Tech & Buying Guide

Industrial automation networks constantly generate vast streams of diagnostic data before major equipment failures occur. Therefore, integrating control systems with maintenance management platforms is essential for maximizing plant uptime. In my 15 years of commissioning programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) networks, I have witnessed how raw alarms sit unnoticed in controller buffers. Bridging the gap between automation software and computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) transforms early warning signals into actionable work orders. Below, I examine how this integration drives predictive maintenance across modern industrial facilities.