A calm plant floor and steady, reliable production line is the ideal state in manufacturing. With AI-powered, expert-guided condition monitoring in place, it’s achievable—with asset saves that start stacking up quickly. More and more facilities are achieving breakthrough results with condition monitoring, proving the value of having an early warning system that provides information on the condition of their assets in real time.

So, how do you start the transition? What does it take to address faults early on?

Many plants start with vibration monitoring. It’s an essential capability you need to achieve peak asset health, performance, and reliability. But for the best possible ROI, you need to cover all the bases.

This means adding holistic oil analysis to the mix. Not the usual pass-fail, but a comprehensive analysis that will allow you to find hidden faults, identify root causes, and calculate asset lifespan.

Below, we'll explain the unique benefits of vibration and oil analysis. Then we'll share a real-world success story showing the power of combining these condition monitoring approaches to prevent equipment failures.

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Real-Time Vibration Analysis: A Powerful Diagnostic Tool

Vibration analysis is used to continuously monitor and diagnose the health of rotating machinery such as motors, pumps, and gearboxes. By using a wireless remote sensor to capture the vibration signals emitted by the equipment in real time, you can identify patterns and abnormalities that may indicate deteriorating conditions or potential failures. This approach can be used to identify a wide range of issues including misalignments, imbalances, bearing wear, and loose components.

By detecting these issues early—with increasing precision, thanks to AI, along with prescriptive recommendations from dedicated vibration analysts—your teams can schedule equipment maintenance during planned downtime. This ensures operations continue running smoothly and guards against the financial and human impacts of equipment failure.

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Real-time vibration data tells you something is wrong—but it doesn’t always tell you what to do next. AI + Human Expertise in Predictive Maintenance explains why predictive AI and expert support go hand in hand and how to get the balance right to empower your team to win. 👉 Download the e-book today.

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Oil Condition Monitoring: A Vital Gauge of Asset Health

Analysis of lubricating oil is another critical component of predictive maintenance, as it provides valuable insights into the condition of a machine's lubricant and internal components. By analyzing oil samples holistically across a range of criteria, your engineers can evaluate the cleanliness of the lubricant and identify signs of contamination, machinery wear, and lubricant degradation, which may indicate potential problems with the equipment.

Issues commonly detected through a comprehensive oil analysis include:

• Increased levels of wear particles and debris, indicating friction between components
• The presence of water or other contaminants, which can cause corrosion and damage to parts
• Changes in the oil's viscosity or acidity, which may affect its lubricating properties

With help from a dedicated lubrication expert, your team can identify these issues early and address them before they escalate into more significant problems. An oil condition monitoring service that offers teams a distinct read on equipment health makes prediction and prevention of failures even easier.

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Oil condition monitoring exposes early wear trends—but only if you know how to interpret the data. Learn how manufacturers are making simple improvements to transform their lubrication programs and using oil analysis to calculate wear rate, remaining life, and real ROI. 👉 Explore the lubrication optimization guide.

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Vibration + Oil Quality: A Greater Degree of Insight

Integrating vibration and oil analysis data within a single system provides a more complete and accurate view of machine health. This can enable engineers to identify issues that may not be apparent when using only one technique.

For example, vibration analysis may detect an abnormal pattern that indicates bearing wear, while oil analysis can confirm this diagnosis by revealing increased levels of metal particles in the lubricant. Conversely, oil analysis may identify contamination issues that are not evident in vibration data, allowing for earlier detection and a more targeted maintenance approach.

Here's a real-world predictive maintenance win made possible by a 2-in-1 approach to condition monitoring.

Vibration sensor captures anomaly in steel manufacturer's gearbox

Analyzing a vibration alert generated by AI, the plant's dedicated AssetWatch condition monitoring engineer (CME) noted elevated vibration related to the gear mesh. He then recommended inspecting the rotating components of the mill main drive and gearbox, verifying the oil level in the gearbox, and analyzing the condition of the oil.

Oil analysis points to simple preventive fix, saving the plant $50,000

The plant's dedicated AssetWatch lubrication CME reviewed the oil analysis report and noted wear metals, particle count, and water content were all high. Both CMEs collaborated with the customer on a plan to inspect the gearbox, check the oil level, and change the oil.

As a result of this process, the customer found that the input shaft seal was leaking, and there was very little oil left in the gearbox. After the seals were replaced and the oil was changed, the issue was resolved—preventing the need for a gearbox replacement and saving the customer $50,000.

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With Vibration and Oil Analysis Combined, Faults Have Nowhere to Hide

Incorporating both vibration and oil analysis as part of a comprehensive predictive maintenance strategy can significantly reduce unplanned downtime and extend equipment life. By combining the strengths of these two techniques, you can create a force multiplier effect, enabling you to identify and address potential issues earlier and more effectively. 

You'll also be able to streamline and optimize your maintenance schedules. Engineers who use both vibration and oil analysis data can prioritize maintenance tasks based on the severity of the issues detected, ensuring that the most critical problems are addressed first.

If your vision for your plant is operational excellence, increased productivity, and breakdown prevention through timely corrective action, having a complete picture of your assets' health will empower you to achieve it.

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Discover How You Can Uncover Hidden Failure Risks on Your Production Line

Unplanned downtime often starts with problems you can’t see. In Closing the Asset Health Visibility Gap, you’ll learn how combining real-time vibration monitoring, oil analysis, predictive analytics, and expert insight helps teams identify anomalies and trends and uncover hidden failure risks early—before they become costly disruptions.

👉 Download the e-book and see what your machines might be hiding. Get your copy here.

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