ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the maintenance of physical assets using condition monitoring, including prediction—predictive maintenance. CM is supported by a set of technologies allowing the increase of availability, performance, and, as a consequence, physical asset productivity.
Condition monitoring can be supported by systematic condition variable reading or online reading, having as its objective following the physical assets’ health state.
However, the current condition monitoring state of the art involves the use of several knowledge tools, such as vibrations, sounds, lubricants, electrical parameters, and effluents, among others. Additionally, there are specific techniques that are very relevant to the monitoring of equipment conditions based on production process control variables, as is the case of the ones based on Six Sigma control charts, which are also described in this chapter.
However, today, the tendency is to monitor and control all condition variables online, which is also described in this chapter, as is the state-of-the-art technology that can aid each physical asset in maximizing its availability and productivity.
