Using data that SiteWatch 360 regularly captures, we've developed a useful, but not complex, Maintenance Interval Guide.
Our Guide doesn't try to recommend maintenance intervals for all types of machines made by multiple manufacturers, but instead provides relevant operating information to plant managers, engineers and operators, who need to determine the appropriate interval for maintaining any particular machine, depending on the importance of the machine, its age, it's maintenance history, and it's daily/weekly/monthly work-load.
Maintenance intervals in many plants are typically calendar-based (i.e.: "we'll change the oil in the compressors every 6 months").
A better solution is to base it on running hours (i.e.: "we'll change the oil in the compressors every 2000 hours"), but this doesn't take into account the load on the compressor(s) for each running hour. It's one thing if the average load is 40% and a totally different thing if its 85%.
A much better solution is to use the information on any one machine, or a group of machines (e.g. a production line) that's provided by our Guide, that includes but is not limited to…
- Total running hours
- Peak demand
- Total power usage
- Average load
- Load factor
- Time above FLA
- # of load/unload cycles per hour or per day
- # of stop/starts per shift or per day
Our goal is not to make specific recommendations for equipment of all kinds, but instead to provide relevant data on the loads and likely wear and tear for any given machine. We can add more or different variables if our customers have specific requests.