Transitioning to condition-based maintenance
Transitioning to condition-based maintenance (CBM) means moving from fixed time-based servicing to intervening only when measured equipment condition shows it is needed. It is built on condition monitoring — vibration, temperature, oil and ultrasound — so maintenance is triggered by evidence of developing faults rather than the calendar.
What it is
Time-based maintenance services machines on a fixed schedule whether or not they need it; CBM watches the actual condition and acts on deviation. The transition installs the monitoring, baselines healthy behaviour, and rewrites maintenance plans around condition triggers instead of intervals.
Why it is done
Fixed intervals both over-maintain healthy machines — wasting labour and introducing assembly errors — and miss faults that develop between services. CBM catches degradation early, extends intervals on healthy assets and concentrates effort where it is needed, improving both reliability and cost.
How it is done
Critical assets are selected and instrumented or added to a route-based monitoring programme. Healthy baselines are established for each measurement, alarm thresholds set, and trending begun. As condition data accumulates, time-based tasks are progressively replaced with condition triggers, and findings are fed back to refine thresholds and confirm the failure modes being watched.
- Rank critical assets
- Install monitoring
- Baseline healthy state
- Set alarm limits
- Trend & alarm
- Replace time-based tasks
What to watch for
Collecting data without acting on it — the classic 'dashboard nobody reads' — wastes the investment. Setting thresholds too tight floods the team with false alarms; too loose and faults slip through.
Related practices
Rolling out reliability-centred maintenance
Running an asset criticality ranking exercise
Running a defect elimination programme
Related topics
Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) · Vibration Analysis · P-F Curve
Common in: Power Generation · Chemicals · Steel & Metals · Cement · Paper & Packaging · Food Processing