By: Danny Blackford,
Remote Diagnostics Reliability Professional, Allied Reliability,
blackfordd@alliedreliability.com

What do you think of when you hear the term ‘remote’? Probably operating something from a distance – cars, planes, or maybe televisions? What about a Condition Monitoring Program?

Let me ask you a few other questions. Do you have a Condition Monitoring Program at all? Do you collect data at your facility that never gets analyzed? Do your analysts have the experience and qualification needed to make correct recommendations based on the findings from your equipment? Is employee turnover an issue for retention of those qualified analysts?

In today’s challenging economic climate, companies are continually looking for ways to maximize the return on their maintenance investment. It has long since been accepted that condition monitoring provides the best opportunity for early defect detection and root cause identification and is the staple for the majority of targeted failure mode-based maintenance strategies. The difficulty many organizations face during the development and implementation stage is that the correct resources and specialized skill sets are not available on site. Many organizations also find it cost prohibitive to build this capability on their own and from the ground up.

Yes, building a Condition Monitoring Program takes time and a lot of capital and training. And it can be difficult to achieve consistency in a Condition Monitoring Program. But there is a solution that can ease the burden of establishing these programs, lead to more consistent and effective activities and results, and provide a number of other benefits for your organization.

It’s simpler than you think… when you utilize a Remote Diagnostics Program.

What Is ‘Remote Diagnostics’?

Remote Diagnostics is a condition monitoring application method that utilizes on-site resources for technology-specific data collection and off-site contract resources for data analysis. By using a combination of resources to perform routine condition monitoring activities, splitting up data collection and analysis responsibilities, you can produce a low-cost model for your Condition Monitoring Program.

Depending on a company’s needs, a provider of Remote Diagnostics may recommend a condition monitoring model where the company’s own resources are utilized for technology-specific data collection or a hybrid approach that makes use of contractor personnel to gather the data. This hybrid approach reduces the time and travel requirements for contracted services, enabling a lower-cost solution. This shared application also utilizes the unique expertise of all participants, allowing for a quick implementation with highly skilled resources, which can generate rapid results.

When Is Remote Diagnostics the Right Model for Your Plant?

Companies who find themselves in any of the following situations should consider choosing a Remote Diagnostics program:

A Remote Diagnostics method may also be very attractive to organizations that value internal participation in technology use and are also trying to build internal skill sets for further condition monitoring coverage or applications.

How Does Remote Diagnostics Work?

Figure 1: Remote Diagnostics

A Remote Diagnostics model breaks down the individual tasks necessary for a successful Condition Monitoring Program and utilizes a cooperative effort between contract site resources to complete these responsibilities. Duties are typically split up to accommodate two separate avenues of responsibility that inherently follow individual areas of expertise, which pairs the best of both worlds as site resources responsible for data collection are equipment history and process knowledgeable while the Remote Diagnostics analyst is a certified and qualified condition monitoring specialist.

On-site resources should focus on the collection and submission of routine data, as well as qualitative equipment observations. The on-site team should also play a key role as the communications link and act as the investigative arm of the Remote Diagnostics team, providing concrete feedback and insights into scenarios and observations.

The off-site Remote Diagnostics team resources focus on the analysis of supplied data. It is imperative that the Remote Diagnostics technicians are technology certified and have the understanding and background to assess asset health based on applied technologies. Remote Diagnostics resources will then provide comprehensive condition assessments and corrective action recommendations to the on-site team. The role of training and mentoring will also fall to the Remote Diagnostics team, enabling continuous improvement in the development and application of a World Class Condition Monitoring Program.

The following Remote Diagnostics Program design delivers the best possible results as well as the required support during critical steps in the process:

1. Equipment Walkdown – During the program setup phase, a contractor resource should utilize equipment walkdown software to capture machine configurations and attribute information. This information should then be used to develop the technology databases for Remote Diagnostics condition monitoring activities.
2. Route Development – The equipment should be divided into logical routes for data acquisition based on a hierarchy established by location, process, access, and availability.
3. Technology Database – Asset configurations should be established within the technology database with component-specific collection and analysis parameters, as well as customized alarm parameters based on technology standards. Equipment attribute information should be input into the technology platform in order to establish customized fault frequency sets to aid in early defect identification.
4. Reporting Database – Using industry-preferred software, the Remote Diagnostics analyst should build a custom integrated reporting database for your organization, setting up appropriate and meaningful metrics and KPIs.
5. Training – Without properly collected data, accurate analysis is impossible. An experienced Remote Diagnostics service provider should also offer task qualification for your data collection personnel, teaching them best practices for data acquisition or lubrication sampling methods.
6. Results and Support – An ideal Remote Diagnostics Program service provider will offer 24/7 access, detailed condition assessments, history, and recommendations, as well as KPIs. In addition, continuing education for data collectors and advanced troubleshooting and phone support availability should be provided. It is of extreme importance that your site has access to your analyst when you need him.

Remote Diagnostics Program Benefits

Establishing a Remote Diagnostics Program can result in a cost savings of up to 40% versus other types of Condition Monitoring Program models, but more importantly, a Remote Diagnostics approach allows organizations to reap the rewards of an effective maintenance and reliability initiative in a fraction of the time typically necessary to build a World Class program. It incorporates contractor knowledge, processes, and technology standards without full-time contract resources. A successfully implemented Remote Diagnostics Program can yield the following on-site benefits:

• Builds on-site ownership of and ‘buy in’ for a Condition Monitoring Program.
• Establishes ability and resources for root cause identification.
• Enables precision maintenance practices and a proactive workflow.
• Allows for equipment repair validation.

Furthermore, with the separation of responsibilities, you can in effect double your potential resource pool and allow for increased coverage levels.

Choosing a Service Provider

Everyone knows there is not one ‘silver bullet’ when it comes to evaluating complete asset health. Each condition monitoring technology has component failure modes that it is better suited to identify and typically there are numerous failure modes associated with asset types based on their component makeup. As such, a Remote Diagnostics provider should be able to support multiple PdM technologies, including:

• Vibration Analysis
• Mechanical and Electrical Infrared Thermography
• Ultrasound
• Oil Analysis
• Motor Circuit Analysis

Ideally, the provider you choose would be able to provide a combination of remote analysis review and support, coaching and mentoring with task qualification of site resources, and assistance with identified issues utilizing contractor resources.

Figure 2: Ideal Remote Diagnostics Process

If you have decided that a Remote Diagnostics Program is a good fit for your organization, here are a few program design considerations to keep in mind while you are looking for a contract service provider:

• What condition monitoring technologies do you wish to incorporate?
• How involved do you want to be in the asset health condition assessment process?
• Is there a desire to internalize the program eventually?
• Do you have internal resources that you could devote to condition monitoring activities?
• Are you alone in your efforts or can you consolidate with neighboring facilities?

When considering a Remote Diagnostics method, the keyword in a successful application is ‘flexibility’. Successful implementation of a Remote Diagnostics program requires agreement between the site and the Remote Diagnostics team to document and establish maintenance and reliability initiatives for the program, as well as alignment with future goals and objectives. As such, the Remote Diagnostics contract service provider must be prepared to tailor its approach to reflect the site needs while making the best use of available resources.

The Remote Diagnostics team should support a wide range of site participation. Some sites may choose to just collect and submit required data for analysis without the desire to access the technology-specific software platforms. Others may prefer to have full access to and use of the same tools available to the analysts, with continued integration, training, coaching, and mentoring in order to build internal skill sets.

Along those lines, the skill sets necessary for data analysis should not be software platform dependent. Remote Diagnostics analysts should have the knowledge to support many different technology hardware and software platforms. The analysts’ utilization of these systems may vary from standalone systems utilized by the Remote Diagnostics analysts to remote access through client network services or even online continuous monitoring applications.

In Summary

A Remote Diagnostics model is a universal application and yields similar benefits regardless of the Reliability Program maturity level or size of the organization. The Remote Diagnostics method has been found to be extremely beneficial for sites endeavoring to implement a new Condition Monitoring Program or enhance their current capabilities and coverage levels.

GPAllied SMEs Shon Isenhour and Brandon Weil take a fresh look at how best to manage your partnerships and build a recipe for success.  As published in SMRP Buyers guide 2011.

Read it for yourself here.

Andy Page, with co-author Tim Goshert, wrote an article on CBM Programs. You can read it here:

“Fitting Your CBM Program to Your Facility”