Component Failure Tracking for Automated Process Alerts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automated industrial processes often overlook underperforming components, leading to unnoticed inefficiencies that can significantly impact output over time, as small discrepancies in performance may not immediately affect overall process visibility.
Innovation Solution
A method that tracks failed operations and their percentage for each component, triggering alerts based on specific criteria to minimize resource waste while ensuring underperforming components are addressed promptly, involving both automated and human intervention for remediation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional monitoring methods are used to track component performance, then the overall process performance is maintained, but individual underperforming components are overlooked and their impact on output accumulates over time
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements continuous feedback monitoring by tracking the trigger value for each component across multiple periods. When the trigger value meets or exceeds the threshold, an alert is generated, creating a closed-loop feedback mechanism that ensures underperforming components are detected and addressed, preventing information loss about component performance issues
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by establishing performance thresholds and monitoring mechanisms before problems accumulate. By proactively tracking trigger values and generating alerts when components deviate from expected performance, the system prevents the accumulation of undetected performance losses rather than reacting after significant output impact occurs
2Loss of time
If alerts are triggered for every performance deviation, then all underperforming components are identified promptly, but resources are wasted on transient issues that do not significantly impact output
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies dynamics by adjusting the trigger value over time through incremental modifications. When performance deviations occur, the trigger value is adjusted dynamically rather than using fixed thresholds, allowing the system to adapt to transient variations while maintaining sensitivity to sustained performance issues, thus reducing false alerts for transient problems
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses partial action by implementing a threshold-based alert mechanism that only triggers when performance deviations are significant enough to meet or exceed the threshold. This prevents excessive resource allocation to minor transient issues while ensuring that genuinely problematic components are identified and addressed in a timely manner
3Measurement precision
If multiple components are monitored individually, then each component's performance is tracked precisely, but the complexity of the monitoring system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system achieves universality by implementing a standardized monitoring framework that applies the same trigger value tracking and alert mechanism to all components. This multi-functional approach allows precise individual component measurement while using a unified monitoring structure, preventing complexity multiplication that would result from implementing separate monitoring systems for each component
Data Source
AI summary
Described herein are improvements for characterizing performance of a component in an automated industrial process. In one example, a method includes, for each period of a plurality of periods, at least until an alert is triggered, updating a count of failed operations attempted by the first component and a percentage of a count of total operations attempted by the first component represented by the count of failed operations. The method further includes decrementing a trigger value when the count of failed operations does not increase for the period and incrementing the trigger value when the count of failed operations increases for the period. Also, the method includes triggering the alert in response to the trigger value satisfying a trigger value criterion and either the count of failed operations satisfying a count criterion or the percentage satisfying a percentage criterion.