Things to Think About and Do in 2011: Priceless

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Priceless

Qualified vibration analysts are priceless. Determining that a bearing has a defect on the inner race takes skill and experience. A timely warning about the defect so that action can be taken to avoid a catastrophic failure reduces downtime, eliminates the secondary damage and mitigates the safety risk. But that is not the end of the job; it is just the beginning. Performing acceptance testing so that only healthy machines are installed in your plant is essential. Detecting and correcting unbalance, misalignment, and resonance extends the life of the machine; you’ll see fewer bearing defects. And when you do detect a fault, determining why the fault occurred, and working to ensure that “root cause” is not repeated in the future; that’s where the real pay-off comes. Detecting bearing faults is important, but there is so much more you can contribute to plant reliability, safety, and profitability.

—Jason Tranter