How do I monitor my ABB variable speed drives in the most efficient and economical way?
How do I prevent drive failures and downtime in my plant room?
What's better, predictive or preventative maintenance for variable speed drives?
How do I monitor and interpret the volume of data generated by remote monitoring?
Does it seem as if there are more questions than answers when it comes to running an effective and productive plant? For instance the amount of information generated by VSDs can lead to "data overload" for operators, requiring sophisticated analytics and proper parameter configuration to extract actionable insights and avoid "alarm fatigue".
And if you already have ongoing preventative maintenance (perhaps with a service contract from an authorised ABB drive Value Provider), do you also need to invest in predictive maintenance?
Being diligent, you want the best for your operation (and so do we), so let's answer some of your questions!
VSDs often operate in harsh industrial environments with existing dust, moisture, and high temperatures. This makes them prime candidates for regular servicing and simply changing a clogged filter can seriously extend the life of your drive. So, if you have a schedule of planned maintenance, brilliant, you've ticked one of the big boxes. But planned (or preventative) maintenance can't tell you if something has changed - or is starting to go wrong. You may have to wait until a breakdown or the next service to find that information out. That's why predictive maintenance (DART) sits on a separate level to all other maintenance.
If there are changes to your plant room which are injurious to your drives, DART will alert you as soon as it detects them, before heat or corrosion do any damage, detecting issues in real time. You set parameters telling DART what is tolerable. DART does the rest without any data monitoring on your part. Of course you can regularly check your system, but rest assured, DART will tell on your system (if anything needs to be told).
The benefits of predictive maintenance are clear:
- Minimized unplanned downtime — schedule repairs during planned stops
- Lower maintenance costs — 8-35% savings by avoiding unnecessary work
- Extended equipment life — components are used to their true potential
- Optimized resources — spare parts and labour used only when needed
Switching to predictive strategies turns VSDs from cost centers into smart assets that boost uptime, efficiency, and ROI.
DART does all this efficiently, whilst being economical to run and secure to operate. It cuts through the endless stream of data with pinpoint accuracy, telling you what you need to know, when you need to know it. It stops breakdowns before they start by identifying sub-optimal conditions, enabling you to act on them before they disrupt production.
DART: all your plant room needs to keep it safe and secure.