To manage their maritime equipment on vessels all over the world Royal IHC has deployed condition based monitoring (CBM). This is a maintenance strategy that allows the company to monitor the condition of their equipment real-time and extract information to understand the machines' actual condition. As soon as a parameter like the vibration or temperature changes it could be an indication of a fault. CBM helps to monitor these parameters 24/7 and by performing predictive maintenance if a deviation occurs, IHC can minimize downtime. However, CBM was not running smoothly at IHC. Communications about the condition of the equipment via email did not circulate efficiently and didn’t always reach the right people. Due to this IHC’s analysts were struggling with process management and deviations were sometimes left undiscovered. This resulted in more frequent downtime and higher maintenance costs. To solve this IHC wanted to build a futureproof digital CBM solution that would give them and their customers real-time insight so they can be more proactive and effective in their maintenance.
Business Need: To manage their maritime equipment on vessels all over the world Royal IHC has deployed condition based monitoring (CBM). This is a maintenance strategy that allows the company to monitor the condition of their equipment real-time and extract information to understand the machines' actual condition. As soon as a parameter like the vibration or temperature changes it could be an indication of a fault. CBM helps to monitor these parameters 24/7 and by performing predictive maintenance if a deviation occurs, IHC can minimize downtime. However, CBM was not running smoothly at IHC. Communications about the condition of the equipment via email did not circulate efficiently and didn’t always reach the right people. Due to this IHC’s analysts were struggling with process management and deviations were sometimes left undiscovered. This resulted in more frequent downtime and higher maintenance costs. To solve this IHC wanted to build a futureproof digital CBM solution that would give them and their customers real-time insight so they can be more proactive and effective in their maintenance.
Solution: Within 7 weeks Ciphix, IHC’s strategic partner for digital initiatives, developed ‘IHC Optimus’. IHC and its customers can leverage this web portal for CBM. The portal gives users insight in real-time operating parameters of the IHC machinery on the vessels. The solution integrates with the existing system for measuring the parameters and also features mobile and offline capabilities. The portal was built using the Mendix-platform as it allows fast, agile app development. Views depending on user role The viewing rights in the Optimus portal can be assigned based on the role of the user: fleet manager, chief engineer, IHC program manager or IHC analyst. The portal also enables automatic task assignment like measurement, analysis or feedback. Users can only view the task they have to perform. This helps IHC to manage their CBM-program more efficiently. Via the CBM-dashboard the portal provides an overview of the status on different levels like customer, fleet, vessel, machine train and measuring position. The portal also allows simple communication between the chief engineer from a client vessel and an IHC analyst. The chief engineer on the vessel can upload measurements which he performs based on a schedule provided by a program manager. With those data IHC analysts are able to diagnose machine conditions and report the findings together with their recommendations via the portal. With the results IHC- customers are able to perform predictive maintenance and prevent problems on their ships.
Results: With IHC Optimus the CBM-process has improved significantly. The portal supports the entire CBM- process management of both IHC and its customers and offers 24/7 insight into the vital parameters of the equipment. IHC Optimus now acts as a single ‘source of truth’ resulting in improved internal efficiency and time savings on lengthy email conversations and discussions. The portal also allows IHC to lower maintenance costs and provide high-quality advice and support to clients based on real-time data.