The dawning of condition monitoring and predictive maintenance in the machinery health industry

The machinery health industry is at the heart of many applications today, down to the monitoring of each bearing and pump rotation. From shipping containers, cruise liners, to manufacturing and the automotive sectors, the smooth running of machinery is the chief concern of engineers. The annual scheduling of manual maintenance checks has been the modus operandi for decades but is no longer seen as the most efficient system.

What happens during the rest of the year between inspections, if the filters get blocked and cause pump cavitation? An untimely pump overhaul is expensive, costing thousands, especially when it was only the filters that needed changing in the first place.

CMServices Global is a leading consultancy, offering AI condition monitoring to diverse sectors from marine and offshore, automotive, manufacturing, food and beverage, postal sorting through to chemical, oil and gas.

Condition monitoring involves the real-time tracking of machine functionality but with the added bonus of predictive maintenance and remote diagnostics across a whole system. AI brings automated processing to the table and with that, a superior result-driven accuracy. Predictive maintenance analyses senor data previously installed on equipment to determine when maintenance is needed. AI can analyse huge chunks of data in real-time and identify patterns proactively, before a problem arises, such as pump cavitation. This allows on-site engineers to schedule checks and repairs before a more costly machine failure or malfunction occurs, later down the line.

We spoke to Director: Simon Edmondson for more insight, “Our software has been precision-designed to ascertain faults, using strategic comparison to known fault signatures. The cause of the problem can be quickly sourced, saving unnecessary downtime and costly repairs. Through continuous AI monitoring, anomalies can be spotted before further catastrophe strikes, through the smart analysis of sensor data and the comparison to standard historical data.”

“Traditionally, service engineers respond to faults manually but our computer-generated system spots the fault before it materialises at the early stage. This early detection system can essentially save companies thousands in downtime and repairs.”

“For some companies, asset optimisation allows them to really hone in on energy usage or machine productivity.”

“We are confident in the accuracy of our Maintenance in Balance (MiB) software service. Just in the marine industry alone, the annual lifecycle costs of operating one ship amounts to £60M and a third of the annual budget is spent on repair and maintenance, to keep ships buoyant and operational. Yet studies show that a staggering 60% of all maintenance is actually unnecessary and can in fact cause more issues going forward. As a total 80% of unplanned maintenance is not age-related and circumvents inspects and service, there has been growing demand for an AI-driven, continuous, accurate and automated condition monitoring and maintenance platform to be designed and implemented.”

“MiB creates a bespoke integrated software platform for prescriptive maintenance monitoring on machinery and all systems, which results in a real-time ‘helicopter view’ of the set-up, from each vessel.”

Maintenance in Balance (MiB) ingeniously combines Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to supply diagnostic support for assets, through condition monitoring techniques that identify anomalies and provide further diagnostic guidance. The MiB asset condition assessment software provides a cutting-edge, integrated platform for foresighted ship machinery maintenance.

MiB drastically reduces inspection and maintenance costs, up to £500 thousand per ship across the year, with predictive fault monitoring and can decrease ship downtime from 7 to 1.5 days. What’s more, MiB helps shipping vessels meet compliant seaworthy regulations, giving quality assurance.

MiB has the added benefits of supplying an extra level of real-time prescriptive maintenance outputs, based on accurate condition and systems performance data and provides next-level operational performance across safety, regulatory, environmental and business areas.

CMServices Global is the brainchild of Simon, who after a career in the Royal Navy and subsequent petroleum industry saw first-hand the importance of accurate, efficient marine maintenance. The company was established in 2016, when CMServices was asked to consult and then join a government-funded grant programme in 2019, highlighting the importance of AI in the shipping business. Simon quickly realised that the same type of programme could be replicated across many different industries, offering an ingenious way to offer condition monitoring.

“We work on a global scale, across Europe, USA, Asia and Australia, supporting many on and offshore companies.”

“CMServices Engineers are maritime professionals, with expertise in vibration/IR technology but we are looking to extend our services further to the other sectors like manufacturing and the renewable energy sector, namely wind turbines.”

“It is impossible to analyse wind-turbines in real-time, due to the fluctuating nature of gearboxes, generators, bearings, through to the speed of the rotating blades. Our state-of-the-art AI-system will demonstrate condition monitoring and predictive maintenance, allowing wind farms across the UK to save money and time on repairs,” concluded Simon.

For more information on MiB and other services, please see the website below: https://cmservicesglobal.com