Production machines are getting smarter - whether new, smarter systems or extensions to existing machines. Research commissioned by reichelt elektronik shows: predictive maintenance in Dutch industry is increasingly taking place.
Equipping from the start with or retrofitting sensors gives companies a large number of measurement variables. These can be of great benefit when properly evaluated. One of the profitable applications in Industry 4.0, is predictive maintenance. This involves specific planning of maintenance activities based on the actual state of the machines. Research elektronik shows that this technology is already widely used in Dutch companies and will be used even more in the future.
Well-planned is half the battle
The vast majority of respondents already apply predictive maintenance: 86 per cent of executives at industrial companies say they already use the technology. Predictive maintenance is no longer a test on individual machines, but also finds application in an average of almost 62 per cent of production environments. Over a third (40 per cent) say they plan maintenance ahead for most machines.
As the biggest benefits of this technology, most companies cited preventing machine downtime (41 per cent), as well as saving time and money through more efficient production (40 per cent).
How predictive maintenance will become the norm
improvements mentioned lead to further investments. The survey shows that 91 per cent of those surveyed who already use predictive maintenance want to expand this technology in production. Of the companies not planning ahead, 46 per cent plan to roll it out. The majority of these (26 per cent) want to implement these projects by 2021.
But the trend of deploying sensors later can also be seen elsewhere. Over a third of companies operate production facilities equipped with predictive maintenance functions from the start. The rest have yet to equip some or all machines with sensors.
In 10 years' time - according to respondents - predictive maintenance will be the norm for all manufacturing machinery.
How do companies use predictive maintenance.
Sensor data mainly evaluate:
- Temperature (52 per cent)
- Operating time (49 per cent)
- Pressure (46 per cent)
- Speeds (39 per cent)
- Vibrations (34 per cent)
"Based on this, companies can accurately plan maintenance so that components are not replaced weeks or months too early," says Tobias Thelemann, product manager at reichelt elektronik. "This process is often common in maintenance that is performed routinely and in a certain cycle, e.g. annually. So it not only ensures smooth production, but companies also save on spare parts costs."
Convincing reasons for purchase
Given these potential applications, it is not surprising that newcomers to predictive maintenance cite predictive maintenance as the most common reasons to invest in predictive maintenance:
- Preventing production losses and machine downtime (38 per cent)
- Improving production quality (38 per cent)
- Creating better overview and planning of maintenance activities (37 per cent)
The introduction of a new technology in a company is always accompanied by challenges. Specifically, companies surveyed indicated that they mainly struggle with not meeting technical requirements (31 per cent). But also challenging are lack of knowledge among employees (30 per cent). Budget constraints (30 per cent), as well as overcoming employee reluctance (29 per cent) are also mentioned.
Nevertheless, it appears that data-based decisions for maintenance and production efficiency are essential in Industry 4.0.
About the survey
The figures were collected by international research institute OnePoll for reichelt elektronik. The survey involved 1,550 European respondents, including 250 from the Netherlands.
Copyright: reichelt elektronik, Image: Shutterstock
