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Articles

Data-Driven Decision-Making for Predictable Production

How to Gain Timely and Accurate Data Insights to Optimize Asset Performance and Reliability

Data-driven decisions are those backed up by hard evidence; reliable and trustworthy data, rather than intuition, gut instinct, or guesswork. However, the abundance of data that is generated from Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices and multiple siloed sources makes it difficult to analyze. The worst thing that can happen is that critical data is missing, remains hidden, or is incorrect. So, how do you know you have the correct information to make the right decision at the right time?

Internet of Things Digitalization (IoT)

Digital Transformation: Vehicle or Final Objective?

Digital transformation (DT) has become a common conversational theme in the industrial and academic arena. Plenty of articles have been published describing the urgent need to embrace DT initiatives and the potential benefits of doing so. Yet, many of these DT initiatives do not offer a clear goal of what is to be achieved.

Asset Condition Management

How to Detect Pump Valve Failures in Positive Displacement Pumps: Case Study

This case study describes a proven method for detecting failures in the suction or discharge valves inside positive displacement pumps using a unique method of vibration analysis. The determination to find a reliable method of detection led to a greater understanding of equipment and processes, from working with the vendor to implementing a design change. This case study describes a journey from repeated failures to improved equipment reliability and lower maintenance costs.

Reliability Engineering for Maintenance

Value Stream Mapping as a Tool for Waste Time Elimination: A Case Study

One lean manufacturing tool used to eliminate non-added-value activities in production lines is value stream mapping (VSM). VSM identifies wastage of resources and eliminates or reduces them to improve productivity. VSM clearly shows the ineffectiveness of action, measures the waste level and supports in designing the appropriate changes, independently and economically.

Asset Management

Maintenance Rebuild Decision: Reuse or Replace

An often debated subject on maintenance rebuilds is exactly which parts or components should be replaced. There are two extremes when making this decision. There is a balance in replace or reuse to achieve the proper reliability and cost balance. This article will give some considerations around decisions to reuse or replace when executing maintenance.

Work Execution Management

Avoid DOWNTIME: Write Standard Operating Procedures

Write standard operating procedures (SOPs) to drive maximum efficiency on the manufacturing floor, in the restaurant, across the school campus, in the warehouse and in the fleet. Implement SOPs and regulatory checklists to ensure your operations are consistent across your company and to streamline business processes.

Work Execution Management

Keeping Critical Production Assets Running

Pieridae Energy is Canada’s only independent, publicly-traded LNG company, focused on developing the multi-billion Goldboro LNG Project and export facility off Canada’s East Coast, supplied with Canadian natural gas that the company owns. Prior to the project, Pieridae Energy's existing system was not able to manage nor meet all of their operations and maintenance processes.

Does High Voltage Testing Damage A Motor?

Asset Condition Management

Motor Insulation Life Curve

Maintenance professionals tasked with maintaining electric motor reliability are often concerned with testing their critical motors at voltages well above nameplate levels. It can certainly feel counterintuitive to test a 460V motor to 2,000V or a 4,160V motor to 9,320V. After all, the motor is only rated for this lower voltage, right?

Internet of Things Digitalization (IoT)

Q&A with Stéphane Côté of Bentley Systems

Uptime^® magazine recently met with Stéphane Côté, Fellow and Research Director in Bentley Systems’ Applied Research Group. Côté’s work explores the potential of augmented reality in the context of infrastructure engineering. Last spring, he and his team experimented with Microsoft^® HoloLens^TM, an augmented reality device that will shape how all of us will work going forward. Côté talked with us about the HoloLens itself, the benefits of implementing it, and much more.