A 90-day pilot that proves condition monitoring on your equipment
Rotating equipment takes weeks or months to show signs of failure, so the pilot runs long enough to see it. You pick the assets, we agree the success criteria up front, and the final review gives you a cost/benefit analysis and a deployment estimate.
Up to 90 days
Of asset monitoring
25 to 50
Assets recommended
5 criteria
Agreed before installation
Objectives
What the pilot has to show
Detect potential failures
On your rotating equipment, confirmed by your technicians.
Fit your site network
Deployed into the existing network and installed on the target assets.
Work for your team
Easy for maintenance teams to install, use and respond to.
Pay for itself
Cost benefits your operation can measure and defend.
Success criteria
How each objective is validated, and by whom
Results are captured during the pilot and reviewed together at the end.
| Success criterion | Validation method | Evaluators |
|---|---|---|
| Alerts detect potential failures on monitored equipment | App alerts plus manual inspection of the equipment | Technician, project lead |
| Meets IT network and security requirements | Solution architecture review | IT manager |
| Monitoring data integrates into your CMMS or data platform | Solution integration | IT manager |
| Easy to install and scale with the maintenance team | Devices installed with the mobile app | Technician, project lead |
| Delivers return on investment | Cost/benefit analysis and tracked unplanned downtime cost | Project lead |
Scope
What goes into the pilot
Duration: up to 90 days
Rotating equipment typically takes weeks or months to show signs of potential failure.
Site: selected together
A site with high production output, a focus on uptime and a reliable network for the gateways.
Assets: 25 to 50
- Critical continuous or intermittent rotating equipment
- End-of-life assets
- Assets with a history of high failure rates
Roles
Who does what
Executive sponsor
- Lines up the resources the pilot needs
- Reviews outcomes and sets direction for deployment
Maintenance technician
- Installs sensors and gateways
- Responds to and closes alerts in the app
- Inspects each alerted asset and confirms early signs of failure
Project manager
- Coordinates IT and site teams
- Evaluates data collection and capabilities
- Collects cost metrics for the business case
- Orders devices
IT manager
- Sets up cloud accounts for monitoring users
- Sets up the monitoring project
- Configures the site network for the devices
Phases
Four phases, start to finish
- 115 to 30 days
Pilot preparation
- Define scope and select target assets
- Align stakeholders on objectives
- Configure the site network for gateways
- Set up accounts, users and app access
- Purchase devices
- 21 to 2 days
Installation
- Confirm user access to the mobile app
- Install sensors and set up gateways
- User training
- 360 to 90 days
Asset monitoring
- Bi-weekly group calls
- Alarm and data collection review
- Document confirmed issues and downtime cost savings
- 45 days
Final review
- Summarize pilot results
- Cost/benefit analysis
- Review deployment estimates
Commissioning
Sensor and gateway commissioning, the practical way
- 1
Unbox in the office
Open the hardware somewhere with a desk and power, not on the plant floor.
- 2
Number every sensor
Label each sensor with a number. A marker works. It is how you find the right one later.
- 3
Check connectivity
Make sure the mobile device used for commissioning has internet access.
- 4
Commission gateways first
Commission each gateway near its internet source.
- 5
Commission and name sensors
Set each sensor's position name in the app to the number written on it.
- 6
Install at the failure point
Bond each sensor at the bearing or gearbox with the recommended adhesive pattern, then check signal strength. -40 to -75 dBm is good. Weaker than -75 dBm, move the gateway closer or remove obstructions.
Questions about the pilot
How long does the pilot take?
Up to 90 days of monitoring, plus 15 to 30 days of preparation, 1 to 2 days of installation and a 5-day final review.
How many assets should we monitor?
We recommend 25 to 50: critical rotating equipment, end-of-life assets and assets with a history of failures.
Does the pilot connect to our CMMS?
It can. A typical pilot scope is CMMS work-order integration plus one data source, such as a PI historian or OEE system, in the first 90 days.
Start with the assessment
The pilot plan comes out of the free assessment, so the assets and success criteria are yours from day one.