Manufacturers are under increasing pressure to deliver high-quality products while maximizing production and profitability. However, issues like equipment downtime, inefficient processes and a lack of real-time visibility into asset health can all reduce productivity and increase costs.
This is where asset performance management (APM) comes in.
APM is a data-driven strategy that integrates advanced technologies to monitor, analyze, and optimize the performance and reliability of industrial assets. By combining real-time monitoring, predictive analytics and proactive maintenance planning, APM shifts focus from reactive problem-solving to proactive performance optimization, making it a cornerstone of modern manufacturing.
Real-time insights and standardized data capture
The complexity of asset management has outgrown manual, paper-based tracking systems. Automation engineers need tools to streamline processes, optimize performance and provide real-time visibility into operations. APM addresses these needs by enhancing decision-making with:
- Real-time insights to identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies. For example, APM can detect motor temperature spikes causing stoppages on a conveyor line, enabling engineers to adjust thresholds and prevent downtime.
- Standardized data capture ensures seamless integration across new and existing equipment. Collaboration with OEMs ensures new machines are APM-ready, reducing deployment time and enabling smooth integration with SCADA systems for comprehensive asset monitoring.
- APM centralizes data, offering clear views of machine performance, maintenance needs, and production metrics. It simplifies troubleshooting by highlighting issues, such as a faulty sensor causing a high reject rate on a production line, enabling engineers to act quickly. Centralized data is crucial for tracking OEE components like downtime, defect rates and production speed.
Addressing critical manufacturing issues
For decades, manufacturers relied on reactive maintenance — repairing equipment after failures. Compared to proactive maintenance, this reactive approach leads to higher costs, extended downtime and resource inefficiency. Without real-time asset visibility, manufacturers struggle to prevent escalating issues.
Here’s how APM addresses several specific manufacturing challenges:
- Unplanned downtime: Equipment failures disrupt production and incur financial losses. APM minimizes this by providing early insights into potential failures, preventing disruption.
- Inefficient maintenance: Reactive or preventive maintenance often wastes time and resources. APM enables data-driven schedules, optimizing resource allocation.
- Data silos: Asset performance data across SCADA, MES and PLC systems can be fragmented. APM centralizes this data, providing a unified view for analysis and decision-making.
- Scaling operations: Expanding production or adding equipment can be costly and time-consuming without a scalable framework. APM provides this framework, simplifying integration and ensuring consistent data collection.
Danny Haskell is president of NeoMatrix Inc., a certified member of the Control System Integrators Association (CSIA). For more information about NeoMatrix, Inc., visit its profile on the Industrial Automation Exchange.
