Glossary of Terms: Predictive maintenance & remote monitoring
CONDITION MONITORING: All work done to provide data/information to determine potential failure modes and prevent system downtime. Key conditions in pumping applications include vibration, temperature, level, pressure, current draw, etc.
CORRECTIVE: An equipment maintenance strategy based on replacing, overhauling system components as a result of failure. This results in inevitable machine/system downtime.
DOWNTIME: The time when a system/machine is not performing/producing product. This includes both scheduled and unscheduled downtime.
FMEA (Failure Mode & Effects Analysis): Analysis tool to identify failure modes and assign priorities to each based on cost and occurances.
IPSEC TUNNEL: A method utilized to transmit data securely through cellular and Internet networks. The method involves encapsulating and encrypting data packets for secure transmission through a network and is used in virtual private network (VPN) communications.
MAINTENANCE: Any activity carried out on equipment to ensure it continues to perform its intended functions.
PREDICTIVE: An equipment maintenance strategy based on measuring the condition of equipment to determine/forecast failure time, and taking repair measures prior to failure. Goal – a proactive approach to avoiding system downtime.
PREVENTIVE: An equipment maintenance strategy based on replacing, overhauling or remanufacturing of system components based on advanced warning of ultimate component failure. Goal – a responsive approach to avoiding system downtime.
REMOTE MONITORING: The acquisition of information about a system, without making physical contact with the system. The Primary goals in pump systems being to reduce energy consumption and maintain system uptime.
REMOTE TERMINAL UNIT (RTU): Connect to sensors in a process and convert sensor signals to digital data.
SCADA: An acronym for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition. Typically represent centralized systems which monitor or control entire sites or systems spread out over large geographies.
TELEMETRY SYSTEM: Used to connect PLCs and RTUs. Available in both wired and wireless forms.
UPTIME: The opposite of downtime. Time when a system/machine is producing product.
VNC (Virtual Network Computing): Technology that allows for the screen of an HMI to be accessed remotely. With this approach, the data to be accessed remotely may be hosted at the machine but the graphical user interface is made accessible remotely.
WEB-BASED MONITORING: Remote monitoring which involves the usage of browser-based technology to access data. The communication may be performed directly with a device if a webserver is embedded within it or with a cloud-based host that collects and stores data.
Source: Schneider Electric, global supplier of energy management and process automation solutions, schneider-electric.com.
