--- title: "What ConditionBased Maintenance can mean to your organisation" description: "Whilst maintenance is perhaps not considered to be the most exciting field of engineering, it is a fundamentally important one. Through the use of" image: https://www.pragmaworld.net/wp-content/uploads/pragma-social-placeholder-blue.jpg canonical: https://www.pragmaworld.net/what-conditionbased-maintenance-can-mean-to-your-organisation/ url: https://pragma-world.getmd.ai/what-conditionbased-maintenance-can-mean-to-your-organisation/.md last_converted: 2026-10-23T11:19:19.220Z --- # What ConditionBased Maintenance can mean to your organisation December 5, 2016Whilst maintenance is perhaps not considered to be the most exciting field of engineering, it is a fundamentally important one. Through the use of condition-based maintenance methodologies and applications, the risk of functional asset failure can be minimised, saving companies millions of rands. Says Simone Theron, Research and Development Engineer at Pragma: “The goal of condition based maintenance is to spot upcoming equipment failure so maintenance can be proactively scheduled when it’s needed – and not before. Asset conditions need to trigger maintenance within a long enough time period before failure, so work can be finished before the asset fails or performance falls below the optimal level.” According to Theron, the subject of maintenance is a complex one. “The complexity and importance of maintenance in asset management are found in the PAS 55 standard and more recently the publication of ISO 55000. It’s of great importance for both profit oriented businesses and public service organisations, and interwoven with related matters including plant efficiency, overall-equipment-effectiveness, cost-of-ownership, lifecycle-cost, plant-life-extension, etc. Getting it right can make your business more profitable and public service more effective.” A small indication of the complexity can be seen in the wide variety of terms commonly encountered for describing various maintenance strategies: reactive, condition-based, run-to-failure, predictive, reliability-centred, corrective, preventive, proactive, evidence-based, and more. “There is no doubt that underestimating maintenance can be very costly. Simply put, it is relevant to everyone who owns or is responsible for a physical asset of any kind,” adds Theron. Through the use of condition-based maintenance methodologies and applications, the risk of unplanned outages and functional asset failure can be minimised. Mario Kuisis, MD of Martec, experts in condition assessment and diagnostics for predictive maintenance, is of the opinion that condition monitoring provides the earliest likely indication of asset health deterioration, which produces the longest possible time between potential failure and functional failure. He continues: “Remedial actions can take place before failures occur, which would otherwise have resulted in a facility shutdown. This ensures that critical assets are kept at an optimal operational level.” Kuisis adds that it is best practice to have a combination of maintenance methods to effectively manage assets and guarantee the best possible performance and lifespan. “Presently it may be considered that there are four main pillars of condition monitoring that have merit in almost all situations.” In order of technical evolution for maintenance, these are considered to be: - Vibration analysis – in its simplest form, vibration analysis is a measurement of displacement over time. By measuring and analysing displacement, velocity or acceleration, you can get insight into bearing failures, imbalance, misalignment, wear, looseness, etc. - Oil analysis can be broken down into three main categories: lubricant health, machine health and contamination. Every test performed on an oil sample can be categorised in at least one of these areas. - Infrared thermography – heat is often a symptom of imminent machine failure or malfunction. A non-contact infrared imager can be used to quickly obtain a multipoint temperature profile that can easily be assessed. This inspection can be performed with little to no disruption to the facility’s operations. - Ultrasound detection – these instruments generally sense sounds in the 20- to 100-kilohertz range and convert them to either auditory or visual signals that can be heard and analysed by a technician. These high frequencies are generated by worn and under lubricated bearings, faulty electrical equipment, leaky valves, etc. This can also be a great way to detect an impending machine failure before it becomes catastrophic. Theron says that these technologies complement each other. “It means that they’re used for different things and one can’t replace the other, except for some limited overlapping. Together they enable effective on-line condition monitoring of a very wide range of mechanical and electrical plant and equipment.” When conducting an ultrasound leak survey at a bottling facility in Pretoria, South Africa, Martec discovered that approximately 15% of the compressed air being generated at the facility was being wasted due to leakages. Kuisis explains that although this is well under the global average of 31%, the savings per annum after being rectified were still substantial (to the effect of R189, 561 in 2012). “This saving is directly related to the energy costs of running the compressors in the facility. With South Africa’s high energy supply cost increases (41.6% tariff increase from 2012 to 2015), the saving has increased annually along with the cost of electricity, equating to R268,418 in 2015. This is just one inspection method applied to one system in the facility, producing an immediate and recurring return on investment. Condition-based maintenance therefore detects potential failure at the earliest possible stage, allowing for corrective maintenance actions to take place optimally, greatly decreasing the risk of functional failure.” Theron concludes: “Condition-based maintenance is an exceptional tactic, which greatly facilitates in the quest for optimum asset health – but only if it is used on the right assets and only if it is correctly applied. Every company should ask itself whether the proper application of condition-based maintenance can benefit their organisation. Investigating the monitoring of critical assets to minimise functional failure, downtime and the cost of maintenance while maximising asset lifespan and return on investment can and will save your company money.” ##### Subscribe to our newsletter ##### More content ##### You can’t digitise chaos: Building a smarter campus Author | Tertius Janse van Rensburg - Strategic Solutions Executive, Pragma A smart campus sounds like a technology project. In practice, it is an operating maturity... ##### Enterprise asset management begins with better decisions Author | Marco Aberkrom - Asset Management Consultant Asset management is the way organisations connect long-term objectives with decisions about the performance, risk... ##### AI in maintenance: from CMMS records to better decisions Author | Henk Wynjeterp - Regional Lead – Europe AI is giving maintenance teams new ways to extract, structure and interpret information. But the... ##### Asset Management Masterclass or Awareness Training? Start with the role, not the course Author | Karen Greyling - Business Development Manager, Pragma I get asked this question quite often: Should I do the Asset Management Masterclass, or... ##### The lonely learner problem: why self-paced learning still needs people Author | Karen Greyling - Business Development Manager, Pragma Self-paced learning has solved a very real problem for busy adults. It gives people more... ##### Pragma appoints Stephan Kornelius as Chief Executive Officer Author | Pragma Experienced Pragma executive takes the helm on 1 October as the business continues its next... ##### No time for training? Look at what is taking the time. Author | Karen Greyling - Business Development Manager, Pragma “Not now. The team is too busy.” It is one of the most understandable reasons... ##### When Finance and Operations agree on spares Author | Pragma MRO spares are often the source of a familiar business tension. Finance wants to reduce... ##### You don’t train for a marathon by running a marathon Author | Tim Beavon - Partner Consultant, Pragma Why shutdown readiness depends on applying lessons before the next major event A major shutdown... ##### Pragma announces leadership transition and continues strategic momentum Author | Pragma Pragma has announced an important leadership transition as the business continues to build on... ##### Are we solving the wrong training problem? Author | Karen Greyling - Academy Business Development Manager, Pragma When organisations say they need training, they may already be solving the wrong training problem:... ##### The art of balancing work order feedback with compliance, learning, and wrench time Author | Scheepers Schoeman - Senior Associate, Professional Services Most organisations don’t choose their work order feedback culture. They drift into it. A new... ##### Why a qualified maintenance planner changes more than maintenance Author | Karen Greyling - Academy Business Development Manager, Pragma In many plants, the same pattern repeats itself. Work arrives late. Materials are chased at... ##### Why MRO inventory is different from other inventory classes Author | Andre Jordaan - Partner Consultant, Pragma MRO inventory differs from other inventory classes because demand is irregular, the consequences of stockouts... ##### How failing water infrastructure is quietly reshaping South Africa’s cities Author | Nelson Broden – Business Lead Pragma Managed Services On the school run through... ##### From dead capital to operational certainty: Smarter spare parts management Author: André Jordaan, Partner Consultant, Pragma Most MRO stores aren’t short of parts; they’re short... ##### Asset Management Awareness Training that fits real work Author | Karen Greyling, Business Development Manager If you’ve ever thought, “We don’t need another... ##### Asset Management Masterclass: Strategic training for leaders driving performance, reliability and results Author | Karen Greyling – Business Development Manager In asset-intensive industries, leaders are under growing... ##### Beyond compliance: Why repeated maturity assessments define asset performance leadership Author | Stephan Kornelius – Pragma Professional Services Business Lead In asset-intensive industries, leaders face... ##### OEMs need a connected platform for services Author | Henk Wynjeterp – Regional Lead – Europe | Henk leads Pragma’s OEM after-sales... ##### When rivers cry out: How asset management can help heal South Africa’s waterways Author | Nelson Broden – Business Lead Pragma Managed Services The Hennops River, once part... ##### Ditch the buzzword: OEM after-sales leaders buy execution, not “servitization” Author | Henk Wynjeterp – Regional Lead – Europe | Henk leads Pragma’s OEM after-sales... ##### Beyond the software – embedding your EAMS into your organisation’s DNA for sustainable value The key to a successful EAMS (Enterprise Asset Management System) implementation lies in integrating the... ##### Pragma’s perspective on what the proposed South African budget means for infrastructure governance Author | Stephan Kornelius Author | Stephan Kornelius – Pragma Professional Services Business Lead Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s 2025... ##### Government infrastructure investments must go beyond bricks and mortar – A global perspective Author | Bani Kgosana Author | Bani Kgosana Across the globe, ageing infrastructure threatens economic stability. In the US,... ##### Pragma partners with Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team to power maintenance excellence Author | Liza Schroeder Pragma is proud to announce its support of the Q36.5 Pro... ##### Revitalising South Africa – a better path to infrastructure renewal Author | Bani Kgosana, Pragma CRO South Africa faces an extraordinary opportunity to transform its... ##### Transforming maintenance from a grudge purchase to a strategic investment Author | Scott Gibson, Pragma CEO  With South Africans enjoying a break from load shedding... ##### Pragma 2.0 – CEO of Pragma, Scott Gibson’s vision is to compete with international giants through engineering excellence At Pragma, our roots are deeply embedded in engineering consulting. We are proud to be... ##### Are you proactively shaping your focused improvement process or is it evolving organically? Author | André Jordaan, Pragma Partner Consultant Focused improvement (FI) is the overarching process used...