The largest producer of beverage cans in Australia needed to rapidly ramp up to 24/7 production during COVID. Continuous operation placed unprecedented stress on the plant’s assets, with reduced opportunities for maintenance leading to sharp increases in downtime.

A Waites Wireless Vibration and Temperature monitoring system was implemented on the most critical and high-risk assets. The sensors provided near-continuous diagnostic data, improving on the visibility of asset condition and developing problems. The improved monitoring program helped plant reliability engineers avoid over $500k in downtime and maintenance costs across multiple events.

1. Changes in asset operating modes require a complete rethink of asset maintenance strategy and practice
2. Novel tools such as Wireless sensing and AI aided data analytics provide new possibilities for Asset monitoring and maintenance strategies
3. Accurately tracking the financial impact of improvement programs provides a strong credibility for the next improvement investment