It seems like I always run into the debate of what could a Vibration Analyst successfully monitor. I thought it would be interesting to post the question and get some input. I understand there are many variables to factor in. With that said, try to answer the question below with the defined terms.

How many machines could a Vibration Analyst monitor in an eight-hour day?

A machine being an average piece of equipment having 10 collection points.
A Confident Vibration Analyst with 3-5 years experience.
To monitor would include collection, analysis, and reporting.
An eight-hour day factoring in two 15 minute breaks and miscellaneous personal time.

I appreciate any input.

Thanks,
Patrick

There are lot's of variables.........
But to give you an example, I can collect all the data on a tissue mill (about 500 points) in one average day. That's going steady with short breaks. I do initial analysis in the box then will check key points and noted points when I download to the database. I will run alarm reports the next day and check any obvious outages.
However, I have never been able to complete an entire machine in one day as far as I can remember because there is always something that peaks (pardon the pun) my interest and will lead me astray. Never the less, I manage to collect data on about 2500 points at least once a month.

This subject comes up every time I quote a job. There are just too many variables which prevent us from making an all inclusive standard. I've been in a plant where there are multiple, like machines that are lined up and I could take data and analyze the data on hundreds of points in one 8 hour day. On the other hand, I had a route taking data on the pit de-watering system at a large mine. It took all day just to collect the data on 15 motor/pumps. In one extreme case, it took over 4 hours to take data on 2 pumps. 2 hours to get there, 10 minutes data collection and 2 hours back. Also, what type of data are you taking? Are you acquiring a special time waveform? Do you include a HFD reading on each bearing? Are you using a 1 or 2 channel analyzer? All these things will change the time it takes to collect the data. In the analysis process, do you rely on alarming, and only look at data in alarm? Are you one of those individuals who takes the data and downloads it into a program like Nspectr, and lets the program analyze the data for you. (By the way, I don't consider that being an analyst! I think I'll start a new discussion on that subject.) As I said before, there are just too many variables. If someone has a way of accurately setting an expected 8 hour work load, I'm all ears.

Some other variables are how often have you taken the route and how well do you know it and data collector speed. I know of a machine tool transfer line that took every bit of two forty hour weeks for two people to run. It was that way for a couple of years. About three years after it was set up the route could be ran in their sleep, the next point was an automatic move, the data collector (IRD 890) had two or three software upgrades and the route was taking about two and a half days.

If it is a problomatic machines with full data survey it will take the hole day. But, if it is routine checks i think you can take at one single station.

This came up on the old board. I have some standard pump/fan routes where I can knock out 600 - 700 points a day. And I have some process machinery where I only get 300 a day. If I were going to put forth an "average" number, I'd say that over the long haul a good number would be 400 points a day. That is not just data collection, it's also reporting.

I was talking with an experienced analyst a while back with another firm and he said their ratio was 3:1 which I said sounded about right (3 hours data collection, 1 hour report prep). Turns out, he meant 3 days in the office doing report prep for every day spent collecting data in the field. He looks at every point he collects....

So it depends on how one does it.

I tend to do all my collection then analysis. At one place I can get about 160 or so pieces of equipment--some walk-up, some air handlers with remote accels--in a couple days then about a day to report. At another site with a lot more walking and buildings and stairs (not that I don't need to walk and climb stairs) it takes about three days for 250 pieces of equipment. Like everyone else has said, there are a lot of variables. Sometimes I get stuck on something taking a lot of data or phase or something.

What the heck is a quick reply (the yellow reply arrow) ??

500+ machines every month.
They are broken down into 4 hour groups.
I spend 1+ hour collecting data then 3- hours reviewing it and entering workorders.
There are no more than 20 machines in each group.
There’s an average of 10 points for each machine. Many of them have 13 points
That's about 200+ points in 4 hours