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Establishing a Predictive Maintenance Program 349

measurement routes and take the initial or baseline measurements. Remember, the pre-
dictive maintenance system will need multiple data sets to develop trends on each
machine. With this database, you will be able to monitor the critical machinery in your
plant for degradation and begin to achieve the benefits that predictive maintenance
can provide. The actual steps required to implement a database will depend on the
specific predictive maintenance system selected for your program. The system vendor
should provide the training and technical support required to properly develop the
database with the information discussed in the preceding chapters.

15.6.1 Training
One of the key issues that has severely limited both equipment reliability and predic-
tive maintenance programs is the lack of proper training of technicians, analysts, and
engineers. Most programs have limited training to a few days or a few weeks of train-
ing that is typically provided by the system vendor. For the most part, these training
programs are limited to use of the vendor’s system and perhaps a cursory under-
standing of data acquisition and analysis techniques. Even the few plants that invest
in vibration, thermography, or tribology training tend to limit the duration and depth
of training provided to their predictive teams.

Contrary to popular opinion, the skills required to interpret the data provided by these
predictive maintenance technologies cannot be acquired in a few three- to five-day
courses. I have used these technologies for more than 30 years and still learn some-
thing new almost every day.

In addition to the limitations imposed by companies that will not authorize sufficient
training for their predictive maintenance teams, there is also a severe lack of viable
predictive training courses. If we exclude the overview courses offered by the system
vendors, only one or two companies offer any training in predictive maintenance tech-
nologies. With few exceptions, these courses are less than adequate and do not provide
the level of training required for a new analyst/engineer to master the use of these
technologies.

Generally, these courses are either pure theory and have little practical use in the field
or are basic introductions to one or more techniques, such as vibration or infrared
interpretation. Few, if any, of these courses are designed to address the unique require-
ments of your plant. For example, vibration courses are limited to general machinery,
such as compressors, pumps, and fans, and exclude the process systems that are unique
to your industry or plant. Although these common machines are important, your
predictive maintenance team must be taught to analyze the critical processes, such as
paper machines, rolling mills, and presses, that you rely on to produce your products
and revenue.

Over the past 30 years, we have trained several thousand predictive maintenance
analysts and reliability engineers. We have found that a minimum of 13 to 26 weeks
of formal training, along with a similar period of supervised practical application, is