Maintworld 3/2019

3/2019 www.maintworld.com 

maintenance & asset management 

How Digital Twins 

Can Accelerate 

Your Digital 

Transformation p 6 

THE ART OF RELIABILITY (AND PERFORMANCE) IMPROVEMENT PG 12 10 BASICS TO IMPROVE MAINTENANCE IN YOUR ORGANISATION PG 28

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EDITORIAL 

Celebrating the 

10-Year Anniversary of 

Maintworld Magazine 

YOU ARE NOW READING the anniversary 

printout of Maintworld 

magazine. Congratulations to its 

makers, the publication has taken 

its place in the maintenance information 

field! 

How did this all begin? 

It was prior the new millennium 

when people began to worry that 

the digital world will soon collapse, 

airplanes will drop, phones 

will be muted forever. Let’s keep 

traditional information methods 

in life! 

Well, we entered the new millenium, 

Y2K turned to be just a 

joke, the digital world survived. 

The hassle of the new millemium 

caused smiles and jokes, but also 

left a permanent memory track burned into our brains. As a result, the world will 

go towards a new direction. 

The Finnish Maintenance Society noticed the change – the number of readers 

of its printed national magazine Promaint was decreasing slowly. The board of 

society acknowledge the facts: a small country, limited number of readers, more 

and more society members are working in international companies and maintenance 

service is growing as an export business. The decision was evident: To keep 

the magazine alive we need to offer even more interesting material for a growing 

number of readers. The national magazine was also transformed, and became 

European. 

The first new magazine – Maintworld magazine – was published some years 

later, 10 years ago. Our national publication Promaint magazine is still alive and 

we became a publisher of two magazines, but that is another story. 

Ten years ago we got the first ink-fresh Maintworld magazine in our hands 

- we were ready to conquer Europe. This excellent publication was bound to 

spread out widely and new orders would start to flow in. However, the straightforward 

Nordic method of finding distribution channels round Europe turned to 

be far too optimistic a project; the path from the beginning to this day includes 

a lot of colorful events. Our mindset was to supply European experts with an 

increased level of information on maintenance, but initially the publication was 

seen as competition against domestic publications. As a result, there were not as 

many of those first issues distributed as planned, but we made it. 

Today, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the old/young Maintworld magazine, 

we have a publication with a relatively constant number of readers, and a 

distribution that has stabilized. 

The quality of content is a matter for you, our readers, to decide. Your feedback 

will guide the development direction of tomorrow’s magazine! 

4 maintworld 3/2019 

Ilkka Palsola 

Senior Level Maintenance Manager at Kemira Oyj 

34 

An 

effective Preventative 

Maintenance program 

must be executed 

consistently regardless 

of the season!

IN THIS ISSUE 3/2019 

24 

UNRELIABLE 

ELECTRIC 

SYSTEMS not only costs 

millions of euros in downtime 

and repairs, they also have the 

potential to maim and kill. 

= 

32 

Why would you install 

your asset on bases 

which is not checked 

for proper flatness 

and levelness and 

face all the problems 

related to it? 

6 

How Digital Twins Can Accelerate 

Your Digital Transformation 

12 

14 

18 

The Art of Reliability (and 

Performance) Improvement 

WE NEED TO TALK – An Asset 

Management Intervention 

Multi-Device Driven Maintenance 

Slow Speed Bearing Inspection 

20 

with Ultrasound 

22 

Reduced Engineering by 

Standardized Data and Interfaces 

24 

Using Ultrasound for 

Electric Power Reliability 

10 Basics to Improve Maintenance 

28 

in Your Organisation 

32 

Reliable Machinery Installation 

34 

Preventative Maintenance Cannot 

Take a Summer Holiday 

36 

40 

44 

48 

3 Things That Could Save Your 

Maintenance Planning Organization 

and Improve Reliability 

ADVANCEMENTS IN Vibration 

Monitoring OF RECIPROCATING 

COMPRESSORS PCB 

As Maintenance Practices Change, 

Teaching Methods Must Also 

Change 

Measuring the Value of Data in 

Maintenance 

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

Publisher Omnipress Oy, Mäkelänkatu 56, 00510 Helsinki, 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 Painotalo Plus 

Digital Oy, www.ppd.fi Frequency 4 issues per year, ISSN L 1798-7024, ISSN 1798-7024 (print), ISSN 1799-8670 (online). 

3/2019 maintworld 5

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 

THE IMPORTANCE OF 

DIGITAL TWINS IN ASSET- 

INTENSIVE INDUSTRIES 

How digital twins 

can accelerate your 

digital transformation 

As the physical assets within your business become more digitally mature 

with the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), there is a need to harness the data 

generated and to leverage historical and design information that covers asset 

lifecycles. With modeling, sensor data, visualization, and analytical capabilities 

expanding all the time, it is now possible to merge these technologies to create 

a digital representation of any physical asset. 

RICHARD IRWIN, 

SENIOR 

Product Marketer, Asset 

Performance, Bentley 

Systems, Inc. Immersive 

Digital Operations 

STUDIES SHOW that on average 65 percent 

of the population are visual learners. 

Delivering business intelligence 

visually improves productivity, accuracy, 

and efficiency. Digital twins are enabling 

immersive digital operations so multidiscipline 

teams have the flexibility to 

work day-to-day in a visual environment 

that displays complex asset data intuitively 

and in context. 

Immersive digital operations enable 

you to view current asset information 

through 3D models and reality meshes. 

Select an element in a graphic view and 

display the underlying data related to 

the asset, including related 1D, 2D, or 3D 

models, associated documents, maintenance 

history, geospatial coordinates, 

degradation data, and more. The information 

that aligns the entire organiza- 

6 maintworld 3/2019

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tion on achieving the same goals, connecting 

the strategic asset management 

plan with operational and maintenance 

activities, or “line of sight”, is also available 

through easily configured dashboards 

and reports, presenting trend 

analysis and key performance indicators 

(KPIs) for robust and reliable decision 

support. 

A digital twin is a digital representation 

of the physical asset, process, 

or system, as well as the information 

that allows it to understand and 

model its performance by combining 

operational and IT information with 

engineering (modeling) data. Digital 

twin models can help organize data 

and align it into interoperable formats 

so that it can be used to optimize asset 

performance and reliability. This 

is done by replicating the behavior of 

the physical system or asset so that 

any change in the physical is instantly 

updated within the digital. 

Digital Twin 

Requirements: 

1. A digital twin is a digital representation 

of a physical asset, 

process, or system, as well as 

the engineering information 

that allows us to understand 

and model performance 

2. Typically, a digital twin can 

be continuously synchronized 

from multiple sources, including 

sensors and continuous 

surveying, to represent its near 

real-time status, working condition, 

or position. 

3. A digital twin enables users 

to visualize the asset, check 

status, perform analysis, and 

generate insights in order to 

predict and optimize asset performance. 

This real-time updating proves that 

a digital twin should be more than just 

a standard 3D model used as a visualization 

tool. The digital twin should be 

“living and evergreen” and from which 

business value and critical decisions are 

directly made. 

Digital twins are realistic digital representations 

of physical things. They unlock 

value by enabling improved insights 

that support better decisions, leading to 

better outcomes in the physical world. 

There are many benefits and advantages 

a digital twin can provide that affect the 

whole organization. These can include: 

• Maintaining immersive visualization 

for comprehensive and continuous 

design, asset information, 

and performance on new or existing 

assets with virtual representative 

models to support effective 

decision making and optimize 

business outcomes across the en- 

Drill into 3D models and meshes 

to access comprehensive asset 

information in context, enabling 

superior decision support. 



tire lifecycle from design and build 

stages to operate and maintain 

• Gathering and displaying real-time 

data feeds from sensors in an operational 

asset to know the exact 

state and condition, regardless of 

location 

• Utilizing digital twins on all lifecycle 

stages of the asset, from the 

design stage to the monitoring of 

safety equipment on rigs, such as 

drills or pipelines, or model drilling 

and extractions to determine 

whether virtual equipment designs 

are possible or not 

• Improving operational and asset 

performance 

• Improving engineering and maintenance 

efficiency by reducing 

need for on-site visits 

• Improving training and reduced 

time to train, especially with augmented 

reality 

• Detecting early signs of equipment 

failure or degradation and moving 

from reactive to proactive maintenance 

through IoT enablement 

• Consolidating multiple sources of 

data, and then proactively planning 

and implementing corrective 

maintenance actions before costly 

failures and downtime occurs 

Central to any successful digital twin 

is an open, connected data environment 

– this means the physical world 

is directly connected to the digital, e.g. 

combining operational technology (OT) 

data from sensors, data historians, etc., 

in one common environment. Key to 

connectivity is a set of cloud-provisioned 

or on-premises services that support 

digital context, digital components, and 

digital workflows, what Bentley refers 

to as a connected data environment. 

This means you can manage and access 

consistent, trusted, and accurate information, 

while sharing the benefits of an 

DIGITAL TWINS ARE TAKING CENTRE STAGE AND ADVANCING 

RAPIDLY BEYOND BUILDING INFORMATION MODELING (BIM). 

open, integrated, and connected framework 

to enable collaboration, improve 

decision making, and deliver better 

project outcomes and better performing 

assets. 

Use across greenfield and 

brownfield sites 

For greenfield sites, it would be ideal to 

create a digital twin to maintain an accurate, 

up-to-date, accessible picture 

throughout the lifecycle to reduce time 

to operational readiness and influence 

time-to-market. Bentley’s PlantSight 

solution is the ideal tool for greenfield 

sites because it takes all your plant and 

process information together, contextualizes 

it, validates it, and visualizes it 

– transforming raw data into a complete 

digital twin. 

For brownfield sites with aging assets, 

such as those found within the oil, 

gas, and energy industry, assets can be 

between 20 to 40 years old or more. So, 

how can a digital twin help assets that 

are nearing end-of-life or are working 

beyond their estimated designed life? 

Digital twins can still be applied to older 

assets to gain the same benefits across 

their remaining life, extending their remaining 

life safely and reliably by applying 

risk-based and reliability-centered 

methodologies. Into the decommissioning 

phase, the same rigor is required to 

maintain information integrity as when 

the asset was operational. 

Even if your starting point is operations 

and you don’t have a 3D model, 

Bentley’s ContextCapture can provide 

reality meshes for existing and under 

construction assets to provide accurate 

visualization and up-to-date conditions. 

The ease with which this twin can be 

updated during operation or modified 

during projects supports the need for 

increased flexibility and adaptability. 

The seamless and ongoing integration 

of process engineering, maintenance, 

3D representation, and operational 

performance information, speeds up 

and supports continuous improvement 

and thereby efficiency, sustainability, 

and return on asset investment. Owneroperators 

can combine the solution 

with asset management best practices to 

improve useful life and asset value, with 

Bentley’s AssetWise ALIM solution. The 

digital twin makes it easier to engineer 

for safety and compliance and verify the 

as-built and as-maintained facility. 

An Immersive Experience 

The word “immersive”, when relating 

to a computer display or system, means 

generating a three-dimensional image 

that appears to surround the user. While 

digital twins can use 3D models to provide 

context and more visibility of the 

physical object, the next evolutionary 

step is to create fully immersive digital 

operations, which could also incorporate 

virtual and augmented reality to 

create a fully immersive picture. To 

make a digital twin more relevant and 

beneficial than a simple 3D model, the 

digital engineering model needs to be 

combined with reality meshes, as well as 

be connected to various asset information 

sources that often reside in different 

departments within organizations. 

The ability to see through the eyes of 

operators in the field in real-time using 

reality meshes has become feasible with 

technology advancements from organizations 

like Bentley. 

While mobility, cloud services, the 

Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), automated 

processes, and analytics are the 

core digitalization ingredients, for a fully 



Bentley’s 

PlantSight 

offers the 

complete 

digital twin 

solution for 

the process 

industry, 

combining 

plant data and 

information in 

a rich, visual 

environment. 

immersive experience, a mix of realities 

like augmented and virtual, and an open 

modeling network, must be implemented 

to realize immersive operations. To 

make this successful, all the initiatives 

must be connected and communicate to 

each other in a single environment. 

A leading independent design firm 

serving the oil and gas industry in southern 

Russia, LLC Volgogradnefteproekt 

was retained to deliver an as-built 

3D digital model for the seven platforms 

commissioned for the Vladimir 

Filanovsky offshore field in the Caspian 

Sea. As an example, LLC Volgogradnefteproekt 

reduced their annual operations 

costs by 30% by implementing a 

connected data environment to facilitate 

the management of their critical 

information and 3D engineering data. 

This helped them speed up search and 

data exchange, coordinate document 

management, and reduce human errors 

significantly. 


Some industrial infrastructure organizations 

are notorious for isolating 

their own technologies, applications, and 

processes, with little or no interaction 

between other parties. This culture is 

slowly changing, and it is why companies 

like Bentley are focused on an open connected 

data environment so that all data 

is trustworthy, reliable, accessible, and 

shared among all relevant stakeholders. 

Digital twins are at the heart 

of digitalization and digital 

transformation 

Digital twins are taking centre stage and 

advancing rapidly beyond building information 

modeling (BIM), enabling assetcentric 

organizations to converge their 

engineering technologies, operational 

technologies, and information technologies 

into a portal or augmented/immersive 

experiences. With the application of 

artificial intelligence (AI) and machine 

learning (ML), immersive digital operations 

will provide analytics visibility and 

insights to enhance the effectiveness of 

operations staff and help them anticipate 

and head off issues before they arise 

and react more quickly with confidence. 

The true benefit of digital twins can 

be seen when all aspects of an asset, such 

as design, real-time processes, and data, 

are optimized together over its lifetime. 

Infrastructure projects require a digital 

transformation, with a solution such as 

the digital twin at the heart of it, to succeed. 

Digital twins should be looked at 

as an enabler of the move toward digitalization. 

To be successful, companies 

must adopt an agile approach to developing 

digital twins that can start off 

small and then be scaled upwards and 

delivered to the end-users in a timely 

manner, leading to the overall improvement 

of performance, safety, and risk 

that go toward achieving operational 

excellence.

RELIABILITY 

It is well known 

that businesses can 

achieve superior 

results if their assets 

are more reliable and 

achieve higher levels 

of performance. It is 

also well known that 

an initiative that seeks 

to improve reliability 

will include an endless 

array of “obvious 

elements” (condition 

monitoring, precision 

lubrication, planning 

and scheduling, risk 

analysis, and so on, 

and so forth). 

The Art of Reliability 

(and Performance) Improvement 

WHAT ISN’T AS WELL KNOWN is how 

you implement the program to achieve 

optimal results, and how you gain, and 

retain, support from senior management, 

the plant-floor, and everyone in 

between. 

The author would contend that there 

are essential elements that must be 

included in a program if it is to be successful. 

Foundational elements 

Let’s start with the foundational elements 

which must be present for the program 

to have any chance of succeeding. 

VALUE: The program must be based 

on a solid understanding of how the program 

delivers value to the organization. 

Every task performed must be aligned 

with the goals of the organization. And 

those goals must be constantly reviewed 

as business conditions change. If there is 

JASON TRANTER, 

ARP-III, CMRP 

Mobius Institute 

A RELIABLE PLANT REQUIRES 

DISCIPLINE. 

a strong business case, we will win senior 

management support; without it the 

program will not succeed. 

STRATEGY: There must be a strategy 

and the strategy must include tactics. 

We can’t blindly wander towards the 

“reliable plant”, and we can’t randomly 

implement those “obvious elements”. 

Many have tried; most have failed. 

PEOPLE: Our value proposition will 

win the support of senior management. 

With the support of senior management, 

we can win the support of the people 

working in the organization. If we don’t 

win their support, the program can’t be 

truly successful. We need skilled, motivated 

people who contribute to the program, 

with everyone understanding how 

they personally benefit. 

Cycle of reliability 

With a solid base of value, strategy, and 

support of the people, we can build a continual 

cycle of reliability improvement. 

DISCIPLINE: A reliable plant requires 

discipline. There should be one way to 

perform every task and every task must 

be performed one way. Discipline starts 

with accurate information (master asset 

list and bill of materials), a management 

of change process, accurate spares data- 


RELIABILITY 

base, workflow diagrams and procedures 

(work and operational), all documented 

in a functioning computerized maintenance 

management system CMMS to 

manage it all. Work must be performed 

with precision, and a QA/QC process will 

catch any mistakes. 

CARE: Our disciplined processes will 

set up our equipment for success. Now 

we must care for their equipment while 

it is operated. It should be clean, tight, 

smooth, calibrated, and correctly lubricated. 

It should be operated per the 

standard operating procedures, within 

the integrity operating windows. We 

will also care for our spares, and utilize 

condition monitoring to detect the root 

causes of failure. 

ANALYTICS: Our actions will be driven 

by data. Financial and reliability data 

will set our priorities. Asset health data 

will drive our maintenance actions. Performance 

data will guide our operational 

decisions. And strategic KPIs will reveal 

opportunities for improvement. Where 

possible, we will utilize machine learning, 

big data, and IIoT to deliver actionable 

information at heightened levels of 

speed, intelligence, and efficiency. 

OPTIMIZE: Continual improvement, 

driven by data, will ensure a program 

always delivers maximum value. We cannot 

set and forget our program. 

Asset lifecycle 

We must also consider the lifecycle of 

the equipment. 

ACQUIRE: We must stop importing 

trouble into our plant. Our project 

management, design, and procurement 

processes must seek to achieve 

the lowest total cost of ownership by 

prioritizing maintainability, safety, 

and availability. And to make absolutely 

sure that new and overhauled equipment 

are fit for our reliable plant, we 

will utilize utilize acceptance testing 

as QA/QC. 

EOL: When the assets reach their end 

of life, root cause failure analysis (RC- 

FA), supported by a Failure Reporting, 

Analysis, and Corrective Action 

System (FRACAS) will insure we do 

not repeat "avoidable" failures. We will 

also dispose of the asset with minimal 

impact on the environment. 

Reactive maintenance 

cycle of doom 

There is one more element we must 

consider. Many plants attempting to 

improve reliability already suffer excessive 

reactive maintenance. The drain on 

resources, and our emotions, will never 

allow our program to succeed. 

CONTROL: We must add a phase that 

gains control of our maintenance practices 

so that we can focus on the elements 

within the cycle of reliability. 

Reliability illustrated 

Combining these essential elements, we 

have the key to reliability improvement. 

Ignore any one of these elements at your 

peril. 

While there is so much more that 

could be said about each of these topics, 

it is hoped this article will provide some 

guidance into what must be performed 

in order to overcome the common barriers 

to reliability success. 


ASSET MANAGEMENT 

WE NEED TO TALK 

An Asset 

Management 

Intervention 

We need to talk. Has anything enjoyable ever followed those four little words? “We 

need to talk,” says your wife/husband/attorney/boss/tax preparer. How did that work 

out? The truth is, those people generally have our best interests at heart, even if the 

lead-in to their discussion causes our defensive shields to activate. The same is true 

with this article. You and I need to talk. The subject? An asset management intervention. 

THOMAS J. FURNIVAL, 

Director of 

Training Services, 

MARSHALL 

INSTITUTE, INC. 

This is an asset management intervention, 

which should tell you that you 

(and I) haven’t really been performing 

asset management correctly. It’s true, 

we haven’t been. When we see a family 

member heading down the wrong path, 

is our responsibility to intervene. You 

and I might not know each other, but we 

share a common bond. There is a good 

chance that you are a maintenance or 

reliability professional just like I am. I 

care about you. In a greater sense we’re 

family. 

So, as family, let me give it to you 

straight. There’s a new ISO standard 

making its slow cycle around the globe, 

ISO 55000 − Asset Management. Admittedly, 

this standard is slow-rolling 

through industry, but believe me, it is 

coming. In fact, for you, it may already 

be here. You just don’t know it. We need 

to be ready for its arrival. 

My intention is not to go into a deep 

dive on ISO 55000, but rather to introduce 

the idea of asset management and 

how, with an ISO standard to back us, we 

have another chance to reinvent our approach 

to maintaining capital equipment 

and ensuring that the company’s physical 

assets are cared for by everyone in the 

organization. Where did we go wrong in 

the past? 

Our first, and perhaps greatest (to 

date) opportunity to include everyone 

in asset care was the advent of Total 

Productive Maintenance (TPM). TPM 

is a phrase and methodology minted by 

Seiichi Nakajima, in Japan, in the early 

1970’s that made its way to the shores of 

the United States in the 1980’s. Interest- 



ISO 55000 IS NOT A MAINTENANCE PROGRAM. IN FACT, IT 

ISN’T WRITTEN FOR MAINTENANCE PEOPLE. I BELIEVE IT IS 

WRITTEN FOR THOSE OTHER GUYS. 

ingly, many of Nakajima’s foundational 

thoughts on the matter were formed 

while he served as an interpreter for the 

American industrialist George Smith, 

founder of Marshall Institute, Inc. 

While this isn’t necessarily an article 

on ISO 55000, it is definitely not a TPM 

article. However, it is important that 

we agree that TPM and ISO 55000 have 

more in common than they have differorder: 

making it a maintenance program, 

and failing to fully engage all of the 

stakeholders. These are exactly the same 

two things that will cause ISO 55000, or 

for that matter, any reliability continuous 

improvement effort, to fail. My colleague 

Steve Gowan says, “Show me an 

improvement process that failed, and I’ll 

show you a management team that lost 

interest.” He is so right. 

“We are All Responsible for 

Asset Reliability” 

The good news? ISO 55000 is not a 

maintenance program. In fact, it isn’t 

written for maintenance people. I believe 

it is written for those other guys. 

The genesis of this international standard 

is telling. The purpose of putting 

such a standard together in the first 

place is explained in the opening text of 

the ISO 55000 standard. Reading into 

the ‘official’ language of this international 

product, it is clear that the global 

community of standards entities felt it 

necessary to institutionalize the knowledge 

that the world possesses on such 

things. 

This isn’t a maintenance program. 

But, make no mistake, maintenance is 

involved. In fact, everyone is involved 

or certainly should be. The mandate 

from ISO is that all stakeholders are to 

be engaged in the development of the asset 

management approach. ISO 55000 

directs those adhering to this standard 

that an organization’s top management, 

employees and other stakeholders are 

the groups responsible for conceiving 

and executing what is referred to 

as “control activities.” These activities 

might include: policies, procedures, and 

performance measuring and monitoring 

techniques. Along with top management 

and employees, stakeholders can include: 

customers, government agencies, 

POSITIONING 

PROJECT 

PLANNING 

RFQ 

AWARD 

CONTRACT 

DESIGN 

BUILD 

INSTALL AND 

COMMISSIONS 

OPERATING LIFE CYCLE 

DISPOSAL 

TIME 

ences. In fact, I would counsel organizations 

that they shouldn’t lose heart if 

they’ve developed an outstanding TPM 

program. ISO 55000 will do nothing but 

enhance their efforts. But, if we failed 

at TPM, we might have similar trouble 

compelling others that ISO 55000 is different. 

What causes TPM to fail? 

There are exactly two things that 

will cause TPM to fail. They are, in this 

the community at large, and vendors: 

essentially anyone that has an interest in 

the company being successful. 

This mandate of engagement is the 

first element that gives me a sense that 

this process is different from but can 

complement TPM. By insisting on engagement 

of those who might become 

the victim of a corporation’s asset strategy, 

the metaphorical tables are turned, 



and people are not only encouraged 

to participate, but required to do 

so. TPM has a similar philosophy; 

we are all responsible for asset reliability. 

Care should be taken to avoid 

making this a maintenance program. 

The standard itself is meant to educate 

the masses. ISO 55000 lists the primary 

targets for the creation and deployment 

of the standard itself. Specifically: 

• All those engaged in determining 

how to improve the returned value 

for their company from their asset 

base (this means all assets, but we 

are focused on physical assets) 

• All those who create, execute, 

maintain, and improve an asset 

management system 

• All those who plan, design, implement 

and review the activities involved 

with asset management 

If you read that list again, you could 

see how an organization could accidently 

make the adoption of ISO 55000 a maintenance 

program. 

The second element that we should 

take heart in for our intervention is to 

ensure that those responsible for the 

execution of the activities, or as stated 

above, the “control activities,” are properly 

resourced to be successful. ISO 

55002 instructs organizations to develop 

these asset management plans for the 

purpose of defining the activities that 

will be implemented and the resources 

that will be used to meet the asset management 

objectives. And, those resources 

have to be ‘aware and competent.’ 

FINANCING 

GROWTH 

ORGANIZATIONAL 

PLAN 

ORGANIZATIONAL 

OBJECTIVES 

ASSETS 

ASSETS 

MANAGEMENT 

POLICY 

SAMP 

STRUCTURE 

VISION 

MISSION 

There are three thoughts in that last 

paragraph that require further definition. 

I mentioned ISO 55002. ISO 

55000 is actually made up of three companion 

standards: 55000, 55001, and 

55002. They build on each other like 

Russian nesting dolls. I’d recommend an 

investment in each. Control activities 

are essentially the very foundational activities 

that each organization executes 

in the care strategy of their assets: PM/ 

PdM, planning, scheduling, work management, 

storeroom control, KPIs and 

metrics, etc. The last thought is the idea 

of asset management objectives. I want 

to expand on this by illustration. 

The figure below is meant to show 

the entire life cycle of a physical asset 

from concept to grave. Give this some 

thought. 

What exactly is your company’s objective 

towards each phase of the asset’s 

physical life? It needs to be noted that 

the asset’s life does not necessarily end 

when your organization is done with it. 

No, not at all. The asset could have value 

at another location. Understanding this 

leads to the crux of asset management. 

To what end are we managing assets? 

We are managing assets to ensure that 

the asset, through the various phases of 

its life, can continue to provide ‘value’ to 

the organization. This, of course, is predicated 

on our ability to determine what 

‘value’ means to our organization in 

terms of the return on asset utilization. 

This last point is where the intervention 

takes its initial shape. I feel that organizations 

have failed in clearly defining 

how utilization, continued reliability, 

and availability of the asset contributes 

to the value that organizations seek from 

their assets. It is the responsibility of top 

leadership to translate their organizational 

objectives into an asset management 

policy. This translation takes place 

in the SAMP, or Strategic Asset Management 

Plan. The figure below helps to 

illustrate this interchange. 

You’ve no doubt noticed the ‘Asset’ 

block between ‘Organizational Objectives” 

and the ‘Asset Management Policy.’ 

This is the genius of ISO 55000 and 

a detail we absolutely missed in adopting 

TPM. The Asset Management standards 

clearly stipulate that it is the responsibility 

of the organization to determine 

which physical assets, specifically, are 

to be included in the asset management 

plan. This is a critical point of distinction. 

Let this summary remind you of the 

path you need to walk going forward to 

have a better (asset) life: 

• Don’t make asset management a 

maintenance program 

• Engage all stakeholders 

• Resource those responsible for 

executing the control activities 

• Determine which assets really 

matter 

• Translate organizational objectives 

into an asset management policy 

This intervention is meant to shake 

you up and help you see the light and, in 

a sense, the error of your ways, in terms 

of asset management. I do this because 

I care. Please reach out if you feel ‘we 

need to talk.’ 


Data Collector 

Detect, Measure, Analyze 

Ultrasound and 

Vibration 

Ultrasound Soluons 

sdtultrasound.com 

Scalable 

Multi-technology 

Multi-platform 

UAS4.0 

Analysis Software 

APPLICATIONS 

MECHANICAL 

Detect defects in 

any mechanical 

system. 

LEAKS 

Find pressure and 

vacuum leaks in 

noisy conditions. 

LUBRICATION 

Avoid over/under 

lubrication. Grease 

bearings right. 

ELECTRICAL 

Inspect medium and 

high voltage systems 

for arcing, tracking 

and corona. 

VALVES 

Assess valve 

tightness and 

function 

STEAM 

Find faulty steam 

traps and leaking 

components. 

HYDRAULICS 

Troubleshoot any 

hydraulic system 

for passing and 

blockages. 

TIGHTNESS 

Determine the 

tightness of any 

enclosed volume.

PARTNER ARTICLE 

Multi-Device Driven 

MAINTENANCE 

Location: [Company X], 

Inc. Global Headquarters. 

Today is your first day on 

the job and you’ve just 

met the Buildings and 

Maintenance Supervisor, 

who has some words of 

wisdom. 

MELISSA TOPP, 

Senior Director of 

Global Marketing, 

ICONICS, 

melissa@iconics.com 

“WELCOME TO YOUR first day at [Company 

X], Inc. You came highly recommended 

as a skilled maintenance tech, so 

we’re sure you’ll catch on pretty quickly 

as to how we do things around here. 

“[Company X] is pretty much an 

ICONICS shop, meaning we prefer to 

use their solutions for a variety of applications, 

especially in maintenance and 

operations. They just came out with this 

great tool called CFSWorX. That’s ‘CFS’ 

as in Connected Field Service. It’s meant 

to improve efficiency through intelligent 

scheduling and guaranteed notifications. 

Intelligent Scheduling 

“Notifications get triggered by events, like 

alarms or faults. CFSWorX, which, can 

work with most ERP, CRM, or directory 

services like Microsoft Dynamics 365, 

Teams, and Azure Active Directory, uses 

a customizable weighted scoring system 

to factor in each workers' schedule, availability, 

location, and skill level to determine 

which field worker is the best for the task. 

Then it delivers a notification to the selected 

field worker’s mobile device for immediate 

action. 

“Imagine a job ticket was created for 

one of [Company X’s] nearby facilities. 

CFSWorX’ advanced algorithm then helps 

determine the best person for the job. Let’s 

say that’s Sam over there. Sam would get 

a notification on his mobile device. When 

Sam gets the notification, he can then either 

acknowledge it, snooze the issue for a 

certain amount of time, or pass it along to 

the next person. 

“For this part, we’ll say that Sam is on his 

way to another site, so he opts to pass it on. 

CFSWorX’ algorithm kicks back in to determine 

who the next best tech is. We’ll pretend 

it’s Martin over there. Martin gets the 

notification, acknowledges the assignment, 

and then heads out to fix the problem. 

Best Device? The One You 

Have With You 

“What device does [Company X] standardize 

on for maintenance personnel? 

The answer to that is whatever device 

gets the job done! 

“Some of the people who’ve been in 

the department awhile work out of a 

central control room. Susan over there is 

able to monitor incoming faults through 

a desktop PC. ICONICS has a product 

called GENESIS64 where the displays 

can be created then viewed just about 

anywhere. I’ve seen some of our crew 

on jobs with laptops, tablets, and smartphones, 

and they’re running ICONICS’ 

MobileHMI product. Same KPIs and 

data; just in a different form factor. It 

all comes down to having the right info 

when and where you need it, right? 



“The other day, I saw some of the 

maintenance crew trying out some 

Augmented Reality devices. There was 

a Microsoft HoloLens and a RealWear 

HMT-1. I tried on the HoloLens and it 

was pretty interesting. ICONICS created 

a holographic machine interface for 

it. I looked at one of our machines and, 

right in front of my eyes, I could see all 

these options like opening the machine 

schematics in 3D, or a video demonstrating 

one of the repair techniques, or some 

of the related documentation. All that, 

while I could still keep my hands free to 

do any actual repair. 

“I tried on the RealWear one, which 

features entirely voice-driven navigation, 

and it also had ICONICS software 

running on it. As I worked through a 

simulated training scenario, one for a 

type of equipment with which I haven’t 

had too much experience yet, it gave me 

an option to contact a ‘Remote Expert’. 

I chose it and it connected me to Susan! 

She laughed and said if I were out on an 

actual job, that she, or any other remote 

expert, would then be able to see what 

I was seeing and help guide me through 

the repair process. 

Hands (Wrists) and Voices 

“Sounds amazing, right? Using ICON- 

ICS has really kept us on the cutting edge 

of tech. I’ve seen some of the crew with 

smart watches recently and ICONICS 

has even created a tie-in to those with 

its KPIWorX tool, as long as you have an 

Apple Watch Series 2 or newer. It ties in 

with GPS and beacon location services, 

TODAY IS YOUR FIRST DAY ON THE 

JOB AND YOU’VE JUST MET THE 

BUILDINGS AND MAINTENANCE 

SUPERVISOR, WHO HAS SOME 

WORDS OF WISDOM. 

too, so it can give you ‘location-aware’ 

KPIs and data, which is really helpful 

when you’re out on a call. 

“And have you seen, or better yet, 

have you heard these smart speakers 

yet? Alexa? Cortana? The Google Assistant? 

I’ve seen them in some of my 

friends’ houses but just like what happens 

most of the time, the technology 

sooner or later makes it to the shop 

floor. And, yes, ICONICS did something 

with that too. Just like they did with the 

‘holographic machine interface’, they 

created a ‘voice machine interface’. 

“While the other interfaces are understandably 

visual, the voice interface 

lets you give a smart speaker (or other 

device running Amazon Alexa, Microsoft 

Cortana, or Google Assistant) a 

voice command to, say, monitor a system 

or process status, or control equipment 

or devices, or analyze specific KPIs. 

“Here’s an example. You could say ‘Alexa. 

What is the current voltage of this 

chiller compressor?’ and she could reply 

back, ‘The current voltage of this chiller 

compressor is 200 volts at 50 hertz’. 

Again, it’s pretty useful to be able to get 

that info with just your voice when you 

have your hands busy with tools inside 

open equipment. 

“I guess it’s pretty easy to tell that I’ve 

had some experience with ICONICS 

software. I’m glad that [Company X] 

continues to consider them, especially 

for our Maintenance Team. I haven’t 

even mentioned FDDWorX yet. Or their 

geo-SCADA capabilities. Or… Anyway, 

suffice to say, when it comes to new 

technology and the software to best 

adapt it for maintenance applications, 

ICONICS is the way to go. Just remember 

that, and you’ll do fine around here. 

Oh, and almost forgot, make sure you 

introduce yourself to Susan.” 


CASE STUDY 

Slow Speed 

Bearing Inspection 

with Ultrasound 

Vibration analysis has long been the instrument of choice to use for bearings and 

other rotating equipment. More commonly, ultrasound is being used in conjunction 

with vibration analysis to help technicians confirm the condition of mechanical assets. 

CHRISTOPHER 

HALLUM, 

Regional Manager 

UK & Ireland, 

chrish@uesystems.com 

BECAUSE OF the versatility of ultrasound, 

if a facility does not have a robust vibration 

analysis program in place, ultrasound 

can be implemented to detect early 

stage bearing failures, as well as other 

issues. If the vibration analysis is performed 

by an outside service provider on 

a quarterly or monthly basis, ultrasound 

can be used during the interim. This will 

help the facility to know the condition of 

some of the more critical assets prior to 

the service provider entering the facility; 

therefore, the service provider’s time 

can be used more efficiently because the 

plant knows if there are any prominent 

problems with the assets that are being 

monitored by ultrasound. The service 

provider can then prioritise based off the 

ultrasound findings. 

Another scenario in which ultrasound 

may be used first over vibration analysis 

is with the monitoring of slow speed 

bearings. Slow speed bearing monitoring 

with ultrasound is easier than you 

might think. Because most high-end 

ultrasound instruments have a wide 

sensitivity range and frequency tuning, it 

is possible to listen to the acoustic quality 

of the bearing, especially at slower 

speeds. In extreme slow speed bearing 

applications (usually less than 25rpm), 

the bearing will produce little to no ultrasonic 

noise. 


CASE STUDY 

Sound Spectrum of the damaged bearing, where the peaks in amplitude 

give the inspector a clear sign of damage. 

It was also noticeable that one of the rollers 

had moved 90 degrees. The cage had 

been totally damaged too. 

Sound Spectrum of a “good” 

bearing. Very uniform and no 

changes in amplitude. 

In that case, it is important to not only 

listen to the sound of the bearing, but 

more importantly to analyse the recorded 

ultrasound sound file in a spectrum 

analysis software, focusing on the time 

wave form to see if there are any anomalies 

present. If “crackling” or “popping” 

sounds are present, then there is some 

indication of a deformity occurring. In 

bearing speeds above 25rpm, it is possible 

to set a baseline decibel level and 

trend the associated decibel level readings 

over time. 

Using Ultrasound to Identify 

Oven Motor Bearing Failure 

An inspection with an ultrasound instrument 

was carried out on a site with 

a newly installed oven dryer. This was a 

large drum oven, about 20 meters long by 

5 meters wide. It was rotated by 4 large 

motors, each of them having two large 

sets of bearings. These motors rotate the 

oven and are rotating at a speed of around 

7-10 rpm. Meaning we are talking about 

a case of extreme slow speed bearings, 

which is usually a challenge to inspect. 

An ultrasonic instrument was used to 

inspect all bearings – almost all of them 

presented a nice and smooth sound and 

a 0dB reading, except for one. On one of 

the bearings from this set, the ultrasonic 

instrument was displaying 2dB instead of 

0. Also, the sound heard from the headphones 

was different: it was not smooth 

as in the other bearings and it presented 

a repetitive “knocking” sound. This gave 

the inspector an indication that something 

might have been wrong with this 

specific bearing. 

After the results from the ultrasonic 

inspection, a grease sample was taken to 

confirm if there was any damage on the 

bearing – in which case the grease sample 

would show metal contamination. The 

results from the grease analysis showed 

indeed the presence of metal particles, 

confirming the damage as indicated by 

the ultrasound instrument. 

The next step was naturally scheduling 

an outage to replace the bearing, 

which was in a very bad condition as 

it can be seen in the image. Part of the 

outer race came away as it was opened. 

Ultrasound and Slow Speed 

Bearings – the Method 

As we can see, ultrasound technology is 

very useful when trying to monitor the 

condition of slow speed bearings, and an 

ultrasonic instrument/sensor is able to 

provide maintenance personnel with a 

warning of failure, even in extreme slow 

speeds like in this case. 

With bearings rotating at normal 

speeds, ultrasonic inspection can be 

performed by comparing changes in dB 

values, establishing that a bearing with 

a certain value above a decibel baseline 

will need lubrication or be already in a 

failure state, depending on how much 

decibels it is above the baseline. 

However, with slow speed bearings, 

comparing dB levels and establishing 

alarms is not enough: in many situations 

the difference in the dB levels will not 

be significant or even non-existent, in 

which case the inspector might think 

there is nothing wrong with it. 

For slow speed bearings, one must 

rely on the sound quality and the sound 

pattern. For this, it is necessary to use an 

ultrasonic instrument with sound recording 

capabilities, like the Ultraprobe 15000, 

and then analyse the sound file on a sound 

spectrum analysis software like the Spectralyzer 

from UE Systems. Then, maintenance 

professionals can simply record the 

sound produced by a slow-speed bearing, 

load the file in Spectralyzer and analyse it 

in the Time Series view. 

The spectrum analysis of this oven 

motor bearing shows clearly where the 

roller at 90 degrees hits the crack as the 

knock stops briefly. Thus, the sound 

pattern indicates already an existing 

problem, being the most reliable source 

of information when determining the 

condition of a slow-speed bearing using 

ultrasound. 

On the other hand, the spectrum of a 

recorded sound from one of the “good” 

bearings shows a very different picture: 

a very uniform spectrum with almost no 

changes in the amplitude. 

This find has saved the company a significant 

amount of money, as it was necessary 

to get cranes in to replace such a 

big bearing, a job that took up to 6 hours. 

Luckily this was done during a planned 

outage, avoiding the costs of unplanned 

downtime. 



Globalization has contributed to the fact that 

modern economic contacts and alliances, as well 

as global goods and information streams are in 

communication and movement around the clock. 

Reduced 

Engineering by 

Standardized 

Data and Interfaces 

Text: Götz Görisch, VDW and 

Stefan Hoppe, OPC Foundation 

DESPITE THE DIFFICULTIES of building a 

strong, international network, the advantages 

of globalization for economic 

growth in numerous countries worldwide 

outweigh any challenges. Especially 

when the spoken language is already 

perceived as an obstacle because two 

partners come from different language 

backgrounds, M2M communication is 

even more effective. 

Connectivity is key for manufacturing 

in the 21st century. It means getting 

data in and out of devices and software 

systems – easy, secure and seamless. For 

the benefit of machine tool users and 

the machine tool industry itself, umati 

(universal machine tool interface) tackles 

this issue by setting an open standard 

throughout the world – based on OPC 

UA! 

UMATI SERVES TO EXPLOIT NEW 

POTENTIALS FOR MANUFACTURING OF 

THE FUTURE BY: 

• Simplifying the effort for machine 

tool connection to customerspecific 

IT infrastructures and 

ecosystems. 

• Reducing costs through faster 

realization of customer specific 

projects. 

umati relies on OPC UA as 

the global interoperability 

standard 

Creating a standard with global acceptance 

is a challenge. The standardization 

work takes place in the umati OPC 

UA joint working group with the OPC 

Foundation. This guarantees maximum 

transparency and the support of a strong 

global community. 

OPC UA AND THE OPC FOUNDATION 

• provide a framework for standardized 

communication (HOW to 

communicate) 

• allow focusing on defining WHAT 

is to be communicated (Companion 

Specifications) 

• include a global community for 

revising the standard 

• assist in global outreach by publishing 

the standard with no license 

fee. 

umati is success & adoption! 

110 machines and 28 software solutions 

from 70 companies out of 10 countries 

have been connected to the umati demo 

dashboard during the EMO2019 Hanover 

– the world leading trade show for 

metal working. 

umati was created in 2018 in a joint 

effort by VDW, the German machine tool 

builders’ association, and 17 partners. 

umati is still under development. 

It aims to provide: 

1. an OPC UA Companion Specification 

to define globally applicable 

semantics for machine 

tools 

2. Communication Default 

Requirements for the implementation 

of an OPC UA 

environment (e.g., encryption, 

authentication, server settings 

(ports, protocols) to allow plugand-play 

connectivity between 

machines and software 

3. Quality Assurance through 

testing specifications and tools, 

certification, and serving as 

ombudsman for supplier-client 

disputes 

4. Marketing and a label for visibility 

in the market through a 

global community of machine 

builders, component suppliers, 

and added value services 


The 

The 

The Uptimization 

Uptimization Experts. 

Experts. 

What does 

DOWNTIME 

mean to you? 

marshallinstitute.com 

marshallinstitute.com


Using Ultrasound for 

Electric Power Reliability 

ALLAN RIENSTRA, 

CRL, Director, 

Business Development, 

SDT International 

UNRELIABLE ELECTRIC SYSTEMS not only 

costs millions of euros in downtime and 

repairs, they also have the potential to 

maim and kill. Reliability leaders must 

remain focused on preserving both 

physical and human assets. Employees 

have the right to work in a safe work environment 

and return home unharmed. 

Ultrasound technology helps detect fault 

conditions that can lead to dangerous 

outages at their earliest stage. It should 

be a part of every strategic electrical asset 

management plan. 

What is Ultrasound? 

There are three categories of sound. 

Infrasound, Audible sound, and Ultrasound. 

When we speak about ultrasound 

we refer to sound which is above the 

range of human hearing. By technical 

definition that’s above 20kHz. 

The first characteristic is directionality. 

As we go higher in the frequency spectrum 

the energy and size of the sound 

pressure wave decreases. Its ability to 

travel through a medium over long distance 

diminishes. This helps us because 

the likelihood of two or more sound 

waves overlapping (competing) is less. 

It also helps us because high frequency 

sound waves cannot expand or spread 

through their medium. 

There are certain characteristics of 

ultrasound that make it advantageous 

for industrial condition monitoring. 

The second characteristic that makes 

ultrasound helpful is its stay at home 

mentality. 

It tends to stay where its created. This 

is great for us because we want a way to 

quickly identify and pinpoint its origin. 

Ut Owns the Apex 

of the P-F Curve 

Ultrasound is considered the first line of 

defense for finding defects that can lead 

to asset failure. The first signs of change 

in the operating condition of an asset are 

usually indicated in the ultrasound frequencies 

first. Only after the asset has progressed 

to a more severe stage of deterioration 

do other asset condition monitoring 

technologies begin to play a role. For planners 

and schedulers, having the largest 

window of opportunity possible to order 

parts, plan downtime and allocate labour 

represents a tremendous advantage. 



F riction 

I mpacting 

T urbulence 

Heterodyne Principle 

Ultrasound instruments work on the 

principle of heterodyning. Ultrasound 

detectors detect high frequency sound 

pressure waves. Using a mixing filter, 

they translate those waves into representative 

signals that humans can 

comfortably hear. What is heard ultrasonically, 

is heard as a direct representation, 

audibly. Great detectors do so with 

crystal clear clarity and provide multiple 

indicators of condition. 

Ultrasound Is The First Line of Defence 

Ultrasound is a FIT 

Ultrasound can tell us how FIT our assets 

are. It is sensitive to defects that 

product Friction, Impacting, and Turbulence. 

This is the case for most every 

failure mode associated with any asset. 

So if you ever wonder where you can use 

ultrasound, ask yourself… does it produce 

Friction? Does it produce 

Impacting? Does it produce turbulent 

flow? If the answer is “YES”, then ultrasound 

is a FIT to find that defect. 

The Eight Application Pillars 

Ultrasound is widely considered by most 

reliability leaders to be the most versatile 

asset condition management technology. 

At SDT we identified the primary 

areas where ultrasound makes your life 

better and we define these as the 8 Application 

Pillars. They include: Mechanical, 

Leaks, Lubrication, Electrical, Valves, 

Steam, Hydraulics and Tightness. 



What is Partial Discharge (PD)? 

Partial Discharge is a localized electrical 

discharge in an insulation system that 

does not completely bridge the electrodes. 

Partial Discharge (PD) is an atomic 

reaction which, due to the movement of 

electrons ionizes the air molecules and 

locations of high stress. This ionization 

phenomenon splits the oxygen molecule 

to form ozone and nitrous oxide which in 

their normal states are generally harmless. 

But when mixed with water vapour 

in the air, become corrosive. 

Where do we Find PD? 

There are many components in your 

electrical asset portfolio. Substation 

components where we want to be particularly 

diligent for PD include transformers, 

overhead infrastructure also 

referred to as transmission and distribution 

systems any joints or termination 

points on cables, breakers, bus sections, 

insulators, and surge arrestors in switchgear, 

and more. 

Why Test for Partial 

Discharge? 

In a word: Reliability. Actually, two 

words, reliability and safety, but reliability 

leaders know that the two go hand in 

hand. Reliable facilities are safe facilities. 

Electrical assets can never be managed 

with a run to failure strategy. 

Partial Discharge is an indication of 

a developing fault in medium and high 

voltage insulation and is widely regarded 

as the best early warning indicator of the 

deterioration of the insulation system. A 

weaker insulation system translates to a 

higher probability of failure. 

Testing for the presence of PD must 

take place throughout the life of the asset. 

During the design phase, directly 

after manufacturing as a quality control. 

During the installation and commission 

phase, and throughout the serviceable 

life of the asset. 

PD is Destructive 

It directly destroys all organic insulation 

materials and produces by products that 

form aggressive chemicals which can attack 

both insulation and conductors. The 

end result of PD is a full discharge (complete 

failure) of the insulation system. 

What are the Consequences? 

Insulation in some electrical equipment 

is designed to be resistant to partial 

discharge, but… Switchgear is designed 

to be PD free so switchgear insulation 

is NOT PD resistant. When PD occurs 

in switchgear it is because of a defect. 

Early detection allows relatively quick 

and easy repair. But if it is not detected… 

and eliminated it will eventually bridge 

the insultation and result in an Arc Discharge. 

Arcing and in some instances 

partial arcing, is the flow of electricity 

through the air from one conductor to 

another object, which conducts electricity. 

It is a rapid expansion of gas, causes 

fires and explosions, is extremely violent, 

generates extreme temperatures, 

and therefore the rapid destruction of all 

equipment connected. 

Human Safety 

A report published in Industrial Safety 

and Hygiene News estimated that, on 

average, there are 30,000 arc flash incidents 

every year. The report went on to 

estimate that those incidents resulted 

in average annual totals of 7,000 burn 

injuries, 2,000 hospitalizations, and 400 

fatalities per year. http://tyndaleusa. 

com/blog/2018/08/27/how-commonare-arc-flash-incidents/ 

How Does Ultrasound Help? 

Ultrasound is a FIT for so many defects 

and electrical faults such as Partial 

Discharge are included because they 

produce Turbulence with peaks in the 

frequency range of 40kHz. Directional 

due to its high frequency, low energy 



the amplitude, analyze the signal for 

diagnosis and compare the multiple defects’ 

amplitudes using scalable data. 

Switchgear Panels 

In switch gear panels, with the presence 

of an electrical defect, the insides of the 

panel are flooded with ultrasound. The 

ultrasound, being small in wavelength, 

can pass through the tiniest of air paths 

making it easy to identify which panels 

need closer attention, and which to simply 

leave alone. 

ULTRASOUND IS WIDELY CONSIDERED BY RELIABILITY 

LEADERS TO BE THE MOST VERSATILE ASSET CONDITION 

MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY. 

characteristics means we can pinpoint 

the source quickly, and from a safe distance. 

Inspections can be performed in 

noisy facilities during peak production. 

Thanks to advancements in instruments, 

the ability to capture dynamic signals 

allows for deeper analysis of the fault. 

This allows inspectors to classify the root 

cause origin as either corona discharge, 

tracking discharge, or arcing discharge. 

Advanced ultrasound detectors allow 

inspectors to record the sound, measure 

Final Thoughts 

Discharge is more common than we like 

to believe. There are ready technologies 

available that help to not only reduce the 

risk of arc flash exposure but also simultaneously 

enhance the overall reliability 

of the electrical system. Its really a winwin 

for safety and reliability. There are a 

few technologies available, but some are 

better than others. Some are suited for a 

particular purpose. It’s a case of choosing 

the right technology, for the right 

applications, on the right components, 

on the right situation. When compared, 

ultrasound seems to be the most practical, 

simple, comprehensive, and costeffective. 

Ultrasound should be your first line 

of defense technology to build out your 

overall electrical condition monitoring 

and analysis strategy. 



What are the 10 fundamentals 

to improve maintenance 

in your organisation? The 

question seems trivial, but 

when you stop to think 

about it more closely, 

you will quickly end up 

with a list that is much 

longer than anticipated. 

PETER DECAIGNY, 

Partner of Mainnovation 

10 basics to improve 

MAINTENANCE 

in your organisation 

Creating Value with Maintenance & Asset Management 

NETHERLANDS-BASED consultancy consulting group Mainnovation. 

wanted to find an answer to the question. In the 

beginning of July 2019, the Belgium Maintenance Association 

BEMAS organised three afternoon study sessions about the 

10 basics for the technical department. At the event, Mainnovation 

together with more than 60 other professionals from 

the field of Maintenance & Asset Management discussed and 

ranked the themes marking three out of ten propositions with 

a high amount of interest. 

The themes were assessed by indicating if they were: Totally 

agreeing – Agreeing – Neutral – Not agreeing – Totally 

disagreeing with the 10 propositions around the 10 basics. 

So, what were the 10 basics 

for the Technical Department? 

Here they are listed and briefly explained: 

1.WE SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF THE BOARDROOM 

The maintenance manager or the head of the technical department 

communicates with the direction about Maintenance & 

Asset Management by explaining everything in terms of value. 

Here is a clear picture of what the “dominant value driver” is 

and we keep maintenance from being seen in terms of pure cost. 

2.WE CLOSE THE PDCA LOOPS IN ALL PROCESSES 

(PDCA: PLAN – DO – ACT – CHECK) 

We are used to looking at everything through the “continuous 

improvement lens”. We are critical and constantly ask 

ourselves, how we can do business better in the future. We 

do this for technical as well as organisational challenges. We 

also put in place improvements in a structured manner. 

3.WE ADJUST ON THE BASIS OF MAINTENANCE INDICATORS 

We use available data from our Enterprise Asset Management 

(EAM) system. Based on this, we develop several maintenance 

indicators and use them to make adjustments in a structured 

way. With these indicators, we adjust the content of the maintenance 

plans and processes, we amend the organisation and 

we optimise the supporting IT tools. 

4.WE HAVE AGREEMENTS ON URGENCIES: ALL URGENCIES ARE 

REAL “URGENCIES” 

When can we talk of a malfunction, or an actual “urgency”? Is 

it always clear for the applicant whether direct intervention is 

required or not? Who is well placed to make an assessment? Or 

do we leave it as is over the issue of the day? 


5.WE HAVE GOOD GATEKEEPING FOR WORK REQUESTS 

There are different types of work requests within maintenance. 

Plannable activities often result in a considerable 

workload. These activities, such as inspections, improvement 

proposals, and work for third parties are assessed in a gatekeeping 

discussion. On top of controlling the comprehensiveness 

of the question, we determine the priority and the 

corresponding execution date together with the applicant 

and the operator. 

6. THE WORK PREPARATION & PLANNING IS ELABORATED 

DOWN TO THE LAST DETAIL 

A good work preparation & planning is the driving force of 

an efficient working technical department. All plannable 

work is prepared in detail (the correct spare parts are ready; 

the special tools are reserved; instructions are written up; 

the permit is ready; there are clear agreements regarding the 

sequence, the required time, the team, the testing and the 

release of the installation; the required external suppliers are 

provided; etc.). That way, the technician can focus 100 percent 

on the execution of his or her tasks. 

7.WE ADJUST MAINTENANCE PLANS BASED ON FEEDBACK 

Maintenance plans must be addressed dynamically based on 

the changing situation (market, dominant value driver, etc.). 

But past performances are also an important source of data 

MANY MAINTENANCE ORGANISATIONS 

LIVE BY THE ISSUE OF THE DAY. AS A RESULT, 

A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE BUSY WITH SHORT- 

TERM PROBLEMS AND LITTLE ATTENTION 

IS PAID ON LONG-TERM GOALS. 

to adjust things. Based on the number of failures, the length 

of the failures and the cost that we spend on each installation, 

we improve the maintenance plans in a structured way. 

8.WE BRING ORDER TO THE TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT (TD) 

AND DIVIDE THE LT – MT – ST ACTIVITIES (LONG TERM – 

MEDIUM TERM – SHORT TERM) 

A lot of maintenance organisations live by the issue of the 

day. As a result, a lot of people are busy with short-term problems 

and little attention is paid on long-term goals. A clear 

structure with roles and functions that work on the long- and 

medium-term smooths things over in the organisation as well 

as ensures that we work towards a better future in a structured 

manner. 

9.WE EXCEL IN LUBRICATION-TECHNICAL-MAINTENANCE 

Lubrication maintenance is perhaps a strange theme to bring 

up in this list. On the other hand, this theme is a good indicator 

of the maturity in a maintenance. Lubrication is probably 

the oldest maintenance operation, however, it is still an area 

that can be improved drastically. Do we lubricate correctly, 

with the right frequency, with the right product? Do we stock 

the lubricants in the right way, etc.?


10.WE KEEP AN EYE ON THE CHANGE PROCESS IN THE 

TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT 

“Focus + Change” is the key to success. With “Focus”, we 

develop the right analysis and determine the points of 

improvement. On top of that, we also need “Change” to 

transform things in practice. If we want to manage actively 

the resistance to change, then we must work on acceptance 

and the corresponding project of change from day one. It 

is, therefore, an art to avoid the common pitfalls in change 

management. 

Out of the 10 fundamentals maintenance professionals 

were the most in agreement with the following themes, 

giving the highest scores to the following three topics: 

1. We have clear agreements on urgencies 

2. We speak the language of the boardroom 

3. We keep an eye on the change process in the technical 

department 

The themes with the lowest scores and, therefore, with a 

great potential for improvement were the following: 

1. We bring order to the TD and divide the LT – MT – ST 

activities 

2. The work preparation & Planning is elaborated down to 

the last detail 

3. We adjust maintenance plans based on feedback 

TOP PRIORITIES 

At the end of the afternoon study session, Mainnovation also 

asked the participants to indicate, which themes they would 

like to work on in their own organisation. Out of the 10 themes, 

eight were put on the improvement agenda by more than half 

of the participants, with the three following top priorities: 

• We want to give more attention to the change process in 

the technical department 

• We want to close the PDCA loops in all processes in a 

structured way 

• -We want to improve Gatekeeping for work requests 

Priority challenges that the participants want to meet 

Give more attention to change process 

Better closing of the PDCA loops 

Improve gatekeeping for reports 

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 

CONCLUSIONS: 

The theme “We want to give more attention to the change process 

in the technical department” and the additional change aspect 

was the theme with the highest score. Eighty-one percent of the 

participants see potential improvement here and would like to 

pay extra attention to this. 

Although maintenance professionals gave themselves a high 

score in terms of attention given to change process within the 

technical department at the beginning of the session, this subject 

received the highest priority to work on and to further improve. 

We also see this for our own customers at Mainnovation. 

“Keeping an eye on change” is a crucial theme in change processes. 

It is important here that all people in the organisation 

understand the need for change, that there is a shared vision of 

the future, and that we work with viable intermediate steps. 

Closing the “Plan – Do – Check – Act” loop is viewed as the second 

priority for the participants. In a lot of cases, the improvement 

circle is not closed today. There are a lot of ideas and good 

initiatives but measuring and adjusting is not always done. 

The third priority is gatekeeping, which is the assessment 

of plannable work requests. It is a crucial process to manage 

incoming workflow. Without a good gatekeeping, there is a 

high chance that the influx of work requests will influence the 

operational workflow so much that it will be difficult to keep a 

clear view of the important and priority works. 

With these 10 basics, everyone can make their own analysis 

of whether the themes are relevant to their organisation. 

Perhaps the Top 3 will help you to work on the foundation of a 

modern and proactive technical organisation. 


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RELIABLE 

MACHINERY 

INSTALLATION 

“Reliable machinery 

installation” - it sounds like 

an obvious thing, don’t you 

agree? But where does 

reliability actually start? 

ROMAN MEGELA 

GAZDOVA 

Reliability engineer at 

EASY-LASER AB 

Soft foot 

Bent base frame 

Roman Megela 

Gazdova works as 

Reliability engineer at Easy-Laser 

AB. He has 20 years of experience in 

assembly, commissioning and service 

of gas compression systems all over 

the world, from Europe to Asia and 

USA, in all kind of industries: glass 

production, stainless steel production, 

oil and gas, oxygen, petrochemical, 

natural gas, biogas, hydrocarbons. 

He is now on a mission to teach 

good practice for reliable machinery 

installation. 

WE ALL KNOW that “the thing” starts 

with the design. The design stage 

decides what is going to be installed. 

Which equipment, and where. But 

there is no decision of Who is going 

to perform the installation, and How 

it is going to be installed. Most of the 

time those two departments are not 

cooperating, especially if they don’t 

belong to the same organization. The 

installation teams must be involved in 

the design because they will provide 

their feedback for reliable machinery 

installation. They know exactly how 

the things work out there and how this 

needs to be done. 

“FLATNESS AND LEVELNESS” 

IS ONE OF THE MOST CRITICAL 

ISSUES WHEN IT COMES TO 

THE ASSEMBLY OF ROTATING 

MACHINERY. 

Every day I see on the social media 

tons of information regarding reliability 

maintenance, condition monitoring, 

sensors, cameras and all possible problem-solving 

technologies. All those technologies 

provide necessary information 

from our assets. Things we need to know 

in order to evaluate the condition of our 

assets. But what about the most crucial 

step? Machinery installation, anyone? I 

have been assembling and building skids 

and gas compression systems for gas and 

petrochemical industry for many years. 

My experience has shown me that “flatness 

and levelness” is one of the most 

critical issues when it comes to the assembly 

of rotating machinery. 

Designed for flatness and 

levelness 

All machinery is designed to work on a 

flat and levelled surface. Every manufac- 



turer of pumps, compressors, blowers, 

electrical motors, gear boxes assume that 

their equipment is going to be installed 

correctly, meaning on flat and levelled 

surface. And they also provide their 

tolerances for this. There are standards 

for the installation, too. ANSI standards 

recommend foot flatness less than 0.4µ/ 

mm [5 mils/ft]. And coplanarity less 

than 50µm/mm [2 mils] between the 

machines and their drives for machines 

up to 400kW or 500 HP. ISO standard 

for centrifugal pumps for petroleum, 

petrochemical and natural gas industries 

(ISO 13709:2009) say clearly that “Corresponding 

surfaces shall be in the same 

plane within 150µm/m”. That is 0,15mm 

per meter. Levelness has the tolerances 

less than 0,8 µm/mm [10 mils/ft] 

Flatness and levelness affect 

everything 

Checking the flatness of the foundation 

is essential. The foundation is the cornerstone 

for every single installation, irrespective 

of type. Mounting pads, soleplates, 

frames and tables. Everything you 

put on top of them is going to be affected. 

Flange misalignment 

When the flatness is out of tolerances all 

rotating equipment is affected. Soft foot, 

misalignment, machine casing stress, 

pipe flange misalignment, and many other 

causes. But I want to mention specifically 

one, and that is strain in the bearings. 

The bearing is designed to rotate 

using the oil film lubrication. According 

to Swedish bearing manufacturer SKF, 

a free running bearing with the proper 

lubrication will rotate to infinity. When 

the bearing is squeezed, the lubrication 

film is forced out and contact metal-tometal 

appear. Excess heat is generated, 

and your bearing is running into the 

failure. That simple. All other failures 

will be linked to it. And it often started 

with a flatness issue. Levelness is another 

factor affecting heavily the equipment. 

Vertically installed bearings carry 

on horizontal loads and if you change 

their gravity point, the lubrication will 

move out of their race way. If you have 

not proper lubrication film, there will 

be metal to metal contact. If you have 

splash lubrication in your machine, and 

you have unlevelled installation, you will 

move the oil away from the oil slinger. 

That will be End of the story. 

Why would you install your asset on 

bases which is not checked for proper 

flatness and levelness and face all the 

problems related to it? After reading this 

you can at least not claim “I didn’t know 

it was important...”

APPLICATION 

Preventative Maintenance 

Cannot Take a Summer Holiday 

Is your Preventative 

Maintenance Program on 

a summer holiday or does 

your team perform the 

critical essential care tasks 

year-round? An effective 

Preventative Maintenance 

program must be 

executed consistently 

regardless of the season! 

HERE IS A STORY from a process plant we 

have worked with over the last few years. 

During a meeting with the Leadership 

team, they agreed with us on the value 

of executing good Preventative Maintenance 

(PM). The Plant Manager responded, 

“We want to do all these things, 

but we don’t. Can you tell us why?” 

What we uncovered is that while the 

client was looking at all the newest technologies 

like IoT (internet of things), 

cloud-based data, and connecting smart 

devices with mobile apps they were not 

doing the basic processes of Essential 

OWE FORSBERG, 

Senior Management 

Consultant with 

IDCON INC. 

Care and Condition Monitoring. 

Basic Essential Care processes include: 

cleaning, lubrication, alignment, 

balancing, mounting and operating 

procedures to name a few. Condition 

monitoring processes include: infrared 

(IR) measurements, vibration analysis, 

temperature readings, visual inspections 

and leak detection, more can be named 

but you get the idea. 

The client was not even using the 

simple tools to perform inspections – IR 

guns or vibration pens. How can their 

people be expected to use new technologies 

when they have not mastered the 

basics? 

If it is dirty – clean it! 

It is not a mystery that accumulated 

dirt and dust is the enemy of equipment 

– dirt and dust never take a holiday. 

Consistent cleaning improves safety, 

machine reliability and condition monitoring 

inspections. 

Let’s take for example that you find 

the temperature is rising on an AC motor. 

Taking a look at the motor, you see 

that it is very dirty. You know dirt can 

block the airflow, which will increase 

temperature and decrease the life of the 

motor. 

THE ROOT CAUSES OF THE RISING 

TEMPERATURE INCLUDED: 

1. No inspection (or poor inspection) 

– if the motor had been 

inspected properly, the inspector 

would have seen dirt was accumulating 

and had someone clean it. 

2. Lack of cleaning 

Since the motor’s condition was beyond 

dusting or vacuuming, it had to be 

cleaned during a shutdown. 

The question is “Why wasn’t it 

cleaned?” Do people not understand 

why cleaning is important or is it they do 

not understand how to do it? When you 


APPLICATION 

develop your PM strategy you need to 

decide who will do cleaning and how you 

will train them to do it. Training documents 

and reference guides should detail 

both the “Why” and “How” of cleaning 

equipment. 

Inspections 

Back to that client- when we looked at 

the inspection routes and PM work orders 

in place, we saw they put some good 

thoughts into documenting Essential 

Care and Condition Monitoring for some 

of the equipment. Still, there were many 

vague inspections such as, “Inspect 

motor”. One of the maintenance technicians 

showed us the PM work order and 

his written comments, “The motor is 

still there!” Humour is great, but details 

are needed on what to inspect, how and 

where to measure, and the acceptable 

range. 

Train people doing inspections to understand 

the principals of how the motor 

and coupling works, and the basic failure 

modes for key components like the bearings 

and the windings. Also, train them 

how to use the inspection tools. If you 

document and describe these inspection 

instructions on a PM route or a work 

order you will get consistent execution of 

your PM task. 

The maintenance department was 

focused on doing vibration analysis and 

electrical dynamic and static testing of 

larger AC motors. But they were still 

having issues with AC motor failures. 

We performed a Root Cause Problem 

DEFINITION: 

PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE. 

All maintenance done to prevent a 

failure (life extension) and detect a 

failure early (Condition Monitoring) 

before it impacts the process. 

Elimination investigation and found the 

failures were due to either over or under 

lubrication. 

Did they need to focus on detecting 

the bearing going bad before attempting 

to make sure the bearings had the right 

lubrication? 

Do PM’s on the AC motors as long as 

it is cost effective, i.e. Condition Based 

Maintenance costs less than Operate to 

Breakdown. Based on our PM evaluation 

we found the client should do both: the 

right lubricants, at the right time, the 

right amount, and have vibration analysis 

to provide both Essential Care and 

Condition Monitoring. 

As time passed with our assistance the 

client developed PM inspections with 

the right frequency, trained the inspectors, 

and executed them on time. The 

PM inspections generated quality work 

requests that were turned into work 

orders for Corrective Maintenance and 

was planned and executed according to 

the schedule. 

And they were making 

progress until…summer! 

During summer holiday we noticed 

the PM compliance went from over 90 

percent to less than 20 percent and this 

went on for several months after the 

vacation season ended. An effective PM 

program requires good processes, documentation, 

tools, and execution of task. 

The discipline to continue the program 

had not been anchored in our client’s organization. 

We determined that the leadership 

team in Operations and Maintenance 

needed to be more involved to 

ensure that processes are executed, and 

compliance is reported. 

Preventative Maintenance needs to 

be executed according to the schedule 

despite vacation season, deer hunting 

season, or moose hunting season. What 

season will decrease the efficiency of 

your PM program? 

PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE NEEDS TO BE EXECUTED 

ACCORDING TO THE SCHEDULE DESPITE VACATION SEASON, 

DEER HUNTING SEASON, OR MOOSE HUNTING SEASON. 


RELIABILITY 

SHON ISENHOUR 

CMRP CAMA, 

Partner, Eruditio 

UNPLANNED 

FAILURE… 

AS I LOOK BACK over the many facilities 

and plants that I have visited over the 

years I have noted many examples of 

“best practice”, but there are only a few 

things that a few sites have effectively 

implemented. One of those is maintenance 

planning and then scheduling. 

Perhaps it is because it takes more 

discipline, more commitment, and more 

organizational understanding than 

many of the other tools that we have in 

our reliability toolbox. Maybe it is just 

a lack of training. Let us look at 3 key 

things you could implement as part of 

your reliability improvement efforts that 

will set your team up for a higher probability 

of success with your planning and 

then scheduling efforts. 

Start early with maintenance planning. 

Too many sites wait too late to get 

their planners on board and started on a 

planning task. It can be done very early 

because many of the activities are capable 

of being started well before the rest 

3 Things That Could Save 

Your Maintenance Planning 

Organization and Improve 

Reliability for Your Site 

of the organization becomes involved in 

reliability improvement efforts. Likely, 

only the most basic of tasks would need 

to be completed before planning kickoff. 

Of course, things like vision, mission, 

and communication planning would 

need to be done first, but once the leadership 

team has built the foundation and 

created a direction then we can get the 

planners engaged. If your site is a new 

greenfield start-up then hire your planners 

early and if your site is just starting 

a maintenance and reliability improvement 

effort, then include planning in the 

very early activities. 

Why do I suggest moving so early? 

Many of the critical tasks for successful 

planning have a very large time component. 

For example, hiring a planner can 

take months, creating a bill of materials 

and job plan libraries can take years. 

If you are lucky enough to have planners, 

then you still have to a lot of time 

for planner training because it is very 

likely that your current planners do not 

understand the requirements of the 

new planned and then scheduled state. 

If you are hiring, you can ensure a level 


RELIABILITY 

of understanding by looking for and 

requesting a planner that has been certified 

through an organization like the 

University of Tennessee Reliability and 

Maintainability Center. If this is new to 

you please visit www.plannercertification.com 

for more information on planner 

and scheduler certification. 

1. Build the base tools 

What should they work on first? This is 

more complicated and is dependant on 

your current state. In general, they can 

start to build the base tools they will use 

to help change the organization. Things 

like populating the bill of material for 

critical assets using OEM documentation 

and other historical sources, building 

job plans for high probability tasks 

which can then be stored in the job plan 

library, and determining kitting processes 

and expectations. Depending on 

your organizational staffing and maturity 

they may also work with the maintenance 

or reliability engineers to improve 

the existing preventive maintenance 

task. If you are using OEM equipment 

vendor-provided PM tasks, you will 

TOO MANY SITES WAIT 

TOO LATE TO GET THEIR 

PLANNERS ON BOARD 

AND STARTED ON 

THE PLANNING TASK. 

likely benefit enormously by optimizing 

these PMs based on your operating context 

and skilled trade levels. 

2. Focus on staffing 

Next, let’s talk about staffing for your 

planner role. Let us first answer everyone’s 

favourite question of “how many?” 

Staffing correctly is critical and not as 

cut and dried as some text would make 

it sound. Many would suggest that you 

need a planner/scheduler for every 15 to 

20 technicians or crafts people. While 

I agree with the number for a mature 

organization, in the beginning, I think 

there are more factors you must consider. 

If you have limited job plans in 

your job plan library, and few assets have 

a bill of materials, then you will be understaffed 

because in that environment 

everything takes longer to complete. 

If you started early as I recommended 

above, and you have a base of BOMs and 

job plans in the library then you can 

likely stick with the recommendation of 

15-20. However, if you are like most you 

are behind in these areas and you really 

need a lower ratio to “catch up”. In that 

situation, I would suggest that you may 

want your early ratios closer to 10:1. Do 

not concern yourself too much with the 

fact that you will be overstaffed in the 

future, because most likely some of your 

planners will move into supervisory 

roles and as time goes on you will find 

that you settle out in the recommended 

range of 15-20:1. 

Now I can hear some of you, “this guy 

is dreaming, where will I get that many 

planners?” If you believe that planned 

maintenance is a better, more efficient 

way then trust your belief and pull them 

from your technicians' ranks. My experience 

shows that a planner can nearly 

double the wrench time or value-added 













• Alignment & Balancing 

Alignment Balancing 

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Condition Monitoring Management 

• Lubrication 

Lubrication 

• Motor Testing 

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• Oil Analysis & Wear Particle 

Oil Analysis Wear Particle 

• Thermography 

Thermography 

• Ultrasound 

Ultrasound 

• Vibration Analysis 

Vibration Analysis 

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RELIABILITY 

task completed per hour for the maintenance 

team they support. With that said, 

even with small teams, removing one 

technician and converting them into a 

planner yield a positive impact on maintenance 

work throughput. Be careful 

about your selection though. We are not 

looking for your best technician, we are 

looking for your technician who is the: 

• most organized, 

• most gifted at communication, 

• type that works well with others, 

• type that understands and embraces 

precision maintenance. 

This is not a clerical job and this role 

is not a fill-in supervisor, or a lead technician, 

this person builds the effective 

work instructions that will become the 

marching orders for your organization 

and their selection, staffing, training, 

and certification is critical. 

The next area we have to work on is 

organizational understanding. Planning 

and then Scheduling is not natural for 

most of your organization. Many have 

been “cowboys shooting from the hip” 

for years. They have been rewarded for 

their ability to react faster with little 

understanding of the long-term effects 

on the organization. If your site uses a 

lot of duct tape, baling wire, and zip ties 

to keep the plant running and reactivity 

is the norm then you will have a harder 

task ahead of you in this next area but 

either way, it is critical. 

3. Communication is key 

Communication, the one thing that 

everyone wants to say is not done well 


enough, is now our focus. We need the 

organization to understand the value of 

planned work and to a varying degree 

the role of a planner in its creation. You 

need to look at your business process 

and see who is affected by the planner/ 

scheduler then develop a communication 

strategy in tiers based on interaction 

and responsibility. For example, 

we may want many people to know 

that planning reduces maintenance 

requested downtime and reoccurring 

failures, but we may want only the 

maintenance supervisor and technician 

to understand what the expectation for 

our new job plans and work packages 

are. At the very least, I would suggest 

that the maintenance supervisors, operations 

scheduler, and the planner all 

receive a very detailed understanding 

of the planner role and the training to 

support it. The understanding of planning 

can then tier down from there to 

the engineers and technicians and then 

tier down again to the operators and 

ops leaders for example. 

Why do these people need to know? 

Let's look at each role given in the example. 

The core team of the planner/ 

scheduler, maintenance supervisor, and 

operations scheduler have to be working 

together on a daily basis with the 

operations scheduler providing downtime 

windows weeks in advance and 

the supervisor executing the schedule 

as close to as defined as possible. Within 

the next level, the engineers need 

to be providing new best practices in 

precision maintenance, high-risk failure 

modes from the failure modes and 

effects analysis (FMEA) and conditionbased 

maintenance tasks to the planner 

to constantly improve the job plans 

and equipment maintenance plans. 

The technicians must understand the 

importance of providing feedback on 

the job plans as part of the continuous 

improvement loop and executing the 

job by the plan. As we get to the third 

tier that includes operations leadership 

and the operators themselves we 

have to make sure they understand the 

importance of communicating defects 

in the equipment as early as possible 

such that the work can be planned, 

scheduled and executed before the 

catastrophic failure which prevents a 

costly emergency repair. These are just 

examples for each level that I hope help 

you see the tiered approach to communication 

that is required to empower 

success in your planner/schedulers. 

So, as we look back at the topic of 

successful planning and then scheduling 

please remember the three elements 

that we discussed: start early, 

staff appropriately and communicate 

effectively. These are the sins I most 

often see as I complete the forensic 

analysis of dead or dying planning efforts. 

We know that everyone is important 

to reliability improvement, but the 

planner and scheduler may stand just a 

bit taller in the most successful maintenance 

and reliability organizations so 

let us set yours up for success.

Results Oriented Reliability and Maintenance 

Management Consulting and Training 

Run your plant. Don’t let it run you! 

Improving reliability and reducing cost is achievable. 

Remove the pressures 

of unreliable equipment 

Find a clear path 

to achieve reliability 

Reach the organization’s 

maintenance goals 

Are you tired of constant call-ins and reactive maintenance? 

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VIBRATION MONITORING 

ADVANCEMENTS IN 

Vibration Monitoring 

OF RECIPROCATING 

COMPRESSORS 

Over the last twenty years, stand-alone vibration sensors for reciprocating 

compressors have evolved from ineffective RMS vibration transmitters to firstgeneration 

shock monitoring technology. That technology provided valuable data 

by shifting from VAC-to-VDC RMS signal processing to impact counting, but had 

its own set of disadvantages. Second generation shock-monitoring technology 

has built upon the existing technology to create a solution that is best tailored for 

reciprocating compressor monitoring. 

MEREDITH CHRISTMAN Product Marketing Manager, IMI Sensors, Division of PCB Piezotronics, Inc. 

Reciprocating 

compressors are 

prevalent in the 

upstream, midstream 

and downstream/ 

refining sectors 

of the oil and gas 

industry. 



RECIPROCATING COMPRESSORS are 

employed to compress a wide range of 

industrial and medical gases (ex. helium, 

hydrogen, oxygen) in order to provide 

high-pressure, low-volume delivery. 

They are also highly prone to catastrophic 

damage when developing faults go 

undetected and unresolved. 

Faults creating errant vibration in 

reciprocating compressors can generally 

be classified as mechanical looseness 

and can include loose, broken or cracked 

bolts & rod nuts, excessive crosshead 

clearance, cracked rods and cylinder 

debris or scoring. The faults typically 

create metal-to-metal impacts that manifest 

in vibration data as high-frequency, 

high-amplitude peaks. 

Because faults develop quickly, continuous 

24/7 process monitoring has 

been and continues to be preferred 

because data can be constantly recorded, 

trended and analyzed by a PLC 

(programmable logic controller), DSC 

(distributed control systems), SCADA 

(supervisory control and data acquisition) 

or other online monitoring system. 

The above-referenced systems can all 

seamlessly accept a current input signal 

so a vibration transmitter is ideal. 

signal values because, for sine waves 

with equal positive and negative half cycles, 

this averaging would result in a nonvaluable 

measurement of zero. Alternatively, 

the RMS methodology consists of 

the following four calculation steps: 

• Divide one cycle (ie. one positive 

and one negative half cycle) of the 

AC waveform into many slices, 

each small enough to represent a 

constant voltage during the time 

period. 

• Square each of those individual 

constant voltages. This squaring 

of each individual voltage converts 

all voltages, regardless of whether 

originally positive or negative, to 

positive values. 

• Calculate the mean (average) of 

the squared values. 

• Calculate the square root of the 

mean. (The result is the RMS DC 

voltage value.) 

For reciprocating compressor-monitoring 

applications, the RMS process 

masks the exact high-frequency, high 

amplitude peaks in the vibration data 

that are crucial to identify by averaging 

the area (energy) under the curve. While 

metal-to-metal impacts create high 

amplitude peaks in the data, they are 

simultaneously very narrow curves. As a 

result, the curves have very little energy 

and the peaks have very little effect on 

the averaged RMS DC voltage value. Because 

of this shortcoming, reciprocating 

compressor operators moved from typical 

vibration transmitters to first-generation 

shock monitoring technology as a 

more effective monitoring methodology. 

Ineffective Use of the RMS 

Vibration Transmitter for 

Reciprocating Compressor 

Monitoring 

Initially, reciprocating compressor operators 

selected RMS vibration transmitters 

as their vibration sensor of choice. 

These sensors would output a current 

signal scaled to a specific measurement 

range (typically measured in velocity). 

The signal-processing scheme in these 

sensors was as follows: 

• Sensing element producing a 

high-impedance charge output after 

being acted upon by a force. 

• High-impedance signal is converted 

into a low-impedance voltage 

signal. 

• AC voltage signal is decoupled 

from the DC bias voltage. 

• C voltage signal is converted into 

DC voltage signal via RMS (root 

mean square) methodology. 

• DC voltage signal is then subsequently 

converted to a 4-20 mA 

current signal. 

The conversion of the AC voltage signal 

to a DC voltage signal is not as simple 

as averaging the individual AC voltage 

The oscillating blue line represents the AC voltage signal. The horizontal orange line 

represents the amplitude of the resulting DC voltage value while the horizontal green line 

represents the actual peak amplitudes. The graph illustrates that high frequency, high 

amplitude peaks in the AC voltage signal have little effect on the resulting DC voltage 

value when the VAC-to-VDC conversion is done via RMS. 



First Generation Shock 

Monitoring Technology 

First generation shock monitoring technology 

shifted the signal processing focus 

from the existing RMS methodology 

to impact counting. Impact transmitters 

based on the technology would measure 

vibration, apply a band pass filter to 

isolate frequencies of interest and count 

the number of impacts occurring above 

a pre-set threshold level every 2-3 seconds. 

For each counted impact, the current 

output would increase by a pre-set 

1mA increment from the 4mA baseline 

to create a building current output. 

The technology fundamentally moved 

away from allowing the direct correlation 

of the current output to a specific 

amplitude. Instead, impact transmitters 

focused on identifying the high-frequency, 

high-amplitude peaks in vibration data 

that are caused by the metal-to-metal 

impacts that are common indicators of 

developing faults. Operators would set 

the threshold at the amplitude level that 

was the boundary between acceptable 

and unacceptable amplitudes. The output 

subsequently let them focus solely 

on the number of impacts occurring at 

unacceptable amplitudes and build a 

current output accordingly. 

counterparts. After that point, the signal 

processing scheme between impact 

transmitters and reciprocating machinery 

protection sensors diverges. 

• No impacts above the threshold 

are present: Impact transmitters 

provide a flat 4mA signal when no 

impacts above the threshold are 

present. Reciprocating machinery 

protection sensors provide a 

continuous, meaningful current 

output scaled to peak acceleration. 

This signal provides valuable 

trending data as well as confirmation 

of proper sensor operation 

to the reciprocating compressor 

operator. 

• Comparison of actual vibration 

amplitudes to benchmark(s): 

While impact transmitters only 

compared the amplitudes of the 

actual vibration to a single threshold, 

reciprocating machinery 

protection sensors compare the 

amplitudes of the actual vibration 

to two, independently-set thresholds 

every 2-3 seconds. 

• Weighting of each impact with 

an amplitude greater than the 

threshold(s): Impact transmitters 

weighted each impact in excess of 

the threshold at an unchangeable 

increment of 1mA. Reciprocating 

machinery protection sensors 

provide an independent weighting 

increment for each threshold. 

Each weighting increment can be 

field-altered to a value between 0.2- 

16 mA. Peaks with amplitudes that 

exceed both thresholds are doublecounted 

in that both the weighting 

factor for a peak exceeding the first 

threshold and the weighting factor 

for a peak exceeding the second 

threshold are both added to the 

total current output when such a 

peak occurs. This allows the sensor 

to build the current output faster as 

peaks increase in amplitude. This 

is essential so that the sensor’s signal 

can stay ahead of the developing 

fault and allow the technician time 

to shut down the compressor prior 

to a catastrophic failure. 

While the technology provided a substantial 

improvement in effective vibration 

monitoring for reciprocating compressors, 

it still did not provide operators 

all of the data and flexibility that they 

required. The sensors had three major 

shortcomings: 

• Provided a flat, unchanging 4mA 

output when no impacting was 

occurring. 

• Compared actual vibration amplitudes 

to only a single threshold. 

• Provided no flexibility to the increment 

added to the total current 

output when an impact was identified, 

regardless of the impact’s 

amplitude. 

Second Generation Shock 

Monitoring Technology 

Second generation shock-monitoring 

technology, which was patented in 2007, 

has built upon the first-generation technology 

by addressing the three major 

shortcomings. Reciprocating machinery 

protection sensors based on the technology 

still measure vibration and apply a 

band pass filter to isolate frequencies 

of interest like their first generation 

The oscillating blue line represents the AC voltage signal. While impact transmitters 

only compared the amplitudes of the actual vibration to a single threshold, reciprocating 

machinery protection sensors compare the amplitudes of the actual vibration to two, 

independently-set thresholds. 

BECAUSE FAULTS DEVELOP 

QUICKLY, CONTINUOUS 24/7 

PROCESS MONITORING 

CONTINUES TO BE PREFERRED. 

Conclusion 

Those stand alone vibration sensors for 

reciprocating compressors have evolved 

over the last twenty years as the oil & 

gas and petrochemical industries place 

greater emphasis on vibration monitoring 

as a valuable predictive maintenance 

technique. 


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COURSES: 

COURSES: 

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EDUCATION & TRAINING 

As Maintenance 

Practices Change, 

Teaching Methods 

Must Also Change 

Working through web 

has and will change 

maintenance practices. 

How do we train students 

to learn and work 

through the network? 

LEA MUSTONEN, 

Senior Lecturer (Communications), 

School of Technology,Häme University 

of Applied Sciences (HAMK) 

SUSAN HEIKKILÄ, 

Senior Lecturer, Electrical and Automation 

Engineering study programme, Häme University 

of Applied Sciences (HAMK) 

A MAINTENANCE PLAN is always made to 

the requirements of the company. It defines 

maintenance needs and practices. 

With the Internet of Things (IoT), the 

availability and analysis of information 

has become much easier. The collected 

data passes directly from the sensors, for 

example, to the cloud. If certain threshold 

values are exceeded, the signal indicates 

that something is to be reacted to. 

In addition, data can be better combined. 

IoT has been greatly hyped. In practice, 

at least in Finland, larger companies 

can make full use of its after-sale 

services. Thus, the services sold are the 

capability to predict what must or can be 

done - and in addition to this, if needed, 

the ability to be in contact with the customer 

even from other side of the world. 

This is the reality that we train our 

students of Electrical and Automation 

technology at Häme University of Applied 

Sciences (HAMK) to. The students 

must have the ability to work in large 

companies, but also have the capability 

to bring practices, that reform operations 

and boost competitive ability, to 

small and medium companies. 

Working and learning 

through the web 

Today, IoT is involved in much of the 

maintenance education content. Content 

on its own is not enough, students 

need to get the experience, that shows 

them the ease of use, possibilities and 


Industrial 

Value Chain 

Initiative 

Version 08 // June 2018 

OPC_Brochure_GB_06_2018_RZ.indd 1 06.06.18 17:12 

OPC_Brochure_Security_GB_2018_RZ.indd 1 05.06.18 15:14 

Industrial 

Interoperability: 

From Sensor 

into Cloud 

Controller 

ERP 

MES 

SCADA 

Controller 

DCS 

Version 02 // April 2019 

OPC_Folder_FLC_2019_RZ.indd 1 25.03.19 15:42 

The Industrial Interoperability Standard 

www.opcfoundation.org 

Interoperability for Industrie 4.0 and IIoT 

OPC UA is a framework for Industrial Interoperability 

➞ Scalable from sensor to IT Enterprise & Cloud 

➞ Modeling of data and interfaces for devices and services 

➞ Integrated security by design with confi gurable access rights for data and services 

➞ Extendable transport protocols: Client/Server and Publisher/Subscriber 

➞ Independent from vendor, operating system, implementation language and vertical markets 

➞ International: OPC UA is IEC62541 

The OPC Foundation closely cooperates with organizations and associations 

from various branches. Information models are mapped onto OPC UA to make 

them interoperable with integrated security. 

Engineering 

Industries 

IT 

Process 

Automation 

Consortia 

IO Level 

Energy 

Factory Automation 

LNI4.0 

LABS NETWORK INDUSTRIE 4.0 

IEC61850 

IEC61970 

German and english version 

under opcfoundation.org/ 

resources/brochures/ 

Security brochure 

https://opcfoundation.org/ 

security 

FLC brochure 

https://opcfoundation.org/ 

fl c-pdf 

OPC Foundation Videos 

https://www.youtube.com/ 

user/TheOPCfoundation/ 

videos 

UPDATE 

OPC Unified Architecture 

Interoperability for Industrie 4.0 and the Internet of Things 

1 

Practical Security Recommendations 

for building OPC UA Applications 

1 

Version 3 // June 2018 

Initiative: Field Level Communications (FLC) 

OPC Foundation extends OPC UA 

including TSN down to field level 

1 

IoT 

4.0 

Industrie 

M2M 

Initiative for Field 

Level Communications 

Whitepaper 

Security Working Group

EDUCATION & TRAINING 

challenges of working through the web. 

Skills and experience are needed in addition 

to theoretical knowledge. If processes 

crucial to the company’s trade are 

made and controlled through the web, 

learning content of skills essential to the 

craft should also be implemented. This 

challenge has been answered by creating 

a maintenance module (15 credits) for 

electrical and automation studies, based 

on time and place independent network 

implementation. 

HAMK's pedagogical model has its 

basis on phenomenon learning. It has its 

basis in constructivist learning concept, 

that states that the student always creates 

or constructs the knowledge. That is to 

say, the knowledge does not transfer from 

teacher to student as it is. Multidisciplinary 

understanding of the phenomenon, 

inter-science, in which different fields 

combine, is central. The phenomenon is 

studied from the perspectives of different 

fields, but in such a way that the yield is 

shared. This requires team teaching. 

In addition to phenomenon learning 

and team teaching, modularity is important. 

In the pedagogical model of HAMK, 

instead of separate courses the lessons 

are compiled into 15 credit compilations, 

modules. For students this means about 

400 work hours per module. 

Goals are defined, methods not 

In HAMK's pedagogical model the 

learning goals are defined, but the team 

can make the whole plan and define the 

methods used to reach those goals. In 

addition to technical studies teachers it 

may include for example a communication 

teacher. The role of the communication 

teacher is usually integrated to implementation 

of written and spoken assignments, 

in other words directly to the 

development of students’ qualifications. 

He or she can also act as an important resource 

for content teachers as support in 

the development of study materials. 

Team teaching helps teachers to cope 

with constant changes, provided there 

is trust between the members. It also 

helps to try different pedagogical solutions. 

In the Electrical and Automation 

Engineering study programme, team 

teaching is a normal and systematic way 

of teaching. Development work of many 

years has created a culture, where teams 

can test different pedagogical methods. 

We call that an experimentation culture. 

It is a way to test a new way to work and 

develop study implementations. 

STUDYING BY THE NETWORK GIVES A LOT OF FLEXIBILITY 

TO SHARE AND TRANSFER TACIT KNOWLEDGE. 

Process based on interaction 

So, an e-learning module for maintenance 

has been created, but work is just 

beginning and much more remains to be 

done. Its basis is both the changed maintenance 

operating model and the thought 

that students need to be able to learn 

and operate through the network. One 

of the main questions is: How prepared 

the students are for this type of studying? 

Experience shows that variations are 

wide. The experience shows that studying 

online requires great discipline in 

familiarization with the materials doing 

tasks on time chosen by the students, but 

within timeline set by the teachers. Some 

of the students wants to plan their studies 

themselves, but part of the students 

needs more guidance and deadlines. 

The changing methods challenges 

the teachers. It is always easier to use 

the methods he/she is used to use. The 

change means you need to go to the 

discomfort zone. Role of a teacher has 

changed from "knowledge transferrer" to 

a coach. Teaching through the network 

requires a new type of guiding skill, as 

students are not left stranded. Teaching 

materials and assignments have to be 

comprehensive. For example, doing assignments 

after watching online lectures 

or videos is not enough. It is possible to 

do group assignments or have conversations 

through the web. Usually students 

are already in working life, so they have 

the opportunity to reflect on what they 

have learned and to create and share 

knowledge. 

Sharing knowledge 

Studying by the network gives also a lot 

of flexibility to share and transfer the 

tacit knowledge. In the previous implementations 

part time students, who 

often work in the week time, had their 

classes Friday evenings and Saturdays. 

Full time student had their classes Monday 

to Friday at the daytime. This made 

the cooperation and knowledge sharing 

between students difficult. Now when 

changing the materials, discussion, tasks 

and group works to the network, it gives 

a possibility to mix the teams in different 

combinations. This maximize getting 

together different kind of ideas and experiences. 

At its best, studying becomes a process 

where the student learns, and the 

teaching improves. When making most 

of the network while studying and creating 

a developmental learning model for 

students, we believe it will also have a 

transfer effect to develop new maintenance 

models. 


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Measuring the Value 

of Data in Maintenance 

It is easy for organizations to assume that more data equals more value in 

maintenance. However the value of data is case dependent and should be 

assessed to ensure that the benefits from the data exceed the additional costs. 

DR. SALLA 

MARTTONEN-AROLA, 

University of 

Sunderland 

PROF. DAVID BAGLEE, 

University of 

Sunderland 

MANY MAINTENANCE organizations 

have been tempted by the big data hype 

into collecting excessive amounts of 

data without specific business cases or 

data exploitation plans. When following 

the hype, it is easy to forget that the additional 

value created by the data must 

exceed the costs of resources used to collect 

and analyze it (Günther et al. 2017). 

Achieving significant value from big 

data tends to require extensive resource 

use, however, many companies do not 

have the necessary resources and competence 

to keep experimenting with big 

data technologies, especially within the 

manufacturing and maintenance industries 

where the technology maturity is 

currently quite low (Diez-Olivan et al. 

2019; Kans 2013). It has been acknowledged 

that the optimal amount of data in 

maintenance decision-making depends 

on the size, business, competences, and 

complexity of assets and processes within 

the organization (BS ISO 55001 2014). 

The value of maintenance data also 

depends on the situation: for instance, in 

corrective maintenance, data are mostly 

used to detect failures and to decide 

whether to repair the asset immediately 

or at a later date, whereas in conditionbased 

maintenance the data are considerably 

more complex and used to define 

measurement parameters, techniques 

and locations, maintenance action limits 

and maintenance actions. 

Value of data 

Value of data can be defined as having the 

right information, in the right amount, 

quality, format, time, place, and for an appropriate 

price (Bucherer & Uckelmann 

2011). Familiar mostly as a production 

philosophy, lean management emphasizes 

increasing value through eliminating 

waste (Gupta et al. 2016). 

Adapted to data management, lean 

could help maintenance organizations 

in assessing and maximizing the value of 

their data-based decision making (Marttonen-Arola 

& Baglee 2019a). The waste 

types in data management include: 

• Unnecessary data (duplicate, 

non-relevant or too detailed data 

which can cause an information 

overload), 

• Unnecessary transfer of data (nonvalue 

adding transfer between people, 

systems or organizations), 

• Unnecessary processing of data 

(non-value adding processing, e.g. 

changing format, ensuring access, 

copying, unnecessary summarizing), 

• Underutilization of data management 

resources (for example unused 

IT systems or personnel), 

• Poor quality data and/or analyses 

(can lead to suboptimal decision 

making), and 

• Waiting for data or missing data 

(waiting or looking for data items) 

(Marttonen-Arola & Baglee 

2019b). 

To assess the value of maintenance 

data, quantifying the changes in the 

aforementioned wastes is beneficial. Figure 

1 shows how the value of additional 

maintenance data can be modelled based 

on various types of decreasing waste in 

the data management process. A number 

of the waste types can be quantified in 

terms of time, which makes evaluating 

the overall value quicker. The quality 

of data and analyses can be taken into 



How to measure 

Time saving 

× 

Cost of time 

Time saving 

× 

Cost of time 

Time saving 

× 

Cost of time 

Resource 

utilisation rate 

× 

Cost of resources 

Costs of maintenance 

work 

+ 

Value of lost 

production 

Probability of 

incorrect data 

+ 

Probability of incorrect 

analyses 

Decreasing waste 

Decrease of unnecessary 

data 

+ 


transfer 

of data 

+ 


processing 

of data 

+ 

Decrease of underutilised 

data 

management 

resources 

Decrease of 

waiting for required 

data 

× 

Uncertainty from 

poor quality data 

and/or analyses 

LEAN COULD HELP MAINTENANCE 

ORGANIZATIONS IN MAXIMIZING THE VALUE 

OF DATA-BASED DECISION MAKING. 

Value of maintenance 

data 

Assessing 

the value of 

maintenance data. 

account by multiplying the decrease of 

waiting for data by an uncertainty factor. 

This reflects that the benefits of exploiting 

data in decision-making may be lost 

if the data are unreliable. 

Applications in maintenance 

decision-making 

To demonstrate applying the abovepresented 

approach in maintenance 

decision-making, an industrial example 

from an automotive part manufacturing 

company is presented. The company 

has a manual data collection process 

and conducts mostly corrective maintenance 

on their production lines. The 

data which are currently collected are 

production-led and either not used to 

support maintenance management 

decisions or the data is used with little 

effect. For example, historic and useful 



data on the root causes of failures are not 

recorded. The maintenance manager of 

the company is considering expanding 

the data collection and implementing a 

Computerized Maintenance Management 

System (CMMS). They would first 

pilot the system on three of their 15 production 

lines. 

The financial value of the investment 

(including the CMMS as well as additional 

data gathering and analyses) was 

assessed (see Figure 2). The time used 

in gathering, processing and analyzing 

the data would increase significantly 

if the company invested in more data. 

The costs of the CMMS software are 

taken into account as underutilized data 

management resources, because at first 

the software would only be used for the 

data of the three specific pilot production 

lines. Regarding the benefits of the 

investment, adopting the CMMS would 

decrease the amount of unnecessary data 

transfer. Currently the maintenance 

staff are required to insert the data manually 

into electronic spreadsheets every 

day. However, the investment appraisal 

concluded that with corrective maintenance, 

the company would not benefit 

from the additional data and the CMMS 

in terms of actual maintenance costs or 

the value of lost production. Thus the 

benefits of the investment would not be 

able to cover the additional costs. 

The company has also expressed their 

interest towards increasing the role of 

predetermined maintenance in their 

production. Another investment appraisal 

was conducted to see if a change 

in the maintenance approach would affect 

the profitability of the investment. 

In this case the additional data collected 

to the CMMS could be exploited to design 

predetermined maintenance schedules 

and prevent asset breakdowns. 

Figure 3 shows the value of the investment 

if the data was successfully used to 

achieve moderate breakdown prevention 

rates at the three pilot production 

lines. The reliability of the data and the 

analyses has been assumed to improve 

slightly due to severe inaccuracies in 

the current manual system (including 

poor legibility of the forms, inconsistent 

terminology and clearly incorrect data). 

It is clear that with predetermined maintenance, 

the significant decrease of lost 

production would justify the investment. 

This example showed that it is crucial 

for companies to assess the value 

of maintenance data before investing 

in additional data and IT systems. Data 

only have value when exploited, and the 

additional costs of gathering, storing and 

analyzing the data must be exceeded by 

the additional benefits in maintenance. 

Although the value of data is challenging 

to measure, even rough quantitative 

assessments would help the decision 

makers. 

This article is part of LeaD4Value 

research project. More information: 

https://lead4value.wordpress.com/. 

The value of 

the investment 

with corrective 

maintenance 

(the current 

maintenance 

approach). 

(Waiting for 

data × Poor 

quality data 

and analyses) 73934 

Annual value 

in total 

55383 

The value of the investment with 

predetermined maintenance (a 

potential maintenance approach). 

Unnecessary 

transfer of 

data 

0 

Unnecessary 

transfer of 

data 

1862 

Unnecessary 

data 

-10413 

-10000 

Unnecessary 

processing of data 

Underutilised 

data management 

resources 

0 

1862 

(Waiting for 

data × Poor 

quality data 

and analyses) 

-10413 

Unnecessary 

processing of 

data 

-10000 

Underutilised 

data 

management 

resources 

Annual 

value in 

total 

-18551 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 

research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie 

grant agreement No 751622. 

REFERENCES 

BS ISO 55001 (2014) Asset Management. Management systems – Requirements. 

BSI Standards Ltd., ISBN 978-0-580-75128-8. 

Bucherer, E., Uckelmann, D. (2011) Business models for the Internet of 

Things, In: Uckelmann, D., Harrison, M., Michahelles, F. (Eds.), Architecting 

the Internet of Things, Springer, e-ISBN 978-3-642-19157-2. 

Diez-Olivan, A. Del Ser, J., Galar, D., Sierra, B. (2019) Data fusion and machine 

learning for industrial prognosis: trends and perspectives towards 

Industry 4.0, Information Fusion, 50, pp. 92-111. 

Günther, W.A., Mehrizi, M.H.R., Huysman, M., Feldberg, F. (2017) Debating 

big data: a literature review on realizing value from big data, Journal of Stra 

tegic Information Systems, 26 (3), pp. 191-209. 

Gupta, S., Sharma, M., Sunder, V.M. (2016) Lean services: a systematic review, 

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 

65 (8), pp. 1025-1056. 

Kans, M. (2013) IT practices within maintenance from a systems perspective, 

Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 24 (5), pp. 768-791. 

Marttonen-Arola, S., Baglee, D. (2019a) Adoption of information-based innovations 

in industrial maintenance, In: Bitran, I., Conn, S., Gernreich, C., 

Heber, M., Huizingh, K.R.E., Kokshagina, O., Torkkeli, M., Tynnhammar, M. 

(Eds.) Proceedings of the XXX ISPIM Innovation Conference – Celebrating 

Innovation – 500 Years Since Da Vinci – 16-19 June 2019 – Florence, Italy, 

Research Reports 93, ISBN 978-952-335-351-0. 

Marttonen-Arola, S., Baglee, D. (2019b) Assessing the information waste in 

maintenance management processes, Accepted for publication in Journal of 

Quality in Maintenance Engineering. 


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