{"id":6308,"date":"2025-03-23T08:47:11","date_gmt":"2025-03-23T14:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/limblecmms.com\/?p=6308"},"modified":"2025-05-30T12:58:50","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T18:58:50","slug":"monitoring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/limblecmms.com\/blog\/monitoring\/","title":{"rendered":"Machine Monitoring: Why It Is Manufacturing’s Best Friend"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row kd_background_image_position=”vc_row-bg-position-top”][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]<\/span>Production, machines, and maintenance are mutually interdependent. Changes in one area will always affect the remaining two. Machine monitoring is here to ensure that you always make the right changes, at the most opportune time.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the coming paragraphs, we outline how machine monitoring works, why it is becoming increasingly popular with manufacturers, and steps to implement a machine monitoring system.<\/span><\/p>\n

A brief history of machine monitoring<\/span><\/h2>\n

The modern manufacturing shop floor has a variety of machining equipment for various processes. <\/span>This diversity has made it highly challenging for shop managers to monitor and maintain their machines.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From the start of the industrial revolution up until the last few decades, the monitoring of machines was done through a manual collection of machine data. The collected data was often filled with bias as it was driven by human experience and knowledge.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Since the machines were relatively simple, with no sophisticated controls, the information was still satisfactory. We were able to use it to produce simple decisions on how to sustain the status quo of their operation and maintenance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With increasing market forces, the need to establish production efficiency, and new technologies emerging in the field of machine controls, the need to incorporate advanced machine monitoring systems has gained significant traction in the manufacturing industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our 2021 maintenance survey<\/span><\/a> shows that around 50% of manufacturers have some experience with <\/span>condition-based maintenance<\/span><\/a>. So, in one way or another, the majority of manufacturers have already been in touch with some type of machine monitoring systems.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How does machine monitoring work?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Put simply, <\/span>machine monitoring is a systematic process of recording condition data from any machine with a goal to assess its performance and determine its health. Machine monitoring provides a reliable, consistent and high-quality stream of data to operators, maintainers, and engineers\/designers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The data can be used in a variety of ways, from adjusting production speed and maintenance schedules to improving future machine designs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"How<\/p>\n

1. Data retrieval<\/span><\/h3>\n

Depending upon the complexity of the machine, the data collection process could range from simple observations made by a machine inspector up to a network of advanced sensors that automatically collect complex information about the subsystems and components of the machine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Depending on what you want to track, some data has to be collected manually. For example, man-hours spent on maintenance, parts and tools used for the repair, visual inspection and troubleshooting notes are the types of data you have to collect by hand. The process can be partially automated by using a <\/span>capable CMMS system<\/span>.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The main focus of most machine monitoring systems is tracking machine conditions and its operational parameters<\/b>. With suitable sensors, you can track parameters like pressure, flow, temperature, vibration, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, monitoring bearing and coupling vibration in rotary machines as pumps or compressors can determine its current and future health, thus preventing unexpected downtime. Similarly, a rapid, unusual temperature change is often a result of increased friction, signifying a lack of lubrication and impending machine failure if not attended to in time.<\/span><\/p>\n

A few other examples of data that can be recorded include, but are not limited to:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Machine status<\/b>: The monitoring system can give the machine’s status like ON\/OFF, run rate, cycle start and stop, part complete, and machine speed.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Product attributes<\/b>: The product attribute would include physical and chemical characteristics of the product handled by the machine such as temperature, pressure, flow, vibrations, specific gravity, humidity, etc.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Quality data<\/b>: Includes data like <\/span>First pass yield<\/span><\/a> (FPY; indicates a line’s production and quality performance) and scrap rate.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Reliability and availability data<\/b>: Machine reliability and availability parameters along with <\/span>machine utilization rates<\/span><\/a> can also be collected automatically – such as machine energization and energization times, energy consumption, machine failure logs, and standby\/layover times.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Maintainability data<\/b>: Knowing unplanned and planned machine downtime for specific machines can be very insightful. Maintenance teams can combine that data with <\/span>maintenance metrics<\/span><\/a> like <\/span>MTTR<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>MTBF<\/span><\/a> to evaluate the effectiveness of their actions, optimize their maintenance schedules, and calculate cost-effectiveness of used spare parts and machines.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Energy consumption<\/b>: Focuses on tracking electricity usage for each machine and the amount of energy that has been saved throughout the year.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    What you end up tracking should be based on operational requirements, manufacturer\u2019s recommendations, and machine reliability and maintainability requirements.<\/b><\/p>\n

    2. Data transfer<\/span><\/h3>\n

    The magnitude of collected data can be overwhelming if not organized and stored in a secure place. To enable consistent interpretation and meaningful analysis, the real-time data has to be neatly and safely stored.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    The advanced machine monitoring systems are cloud-based, which means that the collected data is sent through the (wireless) network and stored on a cloud server. This enables real-time tracking and analysis, which, among other things, creates the foundation for <\/span>predictive maintenance<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

    An alternative method that some small manufacturers use for simpler machines is real-time data transfers within the machine\u2019s internal hard disk as off-line machine logs. In this scenario, the operator has to regularly go to the machine and download logs for further analysis and direction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    While the offline logs obviously cannot produce real-time recommendations, they can be used by design engineers to analyze emerging failure modes and improve machine designs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    3. Data analysis\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

    Once the data is collected and stored, it has to be analyzed to derive meaningful insights. The analysis is often performed automatically by predictive algorithms. They are written to analyze the incoming data and compare it with baseline and historical information to estimate future performance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    The analytics is then used to generate real-time operating and maintenance recommendations and warnings.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    For example, a sensor on a CNC machine can provide real-time information about the intake current from the servomotor. In case of motor overload, it can send instant notification, cautioning the operator about the possible malfunction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    A smart approach is to merge several parameters into a single metric that defines the overall productivity of the machine – like <\/span>Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)<\/span><\/a>. The machine monitoring systems can be leveraged to calculate OEE in real-time, for all the critical equipment installed on the shop floor, and thus determine the overall effectiveness of the plant operation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Benefits of machine monitoring systems<\/span><\/h2>\n

    There are many benefits of sampling and understanding machine performance and condition data:\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n