1. Do your Walk-around Inspections Actually Contribute to Equipment Reliability?By
Forrest Pardue – President, 24/7 Systems, Inc.
&
Dick Hancock, Reliability Consultant, 24/7 Systems, Inc.

2. Walk-around Inspections - Your Hidden Resource for Condition Monitoring
Operators doing Basic Operator Care
Lube Techs running Lube Routes
Mechanics or Electricians performing Craft Inspections
Even Safety & Environmental inspectors

3. Walk-around Inspections - Your Hidden Resource for Condition Monitoring
Operators doing Basic Operator Care
Lube Techs running Lube Routes
Mechanics or Electricians performing Craft Inspections
Even Safety & Environmental inspectors
They spend more time around your operating equipment than just about anyone else

4. Walk-around Inspections - Your Hidden Resource for Condition Monitoring
Operators doing Basic Operator Care
Lube Techs running Lube Routes
Mechanics or Electricians performing Craft Inspections
Even Safety & Environmental inspectors
They spend more time around your operating equipment than just about anyone else
Shouldn’t you know what they know about developing equipment condition problems?

5. Typical Current Practice:
Many plants rely on their work order system to schedule inspections

6. Typical Current Practice:
Many plants rely on their work order system to schedule inspections
Good for scheduling, not so good for content
“…they were scheduled to be greased every 3 months, but you never knew if they got greased or not because it was just a work order…a WO that you get in a normal CMMS that just says “completed” or “done”, but has 50 machines on a WO – no details on each individual asset and point.” – Reliability Engineer, Plastics Plant

7. Typical Current Practice:
Actual inspection details are usually kept in a separate system such as spreadsheet-based forms

8. Typical Current Practice:
Actual inspection details are usually kept in a separate system such as spreadsheet-based forms
Information is now trapped on the paper form (desk stack, file cabinet, etc.)
Not easily communicated to those in a position to make maintenance execution decisions.
“The paper reports seem to go into a stack of papers on a supervisor’s desk and they are not reviewed the way they should be.” - Reliability Engineer, Paper Mill

9. Current Best Practice:
Inspection route information collected with Smart Tablets (IOS, Android, Windows)
Have replaced obsolete MS-CE™ PDA devices
More flexibility for functions such as taking photos or downloading web documents

10. Current Best Practice:
Cloud database storage
Single depository for Lube Route & other CBM results
Information is shareable via web browser and interactive with a broad audience of Maintenance, Reliability, & Operations users
Inspection route info helps drive Reliability

11. Measurement Point Setups Vary:
Due to plant processes & equipment types
Due to different program objectives
Some are strictly lubrication based

12. Measurement Point Setups Vary:
Due to plant processes & equipment types
Due to different program objectives
Some are strictly lubrication based
Some mix condition, safety, & environmental observations

13. Measurement Point Setups Vary:
Due to plant processes & equipment types
Due to different program objectives
Some are strictly lubrication based
Some mix condition, safety, & environmental observations
Some are for a specific practice such as Ultrasonic Greasing

14. Some Point Definitions Move from Paper to Tablet Easily - Some are more Complex:
Numeric trend points are straightforward
The inspector inputs a number

15. Some Point Definitions Move from Paper to Tablet Easily - Some are more Complex:
Numeric trend points are straightforward
The inspector inputs a number
Text-based observations present choices:
Paper forms have limited space & favor short ‘Yes/NO’ or ‘OK/Not OK’ responses
Tablets handle short responses fine, but can also use longer pull down menus for more detailed options

16. Smart Tablets Automate Alarms:
In Bounds
Out of Bounds
Paper forms depend on the technician to recognize an alarm state

17. Smart Tablets Automate Alarms:
In Bounds
Out of Bounds
Paper forms depend on the technician to recognize an alarm state
Tablets notify the tech when an alarm value is saved:
Numeric trend values can have both low & high alarm sets
Text-based observations can have predefined ‘in- bounds’ & ‘out-of-bounds’ items in the pick list

18. Alarms & Out of Bounds Measurements
Prompt the Tech for More Information: 65
This is where the tech can document what he/she sees about a problem

19. Alarms & Out of Bounds Measurements
Prompt the Tech for More Information: 65
This is where the tech can document what he/she sees about a problem
Can also add photos of the problem(s)

20. Tablets Communicate with the Cloud Database via WiFi or Cell Data Plan:
There are two times the Tablet must be connected to the Internet for Lube Routes:
When opening a route
When closing out a route

21. Tablets Communicate with the Cloud Database via WiFi or Cell Data Plan:
There are two times the Tablet must be connected to the Internet for Lube Routes:
When opening a route
When closing out a route
Once the route is opened & all route points
are in the tablet cache, then data collection
can proceed without Internet connection

22. So, Tablets have Advantages – but it’s
Cloud Databasing that Connects to Reliability:
Makes it practical to retrieve & use Inspection Route findings alongside other CBM results
The plastics plant Reliability Engineer tried to move perishable paper data to Excel™ - his ‘Excel Hell’ period

23. So, Tablets have Advantages – but it’s
Cloud Databasing that Connects to Reliability:
Makes it practical to retrieve & use Inspection Route findings alongside other CBM results
The plastics plant Reliability Engineer tried to move perishable paper data to Excel™ - his ‘Excel Hell’ period
Found that process was neither efficient or sustainable:
“With paper sheet and clipboard and you would have to come back and fill everything out in excel. So you are really doing twice the amount of work before we had the tablets... Still, it was an excel spreadsheet, you can only do so much with it.” – Reliability Engineer, Plastics Plant

24. Two Things Happen when an Inspector Completes & Closes a Route:
goes to preselected users who need to know about problems found during route collection
Shows how many points were in Alarm or Out of Bounds
Has a clickable link to open the Lube Route Summary:
“To be able to get the issues in front of the right people by automatic system is a big benefit…” - Reliability Engineer, Paper Mill

25. Two Things Happen when an Inspector Completes & Closes a Route:
A Lube Route Summary is available in the Cloud Database system
Sorts Alarm & Out of Bounds points to
top of the list
Displays the problem description & any linked photographs
Has a clickable link to escalate the issue to the Condition Status Dashboard alongside other CBM results

26. Decision Time – Escalate the Issue to a Condition Status Dashboard?
Opens a simple form for adding problem severity, fault code, & action recommendations
Comments & photographs from the Tablet automatically populate appropriate fields
Once saved, goes to preselected maintenance, reliability, & operations users notifying them of the problem

27. And the new Condition Problem is now on a Web Accessible Dashboard:
Interactive dashboard integrates results from all active CBM sources
The ‘milky oil’ problem found by a Lube Tech and posted July 19th started a chain of action on this gearbox:
The recommended oil sample analysis confirmed water contamination - August 12th
August 27th vibration analysis found a developing output shaft bearing defect – even though oil had been changed

28. At the Plastics Plant the Reliability Cloud Database is Linked to SAP™ Notifications
Decisions on Condition-based calls in the Dashboard can trigger work order creation in SAP
Work Order closures then send TECO summary to update the Condition Status Dashboard
“You were looking for leaks from lubrication, leaks from process, seals, packing, high temperature, something making a lot of noise… they can document all those things. Having the tablet is almost real-time. You put it into the tablet and that day, the WO is put out.” – Reliability Engineer, Plastics Plant

29. A Planned Solution for the Gearbox:
For this Gearbox, bearing replacement was done during a planned October outage:
The Gearbox case was then closed and removed from the active problem dashboard
History of the Gearbox case is now stored in the history section of the Reliability Cloud database
…and it all started with a problem report by a Lube Tech!

30. In Summary:
Go beyond tracking your Walk-around Inspection information in a perishable paper format –
Take advantage of smart tablet & cloud database technology to bring it into the daylight where it can work with your other condition monitoring technologies to improve equipment reliability.

31. In Summary:
Go beyond tracking your Walk-around Inspection information in a perishable paper format –
Take advantage of smart tablet & cloud database technology to bring it into the daylight where it can work with your other condition monitoring technologies to improve equipment reliability.
Questions?