"The Growth of Predictive Maintenance and Its Effect on Future Furnace Performance"

In the world of heat treatment, furnaces must often withstand extreme conditions. However, for consistent, high-quality results, the furnace should be kept in excellent condition. While there are various ways to perform maintenance (e.g., corrective and preventative maintenance), there are still occasions where the furnace breaks down, resulting in lost production and downtime. 

Predictive maintenance is based on monitoring in-service equipment to optimize operations and determine when maintenance should be performed. The ideal program prevents equipment failures before they occur and schedules maintenance as needed. This paper examines how predictive maintenance is emerging as a tool for analyzing furnaces’ future performance and maintenance needs. Topics include: 

• Ways predictive maintenance connects factories globally
• Ability of software platforms to determine inventory needs by monitoring key parameters
• Benefits of implementing predictive maintenance systems, such as avoiding downtime
• How part replacement is based on furnace conditions rather than hours used, resulting in minimized costs