Many manufacturers operate at high volumes, and unplanned production downtime is costly. Often these line down situations are the result of production machine failures that could be avoided if data from the machine was available to anticipate the failure so a planned repair could take place in a standard maintenance window.
The answer to prevention of unplanned downtime is condition-based maintenance (CBM). CBM can help prevent some downtime, or at least just lessen its impact. In legacy models, the cost of preventative maintenance is high enough to warrant applying a rubric. If the cost of disruption is high enough, then traditional monitoring solutions may be brought to bear to prevent (or more likely reduce) downtime. These features are important because of the following benefits:
First-time fix rates and overall repair efficiency are improved. While much of IIoT’s benefits for asset management and productivity can be attributed to preventing downtime, we’ll likely never realize downtime-free manufacturing. IIoT platforms can integrate and utilise dashboards, diagnostics and even augmented reality (AR) solutions to improve speed of repair. After all, if you can’t always prevent downtime, the next-best option is reducing its duration and cost.
IIoT platforms still represent an emerging market, and manufacturers should approach them judiciously. However, good judgement shouldn’t be confused with overabundant caution. Given that asset management is one of a myriad of ways that market-leaders are using IIoT to separate themselves from their competitors, manufacturers should understand that the ground between adopters and laggards is only going to expand. That’s why Gartner’s first Magic Quadrant for Industrial IoT is so invaluable, and why we’re making it available to you.
Effective asset management has long been a key concern for businesses looking to balance productivity with costeffectiveness, efficiency with innovation. But the IoT era has made it even more crucial – and more complex. To stay ahead in the dynamic, digitally driven world of the IoT, organisations need to redefine asset management and use automation to share the burden.
Read the Insight Guide to find out how the IoT can redefine asset management.