Condition monitoring is often thought to be a waste of time, due to the sheer cost of equipment and training required to ensure that maintenance staff are competent in using the equipment correctly and are able to interpret the vibration spectrum. AVT Reliability^® have developed Machine Sentry^® to combat just this, with 40 years of experience in condition monitoring combined with the advances in technology we have developed our solution to make condition monitoring affordable. Machine Sentry^® places a powerful condition monitoring tool within the reach of any customer. In addition, Machine Sentry^® utilizes the power of the internet to ensure that the user is never alone with the analysis of raw data from a critical piece of machinery. The AVT Reliability^® team of expert condition monitoring engineers can analyze data remotely if required and provide support to the on-site team.

Five typical reasons why condition monitoring has limited impact on many companies:

• The cost of deployment Vs return on investment – if this is no longer the case would you not deploy your condition monitoring to more assets in your plant?
• Poor performance indicator of the program, Machine Sentry^® includes a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) dashboard dedicated to demonstrating the performance of the condition monitoring program. KPI’s reported include schedule compliance, cost-benefit analysis, plus a range of reports dedicated to ensuring compliance and support of your maintenance strategy.
• Poor analysis, as a consequence of a lack of experience and training. Machine Sentry^® includes an in-built Automated Diagnostic Assistant (ADA™) that can predict stage 2, 3 and 4 bearing failure and detect a wide range of other common fault conditions that impact the reliability of your equipment. It helps set priorities for busy maintenance people and save time by indicating from a mass of data what might be important to improve reliability.
• The time required to collect data. – Traditional data-collectors have been slow, Machine Sentry^® can collect data in a 1/5 of the time required of traditional data collectors.
• Large multi-site locations – In businesses where the condition monitoring engineer is responsible for making measurements at multiple sites, the time taken to visit each site and collect data can outweigh the value. Machine Sentry^® overcomes this by simplifying data collection enabling it to be easily performed by onsite engineers.  Using the power of the internet the data is then seamlessly uploaded to a central database that can be reviewed by an authorized person anywhere in the world.

In summary: Traditionally it has been difficult to justify the cost to implement and operate a condition monitoring program. Training and retaining key personnel is both difficult and expensive. The Machine Sentry^® solution changes this, the equipment cost is kept low by the use of ‘off the shelf’ mobile devices for data collection. In addition, there is no longer a need to invest in expensive training as the internet hosted software allows the end-user to have access to expert engineers from anywhere in the world. Machine Sentry^® comes complete with a complete suite of reporting functions that clearly demonstrate the performance of the condition monitoring program making it simple to justify the investment.