The 5 Benefits of Monitoring Your Air Compressor Data

Air compressors are an expensive piece of equipment that are essential to the profit-making processes of plants, factories and workshops. To get the most return on investment from the air compressor installation the compressors need to be treated well. The goal should be to get the maximum amount of work done from the air compressor over its lifespan. After the first 7 to 8 years air compressors will need a strict maintenance schedule or inefficiencies may begin to develop, which if neglected can turn into an issue which needs repairs.

Air compressors have maintenance needs that vary depending on the amount that they’re being used every day. Maintenance needs will vary depending on the type of compressor – rotary screw, centrifugal, reciprocating and others. Auxiliary equipment and cooling systems are separate units from the compressor but work in tandem with it. They will also require monitoring and maintenance.

Preventative compressor maintenance is how you minimize, or even completely avoid, downtime that can occur over the course of a compressor’s life span. Preventative action will reduce the chances of having unexpected major repairs. You will also benefit from a higher average operational efficiency and lower energy costs over the compressor’s life span.

With proper maintenance and care of your air compressors you can expect to extract well over a decade's  worth of good performance out of your machines. On the other hand, without proper care your machine could give you decades of costly, disruptive, inefficient performance and stress.

Since good air compressor maintenance is critical, we strongly advise you to invest in an air compressor from a well-respected brand. The best air compressor brands on the market will offer specialized maintenance services as well as long-term service plans. You should ask if the manufacturer has any data gathering or smart monitoring systems built-in to the compressor.

Modern air compressors come with monitoring and data gathering technologies that can give you unrealized workflow and cost benefits.

Download: A Beginner's Guide to Connected Compressors

Monitoring and data gathering technologies can produce meaningful information that can be visualized. The information can track changes over weeks, months and years, and inform you of trends as well as anomalies. The information can be viewed remotely, downloaded for further analysis, and even archived. Monitoring and data gathering technologies allow maintenance teams to make more insightful decisions without the inconvenience of being physically present in the compressor room.

Knowing the status of your compressed air equipment at all times and being able to react on it, is the surest way to achieve optimal efficiency and maximum availability. Monitoring and data gathering technologies can spot any deviant behavior at an early stage. Alerts or notifications can be broadcast to maintenance teams and plant owners as soon as there is an issue so that downtime can be minimized. 

Since air compressor monitoring and data gathering technologies allow you to be proactive with your maintenance the total up-time over the lifespan of the air compressor is improved. In response to alerts and notifications the compressor systems can take pre-programmed actions based on smart algorithms to troubleshoot the issue and keep compressor efficiency at its maximum level. 

Monitoring and data gathering technologies make the work of running an air compressor installation less challenging. These technologies completely eliminate the traditionally manual process of gatiner gathering data, creating reports and distributing the insights to stakeholders. Insights from data are easier to make. Alerts and notifications are broadcast immediately for faster action. And significant portions of the traditional maintenance process are automated for maintenance teams. Everyone concerned receives the benefit of time savings or workflow improvements.

Tracking compressor performance and proactively responding to information gives you more mileage out of your machine. You will have optimized compressed air production per unit of electricity. You will reduce the labor costs involved with inspecting the machines and diagnosing issues. You will delay, and even completely avoid, incurring major repairs. And you can afford to wait longer before age-related inefficiencies take effect and you have to invest in a brand-new compressor. 

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A big part of Atlas Copco’s  success has come from our consistent breakthroughs in optimizing its products for energy savings and efficiency. One of our best innovations is the SMARTLINK data monitoring program for air compressors.

SMARTLINK intelligently gathers, compares and analyses data to help compressed air users increase maintenance and service efficiency. SMARTLINK actively monitors over 30 data points of your compressed air equipment and presents a service timeline that shows you the service needs of every machine, with scheduled visits and clear service reports. Case-studies show that users have increased their uptime by 3% a year, while saving up to 30% through improved energy efficiency that accumulates over the life span of the air compressor.

Atlas Copco takes security seriously. SMARTLINK uses commercially standard methods of data transmission and encryption. And its data storage policies are GDPR compliant. Customers can speak directly with an Atlas Copco Privacy Officer to clear any doubts.

And did you know that all Atlas Copco Compressors come equipped with SMARTLINK? If you own an Atlas Copco product we strongly recommend that you start incorporating the technology in your work flow.

To learn more about how Atlas Copco’s monitoring and data gathering technology for air compressors works click here. We’re also offering our customers a FREE on-site or virtual demonstration of how to set up and use SMARTLINK in their facility. Feel free to use the contact form to get in touch and call our local team in the UAE.