New GE technology will reduce unplanned manufacturing downtime
GE Digital has debuted the newest version of its Asset Performance Management system, which combines the GE Digital APM portfolio with Meridium (acquired by GE in 2016) solutions. The combination enables asset-intensive organisations to have anytime visibility, arming them with powerful analytics to avoid unplanned downtime. This Predix-powered product is being showcased at Hannover Messe, which runs this week.
Reductions in operating risks and improved reliability is key for asset-intensive companies. Regulations change all the time, and businesses must always update their compliance levels, protect the health and safety of workers, and ensure they have the tools to make them as productive as possible.
GE’s Digital APM suite – which is the most comprehensive in the industry – aims to solve these common challenges by covering the full range of APM requirements, from risk assessment to compliance management. Unplanned downtime can be dramatically reduced by the analytics predicting equipment issues before they have a chance to happen.
Eddie Amos, General Manager of GE Digital’s Asset Performance Management software group, commented: “APM is all about visibility to equipment health and optimization of maintenance with a goal of reducing the long-term cost of ownership, safety to workers and the environment, and minimizing disruptions to operations. GE’s APM solutions help companies increase asset reliability and availability while reducing cost and risk in operations. And we’ve tested our APM capabilities on our own equipment in our customers’ plants. Because GE is an OEM, we monitor more than $1 trillion in assets. We know what it takes to monitor real industrial equipment and will continue to invest in APM solutions that work for us and work for industry.”
Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) have the capability to reduce asset lifetime cost and increase profit streams from asset service by expanding monitoring and maintenance capabilities to their end customer. This helps OEMs increase service revenue and reduce asset lifecycle costs, including R&D, warranty and services. GE customers are already seeing positive outcomes using the APM offering.
With predictive capabilities, the OEM can quickly respond to parts and service needs as well as provide timely, critical remote support, which decreases the costs associated with on-site engineering visits. This technology helps OEMs address issues while they are small and easy to fix, and makes them better prepared for the likely issues before deploying resources on a service call, decreasing cost to service.