Managing Automation- July 2008

COVER STORY PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE TAKING THE GUESSWORK OUT OF MAINTENANCE Jay Lee and his Center for Intelligent Maintenance Systems are changing the rules of maintenance by helping manufacturers predict the likelihood of equipment failure using a toolkit of algorithms. BY CHRIS CHIAPPINELLI M ost manufacturers tend to the maintenance of their plants with all the eagerness of a high school kid cleaning his room. But give that teenager 20 bucks for the task, and the room might just turn out sparkling. Jay Lee, director of the Center for Intelligent Maintenance Systems (IMS) and scholar and professor at the University of Cincinnati, wants to dangle a similar incentive in front of manufacturers, with lots of extra zeros for good measure. The routine upkeep of machines, bearings, drives, motors, and factory floor systems is intended to keep equipment in peak operating condition and eliminate costly downtime. However, maintenance programs too often involve lots of guesswork: Change a tool or part after a set time period, regardless of the actual condition of the equipment. Manufacturers can work smarter than that and save money along the way, according to Lee and his roundtable of enthusiasts at the IMS Center, who are championing the notion of predictive maintenance. Lee’s roundtable includes industry trendsetters such as Toyota, Boeing, GE, Procter & Gamble, and AMD, and automation technology suppliers such as Honeywell, Rockwell Automation, and Siemens. Each pays a $40,000 annual membership fee to have access to the predictive maintenance technology innovations created by Lee and the center staff, including students, researchers, and others at the University of Cincinnati, the University of Michigan, and Missouri University of Science and Technology. The short version of Lee’s long-term vision goes like this: Let machines use intelligent self-diagnosis to tell you how they are doing. That basic notion, which predates Lee, represents the Everest of efficient maintenance. Lee’s contribution has Jay Lee AGE: 51 POSITION/AFFILIATION: Director of the Center for Intelligent Maintenance Systems and Professor of Advanced Manufacturing at the University of Cincinnati CHIEF ACCOMPLISHMENT: Founder and director of the Center for Intelligent Maintenance Systems, which brings technology research to member companies, such as Toyota, GE, and Rockwell Automation ACCOLADES: Ohio Eminent Scholar, L.W. Scott Alter Chair Professor in Advanced Manufacturing, University of Cincinnati; former Wisconsin Distinguished Professor and Rockwell Automation Professor at the University of WisconsinMilwaukee; three patents for related technology MOST ADMIRED: The positive attitude of Procter & Gamble and National Instruments; the breadth of knowledge at IBM; the confidence of Intel and AMD; the diligence and dedication of Harley Davidson; and the execution at GE been to popularize the idea, measure its potential benefits, and implement it using technologies that can help manufacturers to monitor and predict equipment degradation instead of guessing at it. To that end, Lee and his IMS Center colleagues have developed a toolkit of algorithms, called the Watchdog Agent, to help predict the likelihood of failure based on a machine’s operating conditions. The tools have been incorporated into automation products from vendors such as Allen-Bradley and Advantech. For Dana Fluet, maintenance reliability engineering lead at Harley-Davidson Power train Operations in Menomonee Falls, WI, Lee’s leadership and expertise have helped his plant create smarter maintenance practices and save money. When Fluet needed a way to assess the condition of machine tools without taking them offline, he found his answer at the IMS Center. With the help of some wireless sensors, the Watchdog Agent, and a custom program written by one of the center’s students, Fluet was able to abandon the practice of discarding tools once they had performed a set number of jobs. He plans to extend the technology to all 300 of the plant’s most critical machines. “Using the WatchDog Agent, we can actually tell the operator when it’s time to change the tool,” he says. “We’ve increased the life of the tool at least twofold.” Five years ago, when Fluet began working with Lee, the IMS Center had about 20 members. Since then, the membership has more than doubled, something Fluet attributes to Lee’s charisma and technical background. “He’s a great guy to work with, very intelligent,” Fluet says. Glen Allmendinger, president of Harbor Research, calls Lee the lead guard in the movement toward better maintenance practices. “I think he’s been extraordinarily successful at creating a dialogue amongst interested and relevant and impor tant movers and shakers in the industrial space,” Allmen dinger says. “He’s gone a great distance in pointing out how much money is wasted by not addressing it, so he’s really brought the economic impact of all this to the fore. And I hear this from everyone, from John Deere to Cisco.” ma July 20 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managing Automation- July 2008

Managing Automation- July 2008 Contents Take 1 HP's Acquisition of EDS May Face Integration, Global Delivery Challenges Rimini Plans to Woo SAP Support Users Rockwell Steps Up Its Activities in Software Microsoft Targets the Process of Innovation Supply Chain Standouts Honored by AMR Notes Who Are Today's Influential Thinkers? The Robot Revolution Is the Price Right? Without a Trace Harvesting the Suggestion Box Product Scan Advertiser Index Next

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