Is your predictive maintenance missing the root cause?

MOST PREDICTIVE maintenance strategies are built around the assumption that the asset itself is the source of the problem, whether it’s a motor, drive or another piece of industrial machinery.  However, many failures are symptoms of a wider system issue, with electrical conditions potentially being a contributing factor. And, while predictive maintenance has traditionally focused on the health of individual assets, equipment does not operate in isolation.

Consider a motor showing signs of deterioration. The natural response is to investigate the motor itself. Is the bearing wearing? Is it overheating? Is vibration increasing? Is lubrication becoming an issue? These are all important questions, but the conditions the motor is operating under tend to be forgotten or overlooked. 

Electrical conditions such as voltage imbalance, harmonic distortion and transient activity can place additional stress on connected equipment and may be a contributing factor in equipment deterioration. They may not immediately cause a failure, and they may not always be visible through conventional mechanical monitoring. Instead, their effects can accumulate over time, gradually affecting equipment performance and reliability, thereby creating a potential blind spot in predictive maintenance strategies.

If an asset is repaired or replaced without addressing the conditions that may have been a contributing factor in its deterioration, the same problem may eventually return. The component has been treated, but the wider conditions affecting it have not necessarily changed.

From asset health to electrical health

This is why the conversation around predictive maintenance needs to extend beyond the individual asset. Industrial organisations already understand the value of monitoring mechanical health. Vibration, temperature and other indicators can provide an early warning that something is changing, and electrical infrastructure deserves the same level of attention.

Power quality and electrical health are often treated as separate technical concerns, rather than as part of the wider reliability picture. Yet the electrical environment in which equipment operates is constantly changing.

Loads change, new equipment is installed, drives are upgraded, production patterns shift, and so on. A system that was operating within acceptable conditions several years ago may therefore be experiencing very different electrical conditions today.

The challenge is not simply collecting more data, because most industrial facilities already have plenty of it. It’s now about understanding what that data is telling us about the health of the wider electrical system and, importantly, whether those conditions could be a contributing factor in equipment problems.

Mission to M.A.R.S.

This does not mean replacing conventional predictive maintenance techniques. Mechanical monitoring remains essential, and technologies such as vibration analysis and temperature monitoring provide valuable insight into asset condition. The opportunity is to combine that information with a better understanding of electrical conditions. This creates a more complete picture of asset health, where mechanical performance is considered alongside the electrical environment in which equipment operates.

At CP Automation, we introduced our Mission to M.A.R.S. to help customers tie everything together: Measure, Analyse, Report and Solve. Measurement establishes baseline behaviour, Analysis identifies deviations and emerging stress, Reporting turns data into operational insight and Solving addresses root causes. Crucially, M.A.R.S. is a continuous cycle, with measurement beginning again to verify results and monitor changes in equipment, loads and facilities.

While predictive maintenance has rightly transformed how industries approach reliability, the next stage is understanding equipment deterioration more deeply, including the conditions that may be contributing to it. 

Katarina Mitchell is BDM at CP Automation

https://www.cpaltd.net