Condition Based Maintenance (CBM)
CBM can be a stand alone discipline but it works most effectively when incorporated into a holistic Reliability Strategy.
Coaching your staff in CBM will reveal asset issues ahead of failures and therefore avoid unplanned downtime.
It's quite common to identify large value wins immediately providing an instant return on investment.
CBM warns of impending failure, identifies lubrication requirements and drives continuous improvement
UPTIME Consultant trains the CBM techniques that are relevant to your assets
Start your reliability journey with CBM whilst enabling a proactive Maintenance Strategy
UPTIME Consultant collaborates with chosen partners that can supply instruments to suit your requirements if requested.
We remain agnostic by never taking percentages or fees from the third parties we introduce to clients if they require referrals.
We are constantly evaluating developments and advances with technologies used in CBM
Coaching your staff in CBM will reveal asset issues ahead of failures and therefore avoid unplanned downtime.
It's quite common to identify large value wins immediately providing an instant return on investment.
CBM warns of impending failure, identifies lubrication requirements and drives continuous improvement
- Learn from a practitioner with decades of experience formulating a practical preemptive strategy
- NOT based on theory and expensive instruments, although we do test and advise on the latest CBM technologies
- Positively impact your asset availability by targeting the highly critical few delivering immediate cost benefits
- CBM training workshops for your maintainers include many elements of proactive maintenance
UPTIME Consultant trains the CBM techniques that are relevant to your assets
Start your reliability journey with CBM whilst enabling a proactive Maintenance Strategy
- Condition Monitoring Techniques
- Vibration Analysis
- Acoustic Emission
- Ultrasound
- Thermal Imaging
- Oil Sampling
- Continuous Monitoring Technology
- Connected Technologies
UPTIME Consultant collaborates with chosen partners that can supply instruments to suit your requirements if requested.
We remain agnostic by never taking percentages or fees from the third parties we introduce to clients if they require referrals.
We are constantly evaluating developments and advances with technologies used in CBM
Condition Monitoring Workshop with Engineers in Food & Beverage
UPTIME Consultant Case Studies
Condition Based Maintenance Influences Design
Reliability is inherent, it's built in at the design phase.
This is where decisions are made that can negatively impact asset reliability
This is where decisions are made that can negatively impact asset reliability
The design of all assets is constrained by budget, physical footprint, accessibility, operation, maintainability, ergonomics, power requirement, health and safety, the list is extensive.
The Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) has a lot on their plate, designing, specifying and building assets to fit your operating context perfectly, it's little wonder that sometimes it may not suit the end users exact requirements.
That's assuming the OEM understands the end users final intention.
Then there's the manufacture and assembly of assets, what are the standards used to assemble them?
Often assets amount to a shopping list of sub-assemblies that make up the whole machine.
Now we have many OEMs involved some with different engineering standards all coming together.
These components interact with each other sometimes not as perfectly as we would expect in service.
When critical assets enter service one of the first things that often happens is that they break down unexpectedly.
Everyone is shocked except for the CBM Engineer who has probably seen it all before.
Early Equipment Failure occurs more often than we would like and it's mainly due to the constraints mentioned above.
The users operational context may be completely different to the one assumed at the design phase.
Operations Managers often want their new asset to run above the design envelope immediately, this is more common than we would like, then when it breaks down or 'underperforms' they may ask the maintenance department....
"What are you going to do about fixing it?" (or if they are feeling more generous)
"Can you fix it and make it run more reliably please?"
The Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) has a lot on their plate, designing, specifying and building assets to fit your operating context perfectly, it's little wonder that sometimes it may not suit the end users exact requirements.
That's assuming the OEM understands the end users final intention.
Then there's the manufacture and assembly of assets, what are the standards used to assemble them?
Often assets amount to a shopping list of sub-assemblies that make up the whole machine.
Now we have many OEMs involved some with different engineering standards all coming together.
These components interact with each other sometimes not as perfectly as we would expect in service.
When critical assets enter service one of the first things that often happens is that they break down unexpectedly.
Everyone is shocked except for the CBM Engineer who has probably seen it all before.
Early Equipment Failure occurs more often than we would like and it's mainly due to the constraints mentioned above.
The users operational context may be completely different to the one assumed at the design phase.
Operations Managers often want their new asset to run above the design envelope immediately, this is more common than we would like, then when it breaks down or 'underperforms' they may ask the maintenance department....
"What are you going to do about fixing it?" (or if they are feeling more generous)
"Can you fix it and make it run more reliably please?"
The Maintenance function cannot make assets 'more reliable' than the inherent design. Maintenance can only maintain the original design specification.
Only by redesign can these improvements be achieved.
Only by redesign can these improvements be achieved.
When I started my reliability journey I transitioned from being fully employed on wasteful reactive and planned maintenance tasks to specialising in CBM with existing technologies and a focus on lubrication.
The Maintenance Manager asked me to build the CBM and Lubrication Strategy for Europe's largest snack food plant that was part of PepsiCo International.
Fortunately the Engineering, Operations and Maintenance Managers allowed me time to investigate and implement what I found to be the best solutions for our site, then work on continuously improving their application.
We moved from a site heavily weighed down by planned and reactive work to one based upon 'On Condition' using RCM.
Early on in my journey I experienced negative comments and disparaging remarks from my colleagues.
Many maintainers are proud of working on recovering from another catastrophic failure as they enjoy the plaudits from management and their peers.
The story I'm sharing is about a critical asset that ran on many of our production platforms and came under the most extreme operating conditions of all, these are hot oil fryers.
The Maintenance Manager asked me to build the CBM and Lubrication Strategy for Europe's largest snack food plant that was part of PepsiCo International.
Fortunately the Engineering, Operations and Maintenance Managers allowed me time to investigate and implement what I found to be the best solutions for our site, then work on continuously improving their application.
We moved from a site heavily weighed down by planned and reactive work to one based upon 'On Condition' using RCM.
Early on in my journey I experienced negative comments and disparaging remarks from my colleagues.
Many maintainers are proud of working on recovering from another catastrophic failure as they enjoy the plaudits from management and their peers.
The story I'm sharing is about a critical asset that ran on many of our production platforms and came under the most extreme operating conditions of all, these are hot oil fryers.
Fryer components that are at risk of failure are the main oil pump, motors, transport belts, control systems, heat exchanger, fines removal unit, feed conveyors, and the bearings.
Bearings in Fryers are routinely renewed at planned maintenance intervals but still fail prematurely and unexpectedly in service.
Many that are employed constantly renewing fryer bearings don't look for solutions as they enjoy living with reactive work.
Bearing failures result in collateral damage with worn shafts, damaged belts and ball bearings found in fryer oil sumps.
This practice of repeated failure becomes normalised over time, it becomes a bad habit.
The question I asked was....
Bearings in Fryers are routinely renewed at planned maintenance intervals but still fail prematurely and unexpectedly in service.
Many that are employed constantly renewing fryer bearings don't look for solutions as they enjoy living with reactive work.
Bearing failures result in collateral damage with worn shafts, damaged belts and ball bearings found in fryer oil sumps.
This practice of repeated failure becomes normalised over time, it becomes a bad habit.
The question I asked was....
"Are these bearings fit for purpose or were there constraints at the design phase that we are now paying the price for in operation?"
Fryers in the snack food industry operate around 180ºC, oil is pumped through the fryer bed to create a directional wash, some bearings sit out of the cooking oil whilst others can be fully immersed.
If the lubricant can withstand the high temperature and keep the cooking oil out you may just about get away with it.
H1 Food Safe Lubricants that operate at this high temperature are very rare and very expensive to purchase.
Periodically fryers have to be boiled out with caustic agents, this chemical gets into everything including these critical bearings.
I consider the CBM approach as a tool for improvement not just a function in itself, this is where many get it wrong.
Being proactive using CBM makes a difference and the end goal should be to eradicate reactive work completely.
After a search I found a company that provided the solution to our operational context.
Bearings that don't require grease and are designed specifically for use in hot oil fryers.
The Engineering Manager could see the benefits even after I explained the additional cost of retro-fitting a complete set.
The decision was easier (his words) as I presented the historical failures recorded in the CMMS along with the projected savings.
By removing expensive lubrication PMs, stopping unplanned downtime, increasing confidence, and knowing that these assets would be available to operations with increased reliability it looked like a winner.
If the lubricant can withstand the high temperature and keep the cooking oil out you may just about get away with it.
H1 Food Safe Lubricants that operate at this high temperature are very rare and very expensive to purchase.
Periodically fryers have to be boiled out with caustic agents, this chemical gets into everything including these critical bearings.
I consider the CBM approach as a tool for improvement not just a function in itself, this is where many get it wrong.
Being proactive using CBM makes a difference and the end goal should be to eradicate reactive work completely.
After a search I found a company that provided the solution to our operational context.
Bearings that don't require grease and are designed specifically for use in hot oil fryers.
The Engineering Manager could see the benefits even after I explained the additional cost of retro-fitting a complete set.
The decision was easier (his words) as I presented the historical failures recorded in the CMMS along with the projected savings.
By removing expensive lubrication PMs, stopping unplanned downtime, increasing confidence, and knowing that these assets would be available to operations with increased reliability it looked like a winner.
A full fryer bearing change was carried out in a planned maintenance window and shared with the maintainers.
They were asked not to intervene but report any anomalies they found using the modified Planned Maintenance inspection.
Zero failures occurred in the 18 months of the OEMs guarantee period.
The first full bearing set change had to be pushed out to 22 months because of increased operational demand.
The original bearing set was carefully removed and retained for further inspection whilst the new set was installed.
Later I removed the shields from this used set and found them to be in excellent condition.
See below:
Zero failures occurred in the 18 months of the OEMs guarantee period.
The first full bearing set change had to be pushed out to 22 months because of increased operational demand.
The original bearing set was carefully removed and retained for further inspection whilst the new set was installed.
Later I removed the shields from this used set and found them to be in excellent condition.
See below:
I followed this up in addition to my usual work by managing the refits on all fryers in the plant over the next three years.
Remember reliability is a journey, it can only be improved by design change and persistence... it's a marathon not a sprint!
This bearing story came full circle when a new production line with two new fryers was commissioned.
Specifying these polymerised bearings resulted in a lot of push back from the OEM and the project team.
They believed they owed nothing to operations, maintenance or in-service reliability.
They thought their job was to just deliver equipment on schedule (usually late) so this type of request was new to them.
Eventually they agreed to instal our choice of bearings that were fit for the environment they would operate in.
The two new fryers were assembled with polymerised bearings and these were specified as an OEM part.
Remember reliability is a journey, it can only be improved by design change and persistence... it's a marathon not a sprint!
This bearing story came full circle when a new production line with two new fryers was commissioned.
Specifying these polymerised bearings resulted in a lot of push back from the OEM and the project team.
They believed they owed nothing to operations, maintenance or in-service reliability.
They thought their job was to just deliver equipment on schedule (usually late) so this type of request was new to them.
Eventually they agreed to instal our choice of bearings that were fit for the environment they would operate in.
The two new fryers were assembled with polymerised bearings and these were specified as an OEM part.
Criticality of Spares in Proactive Maintenance
Making sure your Proactive strategy supports procurement and spares availability is crucial
"Why be preemptive in the first place, just how do we make all that extra work pay back?"
I'm a believer that being proactive and preemptive doesn't exist in a bubble.
Logically if I am going to invest in training people in CBM and being preemptive then when these techniques deliver we must ensure that inventory control is also proactive not trapped in their own reactive cycle.
This is where CBM plans can fail, if the correct spare is not available to put that future reactive event into a planned event then credibility will be lost and fingers will point towards the program not being effective.
Engineering have to be involved in the spares stock levels and oversee the procurement quality.
I say 'oversee' because purchasing has a role to procure the correct specification of spare in a timely fashion.
Often we need to check this happens as sub-standard spares or lack of availability will cause future failures.
Maintenance needs to be close to procurement, demanding the specification and quality of the parts that are fit for purpose.
Identical bearings that may look the same but one could be specified for its operating context whereas the other could be sub-standard and be prone to early failure.
Purchasing may not fully understand the nuances of parts selection and in my experience it's never cost effective to buy cheap.
Logically if I am going to invest in training people in CBM and being preemptive then when these techniques deliver we must ensure that inventory control is also proactive not trapped in their own reactive cycle.
This is where CBM plans can fail, if the correct spare is not available to put that future reactive event into a planned event then credibility will be lost and fingers will point towards the program not being effective.
Engineering have to be involved in the spares stock levels and oversee the procurement quality.
I say 'oversee' because purchasing has a role to procure the correct specification of spare in a timely fashion.
Often we need to check this happens as sub-standard spares or lack of availability will cause future failures.
Maintenance needs to be close to procurement, demanding the specification and quality of the parts that are fit for purpose.
Identical bearings that may look the same but one could be specified for its operating context whereas the other could be sub-standard and be prone to early failure.
Purchasing may not fully understand the nuances of parts selection and in my experience it's never cost effective to buy cheap.
You may need to justify the specification of your part to procurement, and you should as their job includes budget responsibilities
You can have the finest on-line remote, internet of things, AI, labour intensive maintenance program, but without those critical spare parts being available it will add zero value.
Be mindful of the importance of keeping the Stores informed, help them by highlighting stock location anomalies, low levels of critical spares, indicate if you are booking the last or penultimate part out, it all makes good sense to help each other out.
Stores personnel hold a lot of information about parts on computerised systems and in their heads, but they can't be expected to understand all the environmental conditions that these items have to fulfil in service.
Be mindful of the importance of keeping the Stores informed, help them by highlighting stock location anomalies, low levels of critical spares, indicate if you are booking the last or penultimate part out, it all makes good sense to help each other out.
Stores personnel hold a lot of information about parts on computerised systems and in their heads, but they can't be expected to understand all the environmental conditions that these items have to fulfil in service.
Remember the consequences are multiple if you get caught out in this situation, the asset may not have entered a reactive phase (yet!) but now the procurement department goes into a reactive spasm of searching databases to see if the parts are on hand in other locations, hoping their usual stockist has the part (or a similar one 'that will do' = future breakdown) or paying a premium price for overnight shipping by courier.
Criticality of assets, lead time for spares, stock levels, specialist applications, high turnovers, rebuild times, shipping locations, all of these impact spares availability, we have to preempt all of these to make sure we have the right spare at the right time and in the right place.
If you are fortunate and have this all covered so that the right spare, time and place is a done deal don't just leave it there.
Spares need to be looked after, some even require maintenance themselves.
Ensure that the best conditions possible are available, storage of spares in damp, dusty or vibration intense locations will be detrimental and will lead to premature failure when they are eventually put into service.
Large rotary items should be maintained periodically by rotating their shafts.
I would opt for 'dry' units that are replenished when put into service, it's no use having a gearbox sitting for years full of degrading oil.
Vibration of floors and storage racks can damage bearing races in equipment through false brinelling, this causes bearing races to form damaging ridges due to fretting leading to early failure when in operation.
Some other things to watch out for are bearings, seals and other parts removed from protective packaging and stored in open boxes, no system of stock rotation, open access to stores, prevalence of 'emergency orders', lack of inventory control i.e. no booking out system or one that is too hard to use, obsolete parts and duplication, I've previously stock controlled one bearing that had eight different part numbers!
These are just a few aspects that spring to mind, I'm sure you can think of many more.
Conclusion: inventory and procurement are critical functions if you aim to get the best from your Proactive program.
Criticality of assets, lead time for spares, stock levels, specialist applications, high turnovers, rebuild times, shipping locations, all of these impact spares availability, we have to preempt all of these to make sure we have the right spare at the right time and in the right place.
If you are fortunate and have this all covered so that the right spare, time and place is a done deal don't just leave it there.
Spares need to be looked after, some even require maintenance themselves.
Ensure that the best conditions possible are available, storage of spares in damp, dusty or vibration intense locations will be detrimental and will lead to premature failure when they are eventually put into service.
Large rotary items should be maintained periodically by rotating their shafts.
I would opt for 'dry' units that are replenished when put into service, it's no use having a gearbox sitting for years full of degrading oil.
Vibration of floors and storage racks can damage bearing races in equipment through false brinelling, this causes bearing races to form damaging ridges due to fretting leading to early failure when in operation.
Some other things to watch out for are bearings, seals and other parts removed from protective packaging and stored in open boxes, no system of stock rotation, open access to stores, prevalence of 'emergency orders', lack of inventory control i.e. no booking out system or one that is too hard to use, obsolete parts and duplication, I've previously stock controlled one bearing that had eight different part numbers!
These are just a few aspects that spring to mind, I'm sure you can think of many more.
Conclusion: inventory and procurement are critical functions if you aim to get the best from your Proactive program.
Predictive Techniques with Front Line Engagement
Ensuring payback from your Predictive Strategy
As part of my travels through industries I get insights into a lot of sectors including, Food & Beverage, Automotive and Utilities.
Requests usually start with an introduction to predictive methods and a wish to move away from reactive situation, or from purely fixed time planned maintenance routines.
As a Production Engineer with experience of working not just with machinery but with front line staff it gives me an understanding of how to get the most from Proactive/Predictive techniques as part of a maintenance strategy.
Something I ask clients to think about before engaging is:
Who, What, Why, Where and When, also referred to as my 5Ws
Asking these questions gives me information about how far forward they are or if they have even contemplated these basic issues.
I also like to ask "What are the benefits you are targeting?"
If there are no benefits forthcoming then why bother investing time, money and resources?
It's best to identify benefits beforehand as this forces you to measure your start point and encourages you to track future progress.
Requests usually start with an introduction to predictive methods and a wish to move away from reactive situation, or from purely fixed time planned maintenance routines.
As a Production Engineer with experience of working not just with machinery but with front line staff it gives me an understanding of how to get the most from Proactive/Predictive techniques as part of a maintenance strategy.
Something I ask clients to think about before engaging is:
Who, What, Why, Where and When, also referred to as my 5Ws
Asking these questions gives me information about how far forward they are or if they have even contemplated these basic issues.
I also like to ask "What are the benefits you are targeting?"
If there are no benefits forthcoming then why bother investing time, money and resources?
It's best to identify benefits beforehand as this forces you to measure your start point and encourages you to track future progress.
Shown above are the six failure patterns identified by Nolan & Heap in the 1978 RCM paper.
Here they are applied to other industries outside of aviation by John Moubray in RCM2.
Pattern 'E' represents the flat line 100% random failure at any point.
'F' shows early mortality again with a random state following, these modes together total 82% of the failures.
Traditional time based wear is represented by the 2% shown in graph 'B'
The commonly taught 'Bathtub Curve' at 'A' provides only 4% of all recorded failures.
As you can see 89% of failures fall in the random category and no Planned Maintenance can trump randomness!
There are a number of approaches that can be adopted:
Some have a large appetite and opt for a traditional reactive strategy, this might be due to budget constraints or the organisation being happy with the status quo.
Here they are applied to other industries outside of aviation by John Moubray in RCM2.
Pattern 'E' represents the flat line 100% random failure at any point.
'F' shows early mortality again with a random state following, these modes together total 82% of the failures.
Traditional time based wear is represented by the 2% shown in graph 'B'
The commonly taught 'Bathtub Curve' at 'A' provides only 4% of all recorded failures.
As you can see 89% of failures fall in the random category and no Planned Maintenance can trump randomness!
There are a number of approaches that can be adopted:
- Operate reactively
- CBM Contractor visiting
- Full time CBM Specialist
- A CBM team
- Full time connected solutions
- CBM enabled workforce.
Some have a large appetite and opt for a traditional reactive strategy, this might be due to budget constraints or the organisation being happy with the status quo.
A CBM Contractor may work on a small number of high value critical assets that are targeted, the problem is these periodic inspections can prove to be way too long between visits to identify any potential failures.
The Full time CBM Specialist also has pros and cons, they will require ongoing support, training and development.
Remember it's important that they are released from all other duties.
A CBM team sounds like a good idea but they can suffer from lack of focus becoming an information gathering exercise instead of providing solutions.
Fully automated solutions may be part of the future but after 15 years of watching this space I still don't believe it's happening.
It's coming slowly but I believe it will take a massive shift in investment practices and thinking before we see it everywhere in the production environment (this was updated in 2025 and my mind hasn't changed in 15 years!).
The CBM enabled workforce, this is where the real value can be added with ongoing investment in awareness and training.
Our people that are operating these assets are the ones that should be empowered to become the owners and ultimately the decision makers regarding their assets, obviously working within the overall mission of the operation.
The Full time CBM Specialist also has pros and cons, they will require ongoing support, training and development.
Remember it's important that they are released from all other duties.
A CBM team sounds like a good idea but they can suffer from lack of focus becoming an information gathering exercise instead of providing solutions.
Fully automated solutions may be part of the future but after 15 years of watching this space I still don't believe it's happening.
It's coming slowly but I believe it will take a massive shift in investment practices and thinking before we see it everywhere in the production environment (this was updated in 2025 and my mind hasn't changed in 15 years!).
The CBM enabled workforce, this is where the real value can be added with ongoing investment in awareness and training.
Our people that are operating these assets are the ones that should be empowered to become the owners and ultimately the decision makers regarding their assets, obviously working within the overall mission of the operation.
Condition Monitoring and the impact on Safety, Sustainability and Costs
Saving Time and Money with Condition Monitoring
Starting the journey to a Predictive future
Predictive Techniques often get bad press... usually from the reactive fire brigade!
Not the ones that save your life when your house is burning down.
These fire fighting heroes are the ones of reactive maintenance, ready like coiled springs awaiting their call to action stations!
Why bother with a Predictive outlook when we have planned maintenance, surely PMs cover all the eventualities?
At least until the next unplanned breakdown occurs and we call the emergency response team!
I just can't see why people are so anti-predictive, after all it is reactive in essence, it's just that we are 'reacting' way ahead of the curve and can stop the assets from hitting the deck.
'Predictive' techniques use tools within a Planned Maintenance activity, we take routine measurements based on asset criticality, inherent risks, modes of failure, safety and ease of maintenance.
I see it as logic based on facts, things break, we don't know when, we want avoid or mitigate that risk, let's use a technology that enhances our natural senses, we get an early warning, great... now I can plan in a change activity to avoid the consequences.
These fire fighting heroes are the ones of reactive maintenance, ready like coiled springs awaiting their call to action stations!
Why bother with a Predictive outlook when we have planned maintenance, surely PMs cover all the eventualities?
At least until the next unplanned breakdown occurs and we call the emergency response team!
I just can't see why people are so anti-predictive, after all it is reactive in essence, it's just that we are 'reacting' way ahead of the curve and can stop the assets from hitting the deck.
'Predictive' techniques use tools within a Planned Maintenance activity, we take routine measurements based on asset criticality, inherent risks, modes of failure, safety and ease of maintenance.
I see it as logic based on facts, things break, we don't know when, we want avoid or mitigate that risk, let's use a technology that enhances our natural senses, we get an early warning, great... now I can plan in a change activity to avoid the consequences.
I always say if your business experiences consequences due to unplanned stoppages then you need to invest in becoming proactive and predictive
Most operations sit somewhere on the time line of my infographic above, some accept where they are, whilst others may want to move towards the right hand side.
To be on the left is not wrong per se, it's just where you may find yourself today.
It will feel uncomfortable, uncontrolled, disjointed, stressful, haphazard, hard to plan, but the fire fighters will love working there, heroes of the day will be rewarded accordingly.
Some organisations will sit in the middle with lots of comfortable PMs that are managed and scheduled on a repeated cycle, some may get missed but those can go on backlog, on and on they will go for ever adding no value, but at least it feels safe. They will still experience lots of unplanned downtime though.... strange that.
The fire fighters still get their days out with back slapping and high fives all around
Far right, hold on what's happening here?!?
We are operating in a planned way, operations are happy (who ever heard of that) availability is no longer a bottleneck, the non value adding PMs have been put to sleep, criticality has highlighted the major issues, RCA is adopted when triggered, front line operators have partnered with maintenance, predictive technologies are being used where risks or ROI have been identified, assets are now being maintained only 'On Condition', there's less stress and now there is even time for Continuous Improvement activity to take place.
Sounds too easy right?
That's true, no one gets a free ride to World Class Reliability, the start begins with a vision from the highest level in an organisation to take the journey to this future state.
Some talk of a changing the culture on the shop floor, incorrect... this takes a cultural shift across the whole organisation, this can't be administered in a silo.
Then there's the word 'culture' that means different things to different people, we need to be clear and describe what we are really looking for.
I'm going for this definition: 'the attitude and behavioural characteristic of a particular social group' some will instantly say that the 'attitude' needs changing, well I say good luck with that one.
For me 'behaviour' equates to 'habits' and people learn and adopt bad habits as well as good ones.
This could take up a whole new post so I will leave it there for now.
What do you think?
Can you really change peoples attitude?
I believe attitudes change only when new habits and behaviours are adopted, that for me is the key.
"Our people are our most valuable asset"
This is a mantra that's often rolled out... but often lacking in reality.
With process driven industries, people and what they do day to day (habits) present the best opportunity to get ahead when introducing a proactive predictive mindset.
People closest to the assets play a big part in driving the bottom line, they are vastly undervalued in my opinion and can be a massive wasted resource.
When I visit a new process or operation the operators are the people I want to talk to the most, often they are hungry to be asked 'What do you think?' their conversations with me as a third party allows them to tell it how it is, usually because no one else has bothered to ask them!
They provide invaluable insights that can provide real benefits very quickly.
These are the people that Proactive and Predictive training should be aimed at, they are 'present' they 'operate' their assets every day, changing habits to allow them to 'care' for their assets, instil ownership, then they can influence the change to a more predictive and proactive future.
Engineers from NISSAN Motor Manufacturing UK enjoying their Introduction to Predictive Techniques
The Fire Fighters are an ageing cohort they are not being replaced, one day when the process hits the floor once more there will be no emergency response team
I started this article like all of them with a thought and a blank screen.
Quickly I realised I wanted to talk about where the real Proactive Predictive journey starts, with front line employees adding value day in day out.
Some businesses will have already started their journey, they will have experienced set backs, hiccups along the way.
The smart ones know this is all part of a bigger picture, some give up and regress to the 'comfortable' status quo of their old reactive habits... they will be one step closer to going out of business.
Quickly I realised I wanted to talk about where the real Proactive Predictive journey starts, with front line employees adding value day in day out.
Some businesses will have already started their journey, they will have experienced set backs, hiccups along the way.
The smart ones know this is all part of a bigger picture, some give up and regress to the 'comfortable' status quo of their old reactive habits... they will be one step closer to going out of business.