E-maintenance: closing the gap between automation and information technology

摘要

Effective asset management requires a seamless integration of information at all levels of the enterprise, from the field instrumentation up to the ERP systems. Diagnostic information generated by ever smarter field instruments must be collected by the control system. The control system, in turn, must exploit its powerful computing capabilities to combine this information with more sophisticated prediction and monitoring algorithms and tools, and present a complete picture of the asset status to the plant operating personnel, the maintenance personnel on site and off site, and, most importantly, to the computerized maintenance management system. From this point on, the information is in the domain of the enterprise information technology and may contribute to the enterprise-wide resource planning in terms of maintenance scheduling, resource allocation, production management and so on. The combination of automation, information and internet technology today enables the flow of data throughout all the collaborating components of the enterprise, and the success of automation system vendors will depend on their ability to take advantage of these technological trends to provide solutions to the customers' demand for enterprise asset optimization.