A key production line has several motors, and something seems to go wrong with one of these motors every few weeks. A year ago, the plant manager addressed this by ordering shorter PM intervals. Things seemed to get worse, though.
The plant engineer wants you to solve this problem. He said this line doesn’t have predictive maintenance (PdM) in place, because budgets have been so tight. He wants you to determine the root cause of the most common failure(s) and identify the single PdM to best address it.
What should your first steps be?
Everyone is on the wrong track. To solve this, develop a basic PdM program that can replace much of the PM work. Replacing PM work with PdM will reduce budget pressure and also solve a problem that nobody seems to recognize. The fact that the PM procedures are being done more often but the failures are increasing tells you that the PM procedures are being done incorrectly or are themselves harmful.
Suppose, for example, the PM calls for tightening motor mounting bolts. This invariably causes soft foot. Instead, align the motor alignment per industry standards (this entails properly tightening the motor mounting bolts) and then install a vibration monitoring system.
