From Reactive to Proactive: The Evolution of Industrial Power Monitoring

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to ECO Ask why, a podcast that dives into industrial manufacturing topics and spotlights the heroes to keep America running. I'm your host, chris Granger, and on this podcast we do not cover the latest features and benefits on products that come to market. Instead, we focus on advice and insight from the top minds of industry, because people and ideas will be how America remains number one in manufacturing in the world. Welcome to ECO Ask why. I'm your host, chris Granger, and I'm looking forward to spending some time with you. Today we have a new format here on ECO Ask why. We're bringing you information each month where we really try to go deep, to give you wisdom and insight that you can take and apply to your industrial manufacturing facility. Today we started off this new format working around the idea of installed asset analysis, understanding the equipment that you have inside your plant. Then we moved to hold the system design concept. How do you design systems to make sure that you're meeting the need that you're going to have at the end? Right, you have all the KPIs, you have all the metrics, you're measuring, you put all the things in place to make sure that system is going to meet your need. Then we started going a little bit deeper. We started talking about smart motor protection what smart motor protection looks like, why does it matter? How you can start applying it to your applications, to your business, to make better decisions. Then our last one was around the IIoT solutions. We have so many new technologies out there these days. The IIoT has really just made its way all the way to the plant for all these connected devices. Interoperability we talk very in depth on how you connect your machines. For this episode, we're going to be talking about a strategic imperative that is near to me, because this is something that I was heavily involved with at one point in my career at IIoT. That's around power monitoring, power monitoring solutions. So if you're an industrial manufacturing, the strategic deployment of power monitoring has really progressed to where now it is a necessity. You have to have this if you want to have operational excellence.

Speaker 1: 2:15

At IIoT. We have a lot of power experts. You've heard some of our power experts on IIoT in the past and we'll try to link some of those up in the show notes for you. We're going to talk today particularly around why is power monitoring important Things you need to consider as you start moving forward. We really have two primary solutions at IIoT that we try to point people to when this is an area that they feel like they want to get started with. That's Eaton's power expert meter and Rockwell Automation's power monitor IIoT. Today we have lots of depth and broad knowledge and understanding of power monitoring. So if you're listening to this point and you want to get started, connect with us. We have the experts. We can talk with you. We can help you understand your particular application and try to get you some really good insight that's going to help you move forward and put this into play.

Speaker 1: 3:09

So now we're going to start off, when we start thinking through this power monitoring and how things have really evolved. We're going to just look at the genesis, because we need to understand the crucial role of power monitoring and it all starts at the beginning. So maybe you remember the days of chart recorders. If you do remember those days, you may be smiling right now because those solutions they worked right, they were crude, but they weren't. They were usually tracking one variable. That was the main thing, but you could go back and you could look at the logs of data and understand what that one variable was showing you and how it changed over time. It was a system that at its time would implement it correctly. It gave you, let's just say, decent results. Now, modern power monitoring takes on those multiple variables. You have tons of insight right and it gives you a comprehensive picture of the health of your overall process. And as machinery they started becoming more and more complex Just think about how machines are designed, the ability to monitor that power consumption that became paramount. So again, that rudimentary practice of tracking just one very, very point of data was really a great way to get started and that laid the groundwork for what would be kind of an involved, an evolved rather and sophisticated discipline.

Speaker 1: 4:40

So now, as this has been moving forward, the history of power monitoring has seen a pretty big shift in the focus and how the methodology works. So in this infant stages again, most of this stuff was primarily reactive and you would address things as they occurred. Something happens. You go out there and you check your power, you try to see what's going on there, maybe put a little logs on. But as the technology has advanced, everything starts shifting and we're going to talk about this more and more as we go to a more proactive monitoring process. In current, it's the overvoltage that started becoming more and more of a recognizing as it being a leaning indicator, because it gives you valuable insights into issues before they can begin to escalate to where something burns up catastrophic right. So this began once we have recognizing these, things started to change the game of what power monitoring meant and how it can make a significant impact in manufacturing.

Speaker 1: 5:46

So let's kind of dig a little bit deeper. Let's talk about some developments in this journey that helped us get to where power monitoring is important. First of all, you went from reactive to proactive, because reactive monitoring involved responding. Just like I said earlier, it's just something that went after it broke. A failure has happened, something's going down in the plant and if you're in industrial manufacturing right now and you know you can spend countless hours of money responding to events that are disruptive and it just takes. It takes you a whole operations down, and I went into this research around the Marshall Institute and they actually put out you'll pay two to five times more versus if you had just done some proactive maintenance. That's very insightful data and it's someone who used to come from the motor service industry. This is the world we lived in. On plant downtime, you want to think no things that get supervisors and managers and directors and executives worked up on plan down Downtime, is it? So? If you want to add value to, for your, your facility, you have to start get past the reactive maintenance thinking. And yet then this is where power monitoring really started to grow legs, because the potential impact was there and we could see that that transition was huge, but it didn't happen overnight.

Speaker 1: 7:01

Right, manufacturers had to start addressing how to help the end users, users utilize that data to make better decisions, because they were just gonna go spend money, just spend money. They needed to have a reason. They need to show how what is to return, how can I show these? And this led to like a proactive approach that we could show them. Hey, we're gonna help you utilize real-time data to anticipate and Address those problems before they come critical. And once you start doing that, you're speaking the language of the industrial manufacturing. Maybe you're smiling. You're not a head right now, because you know where I'm talking about. This is where manufacturers had to go.

Speaker 1: 7:37

Now, again, I talked earlier about current. Current is a huge leading indicator of issues and Manufacturers begin hey, I think I can design solutions to address this Head on and give them the end users data up front. That's gonna help them make better decisions and this was a huge, huge turning point. Early warning signs, worked by looking at fluctuations in current, could really give you insight to the impending issues. Now that initial monitoring focus primarily on any energy consumption and it was it didn't really think that predictive keep capability, but the technology available at the time right, the current monitoring was not present to the way it could be used today. And as current monitoring, as we're gonna see as we get further and further, further in this conversation, we're gonna shoot, we're gonna kind of give some insight to how that has evolved.

Speaker 1: 8:33

This is a big waking moment for me, particularly in the motor repair business, when we started getting into more the predictive reliability side of the business and Understanding you know what. You can look at that current. You can do current signature analysis. You can find a lot of good insight right there on the health of the motor circuit, what's going on with that, those assets, and you can do a better job of saying, okay, here's where this motor is now and here's to where the performance was a year ago. You can see the degradation over time. So we need to take action. So that type of stuff was only it's only available when you start looking at the current.

Speaker 1: 9:11

So then you had to start integrating Predictive maintenance. And how do you start integrating that? So local maintenance teams were impacted by this. Just think about this. You have new technology is hitting a local, the local team, the main this individuals are the ones who bear the brunt, and Mainance traditionally was scheduled at regular intervals. Okay, regardless of whatever the equipment conditions was. A lot of the stuff just said the schedule intervals. We're gonna do this all based off equipment run hours and how often plants been running a production output of the end product, whatever it may be.

Speaker 1: 9:46

But this technology, when it started to evolve, allow teams not only be proactive but be predictive and they will start predicting when issues would arise. And this that really started cutting them. Now You're talking about you going from proactive to predictive. You're really cutting down on plan downtime significantly, and that became possible Because you're leveraging real-time data. So you see how the evolution works. You're you're leveraging that data. You're optimizing your equipment up, key right. You're doing the work that needs to be done, what it needs to be done and through that, that downtime. This is steadily just on the decline and Technology began to catch up with the demands and next thing you know, everything starts turning everything. So this is very important. I'm just I'm pretty excited about this topic because this is an opportunity for everyone out there.

Speaker 1: 10:40

If you're hearing this podcast, you have an opportunity to implement power monitoring into your to your system today. It's not just for certain manufacturers, no, it's for everyone. This is why power, power monitoring matters, because it is the cornerstone of operational excellence. You want to start saving some, some money, some funds, be more cost-effective. This is a technology to look at. You want to lower your risk and take that risk mitigation down. This is where it's at, and I know we're talking about saving money, lowering our risk and operating better.

Speaker 1: 11:15

Come on, this is a touchdown across the board that continuous tracking and analysis of power, particularly parameters that matter that gives you. It actually empowers you to optimize your energy usage. You can identify your inefficiencies out there and then you can start tackling those issues head on, one at a time. And this is you tackle those when you want, on your terms, and it's not the unplanned downtime dictating your day. This results in significant cost savings, as we talked about, because you have better energy management, but it also extends the lifespan of those assets. Think about it. You're able to spend more time working on them when it matters and you're reacting to and you're understanding what the data is telling you. Your overall reliability is going through the roof. This is such an indispensable tool, such an indispensable tool, and this enables you to elevate your operational performance and again get those risks out of there. We know you want to get the risk out of your plant and this is where it's all about and that success, we know is so important because the landscape for industrial manufacturing is so competitive. Think about the competitors that you up for. Whatever your product is, they are constantly everyday thinking how can they lower their costs and have a competitive market advantage.

Speaker 1: 12:35

You start, you can implement simple technologies like power monitoring to at least be on the cutting edge to maintaining and keeping your system fully optimized, and then you start moving in that predictive maintenance and you start moving into to really where you're understanding what that data is telling you and the harnessing that data. If the data actually tells you that you can get about 30% of equipment failures, you can predict them through current monitoring and start looking at your power. So maybe that's the one stat that you want to think about today. Okay, how, if I can get 30% of my equipment failures Look at your the last year how many equipment failures did you have? What was the cost of that? If you could take that number and impact it and maybe you cut it cut it down, say 20%, just give yourself a little grace there what would that do to the bottom line? What would that do to your stress? Right, this is a frontline defense.

Speaker 1: 13:37

Right here, this power monitoring is such a leading indicator and it's going to give you some insights that you'll be able to act on, because it's going to show you oh, this is what's changing over here and because of that, I need to start addressing this right now. You'll be looking at spikes, you'll be looking at drops, and all those are early warning signs. To allow your staff, your trained people maybe you're part of that team to start to put a plan in place and to make those corrections when you need to, at the least impactful time. Right, and you can avoid those costly breakdowns and those nasty surprises. No one wants to get that call at two o'clock in the morning that the equipment's down, particularly if it's something that could have been prevented.

Speaker 1: 14:20

Now, if you're thinking about how you can actually get more efficiency out of your operations. This is where it's at. You can see right here, firsthand, that you can have hard data to help you make better decisions. Rather okay, the hard data, because the power data enables you to pinpoint the energy intensive devices and then you can start making better decisions, because the goal is not just to save today, but just really start changing the culture and start changing the ways people are thinking inside your plant around efficiency. So if you're focused on continual refinement and data-driven analysis, that's going to pay you dividends way into the future. So you're going to talk about predictive maintenance and got to get the operational efficiency. Then you even have that risk mitigation and this is so, so powerful.

Speaker 1: 15:16

I think that's the right word, because think about this for a second. If you're looking at those anomalies and they're telling you, hey, something's going on over here, it's giving you that early warning sign and that could cause issues of overheating, think about this for a second. You have most electrical issues, electrical failures, particularly in the motor circuit, most of the motors and we saw a lot of motors and electrical equipment over the years. Most of the motors that came in failed because of heat. What causes heat? Well, current and the friction, and that is a big indicator right there. So, if you can lower your risk while things are still somewhat of an infant, right, you can see those minor fluctuations before they become extremely disruptive. It's a safer environment. I've seen motors where you cannot touch them. Now, I mean, they're just literally generated, burn up and catch on fire. You know what current monitoring many cases could identify this and reduce the likelihood of a fire and safeguard your people.

Speaker 1: 16:22

So, again, this comes down to full circle risk mitigation, to whole point of technology as you move forward is to make your facility safer. Again, this is for everyone, everyone, because you may think you know what that's just reserved? That's just technology that can only be used for the exclusive manufacturing sites. Right, I have to have a certain level of technology before I do this Wrong. Wrong, because this is scalable and it fits everyone. Because the journey really starts when you decide to put in one meter, one meter, into an existing infrastructure and then that's going to unlock data that you never realized was there before. This is a great way to lay that foundation and get started and then you can start moving into future expansions from there, but you need to start thinking about how can I start right here, right now. So any industrial site that's out there, I don't care how complex it is or how simple you can embark on a power monitoring journey.

Speaker 1: 17:25

But just by starting with this and I want to give you a couple of insights here on how to do this with the E-Empower Expert and the Rockwell Automation Power Monitor so if you're interested in either one of those technologies, go check out the show notes. We have lots of links. We have a blog written out there on this topic. I want to give you lots of ways that you can get the data to make better decisions. Okay, because both of them they stand at the forefront of technology. They really are, and the innovation they have is unbelievable and they transcend the boundaries out there. I'm telling you, it's not just the data that they're giving you, but actual insights so you can take that data. You can make more informed decisions real time. So if you need help with that, again, we have a team at ECO that is training this. We'll have links in the show notes as well.

Speaker 1: 18:07

If you want to schedule time to talk with some of our power experts directly about your situation, how you can put this one meter onto this one application and what it can really do for you. We have it, we have the team ready that's here for you, because a lot of this comes down to your IT and your OT. Power monitoring actually is in both worlds, because you have your information technology, you have your operation technology and that has really you're bridging the gap, because it's not a silo anymore, because this is a collaborative tool, because both groups have to think about this and they have to operate together. Think about power impacts everyone. So when you start thinking about your facility and a comprehensive approach to power monitoring, well, that data can be used by across the board. Oh, this is it. And if you need translators to help the IT and OT sometimes there's a gap the team at ECO is here for you. And then, once you have that IT and OT working together, you start seeing it whole. There's new possibilities in using that data for industrial, for our operations team. You can start hey, I can be more predictive, we can be more collaborative, we can bring this stuff together. It starts opening up conversations that you'd be glad you did, because the age of smart manufacturing is right here and the core of smart manufacturing is how you leverage data to be better, to be more efficient, to reduce downtime, to make better decisions and ultimately, it's all about impacting the bottom line. That's what it's all about. So let's figure this out together.

Speaker 1: 19:40

How can you take some practical steps to move forward Again? Think big Start small. I had one time and her guest her name was Tessa, she said that. She said thank you, big, start small. And that just stuck with me Because it doesn't have to start with this large commitment where you're just leaping into the unknown. You just want to spend these thousands of just big capital project. No, start small. Again. One critical piece of equipment, maybe one lineup, one existing infrastructure, one meter, and then get some wins. Look for that experience team that can help you out there. Build a data as a proof of concept to get you some traction, because you're going to need that, you're going to need that, and then, as you get traction and you feel confident in yourself, start expanding. Start expanding that system out, and then you'll be surprised to have seamless and how adopted this technology is and how you'll have advocates advocates on your side that are going to come alongside. Next thing, you know when you want to actually move your next lineup or your next upgrade project, whatever it may be. If you have advocates who see the power of what you're doing through this monitoring solution and what is providing them, you're in a great position of influence and to get things done, and that's what it's going to take to be a champion in this industrial manufacturing world.

Speaker 1: 21:03

So, again, get started with a proof of concept. So, as you start thinking about your proof of concept, make sure you got just those something in without thinking about it. You really need to take your time. You need to think about where to benefits. What am I really trying to pull out of this system? To make better decisions, think about scalability. If this works, how am I going to scale it up? And to think about the adaptability to the facility size. Right, what's the best technology that I need for this? The install based I have, and I'm telling you, the best place to learn and explore those proof of concept ideas is in one of our labs. So we'll have links in the show notes. If you're in Virginia area, we have several labs in Virginia and in Carolinas and Raleigh and Columbia, we have several labs again. This is where these labs are all about To come in to throw stuff against the wall, to see the technology for yourself and how it can be applied directly to your application. Maybe just want to sit down and see the software. Okay, here's from the hardware standpoint. Here's what it's telling me. But how do I actually get that data pulled into my processor to make better decisions? We'll show you that. We'll give you insight. We'll help you bridge those gaps.

Speaker 1: 22:14

Now the initial focus when you start commencing our power monitoring solution, you really need to start thinking about the equipment itself, because that equipment that you're going to be using to pull in the data is a cornerstone and that's what's going to give you a proof of concept. So you need to make sure that you're pulling the right solution, so it's going to give you the tangible benefits upfront. So you need to understand that. And scalability is big. It has to think of it. It has to think past just immediate gains. You have to really emphasize scalability as a pivotal factor, because as you go up to organizational chart and you start thinking about people who approve these projects, they want to understand okay, what does the roadmap look like? How are we going to get this implemented across all of our solutions? Scalability's matter.

Speaker 1: 23:02

Then adaptability right, it's not just about the size across an organization, right, you need to think about, for how can this technology scale and adapt and actually work inside the plant that you have directly? And then you need to have some alignment, and successful collaboration is really a start when you have alignment within your team. When people are talking the same talk, they're sharing the same language. All that matters, especially when we start talking about power terminology, because there can be a gap there. But when you start using power monitoring solutions to pull that technology in, all of a sudden you can change that language to really be reflective of how they speak to things specific equipment, things like that. So now get the key stakeholders involved. Think cross-to-board, holistically your technicians you need to make sure you have their understanding of what is important to them. Management team what do they need to see to make better decisions? And then the engineering and your IT. That is so crucial.

Speaker 1: 24:08

Don't just don't piecemeal this stuff together. You have to think about okay, how can I go across and make collaboration a part of it, because if you do this without focusing on how to collaborate, you're gonna miss someone, and that may be the one area that you needed to focus on, to give you that little bit of boost to get the project going, because it's all about getting those friction points out of the way. We've already talked about the friction between IT and OT. You gotta address that head-on. That must be done. Early alignment, that means you bring them in from the outset, before you even get installing anything. But because you need to take a proactive approach to address their challenges head-on too. Because if you want this thing to be just a nice everyone's singing Kumbaya Yon sitting around a campfire you better do the homework up front. Do it up front and then get that expert guidance.

Speaker 1: 25:03

Because if you're trying to navigate this by yourself, technology moves fast. Power mooters, meters move fast, tripping device, the protective relays these are all great things. To start, all great things, that stuff moves fast. If you're not in it every day, you're gonna have a better opportunity of being successful if you outsource it to experts or at least bring them in. From a consultation standpoint. Again, this is where eco can step in. So if this is an area you feel like you, you know what. I know a little bit about power, but I can use a little bit help here. This is where we can help you.

Speaker 1: 25:37

Then start thinking about those foundational devices. You know, those tripping devices, the meters, relays, all that stuff. Start thinking about how to start and this is where an expert can help you. Then start thinking about how you're gonna navigate it. That's what it's all about. How are you gonna navigate this? How am I gonna prove this out to my boss, to my boss's boss, to my boss's boss's boss? Right Now, we're gonna prove this stuff out to show them. Hey, this is where we need to start thinking. This is the impact when we start thinking about our power monitoring and seamless. It could be the impact it can then have. Okay, so now, as you start, as we're getting right here to the end, I want you to think about something, as this technology is involved, right, it's been transformative. It really has been. When you look at the power world and power monitoring and how it's been, it's transformed over the years. It's incredible Eaton solution, rockwell solution. They're both great. We've even had power shows in the past at ECO or we've shown this.

Speaker 1: 26:37

But you need to take your time to understand what's important to you. You need to make sure that you are empowering your facility with the right tools, because you need a safer working environment. But you also need to think about what we talked about today right, efficiency, how to be more resilient, how to be more technological advance. All these things matter. So you better be taking your time to navigate the future and don't navigate the future alone Again, even if it's not ECO, if you're not using ECO, use an expert out there.

Speaker 1: 27:06

Partner with an expert that's going to help you, because we have listeners that here that are not in ECO's service area. That's fine. Partner with someone who can help you. And if you need help, we have lots of resources. We have lots of people with insight and wisdom and discernment to be able to help you make better decisions. And that's what it's all about, because power monitoring and industrial manufacturing it can't be overstated, it cannot be. That's why we're taking this whole podcast and we put so much effort into this, because look where it's all started the chart recorders and things like that.

Speaker 1: 27:39

The way that things have transformed now to where you're looking at current and technology and get all these current signal analysis man, it's incredible and it's also imperative. No matter your size, no matter your size. Maybe you just have one line up of switch gear. You know, chris, what is that going to do for me? It's going to give you a ton For that one line up of switch gear. Put a power monitor on it and let us show you how to pull the data out. That's going to make you better, because when you start playing with power expert meter and power monitor from Eaton and Rockwell and you start coupling your IT and OT together and you start really getting your teams involved and you start bringing all this power data together to show the leadership team how to make better decisions, all of a sudden things start elevating, things start growing and you are going to be putting yourself in position to be extremely successful, and that's what we want at Eco.

Speaker 1: 28:36

Why do you think we do EcoSY? Why do you think we have the experts on staff and partner with the best manufacturers? Because we want you to be successful. We want to be your partner. We want to empower you to make better decisions, to have the best equipment available, to have the teams ready to understand the data that comes in. How do you can look at this data and see okay, this day, this trend is telling me this. I need to act at this point in time so that this doesn't cost me, so I don't get that two o'clock in the morning phone call that nobody wants to get. So ensure production numbers. Can you meet what the requirement is and potentially exceed them? Safer, more efficient, more advanced that's what it's all about. So let us know what you think of the new eco as why this has been.

Speaker 1: 29:29

It's been fun for me just to sit back. We're really digging deep. We're trying each and every month. Now we also have a mailing list, so every month we send out insights, we send out tips, we send out all sorts of good information around these technologies. So if you if you're not on that reach out to us. We want to connect with you for an electrical equipment company to be able to serve you better, to give you insight, be able to give you the resources that you need to make better decisions.

Speaker 1: 29:57

Also, share the podcast that with other people. This is what we just. We do this simply because we want to serve our customers better and people that we try to serve. So share this out with someone else. Maybe you know someone in maintenance or liability or engineering and you thought this was a good, some good information here. Share it out with them. This may be encouraging to them as well. Maybe somebody they're ready to start a power monitoring that haven't even considered this technology. You know what this could be a great way, so share it out with them.

Speaker 1: 30:22

Give us the rating review. If you get a chance, that'd be great. Just a five star rating. Who did one or two centers review that? Those are always great. We would love to hear from you so we'll have a contact us will have a way for you to contact us inside the show notes. We'd love to hear from you. We love to get your insight, things you need help with.

Speaker 1: 30:40

Again, our team and eco is ready, willing, able, on the stand by at all times. I know our power team and but in all the states, all the service areas, the teams that we have, they're just absolutely incredible. I can't say enough. I mean, eco has been around almost a hundred years now. It's it's incredible we're coming up on on a century. The leadership team, the way we put people out there. We really is people and ideas over products is still what we live. We have new systems. We have an e-commerce system. Now that is just absolutely phenomenal, the whole online shopping experience.

Speaker 1: 31:12

So check us out, go check us. Eco onlinecom is where how you can connect with us there. We have lots of ways we can serve you. If you wanted to look at our digital storefront, where we can get, we can come in. We'll punch out catalogs and really integrate with your, your, your, vmis and things like that. We're here, we're ready and we have the teams ready to rock and roll. So hopefully you enjoyed this one again. It's an honor to be able to do this. Thank you so much for listening and you know what's coming next, right, keep asking why. Thank you for listening to eco s y. This show is supported ad-free by electrical equipment company. Eco is redefining the expectations of an electrical distributor by placing people and ideas before products. Please subscribe and share with your colleagues and friends. Also leave comments, feedback, any new topics that you would like to hear, to learn more or to share your insights, visit eco s y dot com. That's E E C O a s k s why dot com.