The product will initially be launched in Brazil, Peru and Chile, with other countries to follow in 2015.

Called AssetVista, the solution unlocks an integral feature of ABB’s long-established System 800xA platform Asset Optimization. However, it can be also easily integrated in a range of other third-party control systems. To work most effectively, AssetVista is combined with the customer’s maintenance management. This combination improves equipment reliability, thereby reducing maintenance and operational costs, avoids unplanned shutdowns and increases productivity.

AssetVista pulls together previously disparate condition data from various assets, such as valves, switches, sensors, motors, switchgear, gearboxes, crushers and conveyors to collectively analyse and compare all data enabling users to define a thorough predictive maintenance strategy. A critical analysis of each asset, equipment or component takes into account failure modes, available control system data, as well as information from pre-installed expert condition monitoring systems and datasheets.

For instance, a typical conveyor offers a vast array of intelligence, yet this data is often distributed, independently, to different computer systems located in a control room, office and e-house. This silo mentality means vital information is not shared among all stakeholders in a timely manner. If, for example, a fault occurs due to insufficient lubrication of an electric motor, the maintenance engineer may not learn about it until production has already been compromised. And, even when identified, the engineer may not quickly identify the electric motor as the root cause. This leads to massive and costly delays.

AssetVista avoids this scenario by channelling the key information into one maintenance-oriented system. So everyone – from operations, maintenance and automation departments – gets forewarning of a potential fault (i.e., lubrication failure) with a proposed solution all with enough time to address it before production is affected.

Giuseppe di Marco, managing director of ABB’s process industries business unit, said: “AssetVista breaks down the information silos that exist between operation, automation and maintenance personnel, by having them share the same knowledge. This smooth integration of data leads to increased operational efficiency through faster repairs and the elimination of unnecessary maintenance that might expose personnel to safety risks.”

There are four stages to implementing AssetVista. During an on-site assessment, ABB’s experts, together with site maintenance specialists, evaluate the precise maintenance needs. A long-term solution is then designed based on business goals and technologies available. In the next stage ABB’s team deploys the online condition monitoring application. Finally, ABB remotely measures and optimises maintenance performance and presents results in periodic reports. Under a service agreement ABB ensures the application is always up-to-date so that customer maintenance teams can focus on their daily maintenance work.

AssetVista is scalable through its library of asset monitors – called the AssetVista Library Suite. With this tool, users can apply AssetVista to whichever area they wish to focus, be it condition monitoring of automation, instrumentation, electrical, mechanical or process equipment. This suite of monitors is compiled so that a user can start with a small scope covering only the most common components initially and then, in line with growing business demands, scale up the condition monitoring to assess more complex, high-value added equipment and components.