Short for Maintenance, Repair, and Operations, MRO is the “lifeblood” of any manufacturing company. Without implementing a powerful and comprehensive MRO strategy, manufacturers cannot ensure a long and productive working life for their various equipment. An efficient MRO process is essential for meeting market demands through on-schedule production. Without streamlining their maintenance operations, manufacturers face the consequences of unplanned downtime and shutdown, which can be devastating to their business.
The following statistics speak of the importance of MRO:
- Maintenance-related activities account for 20-50% of the company’s operating budget.
- 44% of manufacturing plants spend over 40 hours every week on maintenance.
- 93% of manufacturers do not regard their maintenance-related processes as efficient.
- The global MRO market is expected to grow from $704.79 billion in 2024 to a value of $794.22 billion by 2028.
Having said that, MRO has its share of major challenges in the era of Industry 4.0. Here are some of them:
- Lack of operational visibility
70% of companies lack visibility into when their equipment is due for maintenance work or an upgrade. This can cause an extended downtime when any crucial piece of equipment suddenly goes down.
Even in 2024, manufacturers continue to rely on human operators and manual paper-based processes to make their MRO-related decisions. Manual processes are both time-consuming and prone to human mistakes. What’s even more problematic is that manual information may not be accurate, as they are often outdated and irrelevant to real-time decision-making.
- Aging equipment
Aging equipment is among the top causes of unplanned downtime in manufacturing facilities. 67% of managers rate aging equipment as their topmost challenge. Most of the MRO processes face the challenge of maintaining and repairing old or outdated equipment.
Without any major upgrade or overhaul, manufacturers face an endless cycle of reactive maintenance to keep up their aging machinery. This can drain out both effort and money.
- Shortage of qualified labor
Along with aging equipment, the manufacturing industry is facing the problem of aging workers. More than half of the manufacturing jobs are being performed by employees aged between 45 and 65 years (or even older). Companies are struggling to find replacements for this generation of workers – and to train them on new skills.
Along with the labor shortage, manufacturers are finding it hard to reduce the skills gap with their aging workforce. With the emergence of AI and robotic technologies in Industry 4.0, companies need to train their existing workforce on new technology skills.
- Reactive maintenance
Also referred to as “run-to-failure,” reactive maintenance refers to the repair work done after an equipment or manufacturing asset has broken down. Over 60% of manufacturing facilities continue to implement reactive maintenance. This maintenance approach costs manufacturers up to 10 times more than a proactive approach.
Reactive maintenance leads to a host of problems including:
- High maintenance costs
- Low productivity
- Increased backlog due to downtime
Driven by real-time data, predictive maintenance is a more optimum approach in modern facilities. Predictive maintenance enables savings of 30-40% as compared to reactive maintenance.
- Limited budgets
In the face of increasing costs of labor and spare parts, MRO teams have to work with limited budgets – without compromising on service quality. Most manufacturers do not look at MRO activities as “profitable” to their business. They do not realize that a lack of MRO can lead to lower productivity and higher downtime, which can impact the company’s profits and revenues.
Worker safety is another factor that is often overlooked by manufacturers. Frontline workers can face safety hazards when working on poorly maintained machines. Occupational disruptions can impact how MROs deliver their services on time and within the allocated budget.
How computer vision technology can make MRO better
Computer vision (CV) technology can improve MRO processes by reducing its dependence on human labor. CV systems can be the “eyes” that can monitor maintenance-related work and point out any process flaws. For instance, the use of CV in quality control is reported to decrease defect rates by 50%.
Here are some areas where CV technology can make a difference in MRO processes:
- Visual inspections
With CV implementation, manufacturers don’t have to rely on manual human-driven inspections that are prone to errors. AI-enabled CV solutions can analyze real-time images from manufacturing facilities to detect any defects or anomalies.
- Equipment defects
With their in-built AI algorithms, computer vision systems can easily identify physical defects in running machines. These defects are in the form of physical cracks, corrosion, or leaks.
- Predictive maintenance
Along with predictive analytics, CV systems can analyze historical maintenance data and help implement predictive maintenance. For instance, predictive models can correctly anticipate maintenance needs or when a particular equipment is likely to go down.
- Workplace safety
Computer vision systems can also monitor manufacturing facilities and frontline workers. For example, it can detect and report any worker functioning without safety gear – or unauthorized entry into highly hazardous areas of the facility.
Conclusion
In the era of Industry 4.0, manufacturers can no longer depend on manual processes to keep their equipment up and running at all times. AI-enabled computer vision is the answer for effective MRO with its ability to:
- Extract real-time insights from machine conditions.
- Implement data-driven predictive maintenance.
- Improve workplace safety in industrial facilities.
With its expertise in computer vision technology, KamerAI has enabled manufacturers to optimize their maintenance work. Through connected cameras, our CV solution in the manufacturing domain can help:
- Perform predictive maintenance.
- Maintain safety standards.
- Prevent any trespassing through access control.
Want to get more leverage from your MRO processes? Speak to our CV experts.
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