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Condition-Based Maintenance
Condition-based maintenance (CBM) is a strategy that involves monitoring an asset’s actual condition in order to determine what maintenance is required. CBM only performs maintenance when there are certain indicators of impending equipment failure or decreased equipment performance that require maintenance.
The condition monitoring of CBM involves looking at measurements, visual inspections, tests, and performance data. Through CBM’s condition monitoring, you can determine when equipment might fail so you can perform maintenance to prevent it. CBM can involve either taking condition measurements at regular intervals or taking them continuously through internal sensors in the equipment.
What’s The Goal Of Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM)?
The goal of condition-based maintenance is to prevent equipment failure through condition based monitoring. By condition monitoring on a regular basis, you can perform maintenance tasks before the equipment fails and decrease the costs of maintenance. Reducing maintenance expenses is a large goal of CBM, as too much maintenance is a byproduct of many maintenance programs.
Condition-based maintenance helps you optimize your maintenance resources, make the best use of your maintenance personnel, and cut maintenance costs. By performing maintenance only when necessary, you minimize costs and ensure that your equipment doesn’t undergo more maintenance than it needs.
How Do Condition-Based Maintenance Systems Decrease Downtime
Condition-based maintenance (CBM) systems reduce downtime by condition monitoring your equipment in real-time. The second your equipment starts to function outside of the established parameters, maintenance personnel will be notified to schedule maintenance tasks. By being proactive and performing maintenance before equipment fails, you reduce the need for maintenance and equipment downtime.
Condition-based maintenance also decreases downtime by only performing maintenance as needed. Instead of performing maintenance more often than the equipment needs maintenance, condition-based maintenance ensures that CBM performs maintenance tasks only when maintenance is required.
Example Of Condition-Based Maintenance
A prime example of condition-based maintenance would be the maintenance required for a car. For example, it is typically recommended for car maintenance that you change your oil based on how many miles you’ve driven. Instead of performing oil maintenance at a regular interval, CBM would have you only perform oil maintenance when needed as determined by the condition of the oil.
A CBM program works similarly to this. Condition-based maintenance would involve monitoring the condition of the oil-based on measurements taken from it. Then maintenance would be performed when the CBM program deems maintenance necessary. CBM would regularly monitor the conditions of the oil to determine whether maintenance is required.
Types Of Condition-Based Maintenance
There are a few different types of condition-based maintenance techniques. The type of CBM required depends on what type of condition monitoring you choose. This includes infrared, electrical, and ultrasonic measurements. CBM will then trigger maintenance tasks depending on what maintenance is required.
Depending on the type of equipment and the maintenance required, condition monitoring can analyze the measurements of vibrations in a compressor, the measurements of high temperatures in a piece of energized equipment, or the acoustic measurements that detect gas leaks. Condition-based maintenance will be performed when the condition monitoring detects any of these issues with the equipment and decides that maintenance is required.
Condition Based Maintenance vs Predictive Maintenance
Condition based maintenance and predictive maintenance are similar types of maintenance management, but they are not the same. Predictive maintenance uses complex formulas to predict equipment failure while condition-based maintenance does not. CBM uses real-time sensor measurements at regular intervals, which makes CBM a slightly less accurate type of maintenance management.
Both predictive maintenance and condition based maintenance are both costly types of maintenance management. However, although condition based maintenance software is an expense, CBM will save money by reducing equipment downtime. Both predictive maintenance and condition-based maintenance will reduce the amount of maintenance required and ensure that equipment doesn’t receive too much maintenance.