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Data-driven predictive maintenance solutions are helping businesses with profitability , sustainability and the personal safety of their people
WRITTEN BY : SEAN ASHCROFT
A stitch in time saves nine ’, is an idiom many of us will have been on the receiving end of when our neglect , indolence or distraction caused this or that object to sheer , snap , unravel or overheat .
I once ignored a leaking radiator on my maroon Ford Fiesta for nine months , choosing to turn the heaters up full blast to draw heat from the engine , rather than replace the radiator . The good news was that in the end , I didn ’ t need a new radiator . The bad news ? Because the car caught fire on the A23 just outside Croydon , after overheating one time too many .
I doubt even today ’ s Industry 4.0 techdriven predictive maintenance solutions would have helped me ; I would doubtless have ignored the blizzard of data-fed warnings flying my way .
Yet businesses can ill-afford to be so heedless , because predictive maintenance solutions can help improve profitability , sustainability and also the safety of staff . It ’ s a big growth area , and companies are beginning to take the technology in new directions .
Helping them do so is Andy Hancock , Global VP of SAP ’ s Digital Supply Chain Centre of Excellence ( CoE ). The CoE is rather like a SWAT team of experts , who deploy on the ground to help customers get the most from new and pioneering SAP solutions .
One area in which the CoE helps businesses is predictive maintenance . As with most things , this is not a new idea . Today ’ s predictive maintenance has its roots in supervisory control and data acquisition ( SCADA ) - a control-system architecture formed of computers , networked-data communications and graphical user interfaces for high-level supervision of machines and processes , for assets either in situ or in remote locations .
“ The chemical and energy sectors use prescriptive maintenance tech heavily because of the environments in which they operate ”
ANDY HANCOCK GLOBAL VP OF SAP ’ S DIGITAL SUPPLY CHAIN CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE
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