Repair or Replace Your Critical Assets: Using Vibration Monitoring Technology to Help Make This Crucial Decision

 When a critical asset malfunctions or ceases to operate reliably, a critical and difficult decision needs to be made: repair or replace? In addition to the financial implications, which can often run into the millions, it can also be a safety issue. While the repair versus replace question will always be complex, looking at data over a longer period of time and employing tools like vibration analysis equipment to determine asset reliability and condition can prove illuminating.

Vibration Analysis Equipment



The Pros and Cons of Repairing

If the outcome of the two options is going to be the same, repairing machinery or equipment is certainly preferable. Repair can cost less and may result in less downtime. In addition to the longer-term repair versus replacement financial considerations, look at the basics first. For instance, is the asset in question under warranty? Keep in mind that repair costs will likely increase as the machinery ages. Age of the asset, older technology becoming obsolete, and repeated repairs can also all reduce machinery’s efficiency. An older, repaired asset functioning at 100% can still prove less profitable than newer, more advanced machinery and equipment.

The Pros and Cons of Replacement

Replacing a critical asset is going to require a larger upfront investment and will involve downtime. Is that cost justified when compared to the ongoing maintenance and repair costs for the current asset? Will it prove less expensive, long-term, than the expense of the collective downtime and any reduction in efficiency, productivity, and quality resulting from repairing the current machinery? Along with the price of the asset itself, factor in the labor and installation costs, disposal costs of the asset being replaced, and the training cost required for new machinery. The one unequivocal consideration is safety. If repairing an asset leaves any safety concerns unaddressed, replacement is a must.

Informing Your Decision Using Vibration Monitoring Technology

There are few tools more effective at determining critical assets’ reliability, efficiency, and root-cause issue-identification than vibration monitoring technology driven by Motion Amplification® technology. Motion Amplification® vibration monitoring and analysis platforms allow users to visualize motion across an entire asset and visualize the relationship between components. It does so in real-time and without requiring downtime. That kind of precise, whole-system or component-level view of an asset’s condition and possible issues can prove invaluable for determining whether repair is worth it or if replacement is called for.

To Repair or to Replace?

Deciding between repairing and replacing critical assets requires consideration of all the above factors and, no doubt, many others. While there is no magic bullet answer, a good guideline to consider is the 50/50 rule—when a repair will cost more than 50% of the cost of replacing the asset, the time has come to replace it.

About RDI Technologies

When RDI Technologies introduced the Iris M™, driven by Motion Amplification® technology, they effectively changed the predictive maintenance space forever. With Iris M™, RDI Technologies equips users with a precise, leading-edge machine condition monitoring platform. It operates by turning every one of a camera’s pixels into a sensor that amplifies motion and vibration. Motion that would otherwise remain wholly imperceptible to the human eye is rendered visible. The Iris M™ platform uses Motion Amplification technology to provide users with critical data in real-time. The component-level overview of the data can deliver a swift resolution of an asset’s root-cause issues. Iris M™ converts critical, complex data into meaningful, informative visualizations that clearly communicate critical information between both technical and non-technical team members. Plus, Iris M™ technology requires no downtime for setup. With RDI Technologies, Seeing is Believing™.

Discover everything that the RDI Technologies innovation Iris M™, driven by Motion Amplification® technology, can do for your business, at Rditechnologies.com


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

4 Ways Vibration Analysis Equipment Can Improve Efficiency in Manufacturing Facilities

Image
Improving efficiency is a goal for many manufacturing facilities, big or small, and across all industries. When critical assets are fully functional, and every team member is working efficiently, things go smoothly and safely, and the facility can maximize its potential output. Conversely, when unexpected repairs occur, this can result in downtime or even shutdowns, and the financial consequences can be severe in extreme cases. To help improve efficiency, many facilities employ vibration monitoring systems to strengthen their predictive maintenance process and have noticed positive effects across other areas of the facility. Here are a few of the ways that vibration analysis equipment could help your facility.     Recognize Potential Issues Ahead of Time   Surprises are seldom welcome in a manufacturing facility. Managers and operators need consistency and reliability from critical assets and equipment. Preventative maintenance ensures these machines operate smoothly,
Read more

How to Communicate the Value of Vibration Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance

Image
Your production assets are critical to everything you do, and when there’s a problem, big or small, it costs money. From the lost productivity to the cost of repairs or replacement, downtime can be expensive. This is why predictive maintenance and vibration monitoring are so crucial. Vibration monitoring technology can help plan downtime around existing schedules and reduce the amount of downtime overall by identifying issues before they become serious. While technically minded people understand this, non-technical team members and stakeholders might question the investment needed in specialized equipment. Regardless of your industry, here are the key points to communicate to key stakeholders. Vibration Monitoring Waiting for Repairs Is Costly Repairing or replacing critical assets costs your operation in more ways than one. Not only do you need to pay the cost of parts and labor, but that downtime means less time your equipment is producing revenue. What’s even worse than repairs is
Read more

Manufacturing Asset Upkeep and Maintenance Tips to Maximize Production

Image
Just as a business relies on its manufacturing and processing assets to succeed and thrive, sophisticated machinery relies on regular maintenance and upkeep to function properly. Machines require maintenance, but upkeep and maintenance take time, and so many businesses struggle with the fact that performing adequate preventative maintenance cuts into productivity. There are, however, strategies and technologies that make maintaining critical assets much less costly. Focusing on training, communication, and innovative vibration analysis equipment can make asset management much more efficient, and even improve a business’s bottom line. A reliable, well-functioning production floor is necessary for a reliable, well-functioning business. Consistently Train, Retrain, and Cross-Train Complex machinery takes training and experience to operate and maintain. Maintenance and asset management are advanced skill sets. That obviously makes training crucial, but training is a dynamic process
Read more