Ascenix

Developing a Proposal Tailored to Your Needs

Applications of model based fault detection technology through MCM, had been in a wide range of industries with diverse needs.  For example, some customers purchased MCMs as their primary continous monitoring equipment.  They have fully integrated them onto their plant monitoring and control systems in order to perform live monitoring 24/7.  Others did not need continous monitoring but utilized MCMs as their primary tool in their predictive maintenance programs.  They quickly identified motors at various stages of failure in order to get to them on-time.  The diagnostic reports of MCM provided the greatest help to them in maintaining these motors effectively, as well.  Yet a third group of customers, utilized MCMs just to supplement their existing continous monitoring systems that may be heavily relying on other technologies, such as vibration analysis.  These customers highly valued the insight that MCM provided them about the condition of the driven machinery.

Which are your specific needs in preventing downtime ?  What are the critical and/or hard to reach motors that MCMs can best serve ? Identifying them is the first step. 

Model Based Fault Detection Technology Implementation

ArtesisMCM is a continous monitoring device, thus, an average implementation generally involves around 50 MCMs for selected critical motors in your plant.  The implementation conceptually starts during the development of a proposal tailored to your needs, which generally invovles a site survey and maintenance management meetings.  This is essentially a service proposal for an initial period of 3-years and it includes the installation and commisioning of the equipment needed.

The proposals outline the specifications of a turnkey system and the details of the services being provided.  They generally reflect the following aspects of the system and the services:

         A. Engineering Services:  Design, Installation and Integration
                  i).  Equipment Installation
                              - Number of MCMs to be installed by type of motor
                              - Number of current transformers and other peripheral devices
                              - Wiring and networking connections diagram
                              - Engineering hours to complete the installation
                  ii) MCMScada Software Integration
                             - Specs for software integration
                             - Network integration diagrams
                             - Engineering hours for integration and/or installation

           B. Reliability Support Services:  Training, Coaching and Reporting
                   - Off-site training hours
                   - On-site training hours
                   - Technical and Diagnostic Support Hours (calls, e-mails)
                   - Frequency of on-site visits
                   - Frequency of program monitoring communication (calls, e-mails)
                   - Reporting frequency and detail (sample report)
                   - Frequency of program reviews

            C. Consulting Services: Executive Reporting
                   - Baseline definition
                   - Established goals and timeline
                   - Annual review meetings

Assessing the Coaching, Training and Reporting Requirements

The most important part of your Model Based Fault Detection implementation project is its integration into your predictive maintenance program.  This is when you will see the biggest benefits.  This is when all the MCM users saw the biggest benefits: when MCM was fully integrated, not just in terms of hardware, but also in terms of the tasks and processes in the utilization of its results.  Any implementation of a project that relies on a new technology, no matter how simplistic the technology is, needs proper support and services to be provided with it.  Model based fault detection technology is a simplistic technology, yet it is a new one.  Thus, Ascenix is committed to providing support and services at every stage of its implementation.

MCM's installation is non-intrusive.
The alarm levels on its front panel are simplistic.
The diagnostic features on the GUI are straightforward and do not require trending analysis.
Yet, its results still needs to be properly utilized for it to deliver all of its benefits.

This would require:
a) on-site and off-site training
b) coaching/program monitoring while MCM becomes part of the existing maintenance program
c) consultations on the root-cause analysis when failure modes are detected and possible remedies
d) providing reviews on the condition of the monitored machinery to suggest any improvements in the processes.

The customers who have effectively utilized MCM in their maintenance processes, obtained great results and are expanding their installed base within the same plant or in other plants of their corporate group.  Unfortunately, we did not see the same benefits realized for some early customers who had installed MCMs but utilized them only haphazaradly (only when there was an imminent failure, for example, or utilizing it for post-failure analysis).

Thus, we have defined a 3 year service period with each MCM purchase.  This allows us to ensure that you get the maximum benefits from MCM and obtain a return far greater than your initial investment.