GE Acquires Commtest, Enhances Bently Nevada Condition Monitoring Portfolio

GE Energy’s Bently Nevada product line, a global leader in condition monitoring, will incorporate Commtest products into its portfolio and enhance an already robust lineup. Bently Nevada provides machinery protection and condition monitoring for refineries, petrochemical plants, power plants and wind farms. With more than 50 years of experience, Bently Nevada has built a reputation for improving the reliability and performance of critical production assets like turbines, compressors, motors and generators.

As a major component of predictive maintenance, condition monitoring is essential to increase asset longevity. Through condition monitoring, plant managers constantly receive data that provides input about the health of their machinery. For example, by knowing the vibration behavior and temperature of certain assets, managers can make strategic decisions about preventative maintenance to avoid asset fatigue, breakdown and failure. This is especially critical in the oil and gas and power industries where failed assets potentially cost hundreds of thousands of dollars a day in lost production revenue and increased operating and maintenance costs.

“The acquisition of Commtest allows us to significantly upgrade our portable vibration data collection and analysis capabilities,” explained Art Eunson, general manager for GE’s Bently Nevada product line. “Bently has an extensive portfolio of continuous monitoring solutions, sensors and transducers, software and supporting diagnostic instillation services, but the Commtest acquisition will help us bring our customers a more integrated offering that takes into account the health of the entire plant.”

Commtest is based in Christchurch, New Zealand, and primarily focuses on producing vibration analysis and monitoring equipment. Vibration analysis detects early signs of impending machine failure so managers can proactively direct repairs and make replacements before they encounter expensive failures. The vbSeries are an improvement over traditional, portable walk-around routines. They offer ease-of-use, cost-effectiveness and up-to-the-minute data collection. The acquisition of Commtest-the latest example of how GE provides end-to-end offerings-provides GE customers the benefits of highly reliable and accurate machinery condition monitoring for the total plant.

“With any acquisition, we look for companies and products that have a natural fit and will enhance the solutions we are currently offering,” Eunson noted. “The vibration and monitoring equipment provided by Commtest elevates the Bently offering.”