During the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve been asked the same questions many times – how have our Monitoring & Diagnostics (M&D) staff adapted to a work-at-home environment? How are we able to maintain our workload? What changes have we made?
The answer is simple: We have not changed. Not even in the slightest. We have maintained 100% effectiveness, and possibly extended visibility by a small percentage. How is this possible?
With the infrastructure already in place, we were fully prepared to move to a remote work environment at a moment’s notice. Our software and services solutions have always been focused around three aspects:
- Accessibility
- Visibility
- Optimization
Secure connections through VPN services and a robust and optimized monitoring system were already in place. And because we are already working remotely for our customers across the world, we had established a flexible schedule that continued seamlessly.
Through cloud-hosted platforms and secure connections, GP Strategies‘ M&D staff can access customers’ EtaPRO systems in just a few minutes at a moment’s notice. The global asset interface highlights abnormal conditions on critical equipment, allowing for focused efforts on prioritized items. This process is supplemented by advanced trending features, automated reporting and alerting, logging, and a fully integrated tracking system for issue management. EtaPRO has provided:
- The ability to focus efforts where they matter
- A stable and reliable network infrastructure
- Optimized monitoring system configuration
Not every plant is equipped with an optimized monitoring system, and maybe not every plant needs one. What every plant does need, however, is accessible data and a platform to prioritize this data. Even at acceptable failure rates, there is always room for improvement. If a pump bearing failure occurred abruptly and symptoms were apparent 2 weeks prior, there is room for improvement. If a condenser was running high for 3 weeks due to low circulating water flow because it went unnoticed, there is room for improvement.
Catching just a few issues early can quickly recover investment costs in a stable monitoring infrastructure by reducing downtime, preventing untimely failure, identifying performance losses early, and maintaining accurate instrumentation.
For more information on how you can implement a remote Monitoring and Diagnostic program to optimize the performance of your people, assets, and facilities, contact us.
About the Authors
