Predictive Maintenance Delivers Savings

This article appears in our Q2 2022 issue of Finance Transformation Magazine. To download the issue, click here

Gary Cole, CEO of Lumilinks, explains how tapping into existing data can allow you to predict, prioritise and pre-empt maintenance on your systems and equipment. So, you can reduce repairs and cut costs. You already have the data you need; you just need to know how to use it.

Increasingly, organisations understand the value of data in informing customer relationships, guiding effective marketing campaigns, and driving sales. But, data can supercharge internal processes too. There is money to be saved in how you handle equipment repairs and maintenance, and predictive maintenance is the key.

Predictive maintenance is a familiar concept: data analysis to get ahead of repairs. It’s a technique that detects anomalies in your operation, possible defects in equipment and processes, and future maintenance requirements, so you can fix issues before they result in failure. Also know the ideal time to retain or sell an asset.

Ideally, the predictive method keeps maintenance to a minimum because it prevents unplanned reactive maintenance and makes expensive preventive maintenance redundant.

You may be familiar with predictive maintenance systems that utilise a network of Internet of Things (IoT) devices to paint a real-time picture of your system’s health. Monitors and sensors attached to all parts of an asset produce a constant stream of data, which is then processed using machine learning and AI techniques to make predictions of future maintenance needs.

Predictive maintenance of this kind is expensive to set up and run. Its output is powerful and accurate, but it requires costly IoT devices, large data storage infrastructure, high computing power, and a time-intensive program of modernisation before you can begin to access useful data. At Lumilinks, we have a solution that realises ROI faster.

The question surrounding predictive maintenance is, ‘Can you harness the benefits without incurring the costs?’ At Lumilinks, we believe the answer is ‘Yes.’ In response, we have developed a predictive maintenance model that produces similar results without the set-up and maintenance costs.

Our technique uses statistical analysis to build a proportional hazards model for your assets using the maintenance data you already have. The technique produces predictions about which parts will break next, the proportional risk posed to the entire asset, and the cost of repair in relation to the cost of potential failure. You can then prioritise critical maintenance, reduce downtime of key assets, and discontinue expiring assets before they cause damage.

For businesses with multiple or complex assets, this is a game-changer. It’s an opportunity to reduce maintenance costs while increasing maintenance value by drawing up a viable and effective schedule and using it to inform asset management.

What are the Benefits of the Lumilinks Solution?

• Minimise set-up and maintenance costs

Predictive maintenance that leverages existing data requires a smaller investment in new data-collecting infrastructure than intensive AI solutions. New monitors, sensors, and IoT devices would also require additional costly maintenance, but with the Lumilinks solution, you keep setup and ongoing costs to a minimum.

• Realise ROI faster

With lower set-up costs and a smaller installation process, the Lumilinks solution lets you access useful data faster, which means a quicker ROI.

• Prioritise maintenance

Predictive maintenance allows you to identify which critical assets will need maintenance and when, and balance this against the maintenance needs of everything else.

• Plan a maintenance schedule

With better insights into system and asset behaviour, you can draw up a schedule that reduces costly and overzealous preventive maintenance and means you won’t be unwittingly replacing perfectly good parts.

• Adapt pricing models

Proper insight into which parts of your business and which clients cause the most damage and are the most expensive allows you to devise proactive pricing models that will keep you ahead of future costs and improve your product offerings.

There is value in your business data, and correlating data across your business helps you uncover patterns, learn from experience, and make smart, effective decisions. Using this data to develop a proper preventive maintenance plan will, in the long run, save money and help you plan future asset acquisitions.

Lumilinks is turning data into a Single Source of Truth, making data management accessible to all and encouraging better data hygiene. This is what makes money-saving techniques such as preventive maintenance possible.

To find out more about Lumilinks data services, visit www.lumilinks.com

Client Story – Dawson Group

“The partnership between Dawson Group and Lumilinks has opened our eyes to what is possible. One of the biggest assets within Dawson Group is data, but a recent study revealed that we do not use our 25+ years of historical data in the most effective manner. While we have numerous in-house accountants, we do not regularly analyse the data in any great depth. Ad hoc analysis takes time, and the important message may be missed due to data overload. This is where the partnership with Lumilinks has been a real benefit.

“The data analysis undertaken by Lumilinks will enable Dawson Group to manage its fleet more efficiently, reduce costs, increase revenue, and provide better solutions for our customers. As an example, we can now predict when will be the optimum time to dispose of a vehicle, taking into consideration our own data on ageing repair and maintenance costs, as well as external data such as second-hand market values.”

By Adrian O’Reilly, Group Accounting Director

About the author: Gary Cole

Gary Cole founded Lumilinks in 2019 alongside Jo Dudley-Smith and Dr Tim Drye who is a former DataIQ Data Scientist of the Year. On a mission to disrupt the traditional SaaS status quo, Lumilinks offer analytics as a service using A.I. decision-making models to empower users to identify the optimum route to goal, helping organisations to efficiently and strategically achieve their business objectives.