Does your in-house production equipment or the equipment you manufacture and sell include any of these rotating components:
- Motors
- Gearboxes
- Pumps
- Fans
- Bearings
- Compressors?
Amazon recently announced a new product + software + AWS (Amazon Web Services) infrastructure called Amazon Monitron that might be the holiday present your business has been waiting for. You may be able to implement predictive maintenance with minimal cost and effort!
As someone with decades of experience in this arena, here are three reasons why I think this solution will be a winner:
- It does only one thing — collect real-time performance data from rotating items and turn it into predictive failure information
- It is simple to install and set up, and relatively inexpensive
- When asked if he thought the new AWS Monitron would move the needle on manufacturing companies’ move to predictive maintenance, Christian Kowalkowski, co-author of Service Strategy in Action: A Practical Guide for Growing Your B2B Service and Solution Business, responded, “I do not know the details, but I definitely think it may have a significant impact. AWS is really moving into the traditional sphere of manufacturing firms here.”
In other words – AWS has credibility in the marketplace.
Exploring Real Use Cases
Before describing the solution, it’s worth considering a few businesses, like Fender and GE Gas Power, that are talking about their experiences with Amazon Monitron.
“Over the past year, we worked with AWS to help develop the critical but sometimes overlooked part of running a successful manufacturing business – knowing your equipment condition,” Fender Musical Instrument Company told AWS. “Amazon Monitron can give both large industry manufacturers as well as small ‘mom and pop shops’ the ability to predict equipment failures, giving us the opportunity to preemptively schedule equipment repairs.”
“Using Amazon Monitron, we are now able to quickly retrofit our assets with sensors and connecting them to real-time analytics in AWS cloud,” exlained GE Gas Power. “We can do this without having to require deep technical skills or having to configure our own IT and OT networks… the ease-of-use for the operators and maintenance team, the simplicity, and the ability to implement at scale is extremely attractive to GE.”
What Is the Amazon Monitron Solution?
According to AWS, “Amazon Monitron is an end-to-end system that uses machine learning (ML) to detect abnormal behavior in industrial machinery, enabling you to implement predictive maintenance and reduce unplanned downtime.” The sensors are a 3-axis accelerometer to measure vibrations and a temperature-measuring component.
Attaching the sensors to the machine illustrates the practicality of the equipment: “Amazon Monitron Sensors can be attached to the equipment using adhesive, which you need to purchase separately. We suggest you check the surface before selecting the adhesive. For surfaces up to 5mm roughness/gaps, you can buy an adhesive that fills the gap, for example, LOCTITE® 3090. For flat surfaces (<0.1mm roughness), you can buy a more generic adhesive, for example, LOCTITE® 454. Always check and follow the processing guidelines outlined by the adhesive vendor.”
Here is a simple Amazon diagram showing the basics of the system:
Amazon has a starter kit containing five sensors, a gateway, and a gateway power supply.
By starting with one kit, you can instrument up to five closely located machines, start collecting operational data, and figure out if this is for you. This kit costs $715.00 and can be purchased on the Amazon website or through an Amazon business account. However, be aware that there are some additional expenses:
- The sensor battery life is about three years and when they fail, the sensor must be replaced — $575.00 for a pack of five sensors
- A service fee for each sensor which covers the AWS software — $50.00 per sensor per year
- A gateway will handle up to 20 sensors if all are situated near the gateway. In a typical factory, you may only get ten sensors per gateway. A gateway costs $140.00
- Since you are connecting to AWS, you will also need an account and some other software and hardware. If you already are an AWS customer, it could be free, but otherwise, you will incur an additional cost.
On the Monitron pricing page, you can see a few examples of one and three-year costs for hypothetical examples.
The Amazon website has much more data and information, but if I include more here, I will start feeling like I should be on Amazon’s payroll. However, I still enjoy the satisfaction I get from my consulting work.
About Middlesex Consulting
Middlesex Consulting helps our B2B product manufacturing clients grow their service revenue and profitability by applying the methodologies and techniques associated with Customer Value Creation and Customer Experience professions to assist its clients in designing and commercializing new services and the associated business transformations. Contact Sam here.
Be social and share!
Image Credit: Amazon