In an earlier blog, I listed the seven key elements that entail a motor management plan. In this post, I delve into the first and most under-rated element of a motor management plan – determining your Motor inventory.
Why survey your motors?
Typical industrial facilities have hundreds, if not thousands, of motors in inventory. Yet, in my experience, many grossly under-estimate their motor inventory — even those with sophisticated EAM/CMMS systems. But, how can you manage what you don’t understand?
Understanding your motor inventory helps you make better, more-informed asset management decisions. In turn, better motor management decisions improve your capital utilization, reduce motor-related downtime, and decrease your energy expenses — improving your bottom line. So, the first step in any motor management plan includes inventorying your motors.
Best practices for surveying motors
Ideally, your motor inventory should include a unique identifier for each motor as well as its horsepower, speed, voltage rating, rated load current, frame size, enclosure type, insulation class, starting (kVA) code, NEMA/IEC design, area/department/location, type of driven load, repair history, root cause failure analysis results (where previously repaired), and current plus historical measured operating conditions (e.g., current, voltage, power, power factor, speed).
Compiling such extensive information can be quite the daunting task. Here’s some best practices to make assessing your motor portfolio a more manageable task:
1. Identify critical motors.
Break your survey into manageable chunks. Start by surveying those motors whose failure will have the most business impact. Criteria for motor criticality varies from one business to another, but typically includes cost of downtime, annual operating hours, motor size, age, and mean time between failure.
2. Assign a champion.
Identify an individual who will be entrusted with the responsibility of the motor survey. This person should be well acquainted with the facility and its motors and understand the information s/he needs to collect and its importance to the organization — i.e., its alignment to KPIs and strategic goals. Be sure to equip this champion / project manager with the support resources and equipment needed to conduct the survey.
3. Develop a survey form.
Decide where you’re going to store your motor records — whether within your EAM/CMMS, a supplementary solution like Motors@Work, or a spreadsheet. Then, develop a survey form that helps you 1) capture all applicable information about your motors, and 2) streamline the data entry. With the prevalence of handheld tablets and smartphones, I recommend either setting up the appropriate attributes in your EAM/CMMS, or developing a simple online survey (e.g., Survey Monkey or Google Forms) so each entry automatically builds your spreadsheet. However, a paper form works just as well.
The survey form should capture all motor nameplate fields, purchase and work order history, plus measurements of current operating conditions. Comparing motor nameplate information with the measured operating data helps to determine whether your motor is operating properly or not.
4. Survey your motors.
While most of this information will be collected from the motor itself, note that other critical information, such as the motor’s purchase and work order history, may require investigating other sources, such as your EAM or CMMS system. Since motor nameplates do not follow set conventions, you may need to check NEMA standards, or use a tool like Motors@Work, whose motor catalog contains manufacturer specifications on more than 47,000 motors, to supplement your records.
5. Track motor performance.
Identify recurring problems by tracking motor operationing data (e.g., location, installation date, repair history, load, operating hours etc.). This data may help you identify performance issues long before your motor functionally fails, as well as help you identify problematic motors and inappropriate loads or applications so that you can make more-informed repair versus replace decisions.
6. Keep your EAM/CMMS updated.
A motor assessment program is an extensive process — so incorporate updates to your official inventory into your existing procurement and maintenance processes. Make updating the inventory another item on these process checklists. Failing to keep your inventory up-to-date adds time to your motor management decisions, making more difficult for you to respond to critical situations like motor failures, and leads to repeating the activity.
For more information on how Motors@Work can help you inventory your motor portfolio, email us at info@motorsatwork.com.