Condition monitoring is the ongoing measurement of machine parameters such as vibration, temperature, or oil quality to detect significant changes that indicate a developing fault. It is the data foundation of predictive maintenance.
Condition monitoring can be periodic (a technician with a handheld vibration meter on a route) or continuous (permanently mounted sensors feeding a monitoring system). The goal is to spot change early, while there is still time to plan the repair.
Common techniques include vibration analysis for rotating equipment, infrared thermography for electrical and mechanical hot spots, oil and wear-debris analysis for gearboxes and hydraulics, ultrasound and acoustic emission for leaks and early bearing wear, and motor current signature analysis. Many of these are standardized; ISO 17359 gives general guidelines for condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines.
Condition monitoring is often confused with predictive maintenance. Monitoring tells you the condition has changed. Prediction estimates how long until failure. Diagnostics, in NIST's framing, asks why a threshold was exceeded; prognostics asks when it will be. A monitoring program without clear alarm limits and a response process mostly produces data.
Questions about Condition monitoring
Is condition monitoring the same as predictive maintenance?
No. Monitoring shows that the condition of a machine has changed. Prediction estimates how long remains until failure. Condition monitoring supplies the data that predictive maintenance is built on.
What is the difference between periodic and continuous condition monitoring?
Periodic monitoring is a technician walking a route with a handheld vibration meter. Continuous monitoring uses permanently mounted sensors that feed a monitoring system. Continuous sensors make more sense where a failure develops fast or the asset is hard to reach.
What does a condition monitoring program need to be useful?
Clear alarm limits and a process for responding to them. Without those, a program mostly produces data. The aim is to catch a change early, while there is still time to plan the repair.
Condition monitoring in real plants
- Welsh Water and Samotics: Welsh Water signed a three-year agreement running until 2029 for Samotics SAM4 monitoring of critical wastewater assets; the system has monitored a selection of its assets since 2022.
- Anglian Water and Samotics: Anglian Water extended its condition monitoring framework with Samotics by two years; SAM4 monitors more than 250 clean water assets and will cover new Strategic Pipeline Alliance pumping stations.
- Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and Boston Dynamics: Spot runs thermal, ultrasonic and visual inspection routes on the four bottling lines at the Coca-Cola Europacific Partners plant in East Kilbride, feeding findings to the maintenance system.
- Cadillac Casting and Tractian: Cadillac Casting replaced manual vibration routes with Tractian continuous monitoring on critical assets at its 280,000 square foot foundry in Michigan.
- Yorkshire Water and Samotics: Yorkshire Water has around 2,500 pumping assets monitored by Samotics SAM4 electrical signature analysis and is adding 1,200 sewage pumping station assets and 300 clean water pumping assets.
Vendors linked to Condition monitoring
KCF Technologies (9) · Samotics (9) · Tractian (7) · AssetWatch (6) · Gecko Robotics (4) · Augury (3) · Boston Dynamics (3) · Emerson (3) · Cognite (2) · Nanoprecise (2) · Siemens (1) · Uptake
Condition monitoring in the digest
Related terms
Predictive maintenance
Predictive maintenance is maintenance triggered by a prediction of failure, based on measured equipment condition such as vibration, temperature, or noise.
Vibration analysis
Vibration analysis is the measurement and interpretation of machine vibration to detect faults in rotating equipment, such as imbalance, misalignment, looseness and bearing damage, before they cause failure.
Anomaly detection
Anomaly detection is the identification of observations or patterns that deviate significantly from normal behavior in data.
CMMS (computerized maintenance management system)
A CMMS (computerized maintenance management system) is software that keeps a database of a site's assets and maintenance work.
Industrial IoT (IIoT)
Industrial IoT (IIoT) is the network of sensors, instruments, and machines in industrial settings that are connected to computers and software to collect and use operational data.