H&P Insights: First Step in Asset Management; Sensors on the Move

First Step in Asset Management

There’s little doubt of the value derived from the availability of sensors and the software to analyze the data they produce. But sensors alone aren’t the solution, as a recent Hydraulics & Pneumatics article reminds us.

In his article, author Dan Phillips agrees that asset management helps maintain performance and manage inventory, but notes, “None of that can happen, however, without first completing a thorough asset inventory. And none of the data generated by sensors installed on production and distribution machinery will make much sense if companies haven’t decided how to manage maintenance processes and all those SKUs for repairs and replacements.

“Few companies or plant managers want to just buy data from a sensor,” Phillips adds. “Ultimately, that data needs to do something to improve operations.”

Sensors on the Move

One way sensors can be of great value is in mobile applications and, in particular, the heavy equipment market. A new Hydraulics & Pneumatics white paper sponsored by MTS Sensors looks at the potential around magnetostrictive position sensors and their application in the excavator market. The sensors are applied in the hydraulic cylinders of the arm with the bucket and help to control the stroke lengths of the cylinder, which in turn controls the movement of the arm when excavating.