Traditionally, filter replacements activities in automotive and paint industry are scheduled at fixed intervals as a preventive maintenance practice. However, when replacement is carried out without considering the actual conditions of the filter, it can result in unnecessary maintenance activities and inefficient utilization of filter life. To improve maintenance effectiveness and optimize resource utilization, a condition-based monitoring approach was implemented.
Problem Description:
The pressure filter was being replaced every week as a part of routine preventive maintenance schedule, irrespective of its actual condition. Since there was no mechanism available to monitor filter clogging in real time, replacement decisions were based solely on time intervals rather than operational requirements.
This practice often led to filter being replaced before reaching end of service life, resulting in unnecessary filter consumption and avoidable maintenance effort. At the same time, maintenance personnal had no visibility into actual condition of the filter, making it difficult to determine whether replacement was genuinely required. the absence of condition monitoring.
Solution:
The PLC ladder logic was modified to continuously monitor filter clogging condition and provide real-time status feedback to operators. An HMI alarm message “Filter clogged” was configured to alert operators whenever the filter reached its predefined clogging threshold. With this enhancement, filter replacement activities are now triggered only when an actual clogging condition is detected. This transformed the maintenance approach from time-based preventive replacement to condtion-based replacement, enabling more effective utilization of filter life while ensuring reliable system performance.
