{"id":12703,"date":"2026-06-04T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/?p=12703"},"modified":"2026-06-01T18:54:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T18:54:13","slug":"software-that-digs-deep-predictive-maintenance-for-a-new-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/software-that-digs-deep-predictive-maintenance-for-a-new-era\/","title":{"rendered":"Software that digs deep: predictive maintenance for a new era"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Using enterprise-wide continuous monitoring and predictive maintenance software, operators can spot issues early, deploy personnel more effectively, and uncover new levels of efficiency.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Ben Swisher<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Operations often take place in remote and dangerous locations; in addition, as critical resources become scarcer, mining organizations must continually push further out and dig deeper to find the minerals that manufacturers rely on to produce products around the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This continual expansion creates several complications for reliable operation. First, the cost of doing business has increased dramatically, so margins have shrunk. Equipment still must operate in the harshest of environments \u2013 hot, dirty, dusty, and under extreme loads \u2013 but as those environmental factors take their toll on equipment, reliability teams can no longer allow machines to run to failure. Today, downtime is exceedingly costly, and organizations are increasingly seeking strategies to prevent unplanned outages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further complicating operations: equipment is extremely expensive and often challenging to repair. This complexity only increases with the remoteness of the location. Because equipment is so specialized and large, replacement parts often have long lead times; even if a team can expedite a part in an emergency, getting it to a remote site can be costly. Moreover, if performing repairs requires the mobilization of specialized equipment such as cranes, cost and complexity of unanticipated repairs can spiral quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if an organization has unlimited resources, however, the fact remains that vibration monitoring \u2013 the most critical reliability strategy \u2013 requires contact with equipment while it is in operation. When performed manually, vibration data collection on equipment is both time-consuming and dangerous. Assets may be miles apart, forcing collection technicians to spend hours moving among machines and taking readings, all while exposing themselves to risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To address these issues, today\u2019s forward-thinking operations are opting for a different path and are now taking advantage of the many automation technologies available to shift to a continuous monitoring strategy for equipment across their sites and their enterprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By choosing the right continuous monitoring components and connecting them to insight-generating predictive maintenance software, these organizations identify machinery health issues well before they become failures. This empowers them to make better use of personnel, freeing them up for the higher-value tasks that drive operational efficiency and competitive advantage (Figure 1).<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Figure
Figure 1: Condition monitoring technologies \u2013 such as the AMS Wireless Vibration Monitor and AMS Asset Monitor \u2013 paired with advanced interfacing software like AMS Machine Works, simplify data analysis, support decisive action, and enhance communication.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Continuous insight with wireless<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For years, one key factor keeping operations from employing the sensors necessary to unlock continuous monitoring was the high cost of running cabling from those sensors to a host, such as a control or asset monitoring system, or a historian. Mines typically cover wide areas, and the cost of cabling could add up quickly; after all the effort to install them, the sensors provided limited information. Today, however, expensive cabling is no longer an issue because new wireless devices leverage embedded software to deliver significant value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modern wireless vibration monitors enable teams to install sensors anywhere across the facility, adding all the measurement points they need on all types of equipment. The best wireless vibration monitors are intrinsically safe, allowing them to operate even in hazardous areas, and they can be easily integrated into a plant\u2019s host systems. The sensors are compact and can be easily installed by a mine\u2019s own technicians in minutes, making it easy to bring hundreds or thousands of assets \u2013 even those stranded far afield \u2013 into the fold of predictive monitoring and maintenance regimes (Figure 2).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once wireless vibration monitors are up and running, they deliver vibration, frequency faults, temperature measurements, and more information automatically over a self-organizing wireless mesh network. The best sensors not only provide raw spectrum and waveform data but can also use onboard diagnostic software to provide a simple, reliable indication of equipment health via a single trend. Most sensors come pre-programmed out of the box to deliver the fastest possible implementations to improve reliability, but they can also be fine-tuned to allow customizations for unique operations.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Figure
Figure 2: As an arterial system in most mining operations, bulk conveyors must be properly monitored and maintained to avoid costly repairs, time-consuming and unsafe manual inspections, and unplanned downtime that could bring an entire process to a halt. Wireless monitoring is ideal for this application.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Better insight with embedded \u2028AI analytics software<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While the most obvious issues with collecting data via manual maintenance rounds are the time it takes and the risk of human technicians working close to operating equipment, another roadblock to successful reliability programs is also developing: a lack of experienced personnel. Today\u2019s reliability teams are lean, and it is quite common for some or all those technicians to have little or no field experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gone are the days when technicians with decades of experience could listen to a mill or a pump and intuitively identify a problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, many of today\u2019s technicians need actionable insights to help them quickly identify problems and initiate solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To close this knowledge gap, many organizations are turning to edge analytics devices running powerful AI-driven software to help turn raw data into actionable information. Edge analytics devices use embedded analytics software to automatically diagnose assets onsite, then notify technicians that a problem has been detected, all in near real time. These edge devices can also deliver different types of data \u2013 temperature, pressure, analog signals, and more \u2013 and analyze it alongside the collected vibration data to help technicians of any skill level more easily identify not just an asset health issue, but also its root cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most importantly, however, the onboard analytics in edge asset monitoring devices detect issues well before a human ever could, and then notify key personnel wherever they may be located via any device capable of supporting a web browser, such as a laptop, smartphone, or tablet. Thus, armed with actionable information long before a fault becomes a failure, teams can schedule proactive maintenance while extending the life of their essential assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Software supports success<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When reliability teams have a wide network of sensing technologies in place, they will want a more efficient and effective way to make sense of all the data coming in from many different points across the mine. Most teams accomplish this goal using fit-for-purpose machinery health software. A machinery health monitoring software solution can aggregate data from all the sensors across a site and then present the resulting information on a single dashboard, making it easy for teams to assess overall site health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most advanced machinery health monitoring software also includes comprehensive analysis tools to simplify diagnosis and prioritization of maintenance activities. These solutions display asset health as a single, intuitive, comprehensive score \u2013 color-coded in green, yellow or red \u2013 to help technicians quickly and easily identify which machines need attention. Within the software, technicians can drill down on assets and see the exact reason for alerts, as well as suggestions for intervention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armed with all the knowledge they need to identify failing equipment, teams can perform repairs well before issues begin to cause irreparable damage to essential machinery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They can also perform proactive maintenance on their own schedule, limiting interventions to planned outages, improving safety, reducing costs, and limiting production disruptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, predictive maintenance does not have to stop at the site level. One of the most significant benefits of continuous condition monitoring data is that it can be moved to the enterprise, where it can be tracked, trended and analyzed to help organizations innovate and improve performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the easiest ways to accomplish that enterprise-level visibility is to bring data from the site level into enterprise-level reliability software. Enterprise-level asset performance management and reliability software simplifies data management and predictive maintenance while simultaneously providing advanced automated workflow orchestration. The software delivers real-time insights into assets and processes across the enterprise, and it can connect with IT systems to help automate corrective action and foster smarter, faster decisions and more meaningful outcomes (Figure 3).<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Figure
Figure 3: The days of easy reliability wins at mining sites are over. With most simple problems already solved, operators are now tackling more complex, enterprise-wide challenges. Connective, enterprise-level workflow and collaboration software, like Emerson\u2019s AMS Optics, empowers teams to transform overwhelming amounts of data into actionable insights \u2013 especially across geographically dispersed assets.
<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Bringing it all together<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Having the right tools is a critical part of improving a reliability strategy, but so is having a plan to make all the tools work together as seamlessly as possible. To help meet that goal, many modern mining operations are pursuing a boundless automation strategy of seamless data mobility from the sensors in the field, through the edge, and into the cloud, to help them ensure they do not lose visibility due to data silos in their data architecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A key part of accomplishing the boundless automation vision is selecting technologies that are seamlessly integrated by design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a reliability team implements seamlessly integrated technologies, they eliminate the risk that their technology investments become a complex web of custom-engineered interfaces requiring constant attention. Instead, today\u2019s best technologies connect instantly out of the box, helping teams focus on improving reliability, rather than maintaining systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A simple, sustainable strategy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As margins shrink and crews get leaner, mining organizations need to find new ways to streamline their maintenance operations to save time and money, while improving safety. Automation technology not only streamlines the process of maintenance, it also empowers teams to intervene as early as possible, reducing the likelihood that small problems become catastrophic failures. The technology is available and relatively easy to install, and it offers a strong return on investment when implemented as part of a boundless automation strategy. As operations become more remote and complex, there has never been a better time to pursue a condition monitoring strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All figures courtesy of Emerson.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Ben_Swisher\"
Ben Swisher<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n


Ben Swisher serves as the general manager for Emerson\u2019s Reliability Solutions business, a group that provides software, hardware, and expertise to predict, protect, and monitor machine health, device health, and asset performance to improve operational reliability. He has nearly 30 years of experience across the process industries, strategy consulting, and automotive industry.
<\/em>
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Using enterprise-wide continuous monitoring and predictive maintenance software, operators can spot issues early, deploy personnel more effectively, and uncover new levels of efficiency. by Ben Swisher Operations often take place in remote and dangerous locations; in addition, as critical resources become scarcer, mining organizations must continually push further out and dig deeper to find the minerals that manufacturers rely on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":12705,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"By choosing the right continuous monitoring components and connecting them to insight-generating predictive maintenance software, these organizations identify machinery health issues well before they become failures. This empowers them to make better use of personnel, freeing them up for the higher-value tasks that drive operational efficiency and competitive advantage.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[4633,4632,1758],"coauthors":[3864],"class_list":["post-12703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-ams-wireless-vibration-monitor","tag-critical-resources","tag-emerson"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12703"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12709,"href":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12703\/revisions\/12709"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12703"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northamericanmining.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=12703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}