A primer on predictive maintenance: Potential benefits and practical challenges

Abstract

We present an overview of predictive maintenance (PdM) in industrial operations, highlighting its evolution, benefits, challenges, and potential economic impact. It is assessed that there are considerable benefits associated with PdM but also its practical implementation can prove difficult due to the uncertain benefits of its application, the need for advanced IT infrastructure as well as expert personnel, and, perhaps most importantly, a lack of failure-related data for the PdM model training. We conclude with three PdM case studies to elaborate on some of the issues discussed throughout the paper.