Executive Outlook: Maintaining Current Assets

As demand for a cleaner, smarter, and more efficient planet increases, the need for holistic solutions to address growing energy demand, fuel costs, and limited capital has become more crucial than ever.

Today, industries are assessing their role in the economic recovery, and many companies are looking for new ways to address lingering challenges, including proceeding cautiously with capital spending. When it comes to critical plant equipment, for example, many managers conclude that it is more fiscally sound to maintain current assets rather than invest in new ones.

In order to provide long-term care for those assets, the most efficient maintenance strategies are based on predictive plans rather than reactive ones. Predicting potential problems and activating timely solutions protect bottom lines far better than reacting to breakdowns. Unscheduled downtime due to broken or malfunctioning equipment or assets can cost a business thousands of dollars, not to mention possible safety issues. Plant managers who have a proper predictive maintenance program with a properly qualified partner can maximize the value of their assets.

Developing proactive maintenance programs that ensure safe, profitable and reliable operations have become more crucial around the globe. As customers expand their operations, they need to have the ability to effectively monitor, measure and test critical equipment, even when equipment is located in distant and, sometimes, harsh locations.

Gathering data and distilling the information into manageable, actionable formats for preventative maintenance can be a huge undertaking, and GE realized this when working with our customers in the wind power industry. The wind power boom before the economic crisis has left customers with a massive fleet of wind turbines that will soon reach the end of their manufacturer warranties. With the right tools, wind farm operators can monitor their assets remotely, understand the severity of defects, make corrections and continue to generate revenue if the problem is insignificant.

If business owners can shift mindsets and equipment performance plans from reactive maintenance to a predictive maintenance strategy, it will help alleviate many burdens associated with unplanned downtime and improve reliability.

Predictive maintenance solutions require understanding customers’ unique needs and challenges. The right partner will help companies operate cleaner, smarter, and more efficiently in a world where reliability and financial security are challenged by shrinking resources, fewer expenditures and more attention to sustainable solutions.