Artillery Mechanic in the military- PMer, Heavy Equipment Technician, NDT Inspector at Kinross- Asset management at Nevada Gold Mines- Condition Intelligence Specialist, Program Manager, Product Manager at Dingo.
We brought on a new liner supplier for the SAG mill and the early inspections looked great. Wear tracked well, remaining life looked strong. Then between two inspections the numbers fell off a cliff, and the liners were never going to make the next planned shut. Only the inspection frequency caught it. We pulled the change forward, scoped it properly, and the mill kept running.
Inspections cover more of your site than any other condition monitoring technique. Sensors watch the assets that spin or hold oil. Inspections cover everything else, which is most of the asset base, and they catch the problems that show up weeks before downtime. The catch is that value only lands if the findings are captured in a structured way.