Predictive Analytics and Wireless Sensors: How Emerson Reduces Unplanned Downtime and Safety Incidents
Industrial operations inherently involve complex safety risks, from heavy machinery and high-pressure systems to hazardous environments and unexpected equipment failures. As facilities become more connected and automated, companies are increasingly turning to real-time data and predictive technologies to improve worker safety and operational reliability.
Real-Time Visibility and Predictive Intelligence
With today’s wireless sensors, predictive analytics and connected automation technologies, Emerson is helping manufacturers improve safety, visibility and operational performance across industrial facilities. And it all starts with a simple truth: The more you know about the equipment in a plant and how it is performing, the safer employees will be when they’re working in and around it.
Through a portfolio of safety and security technologies, Emerson helps industrial facilities reduce risk, improve incident prevention and strengthen operational resilience. From integrated safety systems to fire and gas leak detection, these solutions help companies better prepare for unexpected events while protecting workers and critical infrastructure.
Predictive Insights Enable Proactive Maintenance
Safe, secure operations begin with eliminating surprises. Emerson sensor networks deliver predictive data insights that allow manufacturers to build strategic reliability plans to help ensure that plants are running at full capacity with minimal risk. Studies show the majority of workplace accidents occur in situations of “unplanned downtime.” In other words, when something breaks. These situations can often be chaotic as workers scramble to diagnose and make repairs under the extreme pressure of getting the plant back up and running.
Informed by these predictive insights and actionable data, maintenance practices can shift to a more proactive mode, where workers track the health of equipment and act to prevent breakdowns, rather than responding to them as they occur. These practices can make a huge difference in both safety and efficiency, with Top Quartile performers seeing 97 percent facility availability on average, and most downtime being planned time for upgrades and repairs. On the other hand, bottom-quartile performers see 86 percent availability on average, with most of the downtime being unplanned. That’s a huge swing of 11 percent of total operational time during which employees are either subjected to more risky emergency situations … or not.
Reduce Risk Through Remote Monitoring
Additionally, with Emerson wireless sensors and monitoring devices keeping an eye on key equipment, performance data can be compiled, shared and analyzed at a distance. This reduces the need for manual inspections of equipment, which means less time for employees to spend in the higher-risk operational areas of a facility.
We see these solutions combining to create the ideal conditions for both employees and the businesses they work for: safe, reliable and predictable operations.
