Have you ever been notified by operations that a machine is experiencing an issue and asked to quickly help determine the nature of the problem? Does this happen repeatedly on the same machine? Even around the same time of day or week?

Have you considered that process changes could be affecting the equipment? Changes in flow rate,  operational speed, temperatures, etc. can affect the normal operation of a machine. The effects can be increases in vibration levels, failures, etc.

Operators may be changing the operational parameters of a machine or process at the start of a shift or at certain times. These changes could be affecting the ability of the machine to operate normally. This could explain why the machine is experiencing problems and why the problems occur at certain times of the day or week.

Some studies have revealed that between 60% – 70% of equipment failures are preventable by operators.

Operational parameters should always be monitored and considered as possible causes for equipment issues.