Sensors with increasing intelligence, instrumentation, digital networks and advanced diagnostic algorithms combine to provide the tools necessary to accomplish the task. All of these tools produce large amounts of information that usually get locked away into large database vaults.

Writing on the concept of “Big Data” in the November 2011 issue of Popular Science magazine, Rena Marie Pacella says, “A database isn’t a vault—it’s a garden.” This statement excellently captures modern trends, even in industrial automation applications. Information should be cultivated and picked in various units to provide nourishment for optimizing manufacturing—both the utilization side and the availability side. Here, we look at cultivating information such that the efforts of the maintenance team may be optimized so that asset availability may be improved.

You might think that it takes a very expensive and time-consuming software project to accomplish a major upgrade that provides better asset performance and monitoring. But how about a smaller project whose results are “more reliable and accurate plus more mistake-proof, [where]critical audits are better, and make the job so much easier?” Mike Moyer, corporate quality manager for Solar Atmospheres, a global vacuum furnace OEM and commercial heat treater for the aerospace industry, uses those words to describe a recent project.

“I’ve been in the business for 22 years, and the recorders that Eurotherm (a part of Invensys Operations Management (www.invensys.com) the Plano, Texas automation supplier) has devised are one of the best monetization retrofits in our history,” he says. Solar Atmosphere’s furnaces must operate in accordance with the SAE AMS2750 standard for heat treating metals. The company’s previous monitoring system involved a paper-based strip chart recorder connected to nine thermocouples configured into zones. There would then be lots of data on the strip of paper, and manual data entry into a spreadsheet. Then someone would have to find the high and low thermocouple in the period, and look at the thermocouple certifications to make any necessary corrections.

After the retrofit, a video graphic recorder captures the data. Engineers open a utility, add the thermocouple correction factors plus other data (such as which furnace was measured), then the utility adds it all in and exports a report that is in line with AMS2750 reporting requirements. Implementation was not very difficult and “using the system was easy” says Moyer. “Everyone has PCs, so this was just one more application on a PC to check.”

Moyer says the new system makes the job much easier. “In the past when a job was done, we’d tear off the paper and attach it to the order to make it a part of the permanent record. But it was just marks on a piece of paper. Any analysis had to be done manually,” says Moyer. “Today we can enter batch times and track the data down later. We had some qualms about acceptance of digital data versus paper, but our customers had many younger engineers who had already embraced digital technology. They embraced this with open arms.”

Kim Cousteau, director of product marketing for Avantis ( http://iom.invensys.com/EN/Pages/Avantis.aspx), a part of Invensys Operations Management in Burlington, Ontario, adds, “The key is being able to capture all that information and keep track of not only the data but also the records around assets. One idea we’re working on is a ‘heat map’ concept to graphically display by criticality those areas in need of attention. Then we display the next action that must be taken. The heat map considers the criticality of the asset, plus information on the condition. This hardware/software solution aids maintenance productivity by transforming data into information.”

Honeywell Process Solutions ( www.honeywellprocess.com), the Phoenix process automation supplier, is also polishing its asset manager solutions, according to Chris Stearns, product manager for advanced solutions. “The idea is to take data and put it in format so the user knows where to focus time and attention. They might have thousands of instruments, but no way to figure out what’s the most important thing. Or maybe maintenance is causing a problem while trying to be proactive,” says Stearns.

Focus on wireless

Stearns notes that the large amount of rotating equipment, and consequent vibration analysis, in a plant can be a challenge. “The larger motors or turbines might get attention, but lots of others might not. Maybe tech goes around once a year or so to check things out,” he says. “So, we’re focusing on wireless to get that information. Managers don’t want highly trained techs wandering around just gathering data, so ...