Alicia Keene, Technical Marketing Manager at RS, addresses the predictive MRO strategies that are leading to exceptional market growth in the manufacturing industry and guides you through all the product solutions you need to keep your facility up and running and your people safe and well equipped to do their jobs.
Alicia Keene, Technical Marketing Manager, RS
Industrial maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) historically consisted of regularly scheduled maintenance checks and fixing or replacing things as they broke, but that’s not the case now. The rise of Industry 4.0, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and artificial intelligence, among other developments, has immeasurably altered the potential of MRO to make your facility safer and help prevent costly downtime.
MRO is omnipresent, vital to virtually every company and every facility in just about every industry. It encompasses a wide range of tasks ranging from facility upkeep to ensuring that production lines run smoothly. MRO solutions include the components and devices needed to repair and maintain vital infrastructure, production equipment, and systems as well as the tools necessary for day-to-day operations.
Today, digital transformation enables MRO professionals to reduce maintenance costs and unplanned downtime, develop remote maintenance and repair systems, and optimize IIoT networks. This combination of factors is leading to exceptional market growth. Current predictions expect the MRO market for the manufacturing industry to achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.8% and reach a value of $49.65 billion by 2030.
The projected growth is supported by MRO professionals moving away from reactive strategies to preventative and predictive strategies. Although some manufacturers are still utilizing a reactive approach, many more are employing proactive strategies based on best practices and historical data. In addition, a growing number of plant managers, engineers, maintainers, and procurement professionals are leveraging data collected by IIoT devices to enact predictive MRO strategies. These strategies allow you to identify worrisome trends and repair parts before they fail, which increases reliability, productivity, and sustainability, improves supply chain efficiency, and reduces operating costs.
Several of these tasks can even be performed remotely, which can help resolve labor shortages by allowing operators to expand their hiring pool outside of their geographic area or outsource tasks to a third-party vendor. Remotely managed MRO tasks can also reduce manual labor requirements in large production facilities. By enabling comprehensive monitoring from a central location, employees can limit physical inspections to instances when the condition monitoring system sends an alert that something is wrong or in need of maintenance.
To capitalize on this tremendous potential, you need a trusted partner who can quickly and reliably supply the comprehensive solutions and experience you need for your operations. RS offers a wealth of expertise and a wide range of the tools and hardware, safety and PPE, industrial lighting, AC drives, sensors, and cable assemblies required to enact preventative and predictive MRO strategies, keep your facility up and running, and keep your people safe and well-stocked with the supplies they need to do their jobs.
Tools and Hardware
Tools and hardware represent the backbone of physical maintenance and repairs. This category encompasses everything you need to build or repair your equipment, ranging from common handheld tools you’ll find in a basic tool kit to specialized heavy-duty power tools and engineering materials. So, it’s vital to match the right tool to your application, whether it’s the appropriate nut drivers for motor installation and maintenance, small screwdrivers for terminal blocks, insulated screwdrivers for electrical installations, Phillips screwdrivers for general use, or crimpers for terminating wires.
Common solutions include things like screwdrivers, hammers, and punch-down tools, while more specialized solutions include chemicals and adhesives, connector and crimping tools, soldering supplies, tapes, and engineering materials, such as insulation materials, sheets, rods, bars, tubes, and hexagonals. Accessories that can help make your project successful include storage and carts, drill and step bits, sockets, drive bits, screwdrivers and nut drivers, and socket wrenches.
Safety and PPE
The safety of your people and equipment is paramount. In addition to the moral imperative to protect your people, unsafe work environments can lead to costly shutdowns and disruptions to your vital processes. Safety and PPE products are essential for every industrial facility and can protect against high ambient sound, dust, the possibility of electrical discharge, and several other hazards.
Safety products encompass anything designed to protect your people, from signage warning about specific dangers to physical barriers that prevent unauthorized people from entering dangerous environments. PPE covers all manner of workwear including face masks, hard hats, safety glasses and other protective eyewear, hearing protection, and gloves. 3M Comfort Grip Gloves (pictured) from the 3M Comfort Grip Series, for example, offer superior dexterity and grip even in adverse conditions and are ideal for general material handling, handling small parts, electrical component assembly, carpentry, plumbing, and roofing.
Industrial Lighting
Industrial lighting is essential for every work environment. The right lighting can reduce mistakes, help prevent accidents, and make hazardous work environments less dangerous. It can even impact morale and productivity. In addition, energy-efficient options like LED, automated, and motion-activated lighting can reduce costs. Solutions include UFO, linear, and vapor-tight high-bay overhead lighting, task lighting, magnification lighting, vision lighting for workstations, and shatterproof or vapor-tight fixtures for machines and equipment.
Round high-bay LED light fixtures from Keystone Technologies (pictured) are ideal for replacing legacy HID high-bay lights in commercial and manufacturing facilities, warehouses, and retail outlets. They are easy to stall and provide reliable operation over long lifetimes. They are also available in high-temperature variants rated for operating temperatures up to 50°C.
Other solutions you may need to complete your industrial installations include wire, cable, toggle switches, and fixture accessories.
AC Drives
AC drives convert fixed frequencies and AC supply voltages to adjustable frequencies and DC voltages to help control the speed, horsepower, and direction of AC electric motors based on inputs or programming and improve energy efficiency. AC drives come in several varieties, the most common of which are induction, synchronous, sensorless vector, and servo motors. They also deliver numerous benefits, including enhanced system control, reduced energy consumption, improved energy efficiency, and extended equipment lifespans.
The CSS 1.5-1/3 speed starter from Phoenix Contact (pictured) is designed to start and reverse motors up to 480VAC and 1.5kW. It features soft start, configurable speed, and configurable motor protection capabilities, as well as an STO function up to SIL 3 / PL e, push-in connections, and single-phase load input. For additional options, check out the rest of the Phoenix Contact Speed Starter Series.
To install AC drives like these, you may also need VFD cables, electrical enclosures, wire, fans, and circuit breakers.
Sensors
Sensors are vital elements of automated industrial facilities. They constantly monitor equipment, systems, and processes, including production lines, packaging equipment, motors, fans, and pumps, to identify potential issues or points of failure and ensure safe, efficient operation. The right sensors can also provide insight into the health of your machines and support predictive maintenance strategies. Common solutions include environmental sensors, proximity sensors, position and displacement sensors, flow sensors, light sensors, liquid level sensors, pressure sensors, temperature sensors, vibration sensors, and vision sensors.
QM30VT Series vibration and temperature sensors from Banner Engineering are exceptionally accurate at sensing temperature and even the slightest increases in machine vibration. They are ideal for proactively identifying opportunities for failure in applications with rotating parts, such as cranes used to move shipping containers.
Solutions you may need to complete your sensor installation include brackets, wireless solutions kits, Ethernet cables, cordsets, PLCs, and I/O modules. Selection will depend on the brand of PLC you choose.
Cable Assemblies
Cable connections are another vital element of industrial MRO applications, as even wireless technologies rely on cables at some point in the system. Cable assemblies, cordsets, and patch cords are used to transmit power, signals, and data in automation systems. Common solutions, including circular DIN cables, coaxial cable assemblies, Ethernet cables, and power cables, are used to connect sensors to PLCs, drives to motors, and various other components of IIoT systems. Products such as Ethernet and telecom connectors, M Series connectors, and electrical enclosures can complement these solutions.
Phoenix Contact offers a wide variety of industrial network cables, including Cat 6a Ethernet network cable. These reliable and versatile solutions can be used in a wide variety of applications, including connecting computers, network-attached storage devices, IP cameras, digital signage displays, surveillance systems, network switches, wireless access points, routers, and switches.
Sourcing Industrial MRO Solutions
RS offers an extensive range of MRO solutions, including tools and hardware, safety and PPE, industrial lighting, AC drives, sensors, and cable assemblies, from industry-leading suppliers such as Wera, 3M, Keystone Technologies, Phoenix Contact and Banner Engineering. We also offer a wide range of reliable and cost-effective RS PRO products for MRO. In addition, our team has the technical expertise to help you achieve all your MRO goals. We can support your reactive and preventative maintenance strategies or help you implement a proactive predictive maintenance strategy.
For more information about the RS portfolio of MRO solutions, including RS Expert Advice articles, interviews, and podcasts about maintenance, repair, and operations, please click the links embedded here. For assistance enacting or improving predictive and preventative electrical maintenance strategies or identifying, procuring, and deploying industrial MRO solutions optimized to increase process efficiency and productivity, reduce operational costs, and maximize equipment uptime, please contact your local RS representative at 1.866.433.5722 or reach out to our technical product support team.
