October 2019

NEWS THE opening keynote speaker at the 2019 Condition Monitoring and Diagnostic Engineering Conference (COMADEM) warned against recent claims that the future of predictive maintenance should be led by data science, and not engineers. Professor Andrew Ball, an expert in the field of diagnostic engineering, delivered the first of the keynote presentations at the COMADEM Congress, which was attended by over 180 delegates and held at the University of Huddersfield in the UK. Professor Ball, who also co-chaired the conference, told delegates that the separate techniques of detecting, diagnosing, assessing the severity and prognosis of machine faults require engineering expertise and context to achieve the accuracy and timely results demanded in the field of predictive maintenance. What engineering really needs “I have attended conferences recently where speakers have talked about purely data-driven approaches to predictive maintenance, with no concept of what engineering really needs,” he told his audience. 8 HYDRAULICS & PNEUMATICS October 2019 www.hpmag.co.uk Professor Ball stressed that successful interventions could only be achieved by engineers and data scientists working together. “Data-driven methods are truly Predictive maintenance – the importance of engineers and data scientists working together Heavy lifting systems supplier, Enerpac, has been awarded the ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Standard in recognition of the company’s achievements in improving employee health and safety. It is the fourth ISO standard achieved by Enerpac’s Hengelo manufacturing site over the past 5 years, covering quality and environmental management and fusion welding practices for Heavy Lifting Technology products. The ISO45001 award is the outcome of Enerpac’s systematic drive to set the highest safety standards for the development, manufacturing, assembly, testing, sales and distribution of high- pressure hydraulic equipment and integrated heavy lifting systems. Responsibility for on-site health and safety is managed by a steering committee comprising members from the Works Council, management team, human resources and employee safety representative. Enerpac health & safety leads in Hengelo, Jaap de Geus and Frank Schiphorst, welcome the structure provided by ISO 45001. “It provides a Health and Safety framework and tools to identify potential risks and the steps needed to either reduce or eliminate them completely. We’ve been working towards ISO 45001 for the past three years and have seen the benefits of taking a proactive approach to health and safety,” said de Geus. Enerpac’s Hengelo facility Awarded ISO 45001 Safety Standard excellent for identifying patterns and anomalies in large, complex data sets, and warn us when to undertake fault diagnosis, location and severity assessments,” he said, “but the latter steps cannot be achieved using data- driven methods alone. Predictive maintenance is an engineering discipline; one that can be significantly assisted by data science, but only if they work together.” COMADEM, now in its 32nd year, made its second visit to the University of Huddersfield, previously coming to the campus in 2012. Designed as a leading international forum for industrialists, engineers and exhibitors, the conference attracted a worldwide audience with papers presented by speakers from as far away as China, Australia and the US. Under the theme of Digital Enabled Asset Management, conference papers covered all areas of condition monitoring and maintenance, including signal and image processing, pattern recognition, finite modelling and simulation, as well as root cause analysis, sensors and actuators, asset management, and education and training. Professor Andrew Ball: The separate techniques of detecting, diagnosing, assessing the severity and prognosis of machine faults require engineering expertise and context to achieve the accuracy and timely results demanded in the field of predictive maintenance. Enerpac health & safety leads in Hengelo, Frank Schiphorst (left) and Jaap de Geus, with the ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Standard.