today’s maintenance shutdown 

cause a production problem 

next week? 

2. Can we reduce non-productive 

time a little more and still complete 

the work on time? How 

much money will that save? 

3. If we have any medical issues and 

crew members are out, what will 

be the impact on the schedule? 

4. Should I move up any work on 

specific equipment to lessen the 

impact on the plant production? 

5. What’s the best response to unanticipated 

events, such as a 

breakdown or outage that we can’t 

control? 

To ensure reliable ongoing production, 

maintenance managers need to 

have a higher degree of scheduling 

automation at their fingertips and use 

software’s predictive capabilities to create 

an effective and efficient schedule of 

maintenance work orders. 

Better Maintenance from 

Scheduling Software 

Today, advanced maintenance scheduling 

software—incorporating AI-powered 

optimization—effectively addresses the 

challenges of scheduling maintenance 

activities and provides answers to questions. 

Such software enables a maintenance 

manager to schedule much more 

rapidly and efficiently: 

• It empowers management to 

determine the best time to take 

equipment down for maintenance 

• It is sensitive to production requirements 

and schedules 

• It is aware of production run gaps 

and slow downs 

• It takes availability of certified and 

skilled technicians into account 

• It considers the parts and tools required 

for each maintenance task 

• It links schedules to user-defined 

Key Performance Indicators 

(KPIs) that may be used for predictive 

analysis and to answer 

METICULOUS PLANNED AND 

REACTIVE MAINTENANCE 

IS A KEY COMPONENT OF 

CONTINUOUS AND EFFICIENT 

OPERATIONS. 

questions 

• It enables the creation and evaluation 

of schedule scenarios that 

may be used to plan for any contingency 

The Power of Automation 

Maintenance teams are made up of 

intelligent individuals. But their time 

could be going to waste when it’s spent 

on the clerical tasks that keep a maintenance 

program going. This means that 

the more automation available to build 

and manage the maintenance schedule, 

the less time the team will waste on 

keeping the wheels turning, so they are 

free to complete work orders and keep 

machinery running smoothly when it’s 

needed. That’s where today’s scheduling 

software outshines traditional tools. 

Modern scheduling software streamlines 

the maintenance needed to keep operations 

running and eliminates the need 

for multiple additional applications 

or spreadsheets and time-consuming 

manual calculations that are used to assemble 

and manage a schedule. 

Today’s scheduling software eliminates 

the guesswork from manual 

processes and ensures that no key steps 

are missed. Not only are process errors 

eliminated, the manpower that was once 

allocated to these repetitive steps can 

now be devoted to other aspects of the 

plant’s operations. Furthermore, modern 

scheduling software presents crucial 

information in real time for evaluation, 

so management can develop alternative 

action plans when necessary to ensure 

critical targets are not missed. 



Faster and More Flexible 

Scheduling software with built-in optimization 

capabilities assigns tasks to 

the right resources in seconds, tracks 

work progress until completion, and 

builds history for future reference. 

Maintenance managers can instantly 

see all open maintenance requests, what 

each department is working on, and 

the upcoming scheduled maintenance 

they need to plan for. Through robust 

reporting, stakeholders can access realtime 

data and evaluate the status of any 

project. And they can allocate workloads 

based on work requirements and availability 

and adjust intelligently when 

there’s a change in one part of the maintenance 

schedule. 

In addition to eliminating the need 

for error-prone manual data entry and 

un-auditable collections of spreadsheets 

and project files, today’s advanced 

scheduling software centralizes equipment 

and resource information in a 

database, designed to manage all types 

SCHEDULING SOFTWARE WITH BUILT IN, 

AI-POWERED OPTIMIZATION CAPABILITIES ASSIGNS 

TASKS TO THE RIGHT RESOURCES IN SECONDS 

of maintenance activities, and it makes 

that information available to all team 

members involved in operations. Moreover, 

today’s scheduling software will 

find those activities that can be aligned 

so any equipment shutdown period is 

minimized. Another significant benefit 

of scheduling software is the flexibility 

it provides to maintenance managers in 

terms of mobility. Maintenance managers 

no longer have to be at their desks to 

view reports about their plants’ productivity 

and progress. Instead, all critical 

information is available online, enabling 

access anywhere, anytime. 

Case Study: Refineries 

Refineries present an excellent example 

of how scheduling software can enable 

better maintenance scheduling and 

execution. Intelligent production planning 

and scheduling are vital to ensuring 

refinery profitability, logistic reliability 

and safety at the local and corporate 

levels. Refiners must ensure that key 

process units are kept running, regulatory 

requirements are effectively met, 

and systems are responsive and highly 

adaptive to changes in feedstock properties. 

To maintain competitiveness, oil 

refineries are constantly searching for 

optimization opportunities to improve 

their operations. 

Scheduling software is a valuable 

decision support tool that provides fast, 

accurate and transparent information 

on activities, with the flexibility to solve 

short-term problems. It enables refineries 

to maximize project collaboration 

and efficiency, shorten project timeframes, 

reduce risk, and achieve predictable 

and reliable production. More than 

a valuable tool, scheduling software is 

an important information system. The 

scheduling information, which was previously 

restricted to a limited group, is 

now democratized within the refinery 

and allows for a collaborative effort, and 

better, faster responses. It also replaces a 

set of non-standard and personal spreadsheets 

that can cause confusion. Production 

scheduling definitions, data and 

information are structured and standardized 

allowing for quick comprehension 

and best work practices. With one 

application for all maintenance activities, 

companies can enhance their process 

and create new workflows that drive 

greater efficiencies and productivity. 

Scheduling Empowerment 

In today’s environment, maximizing 

every minute of operations is critical to 

staying ahead. Because of its many efficiency, 

safety and accuracy benefits, 

production scheduling activity must be 

understood as a strategic advantage. By 

adopting advanced scheduling software 

as part of their digital push, organizations 

can automate and schedule maintenance 

activities faster, more reliably, 

and more accurately. At the end of the 

day, it empowers maintenance managers 

and their companies to drive operations 

forward with confidence. 



Failures and diagnostics 

of asynchronous motors 

RADIM SGLUNDA 

www.adash.com 

radim.sglunda@adash.cz 

Asynchronous motors 

are the most common 

type of motors used. 

They are known for their 

advantages such as low 

purchase price, high 

efficiency, easy regulation 

and simple but robust 

construction. 

DESPITE THEIR HIGH reliability Asynchronous 

motors suffer from some 

malfunctions of machine parts. We 

can divide failures in an asynchronous 

motor into failures of mechanical and 

electrical origin, and also on stator, rotor 

and bearing failures. 

Stator faults 

Stator winding faults are majority 

problems of stators. The most 

common source of faults due to the 

winding is broken isolation. Thermal 

stress has the greatest impact on the 

life and quality of isolation. Another 

undesirable effect is the electrical 

stress of the transient voltage. In the 

case of more and more frequent use 

of inverters for soft-start, rectangular 

voltage pulses are modulated at 

the output of the inverter. 

Rotor faults 

The rotor of an asynchronous motor 

consists of a shaft, insulated sheets 

pressed on the shaft that form the rotor 

magnetic circuit and windings. Mostly 

the winding of the rotor consists of a 

cage structure, which is formed by bars, 

which are connected at the ends. 

Rotor eccentricity (unevenness of 

the distance between the rotor and the 

stator) is the most common fault, followed 

by rotors bars interruption. The 

cause of these faults can be the use of 

poor quality materials, overloading or 

heavy starts. In the case of rotor bars, 

the fault may increase the resistance 

of the bar, or completely break the bar 

electrical circuit. Rotor bars failures 

result mainly in engine starting deterioration 

and generating parasitic moments. 

Also the broken bar causes addi- 



WE CAN DIVIDE FAILURES 

IN AN ASYNCHRONOUS 

MOTOR INTO FAILURES 

OF MECHANICAL AND 

ELECTRICAL ORIGIN, AND 

ALSO ON STATOR, ROTOR AND 

BEARING FAILURES. 

tional faults in others bars, because the 

current in them is bigger due to missing 

bar (the broken one) current path. 

Bearings faults 

All parts of the bearing are subject to 

degradation. The cause of bearing failures 

can be considered as mechanical 

stress during rotational movement and 

bearing currents. Mechanical stress 

can be caused by poor: installation, assembling, 

or using and maintaining. 

The bearing currents can be caused by 

induction (due to asymmetric electrical 

circuit or power supply) and by frequent 

voltage changes (caused by power supply 

from semiconductor converters). 

Bearings faults detection is almost 

cover by vibration analysis. All mechanical 

(and some electrical) faults 

have unique signature in vibration 

spectrum of machine and vibration 

analysis can recognize them. 

Electrical (and some mechanical) 

motor faults have unique signature in 

frequency spectrum of motor current. 

And the MCSA method can recognize 

them. The MCSA abbreviation means: 

Motor Current Signature Analysis. 

In motors with faults, excessive sidebands 

are created, which distort the 

frequency spectrum. Each fault then 

has its specific signature. Individual 

defects can be distinguished from each 

other according to the amplitude bands 

and the frequency. 

The basis of this method is to measure 

the course of the stator current of 

one or more phases in the time domain 

(with sufficient resolution) and its subsequent 

spectral analysis. 

The ADASH VA5Pro vibration 

analyzer offers unique possibility of 

analyzing vibration and current in one 

device. The MCSA module allows you 

to do analysis of current signature from 

the spectrum - based on your knowledge 

and experiences. Or you can use 

automatic detection function. It is the 

similar idea as ADASH automatic Fault 

Source Identification Tool (FASIT) for 

vibration analysis. The device can automatically 

recognize the main causes of 

failures as unbalance, looseness, misalignment 

and bearing faults. The MCSA 

module of the VA5Pro device is able to 

automatically identify rotor and stator 

faults, eccentricity and power quality. 

BEFORE THE ADASH 

THE ADASH founders, Adam Bojko and 

Radomir Sglunda first met at the Physical-Technical 

Testing Institute in Ostrava 

in the late 1980s. 

THEIR FIRST JOBS were related to 

seismic measurements in coal mines. 

That was the first experience of using 

a vibration analyser, which supporting 

written materials referred to “rotating 

machinery analysis”. 

FURTHER STUDIES of this topic led to 

various side jobs such as modal analysis, 

operating deflection shapes, on-site 

balancing, vibration analysis etc. while 

still working as government employees. 



People, the Most Valuable 

Asset in your Organization 

Electrical motors, pumps, 

turbines, generators, 

blowers, compressors. 

The amount of rotating 

equipment is huge in 

industry. 

ALL THESE MACHINES have been designed 

with a purpose, but they differ 

from each other depending on the application. 

There is one thing which all 

rotating machinery has in common, 

and that thing is people. There is always 

people behind each machine, designing, 

drawing, calculating, transporting, 

ROMAN MEGELA 

GAZDOVA 

Senior reliability 

engineer at 

EASY-LASER AB 

installing and maintaining it. Today, we 

have many tools to help us to be more 

reliable, efficient, and accurate. We have 

got fantastic tools such as process simulation 

software, 3d printers, laser alignment 

tools, and many others. Computers 

with high-speed internet connection 

provide access to the required information 

and communication all around the 

world. But despite this, in many cases we 

still struggle to achieve reliability. Why 

is that? 

Take the ownership 

My background comes from assembly, 

service, and commissioning of gas 

compression systems where I gained 

experience for more than 20 years. Since 

I was involved in the assembly, I got the 

chance to learn installation procedures. 

I grew up using API 686 from the beginning 

and I spent my apprentice life training 

those procedures which the company 

was following very strongly. And I was 

not left on my own until I was certified 



and ready to make my own decisions. 

But over the years, I realized I will never 

stop training and learning. I was always 

learning new installation standards, 

specifications, and assembly procedures 

such as ISO standards, Norsok standards 

or ANSI standards. I quickly found out, 

that people who had the knowledge and 

proper training were the most efficient 

performing their tasks. I learned from 

my senior colleagues to take ownership 

of assets. Even if the machine belonged 

to the organization and I was an external 

service technician, I took care of it as 

if it were my own. I had the interest in 

performing proper assembly and installation 

work. 

This interest makes you want to learn 

more things, see details and creates awareness. 

You get to recognize sounds, noises, 

and behaviour of the machines. If you 

keep your interest in place you will be 

able to install the machinery in a proper 

way, and you will detect any disturbances 

because you will measure and compare. In 

the end, the machinery uptime and reliable 

operation is what matters. 

MY THREE RULES 

OF SUCCESS ARE: 

1. Set up standards for your teams. 

2. Train your teams to be able to 

perform the required work. 

3. Document all your work for future 

references. 

Empower and motivate your people 

to take ownership of their work. Provide 

them with the necessary training 

to understand the tasks and the consequences. 

Allow them enough time 

to properly perform their work. 

“We are responsible for the decisions 

we are making, but also for the 

decisions which we ignore.” 

EMPOWER AND MOTIVATE 

YOUR PEOPLE TO TAKE 

OWNERSHIP OF THEIR WORK. 

Trust your team 

Recently, I had the pleasure of talking to 

a neurosurgeon. A doctor who performs 

brain surgery on a daily basis. We had a 

chat and we discussed reliability issues. 

I asked him about his reliability strategy. 

He gave me an explanation which makes 

perfect sense for me. The key in his profession 

is to perform only brain surgeries 

95% to 100% of the time. No less, no more 

and no other surgeries. There are numbers 

of patients in his hospital which are 

distributed between a number of doctors. 

If the number of patients increase, they 

will also increase the number of doctors. It 

is extremely important to keep the brain 

centred and focused, but also the muscle 

memory. They are taking important decisions 

and within the seconds. And we really 

want to them to be reliable. 

I perfectly align myself with this philosophy. 

As I always said, there are no magic 

wands in the industry. With all the amazing 

tools and advanced technologies available, 

we cannot stop relying on the people. 

The people will give value to the tools by 

using them properly. 

Reveal Your Potential 

Get a Reliability and Maintenance Assessment 

Call us +1 919-847-8764


Low Rotation Speed 

Machine Control Using 

ULTRASOUND 

The founding principle of 

predictive maintenance 

could be “better safe 

than sorry”. It requires 

sound knowledge of the 

machines, taking into 

account of early signs 

and economic realism. 

PATRICE DANNEPOND, Area Sales 

Manager SDT Ultrasound Solutions 

TODAY, PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE IS 

based on different technologies that 

maintenance departments can use to 

assess failure risks, frequency ratio 

and severity level. 

But it is another matter when it 

comes to selecting the right analysis 

tools, the right technology and 

the right indicators for the early 

detection of a failure on a rotating 

machine, in particular low-speed machines. 

Ultrasonic technology is used 

to issue this diagnosis, as it can be 

easily and efficiently implemented. 

Recently, SDT International took 

up this challenge on a rotating machine 

with a rotation speed of 8 RPM. 

More than a week earlier, the 

maintenance department of a 

world-renowned company had detected 

unusual noise on a strategic 

production asset. The sudden stop of 

this machine would have led to the 

complete shutdown of the production 

site. Not to mention the financial cost 

of replacing these 4 bearings, the time 

required for the procurement of these 

specific bearings and the cost of the 

maintenance labour. 

There was a dual stake here: control 

the condition of these bearings 

and attempt to detect the origin of 

this noise. 

A diagnosis could be issued using 

the new ultrasonic measuring instrument, 

SDT340, and its FOCUS 

mode that can generate sampling 

frequencies up to 256 K samples 

per second. 



The spectrum shows an impact at 

the rotation speed (0.139 Hz) of the 

shafts of the rotating machine, along 

with its harmonics. Sub-harmonic 

frequencies can also be observed at 

0.5 x the rotation speed, which is a 

characteristic spectrum for a rotational 

clearance due to friction or 

significant impacts. No impact due 

to bearing frequencies are observed. 

Our diagnosis is confirmed by the 

time spectrum. 

The time spectrum shows that the 

observed impacts are indeed associated 

with the rotation speed of the 

shafts of the machine at 0.139 Hz, i.e., 

a rotation speed of 8.34 RPM. 

PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE 

IS BASED ON DIFFERENT 

TECHNOLOGIES 

THAT MAINTENANCE 

DEPARTMENTS CAN USE 

TO ASSESS FAILURE RISKS, 

FREQUENCY RATIO AND 

SEVERITY LEVEL. 

In terms of energy, these impacts 

are not necessarily constant for 

each shaft revolution (time signal 

recorded over a period of 2 minutes). 

The encountered problem is due 

to the wear of the shafts and of the 

disks that are mounted onto these 

shafts and generate friction. 

Now, the maintenance department 

knows the origin of the noise 

and the condition of the bearings, 

which need just to be monitored on 

a periodic basis. 



Wireless Sensors 

Can Now Replace Traditional Systems 

in Condition Monitoring 

Online condition 

monitoring has been 

waiting for wireless 

solutions for over 10 

years. Now with the 

latest technology, Nome 

has been able to develop 

wireless IoT systems to 

be competitive with most 

wired systems. 

MECHANICAL WEAR is inevitable in all 

machines and equipment and bearing 

failure is one of the most common 

faults in industrial machines. Vibration 

measurements of rotating machinery are 

considered the best method of determining 

a machine´s condition. Depending 

on the industry one unplanned downtime 

can cost from several thousand up 

to millions of euros in just one hour. A 

single failure prevented is can be enough 

to cover years of wireless condition 

monitoring costs. In any case, there are 

benefits other than direct cost savings. 

Keeping track of machine health ensures 

good product quality, safe operation, 

minimal environmental impact and preserves 

assets. 

Now with the latest technology Nome 

has been able to develop wireless online 

systems to be competitive with most 

wired systems. Wireless sensors can 

measure time signals, waveforms, trend 

values, envelopes and surface temperatures. 

All saved to a secure cloud storage 

or via interfaces to customers internal 

systems. To get the most out of online 

condition monitoring Nome also offers a 

remote analysing service where certified 

professionals can analyse the results. 

Why Wireless Technology is 

Now the Way to Go? 

With thousands of wired accelerometer 

installations we have experienced wiring 

to be the most time consuming and 

many times even the most expensive 

part of online condition monitoring 

system installation. Moreover, wired 

systems are often exposed to electrical 

interferences. In many cases there is no 

sense to start building up an online condition 

monitoring system for only a few 

critical machines, while start-up costs 

get very high per measurement point. 

Often there is not enough down time 

to perform the installations for wired 

systems. 

Condition monitoring has been waiting 

for wireless systems for more than 10 

years. Nome took part in testing wireless 

systems already in 2010. Back then the 

problem was high power consumption 

of vibration sensors and wireless data 

transfer. Good quality vibration measurement 

requires sample rates close 

to 10 kHz and with a signal length of 

3 - 5 seconds. Vibration signal analysis 

requires the time signal to be available 

for analysis. This means high power 

consumption on both measurements 

and data transmission. When comparing 

to example temperature measurement 

one good quality vibration time signal 

can include 30 000 samples when one 

sample temperature data with 60 second 

sample rate requires 30 000 samples in 

approximately 20 days (30000 / (60*24). 

That is why vibration measurements 

require the best sensor and data transmission 

techniques. Optimising the 

power consumption engineers need to 

compromise. When these optimizations 

are done compromising the data quality 

in measurements or analysis the whole 

idea why measurements are done is lost. 

Nome has solved the problem with 

power consumption by combining BLE5 

and LPWAN data transfer technologies. 

These are two extremely low power 

technologies and they are most suitable 

for IoT sensors. LPWAN can also 

penetrate walls and other barriers more 

easily. Machines run inside thick walls, 



ships, and other structures so this can be 

a crucial factor when thinking of using 

wireless systems for condition monitoring. 

LPWAN technology with implementations 

is coming along with the new 5G 

networks. This gives even more reasons 

to utilize the technology. 

Wireless technology is also suitable 

for Artificial Intelligence. AI can open 

whole new ways on how machine maintenance 

and condition monitoring is 

executed. The technology already exists 

but there hasn’t been a sensible way to 

collect enough data for AI until now. 

Now with the right algorithms and accurate 

sensors machine learning is possible 

for condition monitoring. The AI could 

learn the behaviour of each individual 

machine and compare it to other similar 

machines. This reduces the time needed 

to analyse results by personnel. In 

other words, artificial Intelligence could 

replace humans in vibration measurements. 

The time saved from basic measurements 

can be harnessed for more 

complicated work such as problem solving 

or special measurements. 

Benefits of Wireless Condition 

Monitoring in Short: 

• Reduction of unplanned failures 

• Reduced overall maintenance 

costs 

• Increased asset life 

• Improved equipment performance 

- Key Performance Indicators 

(KPIs) 

• Reduction/elimination of collateral 

damages 

• Prioritized and planned maintenance 

actions 

• Increased efficiency of maintenance 

management 

• Avoiding opening up of equipment 

at fixed intervals 

• Reduced environmental impact 

• Savings from route measurement 

costs 

• Savings from startup costs 

• Daily monitoring 

• Almost immune to electrical disturbances 

• Remote data collection, analysis 

and reports 

• Can be installed by own staff 

Wireless nmas Chess Condition 

Monitoring System 

nmas (nome monitoring and analysing 

system) Chess is most suitable for machines 

that have no previous monitoring 

system or old systems that are outdated. 

Connection to the analysing database is 

established automatically and the installation 

can be done by anyone. Warning 

and alarm limits and threshold levels can 

be adjusted with an Android application 

to suit individual machines and needs. 

nmas Chess is the world’s first wireless 

CONDITION MONITORING 

HAS BEEN WAITING FOR 

WIRELESS SYSTEMS FOR 

MORE THAN 10 YEARS. 

condition monitoring system to utilize 

LPWAN network. Multiple sensors can be 

connected via BLE 5 to the router which 

transfers information to cloud service using 

LTE-M network. This results in a system 

that is ready for the future needs without 

sacrificing any functional quality or battery 

life. 

Simple steps for installing nmas 

Chess system: 

1. Mount the sensor using M8 thread, 

magnetic base or adhesive. 

2. Mount the router to a suitable distance 

and power with USB cable provided. 

3. Install the application and configure 

the sensor to suit your needs. 

The system features: 

• wide frequency range 0 – 10 000Hz 

• 24-bit resolution 

• Highly developed analysing software 

with browser access 

• Remote analysing service 

• Android app 

• Cloud storage 

Nome has also developed the system to be 

suitable for OEM. Thresholds, warning limits, 

alerts, data interface and even the design 

can be customized to meet the needs of different 

manufacturers. By offering an online 

condition monitoring service, manufacturers 

can add significant value to their products. 

Sensors can also deliver valuable usage 

information to manufacturers. This data can 

be used when improving warranty policies, 

developing new products or offering new 

services to customers. The system is easy to 

send with the machine to the customer. 



Detection of bearing 

defects on balanced 

machine bogies 

Historically, condition 

monitoring of balanced 

machine bogie wheel 

bearings has been challenging, 

due to the very 

slow speed rotation and 

furthermore, in most 

cases, the variable speed 

adds even further complication. 

ADRIAN MESSER, 

CMRP 

adrianm@uesystems.com 

WE WILL BE EXPLAINING how these specific 

assets were successfully monitored 

at a mining company, using an ultrasound 

inspection instrument. 

Within this mining company, the 

coastal operations had many examples 

of failed bogie wheel bearings and, in 

each case, there was a great potential 

for subsequent damage to the shaft or 

the bearing bores in the bogie housing, 

which would add even more to the rebuild 

costs. 

Thus, the maintenance team was 

working through multiple failures on 

the CLB Stacker long travel bogies. Led 

by the balanced machine specialist, the 

team built historical maps including rebuild 

vendors and the use of OEM spares. 

A study of SAP data for 16 of the 37 

stackers in this company, across different 

sites, revealed an incredible $3,491,146 

in maintenance costs, directly related to 

bogie bearing failure, not to mention the 

additional unscheduled time loss, also 

important to consider. 

SURVEY USING ULTRASOUND 

TECHNOLOGY 

Next, a team of experts was asked to assist 

in this matter with identifying bearing 

defects using ultrasound technology, 

which is a proven technic to identify 

early bearing failures, especially when it 

comes to slow speed bearings. 

A survey was conducted with an 

Ultraprobe 15.000 ultrasound inspection 

instrument, and an identified bogie 

set was removed and sent for strip and 

assessment, after the ultrasonic instrument 

showed signs of bearing damage 

– which could be perceived by the sound 

quality heard & confirmed after a sound 

spectrum analysis of the recorded ultrasounds. 



This is a screenshot taken from the Spectralyzer 

software (for sound analysis), 

time series view. The peaks clearly point 

to a damaged bearing, since a healthy 

bearing will present a very uniform 

wave, without any peaks in amplitude. 

In this case, we can clearly see peaks 

in amplitude, representing harmonics 

equally distanced. This is an obvious sign 

of bearing damage. 

Stacker 13 Bogie#2 – Prior to removal 

Again, when performing sound analysis, we can find evidence of bearing damage. A 

bearing in good condition would be uniform on the time series view. But in this case we 

see again peaks in amplitude, corresponding to impact points or increased friction. 

HISTORICALLY, CONDITION 

MONITORING OF BALANCED 

MACHINE BOGIE WHEEL 

BEARINGS HAS BEEN 

CHALLENGING. 

Stacker 6P Bogie#4 – Post workshop strip. 

As diagnosed using spectrum sound 

analysis, the raceway is displaying 

spalling damage. 

Stacker 13 Bogie#2 – Post workshop strip 

As we can see, during strip and assessment, 

in both cases, severe spalling was 

found on the raceways. 

Stacker 6P Bogie#4 

– Sound Spectrum 

Prior to Removal 

CONCLUSION 

Whilst the detection of defects in these 

bearings is certainly possible through 

diligent inspections such as the daily 

rounds, categorising severity is extremely 

difficult, if not impossible. 

This can be achieved by using an 

ultrasound inspection instrument with 

sound recording capabilities. This will 

allow maintenance teams to load the file 

on a sound spectrum analysis and identify 

issues in an early stage, quick and 

easily, even in very slow speed bearings. 

It is important to note that, while 

bearings rolling at a medium/high speed 

can normally be monitored by relying on 

dB levels and verifying them against a dB 

baseline, this is not always the case with 

slow speed bearings. Since slow speed 

bearings, in many cases, will not produce 

enough energy to show a relevant dB 

increase, it is necessary to rely on the 

sound quality and posterior sound spectrum 

analysis. That is how issues can 

be identified when using ultrasound for 

slow speed bearing monitoring. 

And because ultrasound surveys are 

easy and quick to conduct, they can be 

performed in relatively short intervals 

of time. 

Given the history of this particular 

case study, the point of failure detection 

was between 6 and 12 months from the 

scheduled change out. Therefore, an ultrasound 

survey frequency of 3 months 

could be considered appropriate for 

stackers, and of 6 months for reclaimers 

and ship loaders (given their lower duty 

cycle). The recommendation to extend 

the surveying of balanced machine bogie 

bearings across the coastal fleet at the 

above intervals would allow the company 

to potentially save millions in maintenance 

costs, as we seen before. A clear 

case where predictive maintenance, 

using a technology such as ultrasound, 

clearly pays off. 



United Nations of Automation 

The OPC Foundation will continue to 

expand its role as the “United Nations 

of Automation” - the foundation where 

different organizations work together 

to standardize and harmonize. 

STEFAN HOPPE, 

President, 

OPC FOUNDATION 

THE BASIC IDEA FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OPC 

Foundation in 1996 was to create a communication 

standard based on the Microsoft COM/DCOM architecture 

of that time – “OLE for Process-Control” – was thus 

established as the de-facto standard “of the last mile” for 

controllers. 

The new architecture OPC Unified Architecture “OPC 

UA” is much more than just an operating system independent, 

neutral platform for data communication: OPC 

UA is the so-called Lego building block for the standardization 

of data and interfaces and their secure exchange 

scaling from the sensor to the cloud (and back) – including 

discovery of devices, onboarding and more. The 

milestones consisted of the definition from 2003 to 2006, 

the validation of the technology and publication of the 

core functionality in 2008, followed by the international 

standardization as IEC 62541 standard in 2011. First 

products were available on the market in 2007 and these 

are stably addressable via today’s OPC UA clients – there 

was no break in the technology. 

OPC UA will probably never be “complete” as the 

framework is constantly being expanded: In 2018, the 

first major expansion to the existing client/server communication 

model with a publish/subscribe communication 

model (PubSub) was released – in addition to other 

deployment scenarios such as distribution in broadcast, 

integration in smaller devices, communication to the 

cloud via MQTT or AMQP, this was also an important 

THE TREND TOWARDS DATA AND INTERFACES 

BEING STANDARDIZED WILL CONTINUE 


step as preparation for use at the field level: PubSub initially 

enables a high-performance controller-to-controller 

communication in order to connect devices of different 

eco-systems horizontally with a neutral approach. 

“Holistic approach blurs the boundaries of 

process and factory automation” 

The OPC Foundation Initiative “Field Level Communication” 

(FLC), newly founded in November 2018, has larger 

goals than the reduction to “OPC UA with TSN for the 

factory”. The harmonization of requirements from process 

and factory automation will result in common device 

services: Device management, firmware updates, OOE 

data, power management, MES services or even common 

data types will blur the boundaries of process and factory 

automation in device handling - of course, special technological 

requirements will remain. The work is already advanced, 

OPC Safety and OPC Motion are currently being 

developed and can be used in the future - with an optionally 

switchable TSN if determinism is required. 

The OPC Foundation has joined the Ethernet APL 

initiative: In process automation “OPC UA over APL/ 

SPE” will be established as the successor of the current 

de facto Hart standard and will gradually be installed as a 

new solution - initially only as a “second diagnostic channel” 

(NOA channel) but increasingly also in the first data 

channel. 

In the long term of two decades, the number of fieldbus 

systems will be reduced to a maximum of the “Big 5” 

including OPC UA. Many products of the future will be 

hybrid products that will have integrated the OPC UA solution 

in addition to the established technology - like cars 

that have electric drives for different scenarios in addition 

to conventional combustion engines. 

The trend towards data and interfaces being standardized 

as far as technically possible at the data source will 

continue – if feasible directly in the device and sensor: 

A flow meter will provide standardized “OPC UA flow 

measurement data” as soon as the APL cable is plugged 

in. Otherwise, other transmission techniques will remain 

for special scenarios, to become interoperable via OPC UA 

gateway at the appropriate point. 

However, I am concerned about the large number of 

“user organizations” that have been started, often with 

a promising “Open” in their name. More and more new 

organizations often take care of the same tasks. The key 

to the future is not to initiate new organizations - but the 

much closer cooperation of existing organizations. Just 

as the climate challenge cannot be solved by individual 

states, but only by the community of states - so it is in automation. 

The OPC Foundation currently cooperates with other 

organizations in more than 55 initiatives - as “United 

Nations of Automation” – in order to fulfil the vision of a 

Plug&Produce solution with an open, uniform, secure and 

standards-based IIoT communication solution - from the 

sensor through all levels to the cloud with all the requirements 

of industrial automation. The challenge of the OPC 

Foundation in the next decade is to channel the global 

“OPC UA movement” and structure the many activities. 

The goal is a plug&play of standardized information.

TRAINING 

The Skills Gap and 

the Covid 19 Impact 

GREGORY L. FOLTS, 

President/ CEO, 

Marshall Institute,Inc. 

For years, especially in 

the United States, we 

have seen a widening 

gap between the need 

for skilled trades and 

the inflow of young 

candidates to fill the 

positions. We have seen 

a general bias in our 

education system, away 

from technical training 

and skilled trades, leaning 

strongly toward 4 to 

6-year degree paths. 

WHILE THE 4 TO 6-YEAR degree is clearly 

the correct choice for many, for some 

unexplainable reason, technical training 

has been treated as a lesser alternative 

path, if you can’t cut it in the college 

degree program. It is a strongly-held 

belief that if you wish to succeed in a real 

career, you need a Bachelor’s degree or 

higher. We need only to look to European 

countries, like Germany, to see examples 

of skills development paths that 

are highly respected as craftsman and 

essential for society. 

When you consider the role of skilled 

trades in society, skilled workers are 

responsible for many essential activities, 

on which society is dependent to 

function. How would a surgeon perform 

amazing surgery without an operating 

room built by skilled construction workers, 

HVAC technicians and electricians, 

being maintained by facilities maintenance? 

The backup generators, oxygen 

generators, filters, elevators, and all 

other key equipment are maintained by 

skilled trades. The stark reality is that 

the highly educated surgeon is required 

for the surgery, but all of the infrastructure 

around the surgeon is required as 

well. 

According to NCTAP’s website 

(https://nctap.org), a partnership between 

local businesses and local community 

colleges for skilled trades apprenticeship: 

“In most cases, apprentices, due 

to their superior education, assume 

managerial responsibility early in their 


TRAINING 

careers. Not surprisingly, most NCTAP 

partner businesses were founded by former 

apprentices; some are world leaders 

in their field... 

DESIGN 85% 

MACHINE LEARNING 90% 

ELECTRICAL 78% 

FABRICATION 93% 

ENGINEERING 85% 

AUTOMATION 94%” 

It turns out that many Plant Managers, 

Plant Engineers, Maintenance Managers, 

Supervisors, and small business 

owners began their careers as skilled 

trades, even further expanding their career 

opportunities and income potential. 

While the college experience is a developmental 

experience in many ways, 

and we do need accountants, business 

leaders, legal counsel, etc. there are other 

career choices (skilled trades) that can 

lead to equal, if not higher pay, with less 

incurred debt. Imagine an opportunity, 

whereby your employer pays for your 

college degree (associate) instead of 

you incurring student loan debt, taking 

the same 4 years to complete, earning 

$15-$18 per hour during your hands-on 

training, resulting in a $40k-$100k year 

job, debt-free. I just described an apprenticeship 

program. 

You would think that students from 

high school would be flocking to such a 

programs, to the skilled trades, but you 

would be wrong. In the Raleigh, N.C. area 

there is a program called NCTAP, with 

similar programs in Charlotte, N.C. and 

Franklin County N.C. But the number of 

students that consider this a valid career 

choice is relatively small. I attended a 

large pharmaceutical plant tour with potential 

apprentices on a Saturday, and all 

senior leadership was present and pitching 

their apprenticeship program. This 

shows how important this is to the plant. 

The inflow of potential skilled trades 

candidates is insufficient to maintain the 

workforce required. 

If we look at the other end of the spectrum, 

many current skilled trades are either 

eligible for retirement or soon to be 

eligible. According to the labour department, 

the average age of skilled trades is 

56*. With looming retirement possible 

for these skilled trades, the need for a 

pool of apprentices to understudy, and 

ultimately replace, the retirees is large. 

In addition, while this discussion has 

been ongoing for several years, Covid-19 

has introduced some new twists and 

turns to the discussion. First, it is likely 

we will see increased retirement from 

the aging skilled trades group, due to 

Covid-19 exposure risk. If a skilled 

trades employee is at higher risk due to 

age, underlying health conditions, or 

increased exposure at work, this could 

accelerate the consideration of an earlier 

retirement. Second, Covid-19 has accentuated 

the digital skills gap. Very quickly, 

almost overnight, large groups of our 

society have had to adapt to digital interaction; 

working, meeting, learning, and 

teaching. This exposes the gaps in digital 

literacy. It reveals the fact that many of 

us have “fragmented” understanding of 

our digital tools. We might be familiar 

with our phone or Facebook, but have 

no proficiency in Word, Excel, Zoom, 

Teams, remote network access, or security, 

and lack a comprehensive knowledge 

of integrated computer systems. A phone 

is no longer just a phone! This lack of 

knowledge and the social distancing currently 

required increases the frustration 

of the daily work routine and exposes a 

new, important, skills gap, potentially 

leading to accelerated retirement. 


TRAINING 

What can we do to help close the gap? 

How can we make a difference? First, we 

have a marketing problem. Manufacturing 

and skilled trades are not viewed by 

our youth as premium career opportunities. 

This starts at home, with your children 

or grandchildren. We must view 

trades as noble, sought after, high paying 

professions. Thanks to Covid, we know 

that “essential workers” include electricians, 

mechanics, plumbers, machinists, 

auto technicians… skilled trades! 

Next, schools must adopt a positive 

message around the skilled trades. High 

schools and Community Colleges must 

educate teachers and counsellors around 

the value of skilled trades. Recently I 

was introduced to an apprentice that was 

involved in a similar program to NCTAP. 

He was apprenticed at work, learning a 

trade, and was sent to a local community 

SKILLED WORKERS ARE 

RESPONSIBLE FOR MANY 

ESSENTIAL ACTIVITIES, 

ON WHICH SOCIETY IS 

DEPENDENT TO FUNCTION. 

college by his employer, working on his 

associate degree. His college guidance 

counsellor challenged him one day “I 

know this machinist trade thing is ok 

for now, but what are you going to do for 

your “real” career?” This is exactly the 

wrong message. 

Finally, there are opportunities to 

engage local and federal governments 

to support change. There are currently 

(in the U.S.) grants available to help with 

training and skills development. While 

much focus has been on Covid-19 funding 

as of late, there are several acts in 

congress to help support skilled worker 

development. Due to my involvement 

with The Society for Maintenance & Reliability 

Professionals (SMRP) I recently 

attended a Business Leaders United 

(BLU) virtual fly-in to Washington D.C. 

The two-day meeting was focused on 

discussing, with state representatives, 

the need for skilled worker development. 

We met with representatives of Senators 

around the country to represent how 

businesses need this support. I was especially 

struck by Senator Virginia Foxx, 

of western N.C. She has her doctorate in 

education, but has strong passion around 

supporting skills development in the U.S. 

She shared a story about her brother’s 

success, starting as a carpenter. She 

shared that he has incredible skill, creativity, 

and intelligence, humbly claiming 

it was greater than her own intelligence. 

It was inspiring to hear a woman of such 

amazing accomplishment support skills, 

not just in word, but action. Although 

Covid-19 issues have been the focus of 

legislation in early 2020, there is pending 

legislation designed to help skilled 

trades, that if approved would increase 

funding for skills development. Proposed 

changes to the Pell Grant would 

allocate funds not only to higher education, 

but to skilled worker development. 

The College Transparency Act would 

increase visibility of a specific school’s 

data on completion and post-college outcomes 

of degree programs. 

Finally, I would share that one of 

the key “aha” moments for me was a 

discussion with Senator Burr’s office 

on automation, robotics, and artificial 

intelligence. We were talking about how 

people have feared for years that technology 

would eliminate jobs. We were 

discussing the increased need for skilled 

trades with increased automation. I was 

struck with the thought that for all of our 

fears regarding automation/industry 

4.0 changing our workplace, IT WAS A 

VIRUS that caused the most significant, 

rapid change to manufacturing in the 

last 100 years. 

These are certainly challenging times, 

but I am confident that we will adapt to 

our changing environment, find creative 

ways to close the skills gap, and face 

whatever challenges lie ahead. 


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CHRISTER IDHAMMAR 

HE IS THE FOUNDER OF IDCON INC 

and an internationally recognized 

expert in Reliability and Maintenance 

Management. He is one the Top 50 

influencers in the Pulp and Paper 

industry and is the author of two 

books and hundreds of published 

articles. His latest book: “Knocking 

Bolts: Six Decades in the Reliability 

and Maintenance Management Arena” 

details his life in industry. 

Reliability and 

Maintenance (RM) 

Management 

Are You Doing the Wrong Things? 

CHRISTER IDHAMMAR, Reliability 

and Maintenance Management Expert 

and Founder of IDCON INC 

In this article, I will discuss 

the five most common 

wrong things to do in 

Reliability and Maintenance 

(RM) Management. 

I HAVE BEEN IN THE INDUSTRIAL 

OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE 

MANAGEMENT BUSINESS ARENA for six 

decades. For the past four decades, I have 

been preaching that it is more important 

to first do the right things, and then do 

them right. In my view, leadership and 

management decide on the right things. 

When you have decided on the right 

things to do and documented and communicated 

these to your organization, 

you have completed an important part of 


your strategy. The next step would be to 

involve your organization in implementing 

each element of the RM strategy by 

doing the right things right. 

Most organizations I work with are 

doing the right things, but many do not 

execute all the elements of their strategy 

well. Some do the wrong things. I will 

elaborate on what I believe are the top 

5 wrong things to do. 

1. Using Wrench Time as a 

Performance Indicator 

“Wrench time” or “hands-on-tools time” 

is a decades-old philosophy focusing on 

measuring if craftspeople are busy or 

not, with tools in their hands. Even if you 

have another definition of wrench time, 

it is not the right thing to do and here are 

the reasons why: 

1. Busy people are not necessarily productive 

unless they are working on the 

right things. More importantly, people 

do not like to be "spied" on, so this 

measurement will not be received well 

by the tradespeople - the most important 

people to motivate. In a modern 

plant with a good maintenance organization 

having the time to think, finding 

solutions to problems and implementing 

improvements is more important 

than just keeping people busy. 

2. It drives the wrong behaviour. To increase 

the wrench time, people might 

take more time to do a repair, pretend 

to be busy, or hide so you cannot 

measure, etc. 

3. It is a violation of what Deming said 

many years ago and it still holds true. 

“People cannot be more efficient than


the system they work in allows 

them to be.” Ask any tradesperson 

why they are not busy and they will 

answer, “They [management] do 

not plan and schedule work well 

here, and because of that we are 

very reactive, have to find scope of 

work, get parts and tools, etc.”. 

4. For daily work you might have 

more wrench time if you have a lot 

of breakdowns. I agree that during 

a shutdown people should be busy 

doing the right thing safely and correctly 

with the right tools and spare 

parts/material. What some call 

wrench time will be higher and that 

is because shutdown work is better 

planned and scheduled! 

So, what do you measure instead? The 

answer is that you plan, schedule and 

communicate. Measure planned jobs in 

schedules, schedule compliance and jobs 

added to schedules.Then find what you 

can improve. You'll probably find that you 

can improve how priorities are used. Are 

they emotional or based on true importance? 

Maybe you'll find that schedules 

are not frozen in advance and that it's too 

easy to add jobs for the same day. Improve 

where you have gaps in the planning and 

scheduling process. Doing this ensures the 

right people will safely do the right work 

more efficiently. 

MOST ORGANIZATIONS ARE DOING THE RIGHT THINGS, 

BUT NOT MANY EXECUTE ALL OF THE ELEMENTS OF THE 

STRATEGY WELL. 

2. Put All Maintenance 

People on Shift 

I do not believe this is the right thing to do. 

It often happens when the maintenance 

organization reports to operations. They 

might want to have maintenance coverage 

24/7 because they have experienced many 

breakdowns. Why do I think this is the 

wrong thing to do? 

1. Maintenance work will become 

very reactive because it will be complicated 

to plan and schedule work. 

2. Communication between maintenance 

employees will be difficult. 

3. Getting maintenance people together 

for training and information 

sessions is difficult. 

The best organizations I have worked 

with have a good call-in process and no, 

or very few, maintenance people on shift. 

Instead of reacting to a high volume of urgent 

maintenance work and putting more 

maintenance people on shift, their strategy 

has been to improve Preventive Maintenance 

(PM) and Root Cause Problem 

Elimination (RCPE), reduce urgent work, 

plan and schedule better, teach opera- 



tors to do some maintenance work and 

gradually reduce maintenance people on 

shift to move them to day shift. 

3. Use New Technology Before 

you are Ready for it 

I am all for new technologies and have 

introduced many while working with 

plants worldwide. It was easy to get 

people interested and even enthusiastic 

about new technology, but how to use 

it efficiently was more difficult. As an 

example, I worked with a plant who 

purchased an SPM instrument, it was 

challenging for them to set up a round to 

do measurements and then have people 

execute the rounds on a regular basis. 

Sometimes it could be more difficult to 

make sure action would be taken on all 

bearings in alarm level, so many still ran 

to breakdown. I am sure similar challenges 

are true today and perhaps even 

more so. 

Many young engineers entering the 

field of industrial maintenance have all 

been introduced to a flood of good new 

technologies in their education and 

conferences. The “people” part of using 

all these technologies is not included in 

the training, so it is understandable that 

they will focus more attention on the introduction 

of the new technologies than 

on people and processes. 

Most "new" technologies, including 

data collection, are used to "learn" about 

equipment to detect failures and failure 

patterns at an earlier stage than existing 

technology. It will improve reliability, 

but only if all the information can be 

channeled into the work management 

system so failures will be repaired before 

a breakdown. Imagine how this will 

work if a technology like this is introduced 

in a reactive maintenance organization. 

I can tell you the system will be 

overloaded with work requests, and with 

limited resources the risk is that not 

much will improve. 

The best organizations improve the 

basic work management system and reduce 

reactive maintenance to less than 

10% of all work before introducing new 

technology. They use the technology 

they are ready for. 

It might be in place to reiterate what 

Bill Gates said many years ago: 

“The first rule of technology used in a business is that automation 

[new technology] applied to an efficient operation will magnify 

the efficiency. The second is that automation [new technology] 

applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.” 

Bill Gates 



4. Decentralize Maintenance 

to Report to Operations 

A common wrong thing to do is to decentralize 

a maintenance organization 

so they report to operations. 

The justifications to do this include: 

• Maintenance personnel will 

develop more ownership of the 

operations area. 

• Maintenance will achieve a 

closer working relationship with 

operations. 

• There will be fewer managers 

(which saves money). 

I have worked with many organizations 

that used these justifications to 

decentralize maintenance. Many did 

it in an effort to save money. Here are 

some reasons, in my experience, why it 

doesn't work. 

First, if your basic maintenance 

practices (Planning and Scheduling, 

Preventive Maintenance, Stores, Technical 

database) are not instituted as 

a way of life, do not make this move! 

Why? It leads to many poorly performing 

maintenance organizations rather 

than having just one poorly performing 

maintenance organization. On top of 

this, you will expect several managers, 

most who are inexperienced in reliability 

and maintenance management, to 

implement and/or improve these maintenance 

basics. A lack of time, interest, 

willingness, knowledge of maintenance 

management or a combination of these 

could cause the following (usually in six 

to nine months): 

• More maintenance people on 

shift because it feels more secure 

that way. One consequence is 

that operators will request a lot 

of “honey do” jobs. 

• More maintenance people will be 

stationed in areas to be available 

and ready to react to problems 

because this leads to faster repairs 

of problems. 

• Work requests will not be entered 

into computer system 

because it is easier and more convenient 

to just call people. 

• It will become more difficult to 

move people between departments 

for shutdowns. 

• Overtime and contractor hours 

will start increasing even though 

there are more people on shift. 

• Backlog will start to go up. 

• You lose equipment history. 

• Equipment reliability starts 

declining. At this point the total 

maintenance cost has gone up, 

but operations managers might 

not see the whole picture. 

There are additional typical phenomena 

to be observed and sometimes 

actions to improve the situation do 

not happen. This is often because the 

manager(s) who initiated the change 

refuse to see or admit that it was a mistake. 

Often it takes up to three years, 

or an earlier change of management, 

before someone with enough clout in 

the organization realizes that maintenance 

is out of control and you need to 

reinstitute the practices you used to 

have. The fact is that many organizations 

can repeat the above-mentioned 

cycle many times over a ten to fifteen 

years period. Well, it keeps consultants 

like me in business! 

I am not in favour of handing over 

maintenance to operations. I have 

seen too many situations such as described 

above and no examples of sustainable 

improvement from handing 

over maintenance to operations. 

It is not possible to say which maintenance 

organization structure is best 

for everyone as it depends on size of 

organization, skill levels, geographic 

location, how well the basic processes 

are instituted, etc. 

The majority of the most successful 

organizations I have worked with have 

had maintenance resources designated 

to each production area that report 

to a central maintenance organization. 

5. Confusing the Holistic 

Reliability and Maintenance 

System with Tools 

There are many excellent tools and 

supporting processes that a plant can 

leverage to enhance performance of 

a holistic reliability and maintenance 

system. The holistic reliability and 

maintenance system centres around 

work management and includes processes 

for Preventive Maintenance, 

Prioritization, Planning, Scheduling, 

Bill of Materials, interface with Stores 

and Root Cause Problem Elimination. 

Most organizations have gone 

through a multitude of improvement 

programs over time. Many of these initiatives 

aren’t completed or sustained. 

In many cases, if a new tool is introduced, 

people tend to think of it as 

just another “program of the month.” 

Thus, it is crucial to explain how any 

new tool fits into a holistic reliability 

and maintenance system, and that, 

just like safety, performance indicators 

for reliability and maintenance 

performance will continue to be reinforced 

to drive continuous improvements. 

Some common tools/processes 

include: 

• Computerized Maintenance 

Management System (CMMS) 

Without a CMMS, it is virtually 

impossible to efficiently manage 

reliability and maintenance in 

today’s plants and facilities. 

• Single Minute Exchange of Die 

(SMED) 

Used to develop standard job 

plans, SMED separates what is to 

be done before, during, and after 

a job is completed. 

• Reliability Cantered Maintenance 

(RCM) 

This is a tool, NOT a complete 

system. RCM methodology can 

help determine the right PM 

tasks and frequency for components 

in complex systems. 

• Kaizen 

Referencing the Japanese word 

for “continuous improvement,” 

a kaizen event can focus on one 

task to improve. 

• Six Sigma 

Leveraged to improve the quality 

of the output of a process, Six 

Sigma identifies and removes the 

causes of defects and minimizes 

variability in manufacturing and 

business processes. It uses a set 

of quality-management methods, 

mainly empirical, statistical 

methods. Every Six Sigma project 

follows a defined sequence of 

steps and has specific value targets 

i.e. to reduce failure rate, reduce 

shutdown time, and prolong 

electric motor life, among others. 

• Five S 

Short for “sort, set in order, 

shine, standardize, and sustain,” 

the Five S method can be used 

to organize a workshop, stores, 

workplace, and the like. 

All of these tools are great, but again, 

explain to your organization that these 

are tools you might want to use to enhance 

the outcome of the holistic reliability 

and maintenance management 

system. 

Never stop improving the basics! 



ALEXIS LÁREZ 

ALCÁZAREZ, CMRP, 

Technical Director at 

Enova Group, Speaker 

and Senior Consultant 

Asset Management, 

Maintenance and Reliability 

Disaggregated Asset Structure and Taxonomy 

The adequate management of the life cycle of an organization's assets is a 

fundamental element to guarantee that it can generate value through its assets, and 

that they can contribute in a sustained way to the achievement of the objectives in 

order to reach the profitability levels established by the direction. 

HAVING SAID THAT, it is important to 

mention that establishing a robust base 

that sets the standard and facilitates 

the management of the organization's 

assets in an agile manner is an excellent 

starting point. Therefore, establishing a 

clear disaggregated asset structure and 

an adequate taxonomy from the early 

stages of the life cycle will facilitate the 

handling and management of information 

on these assets, contributing to the 

management of risks (ISO 31000) during 

the entire life cycle. 

The management of the risks inherent 

to the assets is part of those key processes 

on which the organizations must direct 

their efforts, so, making it one of the differentiating 

elements, allowing them 

three great benefits; sustainability, competitiveness 

in the market and finally to 

generate the value (to make profitable) 

the actions carried out on the assets. 

The adequate management of the 

risks associated with the assets is 

decisive for making the best decisions 

from the point of view of maintenance: 

Establishment of policy, definition of 

strategies, development of plans, determination 

of quantities and types of spare 

parts to be kept in stock and development 

of staff skills, among others. 

Therefore, this article seeks to establish 

some guidelines to carry out an 

adequate disaggregated structure of 

assets and their correct taxonomy that 

facilitates the management of life cycle 

information. 

DISAGGREGATED ASSET STRUCTURE 

AND TAXONOMY 

Asset taxonomy is defined according to 

ISO 14224(2016) as the systematic classification 

of assets into generic groups 

based on possible common factors in 

various systems. On the other hand 

(Crespo, et al.2016), it is claimed that the 

physical structure is the most intuitive 

way to observe the reality of the system. 

In the physical structure the system 

belongs to the plant, an installation, 

an industry, etc., and has different subsystems 

and components. 

There is an additional point of great 

importance, as he states (Ciliberty, 

2014), that there is that a clear disaggregated 

asset structure which facilitates 

the management of the information 

system (EAM / ERP) associated with 

the assets, representing the systems in 

assets, the subunits of assets and their 

components through maps. This clear 

hierarchy of classification and functional 

locations within the organization facilitates 

the management of maintenance 

information and also provides multilevel 

fault reports. 

Therefore, establishing a clear and 

ordered taxonomy of the assets, allows 

to obtain a description of the limits and 

border of these within the systems, and 

it is essential for effect, to obtain the 

necessary information, as well as for the 

analysis of the data of the maintenance 

and the reliability in any type of industries, 

plants or intensive organization 



in assets. In addition, it facilitates communication 

and interaction between all 

enabling areas and those who exercise 

actions on assets that can impact the 

generation of value of the organization. 

Additionally, in requirement 7.5. 

Information required for Asset Management, 

the standard (ISO 55001,2014), 

states the following: 

• “The organization must determine: 

• The attribute requirements of the 

identified information; 

• The quality requirements of the 

identified information; 

• How and when to collect, analyse 

and evaluate the information”. 

The organization must specify, implement, 

and maintain processes to manage 

its assets information; 

It can be stated then, that seen from 

this perspective, the correct identification 

and registration of assets is one of 

the first and fundamental actions that 

any asset-intensive organization can 

undertake, since in this way the necessary 

information can be obtained and 

documented to answer the following 

questions: 

1. What is my organization's asset 

inventory? 

2. What is the current status of my 

assets? 

3. Where are they located? 

4. What type of interventions, types 

of maintenance and costs are associated 

with the assets? 

5. Is it possible to establish replacement 

strategies for the assets? 

In addition (Kleinhammer,2014), states 

that this taxonomy, or mode of classification 

and identification, is influenced 

by the data analysis protocols used to 

derive aggregate reliability performance 

parameters based on similar equipment 

types and failure modes from multiple 

data sources. 

From this point of view, it means that 

an adequate taxonomy has a positive 

impact on the collection of data and storage 

of the information necessary for the 

management of the information of the 

life cycle of the assets. 

Therefore, it is possible to say that 

taxonomy allows for the establishment 

of a hierarchical structure based on factors 

possibly common to several of the 

assets such as (location, use, subdivision 

of asset, etc.), as shown in figure.1, 

according to ISO 14224,2016. 

BENEFITS AND INTERRELATIONS OF THE 

TAXONOMY WITH THE DIFFERENT EN- 

ABLING AREAS OF THE ORGANIZATION 

An adequate taxonomy of assets allows 

to obtain some competitive advantages, 

related to the facility of interaction and 

fluidity of the information. it is necessary 

to clarify that this will be fulfilled, as 

long as the information documented and 

registered is reliable and of quality; some 

of the areas of the organization that will 

benefit from it are the following: 

Planning and Scheduling 

Management and administration of 

maintenance activities (work orders, 

requests for services and purchases), 

cost management, cataloguing of spare 

parts, management of indicators, KPI, 

history of interventions, etc 

Maintenance and Reliability Engineering 

Optimization of maintenance plans 

through the use of methodologies such 

as RCM, FMECA, RBI, statistical loss 

analysis, root cause analysis, use of 

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Figure 1. Taxonomy 

classification with 

taxonomic levels. 

ISO 14224,2016 

9 

8 

7 

6 

5 

4 

3 

2 

1 Industry 

Business 

category 

Installation 

Plant/Unit 

Section/System 

Equipment unit 

Subunit 

Component/Maintainable Item 

Part 

Equipment subdivision Use/location 

Installation 

Plant/unit 1 Plant/unit 2 Plant/unit 3 

System 1 System 2 

Sub System 1 Sub System 2 

Equipment unit 

Maintainable Item 

Figure 2. Disaggregated asset structure 

historical information for reliability 

simulations (RAM), establish asset 

replacement strategies. 

Execution of Maintenance 

Work Order deliveries, field notification 

generation, Work Order feedback 

Segmentation by assets the costs associated 

with maintenance. 

Operations 

Generation of Work Order requests by 

the user (operators), direct interaction 

with maintenance, unique identification 

for each active 

Finance 

Support in the financial management of 

the life cycle costs of assets: IAS 16, IAS 

36 (Revaluation of assets, etc.), divestitures, 

obsolescence, etc. 

WHERE DO I GET THE INFORMATION FOR 

PROPER REGISTRATION? 

• Asset Drawings and Systems 

Layout 

• Manufacturers Manual 

• Technical Specification Sheets 

• P&ID 

• Photos and videos of equipment 

in the field 

• Other sources of information. 

It is important to point out that the 

taxonomic identification of the assets is 

normally defined by the organizations. 

On the other hand, the ISO 14224-2016 

standard provides a reference framework 

for the assignment of unique codes 

for each asset within the management 

system, and this can be applied to different 

types of industries. That this type of 

taxonomic structure however, does not 

apply to the electricity generation industry 

that generally uses the KKS system. 

HOW FAR TO DISAGGREGATE THE ASSET 

STRUCTURE OF THE ORGANIZATION? 

It is important to point out that in consulting 

processes carried out by our organization, 

we have had the opportunity 

to find organizations that have their processes 

of disaggregation of assets thoroughly 

documented and clear. However, 

we have found many organizations that 

classify maintainable parts or re-changes 

(bearings) as an asset; this can be considered 

a conceptual error, since this 

distorts the information to be recorded 

within the information system for the 

purpose of further analysis. 

While it is true that there are some 

particular criteria, depending on the 

type of organization, especially for those 

changeable parts that have a high impact 

on costs and a special process of manufacture, 

these are usually considered as 

assets. As an example, we can mention, a 

turbine blade. 

In the figure. 2. We share a disaggregated 

asset structure up to level 6. 

The different levels of the asset structure 

or how far to disaggregate the organization's 

assets will depend largely on the 

size of the organization and how easily 

the associated information is managed. 

The appropriate disaggregated structure 

of the asset facilitates the interaction 

and fluidity of the information 

needed to control and monitor the asset 

maintenance management, provided the 

information documented and recorded is 

reliable and of good quality. 

CONCLUSIONS 

A clear and adequate disaggregated 

structure of the organization's assets and 

their correct identification (Taxonomy), 

according to international standards, is 

the fundamental principle of a system 

for the asset information management. 

The correct allocation of costs associated 

with the life cycle of assets is fundamental 

to establish strategies for asset 

replacement. 

An adequate structure disaggregates 

assets, facilitates the implementation of 

reliability tools and contributes to improve 

the control of data and information 

of the equipment. 

It is necessary to establish an adequate 

hierarchy of assets from the early 

stages of the project as part of reliability 

tools that allow managing the information 

of the assets to increase their useful 

life. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Ciliberti, V. A. (2014). U.S. Patent No. 2014/0214801 A1. South Ben,IN: U.S. System and method for enterprise asset management and failure reporting.. 

Guillén, A. J., Crespo, A., Gómez, J. F., & Sanz, M. D. (2016). A framework for effective management of condition based maintenance programs in the context 

of industrial development of E-Maintenance strategies. Computers in Industry, 82, 170-185. 

Kleinhammer, R. K., & Kahn, J. C. (2014). Constructing the Best Reliability Data for the Job. 

ISO 55001:2014 Asset Management. Management systems - RequirementsThe British Standards Institution. 2014 

ISO 14224, 2016. Petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries — Collection and exchange of reliability and maintenance data for equipment. Swit 


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Value Chain 

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OPCF_Anz_P&A Fachmedien_210x275_lay02.indd 1 15.07.20 11:48

EVENT 

ČSPÚ 20 Years of Czech 

Industrial Maintenance 

prof. ING. VÁCLAV 

LEGÁT, DRSC. 

Honorary chairman of 

the Czech Maintenance 

Society 

ING. JAN HROCH 

Executive director of 

the Czech Maintenance 

Society 

In 2020, in the same year of European Federation 

of National Maintenance Societies (EFNMS) 50th 

anniversary, the Czech Maintenance Society (ČSPÚ), 

member of EFNMS since 2001, is celebrating 20 years 

of existence. 

20 years of Czech industrial 

maintenance 

ČSPÚ was established in 2000 and has 

been active in the field of maintenance 

continuously for the past 20 years. It 

is an independent, non-for-profit and 

non-political organisation, that brings 

together individuals, institutions and 

industrial companies interested in the 

development of integrated management 

of fixed assets, mainly focusing 

on industrial asset and facility management 

and management and engineering 

of maintenance. 


EVENT 

Annual conferences organized by ČSPÚ in Liblice Chateaux attended by ca 130 participants. 

The mission of ČSPÚ is the development, 

acquisition and dissemination 

of new knowledge in the field of asset 

management and maintenance engineering 

to satisfy the professional 

needs of its members, to support organizations 

in achieving success in 

maintenance and improvement of asset 

management and maintenance and operation 

of their production equipment. 

ČSPÚ has more than 60 individual 

and more than 50 collective members 

(companies and other organizations). 

Any person or organization that is 

interested in working in the field of 

maintenance is welcome to become 

the member. ČSPÚ is governed by 

an eleven-member board, headed by 

the chairman and executive director, 

and its activities are controlled by a 

three-member supervisory board. The 

supreme body of the CSPU is the General 

Assembly – very much like in the 

EFNMS. 

ČSPÚ is partnered with Czech 

Automotive industry association (AutoSAP), 

Chemical industry association 

ČR (SCHP ČR) and National Center 

of Industry 4.0 (NCP 4.0) and is also 

a member (as mentioned above) of 

the European Federation of National 

Maintenance Societies (EFNMS) and 

the Chamber of Commerce of the Czech 

Republic. 

While ČSPÚ has a number of activities, 

it focuses mainly on: 

1. Bringing together professionals 

and organizations in the field of 

maintenance 

2. Organizing maintenance conferences. 

(twice per year) 

3. Organizing a providing training 

in maintenance (it offers certification 

of Maintenance Manager, 

Maintenance Technician, Master 

of Maintenance) 

4. Performing audits and analysis of 

maintenance management and 

also providing consultancy in 

general 

5. Contributing to maintenance research 

Bringing people together 

The two key events, that ČSPÚ annually 

organizes, are traditional industrial conferences 

– „International conference 

of Maintenance“ and „Maintenance 

for TOP Managers“, both with ca 130 

participants. ČSPÚ organizes the conference 

since 2003 with a great success. 

The conference is sponsored annually 

by the Ministry of industry and trade of 

the Czech Republic or the Association 

of industry and transport and among its 

general partners, is also the EFNMS. 

Educating and 

knowledge-sharing 

ČSPÚ offers complex training and education 

of maintenance personnel according 

to EN 15628:2015 Qualification of 

maintenance personnel and aligned with 

the recommendations of EFNMS. 

The offered education programs are 

divided into 3 levels and provided as lifelong 

learning mainly for professionals 

from industry: 

• Maintenance Manager (160 study 

hours, 20 tuition days, with final 

thesis) 

• Maintenance Technician Specialist 

(96 study hours, 12 tuition days) 

• Maintenance Supervisor (64 study 

hours, 8 tuition days) 

The courses have been finished by more 

than 600 graduates, 127 of them with 

professional certificates. 

The target audience of the education 

program are maintenance managers, 

asset managers, facility managers, 

maintenance managers, chief mechanics, 

TPM facilitators, maintenance engineers 

and planners, maintenance technicians, 

mechanics, specialists, foremen etc. with 

university or high school education. 

The aim of the course is to familiarize 

the course participants with the basic 

requirements of asset management in 

general and machinery in particular, including 

all aspects of maintenance management, 

execution as well as practical 

techniques. The course makes use of real 

case studies and teach its participants 

with help of practical examples. Finally, 

emphasis is placed on the application of 

the principles of economic thinking in 

maintenance management. 



Acoustic emission testing 

How to listen to pressure equipment 

Pressure equipment maintenance activities in chemical plants need to comply 

with statutory inspection intervals and ensure regular condition monitoring. TÜV 

SÜD shows how this can be done cost-effectively using acoustic emission testing 

(AT), a procedure which also benefits predictive maintenance. 

DIPL.-ING. KLAUS MICHAEL FISCHER, Innovation Manager & Technical Director for Fire and Explosion Prevention, TÜV SÜD Chemie Service GmbH 

DIPL.-ING. LEVENT SAHIN, Manager Acoustic Emission Testing, TÜV SÜD Industrie Service GmbH, 

DIPL.-ING. HERMANN SCHUBERT, Head of Digital and Continuous Inspection, TÜV SÜD Chemie Service GmbH 

THE CHEMICAL-PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY delivers essential 

goods such as medicinal products and sanitation articles or 

is involved in their supply chains and has thus also played a 

special role in the coronavirus pandemic. As a basic rule, detailed 

information about a component facilitates the planning 

of servicing and maintenance. This fact also benefits users of 

acoustic emission testing (AT), a particularly sophisticated 

digital test method. A column at a refinery is one possible use 

case. The column at the refinery is a large-sized vessel used in 

process engineering. The high, slim columns contain numerous 

installations and valve trays and predominate in the typical 

appearance of a chemical plant. They are used to break down 

mixtures into their constituent components. 

Large-sized columns at a refinery 

In the case on hand, the large-sized column was to be checked 

using AT instead of interior inspection, i e. examination from 

the inside. This involved the advantages that the system did 

not have to be taken out of service and the column did not need 

to be cleaned for inspection. Further, the method did not require 

any actions to ensure occupational health and safety or 

incur costs caused by the shutdown of the plant. 

Key data of the vessel: 

• Material: Fine-grain structural steel (P 355 NH) 

• Service period: 14 years to date 

• Height: 74.3 metres 

Acoustic Emission Testing (AET) 

of pressure equipment: reliable 

statements during operation 

(Source: TÜV SÜD) 

LEGAL REGULATIONS REQUIRE 

PRESSURE VESSELS, PIPING AND 

OTHER PRESSURISED PLANT 

COMPONENTS TO UNDERGO PERIODIC 

TECHNICAL INSPECTION (PTI). 

http://www.tuvsud.com 


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• Diameter: 4.44 metres 

• Volume 1,160 m 3 

• Wall thickness: Between 22 and 26 millimetres 

Proceeding according to a layout plan, TÜV SÜD Industrie 

Service distributed 88 piezoelectric sensors across the outside 

wall of the scaffolded column. The number of sensors was 

sufficient to ensure easy and reliable inspection of the entire 

structure, including its complex geometries and poorly accessible 

installations. To be able to affix the sensors directly to the 

metal using a couplant, the experts had temporarily removed 

20 square centimetres of insulation at the points at which the 

sensors were affixed. 

Equipment under test pressure 

The test pressure required for AT – which must be at least 1.1 

times the maximum service pressure – was controlled by the 

plant manager via the control centre using the fluid in the vessel. 

In this case, the online AT process took around 12 hours. 

AT analyses acoustic ultrasonic waves at high frequencies inaudible 

to the human ear. 

These waves are caused when active defects, such as cracks 

in the material, expand minimally under the applied pressure. 

The resulting sudden mechanical motions set their environment 

into vibration, resulting in a transient elastic acoustic 

wave. This wave propagates from its point of origin to the sensor’s 

piezoelectric crystal, which transforms it into electric 

signals. The signals are then presented graphically by a test 

computer and interpreted by experienced test engineers. 

This method enables discontinuities to be identified in the 

steel structure before they can cause critical states. In most 

cases, AT enables far more accurate statements to be made 

than conventional visual examinations or pressure tests. This 

also applies to the assessment of non-critical inhomogeneities 

or microcracking that do not propagate in operation and can 

thus be left unchanged. In the case discussed here, TÜV SÜD 

recommended subsequent dedicated inspection of some spots 

on welds using the UT phased-array method. 

Assessment of signals 

Acoustic signals are grouped into three risk classes depending 

on their number, activity, intensity and location (Table 1). This 

categorisation allows for better planning and prioritisation of 

any follow-up actions that may be necessary. Ideally, the plant 

manager works with the inspection organisation to document 

the quantitative criteria of assessment before the actual inspection. 

Background information on health and safety 

in the use of work equipment 

Legal regulations require pressure vessels, piping and other 

pressurised plant components to undergo periodic technical 

inspection (PTI). The relevant requirements are laid down 

in the German Regulation on Health and Safety in the Use of 

Work Equipment (BetrSichV), which targets all employers. 

PTI focuses not only on the leak-tightness of pressure equipment, 

but also on possible cracking or corrosive attacks on 

walls. Generally, PTI requires examination of the pressure 

equipment from the inside. According to the German BetrSichV, 

employers (previously pressure-equipment operators) 

are permitted to use alternative non-destructive test methods 

such as AT or the UT phased-array method for this purpose, 

provided an authorised inspection agency (AIA) confirms that 

the assessment of plant safety delivered by the test concept is 

of equivalent quality. 

Applicable standards 

DIN EN 13554 lays down the general approach to AT. The harmonised 

standard DIN EN 14584 governs the test method for 

metallic pressure equipment using proof testing with planar 

location of acoustic emission sources. According to DIN EN 

ISO 9712, testing must be performed by qualified and certified 

personnel. DIN EN 13477-2 describes the requirements to be 

fulfilled by test equipment, which also needs to undergo regular 

verification of its operating characteristics. 

Outlook: digital monitoring – 

continuous monitoring 

Recent years have seen exponential growth in computing 

power, which has also benefited AT. Faster processors and 

user-friendly software produce real-time visualisation of several 

hundreds of localisations per second. The speed at which 

equipment can detect and analyse potential inhomogeneities 

or anomalies has increased a thousandfold. Owing to its high 

level of maturity and real-time capability, AT can also be used 

for in-service monitoring of plants and systems. It supplies 

data which are of fundamental importance for forward planning 

of maintenance and turnaround intervals. This information 

can also be transferred via data network (also as a cloud 

solution). Rounded off and complemented by a separate online 

NDT method (continuous monitoring), these non-destructive 

test methods may be used for applications such as monitoring 

of the wall thickness of vessels by UT – information that can 

likewise be realised via remote data transmission. 

Classification Assessment Method and actions 

Class 1 Insignificant source No actions required 

Class 2 Active source Visual examination or other subsequent inspection and evaluation 

Class 3 Highly active source Test interruption or termination, pressure relief, visual 

examination, other subsequent inspections and evaluation prior to 

the return to service. 

Table 1: Clarification of signals and actions 


VIBRATION ANALYSIS 

THERMAL IMAGING 

ULTRASOUND 

MEASUREMENT 

eyesight – hearing – sensitivity 

we have in common 

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Maintworld 3/2020

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