Ultrasound Remote Monitoring with Doug Waetjen

Today we host Doug, the Vice President of Global operations, UE Systems. He has been with the organization since the 80s. He has spent a lot of time working with ultrasound technology.

This is a technology that was used to listen to problems but when conditioning reliability evolved, this had to change to dig into the nuts and bolts of figuring out problems.

The disadvantage of the old device using the point and shoot method is that it takes a lot of time to do something. As companies over the years have shifted to safety aspects, a lot of equipment is covered and shrouded and there are access issues.

What technology is available to monitor remotely with ultrasound

There is still a place for handheld monitoring technology but there is also the option of going full blast. There is also a blended program. Most of the companies want to take the critical aspects and put that on a permanent monitoring system.

How do organizations choose

First, there is a need to understand what assets are available and how they fail. Map out their failures and what is the best technology to apply to them. Then do asset criticality exercises, what is the impact on the organization and safety if the asset goes down. The data should be stored for future analysis. See if you can avoid such failures in the future by doing something differently.

You do not want failure to happen within monthly checks.

What applications are best for remote monitoring for ultrasound

1. Motor bearings

Safety advantages

The best thing is that nobody has to go near that asset. Just set the system up. It’s all about removing interaction between people and the asset. Eliminate human interaction with a looming hazard. This applies to both full time and handheld data collection.

These sensors are mounted right on the actual housing. The outboard will do.

Where do organizations start looking

They start with the route-based approach then depending on the data they are getting back; they choose a suitable technology. In short, do homework before you dive in.

There are so many different options but people focus on only two. There is an in-between system and that is simply looking at mounting a sensor that sets off an alarm. Having that in a control room ensures its working all the time. It is also a low-cost option.

Triage and figure out what you need to do next.

The homework portion, criticality analysis ensures that you do not just monitor for the sake of it. Take it slow and look at the assets that you have and work out your bugs. Find out what action you have to take and how fast should you take it. After all this, slowly expand the program. Start slow and learn as you go.

What should be done that is not being done

The biggest thing to change is committing to a tremendous amount of training. Trust what the information says to be able to make the call.  most organizations buy ultrasound equipment but do not have sufficient training on how to analyze and collect data.

If you are currently using ultrasound, go and look at the after-failure actions that took place. Do not get on the reliability problem treadmill where you just find problems and solve, get to the root cause.  See what other people have done, don’t reinvent the wheel.

Ultrasound is not the only game in town. There are other technologies and communities online that will share their best practices.

Eruditio Links:

• Eruditio
• HP Reliability
• James Kovacevic’s LinkedIn
• Reliability Report
• Eruditio Supports: www.help.eruditio.com

Doug Waetjen Links:

• UE World
• UE Systems
• Doug Waetjen Linkedin
• SMRP.org
• Making Common Sense Common Practice by Ron Moore
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey

205-Ultrasound Remote Monitoring with Doug WaetjenJames Kovacevic

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