Fluke Tour May 6 Fluke invited a group of partners, customers, and bloggers to its Everett, WA corporate facility on May 6 in order to take a deep technology dive into where Fluke is and where it is going from a product/technology point of view. The tone of the gathering was one of conversation where Fluke presented ideas and asked for push back and ideas from us.

And feedback was what they got. The small group I was part of came up with four flip chart pages of ideas regarding proposed new products and products we thought it should pursue.

We also toured labs and manufacturing. Here are some brief impressions.

Fluke has an impressive metrology lab, actually two. The electrical lab has been around for a long time. A new thermography lab has just been constructed. I’m familiar with measurement, but the level of measurement and the dedication to standards was amazing. The science behind all the Fluke tools is solid.

Manufacturing is probably a poster child for the Danaher Production System—the company’s Lean implementation. The facilities are clean, organized with information clearly posted at the cells.

Fluke is also moving further into software—databases and analysis. Initially, Fluke Connect was a cool collaborative app for smart phones. Now it is evolving into helping smaller companies who may not have CMMS or other systems improve asset management through the information gathered from Fluke tools.

This is a product that holds great promise for many who need to start along the predictive maintenance path. “We’d like to help change behaviors in the maintenance and reliability areas.”

Given that, here is the press release for the unveiling of Fluke Connect Assets.

Fluke Connect Assets is a cloud-based wireless system of software and test tools that gives maintenance managers a comprehensive view of all critical equipment — including baseline, historical, and current test tool measurement data, current status, and past inspection data — enabling them to set up and sustain a predictive maintenance (PdM) or condition-based maintenance (CBM) system easily with minimal investment.

It features one-touch measurement transfer from more than 30 Fluke Connect-enabled test tools, eliminating manual recording of measurements so maintenance managers can be confident that the equipment history is accurate.

The company says it’s easy to set up with minimal investment and no need for support from the IT department.

The system’s features allow maintenance managers to analyze multiple types of predictive data (for example, electrical, vibration, infrared images) all in one program, side by side, in a visual format that enables easy scanning. In fact, it’s the first software that offers results across multiple deployments (smart phone, web browser). This intuitive display of multiple measurements enhances the productive use of data and the ability to identify a problem, since each measurement type tests a different aspect of equipment health and together they present a more complete picture.
Key features of Fluke Connect Assets include:

  • Asset Health Dashboard — Asset Health is a hierarchy based overview of aggregated status over time, aggregated alarms over time, and equipment status timeline, all with drill downs with more details. This permits managers to quickly identify where they need to focus efforts as part of a morning routine. They can trend and compare thermal, electrical and vibration data over time for each piece of equipment and drill down to the data needed for repair/replacement decisions.
  • Asset Status Dashboard — allows managers to quickly scan the most recent status updates for key assets so they can better monitor team and equipment activity.
  • Asset Hierarchy and Test Points — allows managers to easily create inspection routes, schedules and instructions and assign technicians to measure specific test points to create repeatable, comparable data.

 

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