Predictive maintenance: from promise to reality 

Predictive maintenance is a data-driven methodology for monitoring and analyzing the condition of processes and equipment. This makes it possible to predict the failure of equipment so that proactive action can be taken. This has numerous advantages for machine builders and users, such as less downtime, longer equipment life and greater efficiency in maintenance and service. At the bottom line, predictive maintenance facilitates higher overall performance and cost reduction. HMS makes this possible with Ewon, a flexible and scalable IoT platform..

Predictive maintenance has been a buzzword in the world of mechanical engineering for many years. That's not surprising. It can overcome a lot of pain points, starting with a lack of understanding of equipment status. Producers and users can therefore be completely caught off guard by a service message or the failure of machines, such as robots, production machines, construction elevators and tools. Sep Schraven, Key Account Manager at HMS Networks, calls this a familiar phenomenon, and the consequences are not infrequently far-reaching. 

Rather prevent

"Problems that affect production must be solved - and quickly, on-site and by a specialist," Schraven said. "Where machine builders usually operate nationally and internationally, that expert will not infrequently have to make a considerable trip to the customer to investigate what is going on. Perhaps a solution can be provided immediately. If that fails, for example because replacement parts and more people are needed, it leads to further loss of time. When visiting customers in distant countries, cultural differences can also result in significant delays, experience shows. Today, remote diagnosis by logging into a machine and viewing relevant data is possible in quite a few cases. But even then we're talking about a time-consuming unexpected issue that you'd rather avoid."

Rush job

A second consequence of reactive maintenance involves disruption of machine builders' service and maintenance operations. When mechanics are regularly called away on a whim, it throws schedules out of whack. This is inefficient, costs money and can frustrate teams. The rush job for one customer can also come at the expense of regular service to another, which can also put pressure on the relationship. Another pain point concerns the potential impact on spare parts sales. This is often an important part of machine builders' business model. Delivery reliability and speed are key here. The customer is not going to wait months for a product; he wants to order, timely delivery and through.

Everyone happy

Schraven: "From that perspective, large companies with huge financial interests often look at the possibility of buying spare parts locally. In this way they create more independence from the supplier of their equipment; ensuring a quick solution should something break down. A machine builder does not occupy a unique position in this regard; for example, he cannot keep every conceivable part in stock, but he does need those sales. Using predictive maintenance, you know what's coming up, which products are needed when for proactive maintenance, and so you can create certainty in sales. Plus, you solve another big problem with it. Many machines are simply not under control or inadequately controlled. If they fail, revenue is lost. A machine builder must be ready 24/7 to take immediate action in these kinds of unpredictable situations. Predictive maintenance facilitates less and a schedulable downtime, and so that makes everyone happy."

The time is ripe

The promise of predictive maintenance is great. In reality, it is relatively little applied by machine builders. The reasons for this are obvious, according to Schaven: it is new, challenging and requires specific knowledge. At the same time, he sees the market demand growing. Everyone can feel the benefits in their shoes. With the increasing digitization and connectivity of machines, the time is also ripe for it. But how do you get it done in practice? That is the question he is asked most often. HMS guides companies in this process, from strategy to implementation, offering a concrete product: the Ewon platform consisting of the Ewon Flexy IoT gateway and i4Connected IoT software.

Flexible and scalable

"HMS has vast experience in unlocking data from machines," Schaven states. "We do the same with Ewon Flexy. This unique IoT gateway collects data through a machine's operating system, performs some operations and can send data to a database in the cloud or external devices. This communication is established using proven technologies such as Talk2m VPN service and MQTTs, which also ensure the security of confidential data. This enables machine builders to monitor, analyze and present vital Key Performance Indicators for predictable maintenance. This platform is extremely flexible and scalable. It is designed and installed once; machine builders can configure and maintain it themselves to unlock information to all stakeholders."

Live and historical

A machine builder, user, service engineer, purchaser or manager: everyone has their own position and responsibilities, and thus a need for a specific picture of a machine's status. This helps maintain focus and prevents information overload, among other things. HMS' predictive maintenance platform therefore facilitates user management for the purpose of (and rights to) different insights at different levels. "We thus offer the possibility of customized analysis and performance, and these are also included in the software. Thereby, both live and historical data can be visualized. Thus, the development and relationships of and between KPIs can be followed over time, and that is crucial for optimal proactive maintenance."

In your own hands

Schraven: "In addition, our technology is machine network agnostic. There are a variety of machine control protocols used worldwide. Ewon Flexy works independently of those standards. That means that it can and may be deployed anywhere, at customers in America, Europe, Asia, ... Moreover, our platform for predictive maintenance can be linked to business software such as ERP systems and planning tools, with all the efficiency benefits that entails. With this too, HMS brings the promise of predictive maintenance to reality. These can be exciting journeys for machine builders. But we support customers throughout the entire process, from initial plans and design to training people so that they can take full and successful control of the management."

HMS is a concern in industrial ICT. The company operates worldwide, employs more than 750 people, has offices in 17 countries and maintains full control of production with its own factories in Europe. Core business is the development and sale of products and solutions that enable industrial equipment - from robots and cars to air conditioners and generators - to communicate and share information with software and systems. In doing so, HMS serves both manufacturers and users of that equipment.