fitmachine-smart-sensors
Hugh Tran

Smart Sensors Benefit Maintenance Teams in These 5 Ways

We’ve talked previously about how predictive maintenance is changing the game for many businesses. Smart sensors enabling the improvement of equipment efficiency and availability (you can read the full article here). This year we’ve seen a significant uptake from business looking to change their maintenance processes. They want to minimise reliance on physical inspection and routine – the proactive approach is the one for the future. It makes sense, with COVID making it extremely hard to have staff on-site to keep track of equipment health, and completely changing our concept of ‘normal’ staffing levels / schedules.

In order to make a successful predictive maintenance transition, the technology businesses choose is critical. Smart sensors like FitMachine are at the heart of this shift in maintenance, and satisfy several requirements for successful digital transformation. At MOVUS we’ve been at the forefront of this shift for quite a while, so we thought we dig into exactly how our clients and partners are seeing value from FitMachine smart sensors and the MachineCloud platform. We’ve summarised the top 5 reasons that users trust our solution, so that you can apply these qualifications in your own search for equipment monitoring technologies.

1) Control over the maintenance schedule: save money, save resources, save time-wasting

FitMachine provides managers with the most important element to make maintenance decisions: the data collected directly from their equipment. By giving detailed information about the equipment (through measurements like vibration, temperature and noise), FitMachine support managers in predicting/diagnosing problems. That makes planning for maintenance and minimising unplanned downtime a snap.

By scheduling maintenance only when necessary, all associated costs are significantly reduced. Plus, staff can prioritise tasks better,  focus on the most important tasks, and have all the required information at their fingertips. No more checking equipment when it isn’t necessary and no more guesswork.

2) Safer working environments for staff

It’s the duty of all businesses to protect their staff from injury in the workplace – none more so than those that operate in hazardous environments. Manufacturing facilities with high risk of explosion, or difficult-to-access areas for instance. FitMachine significantly improves safety in the workplace by minimising the need for staff to operate in these hazardous just to monitor equipment or perform redundant routine maintenance.  Teams can collect all the information they need and review via MachineCloud without risking their safety to perform inspections themselves.

During COVID-19, FitMachine has supported many organisations to follow the social distancing guidelines with it’s remote monitoring function supporting minimised staff levels. Our users report getting the same (if not more) information with less staff and less regular physical inspection. 

3) Assets management support

The MachineCloud dashboard complements FitMachine by helping teams manage their assets more efficiently. Our most recent feature, GROUPS, allows asset management teams to organise their equipment into customisable categories like criticality, brands, locations, type – you name it. Clients can then compare the data between different assets in a group or even between different groups. MOVUS wants to provide a seamless experience when using FitMachine to manage assets – which means putting power in the hands of the user.

4) Easy install

FitMachine is extremely easy to install – it only takes 5 minutes and can be self-installed. No expert or setup costs required.  Because users can magnetically attach FitMachine onto equipment, deploying smart sensors across all your assets is far quicker than any other solution. Data can be captured quickly and accurately from initial install. Plus, the data that FitMachine collects are owned by our clients and can be integrated into different technologies.

Which brings us to #5…

5) Unlimited integration potential and continuous updates

Thanks to a focus on integration capabilities by our product team, FitMachine can integrate with whatever existing management systems are used in an organisation. Allowing enterprises to utilise their systems but also have a solution that will support any changes in the future. That’s a key consideration for organisations undertaking digital transformation. We’ve talked about the importance of data integration in the Industry 4.0 context in a recent article.

This integration capability is also the key to our collaboration with other innovators in the space like XMPro and RIZING to produce effective end-to-end maintenance solutions. 

Furthermore, FitMachine doesn’t stop improving. Our product team is consistently adding new features, many of which were built on the back of feedback from our users. The device and platform continue to get better as more and more users make the switch to our IIoT solution.

If you’re curious to see how FitMachine works, you can sign up for our 30-day free trial. Visit learn.movus.com.au/trial for more information.