Top 5 Plant Engineering articles, January 25-31: Repair, replace, or retrofit; IIoT technologies; preventive maintenance program, more

Articles about choosing between repair, replace, or retrofit; new IIoT technologies; designing a preventive maintenance program; how to fix preventive maintenance when it fails; and best practices in preventive maintenance were Plant Engineering's five most clicked articles from last week, January 25-31. Were you out last week? You can catch up here.

By Erin Dunne February 1, 2016

Plant Engineering Top 5 most read articles online, for Jan. 25-31, covered choosing between repair, replace, or retrofit; new IIoT technologies; designing a preventive maintenance program; how to fix preventive maintenance when it fails; and best practices in preventive maintenance. Link to each article below. 

1. The three R’s: Repair, replace, or retrofit

Deciding whether to repair, replace, or retrofit an asset within a plant depends on business goals and operation and maintenance requirements of each asset in a facility. 

2. New IIoT technologies, strategies for a new year

ARC Advisory Group analyst Greg Gorbach offers 10 trends for 2016 with a focus on the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and its continuing impact on the manufacturing structure and strategy. 

3. Six steps to design a preventive maintenance program

Six steps for creating an effective efficient and sustainable preventive maintenance program for your facility. 

4. Why preventive maintenance fails and how to fix it

Preventive maintenance (PM) should not be confused with predictive maintenance (PdM), which is a series of dynamic inspections of machine components while the machines are operating in their normal productions modes. The first part of a 3-part series explains what great preventive maintenance programs should include.

5. Best practices in preventive maintenance: How one company did it

Companies with well-planned preventive maintenance (PM) programs enjoy minimal unplanned downtime, minimal spare parts cost, minimal manufacturing interruptions from breakdowns, maximum manufacturing times, maximum product quality, and longer machine life spans. 

This list was developed using CFE Media’s web analytics for stories viewed on www.plantengineering.com, January 25-31, for articles published within the last two months. 

– Erin Dunne, production coordinator, CFE Media, edunne@cfemedia.com