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.
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