If you’re using vibration monitoring to track machine health—whether route-based, continuous, or both—you understand the value of catching equipment issues early. The choice you’ve made to monitor and act on condition monitoring data puts you ahead of the game.
But are you getting the results you want, and the ROI you expect?
Route-based and continuous condition monitoring are both valuable tools. But how you use them matters. If you’re relying on route-based for your most critical assets, you could fail to catch fast-emerging issues. At any moment, without real-time visibility, the next costly disruption could be around the corner.
Here’s how a route-based approach is designed to deliver value. Next, we’ll explain why route-based and continuous work best in combination.
Route-Based Monitoring: Great for Tier 2 and 3 Assets
Route-based monitoring usually involves technicians walking a designated route to collect vibration data on a rotating schedule—weekly, monthly, or quarterly. It’s a snapshot in time to determine whether an asset is performing within normal range. Route-based monitoring is best suited for Tier 2 and 3 assets, since issues that might go undetected won’t lead to major costs or revenue losses.
- Tier 2 Assets are important and impact productivity, but their failure may not immediately halt operations.
- Tier 3 Assets are non-critical machinery with minimal impact on overall production and can often be repaired or replaced without major disruptions.
For assets like these, route-based monitoring offers several key advantages:
Cover more assets in a cost-effective way
Implementing continuous monitoring across your entire facility isn’t necessary. Route-based monitoring allows for periodic checks without the need for real-time, round-the-clock data collection, thus optimizing your maintenance budget.
Use resources more efficiently
Maintenance teams can schedule regular inspections, collecting vibration data during routine routes while remaining responsive to emerging Tier 1 issues. This balanced approach ensures Tier 2 and 3 equipment is monitored appropriately without diverting significant resources from more critical tasks.
Detect early signs of trouble
Route-based monitoring will detect issues in Tier 2 and 3 assets, making it possible to prevent unexpected failures. In the gap between readings, the potential for a sudden breakdown doesn’t weigh as heavily as it might for Tier 1 assets.
Does your team struggle with condition monitoring data overload and excessive alerts? Read this blog post to learn how you can eliminate the headaches and get the most out of your condition monitoring program.
The Pitfalls of Using Route-Based Monitoring for Your Entire Production Line
Although route-based monitoring is a proactive approach that can prevent failures, it’s more preventive in practice. Routine preventive maintenance (vs. condition-based maintenance) does have its drawbacks when used in isolation.
Potential for failure between route cycles
Because you're only getting snapshots in time, you’re essentially hoping the machine cooperates until the next check. If a bearing starts to degrade or a misalignment worsens the day after a route, the issue may go unnoticed for weeks. By the time the next reading is taken, the damage is done—or worse, the asset has failed.
Any Tier 1 issue that might be missed and become an urgent problem between readings could catapult you right back to reactive chaos—along with the disruption, expensive repairs, and revenue losses that accompany it.
Excessive spend on parts and maintenance
Using a preventive approach by itself can quietly eat into your budget by way of higher inventory costs, unnecessary downtime, and waste. When your team schedules work and replaces parts whether they’re needed or not, they may be throwing out usable components and spending resources that could be better invested elsewhere.
Continuous Monitoring: Real-Time Awareness for Tier 1, Where It’s Needed Most
When your Tier 1 assets fail, you may be looking at significant downtime, safety risks, and/or production and revenue losses. Given what’s at stake, you can’t afford blind spots or guesswork.
Only continuous condition monitoring—with remote wireless sensors collecting and transmitting a steady stream of data, plus AI-powered analytics and timely prescriptive recommendations from a dedicated expert—can properly equip your team to get ahead of even the smallest anomalies and keep your production line up and running.
Here are just some of the ways continuous monitoring can transform your operations.
24/7 Asset Visibility
Continuous monitoring provides real-time insights into the health of each critical asset, detecting issues like imbalance, misalignment, looseness, and bearing wear as soon as they start. This affords maintenance teams the time and flexibility they need to not only simplify scheduling, but also minimize damage for longer asset life.
Lower Repair Costs
By catching faults in their infancy, maintenance teams can plan minor repairs before small issues become big, budget-busting problems. According to Deloitte, using predictive maintenance to address equipment issues early reduces repair costs by 25% on average.
Less Stress, More Control
Continuous monitoring shifts the focus from firefighting to planning, which is a huge relief to overwhelmed maintenance personnel. Instead of reacting to surprises, your team can work from a prioritized list of risks, manage downtime more effectively, and avoid the chaos of unexpected failures.
Integrated Health View for Smarter Decisions
Integrating vibration data with other asset health indicators like temperature and oil analysis offers a greater degree of precision and predictive power. With this holistic view of asset health, reliability engineers and plant managers can make better-informed decisions to speed progress on KPIs and strengthen ROI.
For a global cement manufacturer, continuous vibration monitoring saved over $1 million in the first six months at a single plant—with 57x ROI realized—followed by a seamless expansion to five additional facilities. Read their success story here.
Go for a Balance: Route-Based Snapshots & Continuous Real-Time Data
Relying solely on route-based monitoring for your entire facility leaves your production line vulnerable to chaos, disruption, and costly downtime. Capturing isolated moments won’t cut it for Tier 1 assets, when what you really need is constant awareness.
Combining continuous vibration monitoring for Tier 1 assets with route-based monitoring for Tier 2 and 3 machinery offers an efficient, effective strategy for maintaining overall equipment health. This hybrid approach ensures all assets receive appropriate attention in the most cost-effective way.
Whether you're managing a sprawling plant with hundreds of assets or a small operation with a few key machines, adding continuous vibration monitoring to the mix will result in fewer surprises, less waste, and a more predictable workday.
Ready to End Unplanned Downtime?
If you’re still dealing with sudden equipment failures on your production line, it’s time to explore a full-service condition monitoring solution that combines advanced AI capabilities with the power of expert recommendations and dedicated support. Reach out to us today for a free consultation, and discover the easy, risk-free path to operational excellence.
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