Always log ALL maintenance activities (PMs, etc)
In the last several best practices we’ve discussed how important context is to our analysts and algorithms. This week we’ll focus on maintenance activities.
When maintenance activities are performed, whether it is simple maintenance such as lubricating bearings or major repairs such as replacing an entire compressor, it is best practice to log it on the relevant machine page in the Augury platform. By doing so you eliminate the chance of our analysts mistaking a change in the data due maintenance for an operational or environmental occurrence.
When I first joined Augury in 2019 I heard of a situation that went something like this:
A key vibration trend worsened over a few months and the machine was moved to Alarm. Then the data improved suddenly. Augury reached out to the customer, “Did you perform any repairs?” “No,” responded the customer. However, the data gradually worsened again and the pattern repeated. Augury reached out to the customer, “Did you perform any repairs?” “No,” responded the customer. The third time the pattern occurred, the analyst didn’t move the machine to Alarm, now believing there was some other environmental or operational variable that was causing vibration to rise and fall at this normal cadence. Unfortunately, the machine experienced a failure this time. After a thorough investigation with the site, Augury learned a third-party maintenance contractor was visiting the site and performing maintenance activities coinciding with the improvements in the data.
To clarify for the analysts out there, of course in many instances we would be able to understand exactly why the vibration was rising based on the signature and it wouldn’t make sense for certain symptoms to improve from an environmental or operational change. Yet, in this particular case, the symptoms were less clear. They were likely something like elevated random noise and and increase in vibration at the shaft turning speed, two symptoms which can have several causes.
Logging all maintenance activities also prompts our analysts to review the machine again. There are many instances where despite the best efforts and practices of the maintenance personnel, defects or faults are able to enter the process through maintenance activities. A prompt review of those activities can identify those defects before it’s too late. If the machine was in Alarm or Danger, the analyst can quickly validate if the maintenance activities improved the health of the machine.
Components being directly monitored aren’t the only ones important to document. Changes to components up and downstream like changes to piping, valves, filters, dampers, VFDs, and structural supports can all have major impacts on the vibration and magnetic trends.
Whether it’s reactive or preventative maintenance, components that are directly monitored or not, and tasks big or small, the more context provided regarding maintenance activities, the better our analysts and algorithms will perform. Next week we’ll move to a whole new topic: How to pair Augury with other technologies and achieve even greater value.