Much has been made in recent years of the “green economy”, which is comprised of “green technologies” and “green collar jobs”. Though no singular definition for these terms exists, most countries and organizations agree that “being green” encompasses the following:

• Sustainability;
• Waste and pollution reduction;
• “Cradle-to-cradle” lifecycle management;
• Innovation with consideration for each of the above.

Predictive maintenance (PdM) and condition-based monitoring are integral to each of these points.

"Doing More With Less"

The focus of PdM is to put the right information in the hands of the right people so they can do more with less. Decades ago, preventive maintenance came to the forefront based on a similar tenet. Modern reliability programs now leverage predictive data so preventive maintenance efforts are targeted instead of simply routine. In addition to all of the tangible benefits resulting from implementing a PdM program, companies effectively leveraging PdM technologies are “doing more with less”.

Why relate PdM to Green Technologies?

Every day plant managers, maintenance managers, reliability engineers and other maintenance and reliability professionals contribute to the effectiveness of their organizations’ environmental management system, often without the credit they deserve. As organizations continue to strive to do more with less and claim membership in the green economy, reliability professionals should be acknowledged for their efforts.

Whether in-house, outsourced or hybrid, an effective reliability process using PdM results in the following:

• Data through non-invasive, non-destructive testing;
• Large-scale energy (and often pollution) reduction;
• Longer asset lifecycles;
• Less catastrophic failures;
• Reduced spare parts inventories, leaner operations
• Improved process control monitoring
• Reduced process variation resulting in less waste of raw materials and time.

Overall, an effective reliability process using PdM results in significantly improved control over potential environmental aspects and impacts. As organizations continue to strive to become “greener”, reliability professionals should promote the positive contributions of an effective reliability process and in particular, the use of PdM technologies.