I don’t know where to start

With so many options existing for investing in technology to optimize operations, how do you decide on what, or where to invest. Because Operations Technology has evolved over decades, it is often a potpourri of standards and closed systems that have focused on interlocks and integrations to make production systems that work every day. Here are the top three challenges my customers talk to me about:

1. “There is so much data spread across different systems that it’s difficult to even understand what is going on.”
2. “I have so many alarms from my OT systems that I just ignore them.”
3. “I don’t know what will drive the greatest value for my business.”

Organizations continue to do preventive maintenance, asset by asset, without investing in their ability to identify the indicators of failure. So how do leaders make more educated decisions about their operations and maintenance strategy to drive growth for the business? They invest in tools that enable them to view their operations holistically and systematically. It is all about gleaning deeper insights from the existing data through the use of AI and predictive analytics, at enterprise scale. This means the tool has to be three things:

1. Fast to deploy
2. Easy to use
3. Cost effective

Remote asset monitoring, and the use of AI-powered anomaly detection is the answer.

Clients are finding value in the ability to reduce unplanned downtime and operational risk associated with their current systems, taking greater control of production schedules and output. This enhances any predictive maintenance efforts and could drive a 15% to 25% increase in equipment efficiency.

With more information often comes more complexity

If we rely on standard approaches and models, we already know that more data does not equal greater insight. But, if we are able to analyze the massive data volumes to filter out the noise, and augment our ability to understand and decide how we react, we can find a wealth of value.

So how do we use remote asset monitoring to enhance the control, and drive return from our assets? Our clients typically find value in the following areas.

Unplanned downtime

The biggest driver of lost revenue for industrial businesses is when production capabilities go down unexpectedly. Unplanned downtime accounts for up to 6% of scheduled run-time in industrial companies, according to APQC studies. AI-powered anomaly detection showcases indicators of imminent failure, alerting you to avoid the missed revenue altogether.

Repeat work orders

Repeat work orders are the equivalent of rework and scrap from a labor perspective. These do-overs cost companies millions in failure to achieve a first-time fix rate of more than 80%. This means that 2 out of 10 work orders have a high probability of being redone, most often due to misdiagnosis of the issue leading for failure to rectify. With remote asset monitoring, the deeper insights provided by machine learning help support systemic analysis and, as the system learns, it can more effectively diagnose the root-causes of variations and anomalies within the production line or operating asset. This ensures that technicians are fixing the right problem, and the whole problem.

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)

OEE is a ratio that is used to measure your whole operation, which makes it more challenging to capture and use. It provides a continuous measure of productivity resulting from monitoring availability, performance, and quality. World-class OEE is considered around 85%, but most organizations hover in the 60% range.

Improving OEE is dependent on increasing the speed and uptime of operations, while reducing the causes of scrap that reduce output and cause rework. This requires insight into all areas of production in real-time, as well as the ability to predict and prevent issues before they can stop production or create defects in the outputs. Remote asset monitoring lets you keep your eyes on the impacts of issues across the whole of your operations, understanding the impact that asset performance may have on product or service quality, as well as the impacts starts and stops on a line have on your planned and unplanned measures.

Planned downtime

This is the time that operations is offline for maintenance, repairs or change-over activities. There is always a need to give systems a rest, and execute backlog items, or get ahead of planned maintenance. For larger organizations and mission critical operations, planned downtime needs to be minimized, while the maintenance activity needs to be optimized to reduce risks during the next period of production. With remote asset monitoring, you get the ability to understand when issues may start to arise and make planning decisions that help you tackle multiple birds with one stone, or line stop, if you will.

These are just a few of the areas where better monitoring helps drive better management and maintenance of your operations. Check out how the IBM Maximo Monitor ROI calculator can help you quantify the costs and risks in your operations and show you the clear ROI Maximo Monitor can bring to your operations.