Condition monitoring refers to the permanent monitoring of the status of process parameters of a system or system components. This makes it possible to monitor systems from a remote location, from anywhere in the world, from your desk or smartphone. In addition to obtaining pure operating data such as piece counters, system statuses and error messages, collecting data and recognizing dependencies means that several parameters can be used to draw conclusions about fault conditions in order to prevent faults and thus avoid downtimes. Measures for repairs and maintenance can thus be planned in advance, which results in cost reductions.

Predictive maintenance is a preventive maintenance process that does not take place at a fixed time interval in the way maintenance used to be performed, but is triggered by process and machine parameters that are permanently monitored. With the help of predictive maintenance, projections can thus be made for maintenance work. Faults or wear on machines are recognized at an early stage. If, for example, the torque curve of a robot axis changes gradually over a certain period of time, it can be deduced that the gearbox will soon need to be changed and this can then be done during a planned shutdown. For example, by recording the alternating cycles of an axis, loads on cable assemblies that are moved as a result can be determined and a preventive inspection or replacement can be initiated.

Preventive maintenance vs. predictive maintenance:

preventive maintenance is more like an annual health check, where maintenance is carried out regularly to prevent breakdowns. Predictive maintenance is based on real-time machine data that uses sensors to record measured values such as temperature, vibrations and pressure.

Remote troubleshooting and rectification can be offered via remote maintenance access, as can function or sequence programme enhancements for the robots and motors of a system or machine. Faults and malfunctions in a robot system can be analysed and rectified to a very large extent via remote maintenance access. This saves travelling costs and reduces downtimes.

An industrial robot offers great flexibility in terms of movement and program sequences. If additional functions and processes need to be integrated at a later date, this can also be done with remote access.

[The nexofox team not only supports you with programming and configuration of software solutions at IIoT field or cloud level, but has also developed their own app especially for service technicians. This app that was developed in-house supports the service technician with all the necessary data when working on site.

The individual modules and components can be integrated through all common interfaces. With OPC UA, we offer the most important market standard that has become established for platform-independent data exchange. Wit regard to integration, we use open standards which are easily incorporated into various ecosystems.