FIELD INTELLIGENCE Smart Processes, Solutions & Strategies
Ushering in a new era of machine insights, for people
A
t Fluke, when we talk about what we do, we try to make it people-centered.
Before we launch a product, an
estimated 800 hours are put into ethnographic research, collecting the usability and ergonomic require- ments that the tools and software are eventually designed around. Our work is centered on simplifying complex expert workflows, making people’s professional lives safer, easier, more enjoyable and productive. That’s why when we look inside
a refinery or a power plant or other large industrial facility we see a pro- cess with multiple expensive ma- chines, as well as the people who buy them, operate them, maintain them— as well as the consumers who use the products those machines produce. These days, the expensive critical machinery at a plant is all sensored- up so plant operators stay continu- ously aware of how that equipment is running. The operators have alarms in case things go awry and numerous data points to assess the condition of the machines. It makes good business sense to
have data that shows if the equipment is deteriorating, so that it can be fixed before it fails. And it makes good sense to increase the lifespan of criti- cal equipment not only for cap-ex but because the people onsite are already familiar with the components and how to maintain them. Now take a step down from those
Tier One critical assets to the Tier Two “important” assets in the same plant. You’re still looking at equip- ment worth hundreds of thousands of
10
dollars, and it’s still important to the process, just not important enough to justify the expense of retrofitting with sensors. That means the firm is often virtually in the dark about what condi- tion its “important” equipment is in. Giving people insight into machine
health beyond the highly monitored equipment has become somewhat
That’s how Fluke, a manufacturer
of test tools, became such a strong advocate of condition based mainte- nance (CBM). Government research- ers estimate CBM solutions bring 10 times the return on investment, a reduction in downtime of at least 35 percent and an increase in produc- tion of 20-25 percent.
By collecting key-indicator data on important equipment, teams can build a real-time picture of an asset’s condition and order repairs as needed. The right data can also be used to prevent unplanned downtime.
of an obsession with us. We want to make it easier for people to gather information about machine condi- tions, and to be able to store that information in a secure place so it can be widely shared. Fluke Condition Monitoring is a portable wireless system that gives people insight into equipment condi- tions for extended periods of time. The sensor modules, each of which is designed to be installed without retrofitting, send continuous mea- surement data through a gateway to the cloud. The idea is to leverage existing staff and skill sets with easy- to-install setups while still gaining in- sight into a second tier of machinery 24 hours a day. By collecting key-indicator data on important equipment, teams can build a real-time picture of an as- set’s condition and order repairs as needed. The right data can also be tracked over time to prevent un- planned downtime and optimize the lifespan of expensive equipment.
Our suggestion is to pair wireless
data collectors—test tools and sen- sors—people already know how to use with the kind of out-of-the-box cloud software found in Fluke Connect. It has to be easy-to-use and secure,
without retrofits or specialized labor, in order to truly remove barriers. The modular approach lets manag- ers adopt inspection and monitoring technologies according to their high- est need and at whatever scale make sense. But the SaaS platform is the lynchpin; you have to centrally collate data from multiple people, tools, sen- sors and locations. No more data silos. The aim is to allow people across
the enterprise to stay on top of the company’s valuable assets and make for a more manageable work life. Of course, that goes along with maximiz- ing return on investment, improving asset utilization and having a more ef- fective reliability program. But at the end of the day, at Fluke, we’re look- ing at how technology fundamentally serves a need for people.
Wes Pringle President
Fluke Corp.
connect.fluke.com
March 2017
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