Condition Based Maintenance in Manufacturing Industries: Introducing Current Industrial Practice and Challenges
Condition Based Maintenance in Manufacturing Industries: Introducing Current Industrial Practice and Challenges
Condition Based Maintenance in Manufacturing Industries: Introducing Current Industrial Practice and Challenges
1,2 2 2 2
Ali Rastegari , Antti Salonen , Marcus Bengtsson , Magnus Wiktorsson
1
Operation technical support, Volvo GTO, SE-731 80, Kping, Sweden
2
School of Innovation, Design and Engineering, Mlardalen University, Box 325, 631 05, Eskilstuna, Sweden
Abstract
This paper presents an introductory review of CBM practice applied in manufacturing industry, focusing the
technical constituents within condition monitoring. The empirical base for the study is a case study of two major
manufacturing sites in Sweden, complemented with a brief benchmark of data from two reference
manufacturing sites from France and Brazil. The data from the main studies were collected by interviews and
document analysis. The result indicates that there is a wide range within current practice of applying CBM. The
implementations are dependent on process type (machining, assembly or heat treatment) and product type. By
analysing the empirical data, gaps and challenges for implementing CBM in industry are presented, primarily
focusing condition monitoring within manufacturing industry. The paper concludes with a discussion on
possible future trends and research areas, needed to increase the industrial use of CBM.
Keywords:
Condition based maintenance, Condition monitoring, Preventive maintenance
the case companies, nature of study and data gathering The data analysis from the transcribed interviews was
techniques. based on a clustering technique, where central themes
were identified. The reason of selecting themes is to have
Table 1: Data sources a view on the current level of development in this area and
Case Case Reference Reference making a guide for further research and development.
company A company B comp. C comp. D Moreover, the matrixes were filled-in by the interviewer
based on the answers from the respondents.
Type of Engine Gearbox Engine Engine
product The following result presentation is focused on the CBM
implementation matrixes from the case companies, while
Volume 85 000 95 000 42 000 18 000
the later cross-case discussion is structured according to
per year
the key themes found in the interview protocols.
Proces- Casting, Machining, Stamping Machining,
ses Machining Heat and Assembly,
and treatment Assembly Testing and 4 EMPIRICAL RESULTS
assembly and Painting 4.1 Case A
Assembly
CBM has an important role at the company to provide
Nature of Privileged Non-partici- Document Document management and maintenance responsible people with
study observation patory analysis analysis correct and reliable information. Without this information
observation maintenance decisions are made by guessing. The
Data 3 interviews 3 interviews Forms and Forms and maintenance responsible people have been guessing too
sources with one with two document document much in the past and this experience makes the role of
maintenance managers CBM even more important (e.g. important to understand
manager and and one where to invest money both in renovation process and
two CBM maintenance early equipment management process while buying new
responsible engineer, equipment).
people, Documents Previously, the management did not have a clear idea
Documents about CBM and therefore, CBM organization made efforts
for a couple of years to convince the management that the
company needs more reliable system for CBM, more
The interviews were semi-structured, with a set of resources and so on. Currently, the management is fully
predetermined questions listed in Table 2. In total were six aware of the importance of CBM. In consequence, there is
interviews conducted on the two sites A and B. The a good management support in the CBM area.
interviewees were maintenance managers and There was a CBM organization until five years ago, but
maintenance engineers. Each interview lasted for about after the downturn all the personnel except one were laid
one hour. The interviews were recorded and notes were off. Then, for five years, the company had a CBM
taken in order to strengthen the validity and reliability of the organization with only one person. Today, the company
data. The interviews were transcribed by the interviewer. has just started up a new CBM organization with five
Table 2: Interview guide employees. However, the company expresses an
awareness that it takes a long time, many years, to be
1. What is the role of CBM at your company? Do you see good in this area and before the paybacks can be
CBM as one important factor to implement? expected. Moreover, the company believes that it is
2. Does maintenance management and top management important to have a strategic maintenance to fulfil this long
see CBM strategically important factor in order to fulfil term goal.
technical availability? The level of development of CBM tools is quite good and
3. How is the competence level of your company in the company has invested in a lot of tools over the last two
CBM? What is the reason of lacking knowledge? years (See table 3). They want to drive the development of
4. How is the level of development of CBM tools at your tools. They worked hard to build the instruments and tools
company? that are used for industry (many of these tools are made
5. Do you have online condition monitoring? If yes, what for laboratory or university environment and they are not
type and in which areas (e.g.: machining)? effective in industry). The respondents argue that the tools
6. How do you choose the appropriate condition must be fast and quicker. The company is trying to bring
monitoring technique? Bluetooth solutions to not have to be in the machine while
7. How do you communicate condition monitoring data? measuring, because of safety.
8. What are the main challenges to implement CBM?
The company has a few online systems in vibration
9. What are your future plans?
monitoring, only in the foundry area for two critical places
which are identified as essential for the foundry. These
The data was collected in two formats: online systems work as safety systems, because it is
dangerous for the staff to perform offline condition
Interview protocol monitoring in this environment.
CBM implementation matrix.
Table 3: CBM status map at case A
Temperature/
Force control
Thermograp-
Oil analysis
Production
Geometry
Product Process
Vibration
analysis
analysis
equipment Application
type type
type
hy
Processing x Positioning accuracy (by Laser interferometer)
machines x Vibration and Balancing (by Micro log)
Machining Rough- Repeat accuracy
x
Finnish (by Laser interferometer)
machining x Stability or Milling test
x Geometry check (by Laser tracker)
Engine
Automated Rotation accuracy / Form fault and Temp.
x
Assembly assembly stability
machines x Clamping forks and tool spindle
x -
x Electrical cabinets
All
x External and internal when needed
The company had an old online vibration monitoring One of the main challenges to implement CBM at the
system in the machining area but it has been taken out. company is management support. The management must
The company does not see any need for the online comprehend the importance of the CBMs role at the
system. The reasons they express are: company and provide the resources needed, etc. The
No need to monitor that frequently. other challenge is time. It takes time to educate both
management and CBM responsible people and have a
It is not worth the money. clear common objective. It needs to have a long term
It is better to spend the money in other systems which strategy to change the way of working from reactive
can give more money back. maintenance to proactive maintenance. The company has
The information collected from offline vibration been working with reactive maintenance for many years
monitoring is more useful than online monitoring. This and it takes time to change this culture. In order to
due to the fact that the people are out in the machines decrease maintenance cost, CBM can be a very good
and they can understand different problems. It is a big solution for mechanical wastes and increasing the
benefit. productivity. The management looks at CBM as an
advanced method and it is considered as the next step to
It could be a long time between offline detecting a take. Even simple condition monitoring methods for
problem until it becomes a real problem. So, it would continuously measuring can be counted as CBM, and CBM
be possible to prepare for reparation, renovation, does not need to be considered as an advanced method.
change and so on. There is also a need to standardize practices, methods
However, the company has the interest of having mobile and requirements.
online system which can be located where there is a Consequently, education and training is one of the main
critical problem to monitor, maybe one or several machines future plans of the company to increase the competence
continuously for a specific period of time. Then, it is and certificate personnel in this area. Moreover,
possible to move the system to another location when it is maintenance management wants to invest more resources
needed for another problem. But there are some in research (e.g. in new technologies) and to study the
challenges to have this system, e g the investment cost. effect of new products on the machines. These are being
This system is also resource demanding and needs formulated as a strategy for coming years in order to
allocated people to track the information from the system. develop CBM and reach a certain level of competence.
It may also take some production time in order to measure,
4.2 Case B
due to; (1) it needs to have the same circumstances all the
time while measuring vibration; (2) it needs specified tools Company B sees CBM as an important factor to implement
to have specified details and (3) it has to be repetitive in but currently there is no CBM organization. Only in some
order to trend the manual. In consequence, it is not so small areas do the company has offline condition
easy to build up this system. monitoring. Moreover, some measurements are being
performed during the repairs. The management mentions
The data collected from condition monitoring are analysed
the importance of CBM, but still the organization is not
by the CBM organization which provides recommendations
made for using CBM.
by sending reports directly to maintenance responsible
people in different departments. All reports must be Currently, the company is using corrective maintenance to
implemented as an order number in their CMMS. In solve all kind of problems in workshop with a few
addition, it is needed to set tolerances for all the machines preventive maintenance solutions. There is not time or
in different departments and put the information in the resources within the new organization to work with CBM.
system which requires a lot of work, and is especially hard
for a new machine.
22nd International Conference on Production Research
Temperature/
Force control
Thermograp-
Oil analysis
Production
Geometry
Product Process
Vibration
analysis
analysis
equipment Application
type type
type
hy
x Stone and gauges
Processing x Only on some spindles
Machining
machines x Clamping chucks
x Cutting force monitoring
Automated
Assembly assembly -
Gearbox machines
Heat
x Monitoring of the process in heat treatment
treatment
Temp. stability in electrical cabinets and
x
electrical components
All
Analyse the oil features and measure the
x
amount of particulars
The level of CBM competence at the company is quite low. in most of the machines and also get fingerprint from the
The company is familiar with the tools and measurements new machines. However, the company has invested in
but does not have time to learn how to work with CBM. In a research in this area. There is a plan to implement CBM in
respondents view, maintenance responsible people need a pilot study to have online condition monitoring. In
to work 50-75% of their working time with CBM to get the addition, the management has a clear understanding about
knowledge about it, not only measurement, but also how to the importance of CBM practices and has interest to have
use the data gathered. Also, the level of development of further development in this area.
CBM tools is very low. The company has some tools, as 4.3 Reference company C
shown in Table 4, but they are not used so frequently
because there is no organization. Company C has stamping machines, automated assembly
machines and robots. CBM techniques such as vibration
They do not apply online condition monitoring system, but monitoring, oil analysis and thermography are being
the company has a plan to invest in having online condition performed in product development activities and stamping
monitoring in some of the critical machines. activities, as shown in Table 5. In addition, the company
The data collected from condition monitoring are gathered uses a cracks detection technique in stamping activities as
in a shared computer storage. Maintenance responsible well as thermography in assembly activities.
people are doing some measurements and analyse the The challenge ahead of the company is to apply CBM on
data directly to provide a maintenance plan. the assembly line and select appropriate measurement
The challenge for the company is to have a specific equipment.
department to work with CBM. It needs to implement CBM
Table 5: CBM status map at case C
Temperature/
Force control
Thermograp-
Oil analysis
Production
Geometry
Product Process
Vibration
analysis
analysis
equipment Application
type type
type
hy
x -
Stamping
Stamping x -
machines
Engine x -
Automated
Assembly assembly x Thermal monitoring of the electrical cabinets
machines
Table 6: CBM status map at reference company D
Temperature/
Force control
Thermograp-
Oil analysis
Production
Geometry
Product Process
Vibration
analysis
analysis
equipment Application
type type
type
hy
x Dynamic Balance (Rotor of Exhaust System)
CNC Monitoring of bearing at the CNC machine
Machining
machines x (spindle, drive units, pumps and
dynamometers, exhaust fan)
Automated
Engine Assembly assembly x Measurement for machine tool spindles
machines
Check the overheat at the wires and
x
components of the electrical cabinets
All
Analyse the oil features and measure the
x
amount of particulars
view that how much a breakdown can cost for production resources and competences in this area to be good in
to compare this value with maintenance cost. condition monitoring both in offline and online. However,
There are two views while investing condition based the rest of the companies that dont have a specific
maintenance. In a view a company prefers to invest money organization are also working with CBM tools and
to increase the number of resources and their techniques. CBM is not always an advanced method and
competences in having offline condition monitoring besides even a small offline condition monitoring is considered as
having some online condition monitoring in more critical CBM.
places which safety factor is also important. The other view In order to select an appropriate CBM technique the
is that a company prefers to invest money to have more companies are considering the problems that machines
online condition monitoring on the machines. Obviously, have already had. However, selecting appropriate
this company demands less resources but still needs measurement tools as well as increasing the competence
resources to track the information collected from online in measurement skills and analysing the data, are some of
system and some experts to analyse these data and make the main challenges ahead of the companies to implement
maintenance plan as well as other requirements. CBM.
Both of these two views are resource demanding and need 6.1 Future research
to invest money for different factors such as tools and The performed case study purposed to map the current
instruments, education and training, etc. It is important that CBM techniques applied in the manufacturing industry.
the companies must be aware of the time while Further research to continue this objective would be
implementing CBM. According to the interviews, collected mapping the full process of CBM in the manufacturing
data and analysis in this research, it may take long time to industry including data processing and maintenance
get the paybacks from CBM system. The management decision making.
must give this opportunity to CBM department to grow and
earn sufficient knowledge before getting paybacks. Moreover, one of the case companies showed interest of
having online condition monitoring. A prospective
5.4 Witnessed main challenges in implementing CBM continuation of this research could be to follow and
Currently, the companies are attempting to apply the CBM investigate in having online condition monitoring on some
techniques in most of their key machines, which demands of the critical machines at the manufacturing company as a
increase in competences to use these techniques pilot study. The results from this pilot study can illustrate
effectively. Nevertheless, management support is one of how much these practices are applicable and cost effective
the main challenges. It is needed to change the culture of in the manufacturing industry and also it could be a good
the companies from reactive to proactive strategies. The guide for further research and development in this area.
companies have been working with reactive strategies for
many years and it needs time and of course more
7 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
knowledge to change this perspective to a proactive
strategy. In other words, it is necessary to convince the The authors would like to thank the participating
management and the maintenance responsible people that companies for their engagement in the case studies. The
working with proactive maintenance tools such as CBM is research work has been funded by the KK-foundation
a need for the companies future success in the (within the INNOFACTURE research school), Volvo GTO
competitive environment. and Mlardalen University. The research work is also a
5.5 Future plan for CBM at the case companies part of the initiative for Excellence in Production Research
(XPRES) one of two governmentally funded strategic
The companies are trying to train their employees to initiatives for research excellence within Production
increase their competence in this area which is one of the Engineering in Sweden.
main challenges for the future. In addition to this, the
companies have interest in having more advanced tools for
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