l automation system. In this way, maintenance and control-room personnel can obtain real-time performance information from any specific smart transmitter or control valve at any time.
The software continually monitors the online devices and raises a status alert when the performance of any device, or the equipment to which it is mounted, falls below a prescribed norm. Maintenance and reliability managers can evaluate the situation to decide whether to address it immediately or wait until the next scheduled shutdown.
Knowledge is the key for the predictive maintenance strategy under which our plants operate today. Our managers now can make informed and timely maintenance decisions, improving reliability and increasing plant availability.
Predictive maintenance has proven to be less expensive over the long run than preventive maintenance and far less costly than reactive maintenance, where personnel rush to remedy unexpected equipment failures with no long-term strategy. Figure 1 shows that comparative maintenance costs for three different plants at the complex significantly decreased from 2010 to 2011.