A maintenance assessment measurement-based method for SMEs: Case study of an Italian mechanical reality

The Industry 4.0 enabling technologies offer new opportunities of innovation for many Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). More and more, the information deriving from measurements by intelligent and advanced data processing gives possibility of introducing new and smart approaches in many sectors contemporaneously, like production, maintenance, energy saving and supply chain management. Validation of data to be used for this multi-purpose analysis is mandatory, starting from the very preliminary phase. Taking in mind typical operating scenarios of Italian SMEs, in this paper a set of guidelines and requirements are given, in order to take advantage of the data-driven technical solutions for smart maintenance, providing that measurement data are reliable. The most important aspects to be considered for a more reliable analysis are presented, with reference to predictive maintenance projects carried on a complex plant and a specific sub-system. Simple considerations are shown to be able to avoid heavy mistakes.