Intelligent maintenance system

An intelligent maintenance system (IMS) is a system that utilizes collected data from machinery in order to predict and prevent potential failures in them. The occurrence of failures in machinery can be costly and even catastrophic. In order to avoid failures, there needs to be a system which analyzes the behavior of the machine and provides alarms and instructions for preventive maintenance. Analyzing the behavior of the machines has become possible by means of advanced sensors, data collection systems, data storage/transfer capabilities and data analysis tools. These are the same set of tools developed for prognostics. The aggregation of data collection, storage, transformation, analysis and decision making for smart maintenance is called an intelligent maintenance system (IMS). An intelligent maintenance system is a system that utilizes data analysis and decision support tools to predict and prevent the potential failure of machines. The recent advancement in information technology, computers, and electronics have facilitated the design and implementation of such systems. The key research elements of intelligent maintenance systems consist of: Transformation of data to information to knowledge and synchronization of the decisions with remote systems Intelligent, embedded prognostic algorithms for assessing degradation and predicting the performance in future Software and hardware platforms to run online models Embedded product services and life cycle information for closed-loop product designs With evolving applications of tether-free communication technologies (e.g. Internet) e-intelligence is having a larger impact on industries. Such impact has become a driving force for companies to shift the manufacturing operations from traditional factory integration practices towards an e-factory and e-supply chain philosophy. Such change is transforming the companies from local factory automation to global business automation. The goal of e-manufacturing is, from the plant floor assets, to predict the deviation of the quality of the products and possible loss of any equipment.