Capital Equipment News December 2019

John Evans of WearCheck diagnosing a used oil sample.

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One of the primary goals in a condition monitoring programme is to identify mechanical, electrical or flow- related defects in their incipient stage, and then to monitor the severity of the malfunction, allowing remedial action to be scheduled on the affected component

10% INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF USED OIL SAMPLES

Over the past two years, WearCheck has seen an approximate 10% increase in the number of used oil samples that it processes annually. In 2017, the figure was around 700 000, and in 2019, it has risen to around 800 000

As the need for condition monitoring services increases, the need for improved efficiencies and artificial intelligence is also increasing

including machine electronic data, fluid sample analysis, inspections, site conditions and repair history. The information gathered may be very limited, such as fault notifications or it may be very extensive data, such as second- by-second data from Caterpillar’s Vital Information Management System. The story the information tells is contingent on the sources and the underlying details in the data.” Kelly adds that in-depth condition monitoring uses all the information available to identify the needs of the asset and allows for a planned response to those needs. This, ultimately, supports fleet owners by reducing unplanned downtime, lowering parts and labour costs and increasing asset availability. Philip Schutte, reliability solutions manager at WearCheck Africa, says one

Digitisation of assets and processes paired with real time data acquisition, advanced data analytics and machine deep- learning has shifted the focus to early detection of failure modes and incipient stage defects

of the primary goals in a condition monitoring programme is to identify early mechanical, electrical or flow-related defects in their incipient stage, and then to monitor the severity of the malfunction, allowing remedial action to be scheduled on the affected component. “This minimises the possibility of unplanned or catastrophic failures, which may lead to a severely negative effect on productivity (and on repair costs),” says Schutte. “The availability of machinery and components and remaining life is exponentially increased when a good condition monitoring programme is in place.”

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS DECEMBER 2019 5