With the idea of predictive maintenance services still newer to some businesses, it is important to help those businesses understand what it is and the benefits that it offers. Most electric motor operations likely find the idea of preventative maintenance common knowledge. However, as technology for industrial equipment advances, so do the techniques involved in maintaining it. This “next step” in the maintenance of equipment comes in predicting its needs rather than reacting to them.
Predictive maintenance services vs. preventative
Predictive maintenance services are similar to preventative maintenance. But, rather than looking to only prevent damage from occurring due to wear and tear, this type of maintenance takes this concept one step further. Where preventative maintenance looks to prevent at regularly scheduled intervals of time, predictive looks to prevent problems only as necessary.
Not only does this save on labor costs, but also parts costs. Labor costs are cut through fewer, more targeted visits. And, knowing the exact lifespan of your equipment means always having it ready without overbuying. With the right gear and experience from a company like Rocky Mount Electric Motor on your side, you’ll save more over time without sacrificing any operational capabilities.
How is it done?
With predictive maintenance, different methods exist to maintain equipment. Some of these include but are not limited to:
1. Motion amplification
Through vibration analysis, motion amplification services help visualize unseen issues. By capturing footage of your electric motor with a high-powered camera, any deflection, displacement, movement, and vibration is seen. This allows for an accurate diagnostic of equipment and allows a proper predictive maintenance plan to be developed. Regular vibration analysis won’t necessarily find these trouble areas that motion amplification will, so we recommend motion amplification as the superior option.
2. Lubrication services
Predicting where unnecessary wear and tear occurs also includes a proper lubrication schedule for machinery. Because electric motors have so many moving components, wear and tear is a common problem when not predicted. By working with experienced electric motor technicians, their knowledge-driven understanding of the motor and its component parts means properly lubricating a system where predicted rubbing and wear would have otherwise occurred.
3. Oil Analysis
A low price point and important solution, oil analysis keeps machinery running smoothly. Oil that has run inside of your electric motor may show signs of corrosion or metal-on-metal contact occurring. These are discovered by running an analysis on the oil. When done by an electric motor maintenance team, reports are put together and are often extensive and extremely informative. The information gathered from those reports clues in your maintenance team as to what goes on inside the motor and helps to predict where failures within may occur. This allows your team to perform proactive maintenance and service to keep everything running.
Through these methods and more, your electric motor maintenance team helps your operation avoid costly downtime. The investment in these predictive services ends up saving you the costs involved with new parts, replacement labor, and more that would otherwise be much more.
Rocky Mount Electric Motor cannot overstate how important it is to change your operation from a reactive one to a proactive one. Through a baseline reading of machinery, predictive maintenance is one of the best tools to use to compare those baselines with current analysis results. With these techniques, electric motors last longer, run better, and won’t fail when you need them most. If you want to learn more, you can get a great overview from the learning resources provided by EASA.
Although we are more than happy to provide repairs once they are necessary, prediction and prevention is key to a strong operation. Our electric motor expertise and customer service always provide an unmatched experience. Give us a call to schedule your motor’s predictive maintenance today!