Industrial Maintenance Glossary

Maintenance strategy & planning

Approaches for planning and carrying out maintenance and repairs.

Preventive maintenance

Planned maintenance performed at fixed time, runtime, or usage intervals before a failure occurs.
Explore term: Preventive maintenance
Predictive maintenance

A data-driven approach that forecasts when an asset is likely to need maintenance or experience a failure.
Explore term: Predictive maintenance
Condition-based maintenance

Maintenance triggered by the measured or observed condition of an asset.
Explore term: Condition-based maintenance
Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)

A comprehensive improvement approach in which production and maintenance jointly reduce equipment losses.
Explore term: Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)
Autonomous maintenance

A TPM pillar in which trained operators take ownership of basic equipment care tasks on their own machines.
Explore term: Autonomous maintenance

Calibration
Comparing a measuring instrument's reading against a known reference and adjusting or documenting the deviation.
Explore term: Calibration
Commissioning
The structured process of verifying and handing over a new or modified asset into safe, intended operation for the first time.
Explore term: Commissioning
Corrective maintenance
Maintenance work carried out to fix a fault that inspection or monitoring has already identified, whether planned or unplanned.
Explore term: Corrective maintenance
Decommissioning
The structured, safe process of permanently taking an asset out of operation at the end of its useful life.
Explore term: Decommissioning
Inspection
A structured check of an asset's condition against a defined standard, to detect deterioration before it causes failure.
Explore term: Inspection
Inspection route
A defined, repeatable sequence of inspection points across a facility, organized for a technician to walk and check on a schedule.
Explore term: Inspection route
Lubrication management
The organizational program that selects, schedules, and tracks the right lubricants for each asset, distinct from the physical delivery hardware.
Explore term: Lubrication management
Maintenance
The overall discipline of keeping physical assets in a condition where they perform their intended function reliably and safely.
Explore term: Maintenance
Maintenance backlog
The set of approved maintenance work that has not yet been completed, representing the demand still waiting for execution.
Explore term: Maintenance backlog
Maintenance interval optimization
Adjusting how often a specific recurring maintenance task is performed, based on evidence rather than the original default schedule.
Explore term: Maintenance interval optimization
Maintenance optimization
The ongoing effort to improve the overall effectiveness and efficiency of a maintenance program, across strategies, resources, and cost.
Explore term: Maintenance optimization
Maintenance planning
Preparing the scope, steps, resources, and parts a maintenance job needs before it is scheduled.
Explore term: Maintenance planning
Maintenance scheduling
Assigning a specific time and the personnel who will carry out an already-planned maintenance job.
Explore term: Maintenance scheduling
Maintenance strategy
The deliberate choice of which maintenance approach (preventive, predictive, condition-based, corrective, or run-to-failure) applies to a given asset.
Explore term: Maintenance strategy
Maintenance window
A defined period of time made available for maintenance work, often when an asset or line can be safely taken offline.
Explore term: Maintenance window
Operator care
The specific set of basic cleaning, inspection, and adjustment tasks operators perform on their own equipment.
Explore term: Operator care
Planned maintenance
Maintenance work that has been prepared with a defined scope and resources before it is carried out, as opposed to unplanned reactive work.
Explore term: Planned maintenance
Reactive maintenance
Maintenance work started only after a problem has occurred or been reported, without a planned inspection finding it first.
Explore term: Reactive maintenance
Reliability-Centered Maintenance
A structured method that derives the right maintenance approach for an asset from its functions, failure modes, and the consequences of each failure.
Explore term: Reliability-Centered Maintenance
Risk-Based Maintenance
A prioritization method that allocates maintenance effort according to a calculated risk score: probability of failure times its consequence.
Explore term: Risk-Based Maintenance
Run-to-failure
A deliberate strategy of performing no preventive or condition-based intervention on a chosen asset until it actually fails.
Explore term: Run-to-failure
Scheduled maintenance
Maintenance work that has been committed to a specific date and time on the maintenance calendar.
Explore term: Scheduled maintenance
Service interval
The defined time or usage span between two occurrences of the same recurring maintenance task.
Explore term: Service interval
Shutdown maintenance
Maintenance work bundled into a period when an asset or line is deliberately stopped, so normally inaccessible work can be done safely.
Explore term: Shutdown maintenance
Turnaround maintenance
A large-scale, infrequent, heavily bundled maintenance revision event, typically plant-wide, distinct from a routine shutdown.
Explore term: Turnaround maintenance

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Reliability & failure analysis

Concepts and methods for understanding failures and preventing recurrence.

Bathtub curve
A model describing how failure rate typically changes over an asset's life: high early, low and steady in the middle, high again near end of life.
Explore term: Bathtub curve
Cavitation
The formation and violent collapse of vapor bubbles in a liquid, typically in a pump, causing erosion and characteristic noise.
Explore term: Cavitation
Common cause failure
A single underlying cause that triggers multiple, otherwise independent failures at the same time, defeating redundancy.
Explore term: Common cause failure
Contamination
The presence of foreign material (particles, moisture, or chemicals) in a system where it degrades function or accelerates wear.
Explore term: Contamination
Corrosion
The chemical or electrochemical degradation of a material, typically a metal reacting with its environment, that reduces its structural integrity over time.
Explore term: Corrosion
Degradation
A general, progressive decline in an asset's condition or performance over time, without specifying the underlying mechanism.
Explore term: Degradation
Diagnostic reasoning
The cognitive process of connecting observations to a justified diagnosis, weighing competing explanations against the evidence.
Explore term: Diagnostic reasoning
Failure cause
The specific circumstance or defect that initiated a failure: why it happened, as opposed to how it developed or what it affected.
Explore term: Failure cause
Failure effect
The consequence a specific failure mode has on the system, process, safety, or output: what happens as a result of the failure.
Explore term: Failure effect
Failure mechanism
The physical or chemical process (fatigue, corrosion, wear) by which a cause actually degrades a component over time.
Explore term: Failure mechanism
Failure mode
The specific way a function actually stops meeting its requirement: the observable manner of failure, as used in FMEA.
Explore term: Failure mode
Failure Mode, Effects and Criticality Analysis
FMEA extended with a formal criticality ranking that combines severity and probability to prioritize which failure modes need action most urgently.
Explore term: Failure Mode, Effects and Criticality Analysis
Fatigue
Progressive material cracking caused by repeated cyclic loading, even at stress levels well below the material's static breaking strength.
Explore term: Fatigue
Fault isolation
Narrowing a detected problem down to the specific system, subsystem, or component actually responsible for it.
Explore term: Fault isolation
Fault Tree Analysis
A top-down logic diagram that maps every combination of contributing events that could lead to a specific top-level failure.
Explore term: Fault Tree Analysis
Functional failure
The broader state in which an asset no longer meets a specific required function, regardless of the particular manner in which it failed.
Explore term: Functional failure
Imbalance
An uneven mass distribution around a rotating component's axis, producing a characteristic vibration at the rotational speed frequency.
Explore term: Imbalance
Maintainability
How easily and quickly an asset can be restored to a functioning condition once it fails, under defined repair conditions.
Explore term: Maintainability
Mechanical looseness
Excessive, unintended play or clearance between connected mechanical parts, producing a distinctive vibration pattern with multiple harmonics.
Explore term: Mechanical looseness
Misalignment
A deviation between the intended centerlines of two connected rotating components, producing a characteristic vibration signature and premature wear.
Explore term: Misalignment
Overheating
A general condition in which a component or system runs at a temperature above its safe or rated operating limit.
Explore term: Overheating
P-F interval
The time span between when degradation first becomes detectable and when the asset actually experiences a functional failure.
Explore term: P-F interval
Pareto analysis
A ranking technique that orders problems by contribution to identify the small number of causes responsible for most of the impact.
Explore term: Pareto analysis
Potential failure
An identifiable, measurable early condition that indicates a functional failure is developing but has not yet occurred.
Explore term: Potential failure
Redundancy
A design approach that adds a backup component or path so a single failure does not bring down the whole system.
Explore term: Redundancy
Reliability
The probability that an asset performs its required function, without failure, for a defined period under stated conditions.
Explore term: Reliability
Repeat failure
The same failure mode occurring again on the same asset after a prior repair, indicating the earlier fix did not address the real cause.
Explore term: Repeat failure
Single point of failure
A single component or path whose failure alone would cause the entire system to fail, with no backup available.
Explore term: Single point of failure
Vibration
The oscillating mechanical motion of a machine or component, whose pattern and frequency content indicate its mechanical condition.
Explore term: Vibration
Wear
The gradual removal of material from a surface due to mechanical contact, friction, or relative motion between two surfaces.
Explore term: Wear
Weibull analysis
A statistical method that fits failure data to a Weibull distribution to characterize an asset population's specific failure behavior over time.
Explore term: Weibull analysis

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Maintenance KPIs & performance

Metrics for evaluating reliability, repair duration, and asset performance.

Downtime
The total time an asset is not performing its intended function, regardless of whether the stop was planned or unplanned.
Explore term: Downtime
Emergency work percentage
The share of total maintenance work that was carried out as an unplanned emergency response, rather than planned or scheduled.
Explore term: Emergency work percentage
Failure rate
The number of failures observed per unit of time or operating cycles, for a defined population and observation period.
Explore term: Failure rate
First-time fix rate
The share of maintenance jobs resolved in a single visit, without needing a return trip or follow-up work order.
Explore term: First-time fix rate
Maintenance cost
The total direct and indirect expenditure attributable to maintaining assets: labor, parts, contracted services, and overhead.
Explore term: Maintenance cost
Maintenance cost as percentage of RAV
Maintenance cost expressed as a percentage of the replacement asset value it protects, allowing comparison across sites or asset classes of different size.
Explore term: Maintenance cost as percentage of RAV
Maintenance productivity
The ratio of useful maintenance output achieved to the labor or resources spent achieving it.
Explore term: Maintenance productivity
Mean Down Time
The average duration of a single downtime event, from stop to resume, across a set of observed events.
Explore term: Mean Down Time
Mean Time to Failure
The average time a non-repairable item operates before it fails, once, for good.
Explore term: Mean Time to Failure
Planned downtime
The measured time an asset is stopped for a scheduled reason, such as maintenance, changeover, or a planned shutdown.
Explore term: Planned downtime
PM compliance
The share of scheduled preventive maintenance tasks completed on time, out of all preventive tasks due in a period.
Explore term: PM compliance
Schedule compliance
The share of all scheduled maintenance work (preventive and other planned jobs) completed within its assigned time slot.
Explore term: Schedule compliance
Spare parts fill rate
The share of spare-parts demand that can be met immediately from available stock, without a delay for procurement.
Explore term: Spare parts fill rate
Unplanned downtime
The portion of downtime caused by an unexpected failure, as opposed to a scheduled, agreed stop.
Explore term: Unplanned downtime
Uptime
The total time an asset is actually performing its intended function, the complement of downtime.
Explore term: Uptime
Work order aging
A measure of how long individual work orders have remained open, used to identify stalled or overlooked jobs.
Explore term: Work order aging
Wrench time
The fraction of a technician's paid hours actually spent doing hands-on maintenance task execution, excluding travel, waiting, and admin.
Explore term: Wrench time

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Work management & documentation

Workflows, records, and knowledge structures for traceable maintenance work.

Bill of Materials
A structured list identifying every part and quantity that makes up a specific asset or assembly.
Explore term: Bill of Materials
Critical spare
A spare part whose unavailability would cause severe downtime, safety, or cost consequences, warranting dedicated stock despite low usage.
Explore term: Critical spare
Defect list
A record of specific items found not to meet the required standard during an inspection, still awaiting correction.
Explore term: Defect list
Diagnostic code
The broad category of technical identifiers a system produces to describe status, events, warnings, or faults for troubleshooting.
Explore term: Diagnostic code
Equipment tag
A unique identifier code assigned to a specific piece of equipment, used to reference it consistently across all records.
Explore term: Equipment tag
Fault code
A machine- or controller-generated identifier for a specific detected malfunction that has already affected a function.
Explore term: Fault code
Job plan
A reusable, predefined preparation template for a recurring maintenance job (scope, resources, and steps) created before any specific execution date.
Explore term: Job plan
Kitting
Assembling all parts and materials a specific job needs into one prepared set before the technician starts work.
Explore term: Kitting
Knowledge transfer
The deliberate process of passing maintenance expertise from one person to another, particularly experienced to less experienced staff.
Explore term: Knowledge transfer
Lockout/Tagout
A safety procedure that physically locks and tags energy-isolation points so a machine cannot be energized while someone works on it.
Explore term: Lockout/Tagout
Maintenance checklist
A structured list of specific points to check off systematically during an inspection or task, verifying compliance with a defined standard.
Explore term: Maintenance checklist
Maintenance history
The accumulated record of past maintenance actions and findings on an asset, used to inform future decisions.
Explore term: Maintenance history
Maintenance knowledge base
An organized, reusable repository of maintenance know-how and solutions, structured for lookup rather than chronological review.
Explore term: Maintenance knowledge base
Maintenance notification
A flagged observation of a possible maintenance need, raised for evaluation before any work is approved or scheduled.
Explore term: Maintenance notification
Maintenance report
An internal record documenting what maintenance work was performed on an asset, by whom, and with what finding.
Explore term: Maintenance report
Maintenance standard
A documented, binding requirement or acceptance criterion that maintenance work or asset condition must meet.
Explore term: Maintenance standard
Maintenance storeroom
The physical facility where spare parts and materials are stored, issued, and tracked for maintenance work.
Explore term: Maintenance storeroom
Maintenance, Repair and Operations
The category of goods and services procured to keep operations running (spare parts, tools, and supplies) distinct from raw production materials.
Explore term: Maintenance, Repair and Operations
OEM manual
The manufacturer's official documentation for a specific product, covering operation, maintenance, and specifications for that exact model.
Explore term: OEM manual
Permit to Work
A formal authorization process that reviews, approves, and coordinates a specific work activity before it begins, particularly for higher-risk tasks.
Explore term: Permit to Work
Revision control
The managed process of tracking and approving changes to technical documents, ensuring only the current, correct version is in use.
Explore term: Revision control
Service report
A record documenting a specific service visit or engagement (its scope, findings, and recommendations) often involving an external provider.
Explore term: Service report
Shift handover
The structured transfer of open tasks, findings, and asset status from one shift's team to the next.
Explore term: Shift handover
Spare part
A physical component kept in stock and installed to restore an asset to function after a failure or during planned maintenance.
Explore term: Spare part
Spare parts catalog
A reference organizing available spare parts for identification and selection, across the inventory rather than tied to one asset's structure.
Explore term: Spare parts catalog
Standard Operating Procedure
A formally standardized procedure that governs how a specific process should be performed consistently, across situations or personnel.
Explore term: Standard Operating Procedure
Tacit knowledge
Experience-based understanding a person has but has not written down: the specific kind of knowledge that knowledge transfer aims to capture.
Explore term: Tacit knowledge
Technical documentation
The full set of technical documents describing an asset's design, operation, and maintenance requirements.
Explore term: Technical documentation
Troubleshooting
The end-to-end, hands-on process of investigating a specific problem, narrowing it to a cause, and resolving it.
Explore term: Troubleshooting
Work instruction
Detailed, step-by-step guidance for performing a specific task correctly and safely, followed during execution.
Explore term: Work instruction
Work request
A formal ask for maintenance work with a defined need and scope, submitted for planning and scheduling approval.
Explore term: Work request

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Industrial systems, data & AI

Systems and data methods for connected industrial maintenance.

Application Programming Interface
A defined interface that lets one software system request data or functions from another in a structured, predictable way.
Explore term: Application Programming Interface
Artificial intelligence in maintenance
The umbrella application of AI methods (machine learning, generative AI, computer vision, and agents) to industrial maintenance tasks.
Explore term: Artificial intelligence in maintenance
Asset Performance Management
A discipline and toolset for continuously evaluating and improving how well physical assets are performing, blending condition, reliability, and risk data.
Explore term: Asset Performance Management
CANopen
A CAN-bus-based communication protocol for networking industrial controllers and devices, common in machine-level automation.
Explore term: CANopen
Cloud computing in maintenance
Processing and storing maintenance data on remote, provider-managed servers accessed over the internet, rather than on local plant hardware.
Explore term: Cloud computing in maintenance
Computer vision
AI methods that extract information from images or video, such as detecting a defect or reading a gauge automatically.
Explore term: Computer vision
Condition monitoring
The ongoing collection and review of asset condition data (vibration, temperature, oil, current, and similar signals) used to detect meaningful change.
Explore term: Condition monitoring
Data historian
A specialized database that stores time-stamped process and equipment data at high frequency for later retrieval and trend analysis.
Explore term: Data historian
Data quality
The degree to which data is accurate, complete, and consistent enough to be trusted for a maintenance decision.
Explore term: Data quality
Digital twin
A virtual model of a specific real asset, kept synchronized with its actual condition and behavior through live data.
Explore term: Digital twin
Distributed Control System
A control architecture that distributes process-control functions across multiple networked controllers, typically for continuous or batch process plants.
Explore term: Distributed Control System
Edge computing
Processing data locally, near the equipment that generates it, rather than sending it to a remote server first.
Explore term: Edge computing
Embeddings
A numeric vector representation of text or content that captures its meaning, allowing similarity to be measured mathematically.
Explore term: Embeddings
Enterprise Resource Planning
A company-wide system integrating core business processes (finance, procurement, inventory, HR) into one shared platform.
Explore term: Enterprise Resource Planning
EtherCAT
A high-speed, deterministic Ethernet-based fieldbus protocol optimized for real-time control of many networked devices with minimal delay.
Explore term: EtherCAT
EtherNet/IP
An industrial communication protocol that runs the Common Industrial Protocol over standard Ethernet, widely used in Rockwell Automation environments.
Explore term: EtherNet/IP
Event log
A time-stamped, system-generated record of technical events (alarms, state changes, faults) captured automatically by equipment or software.
Explore term: Event log
Generative AI
AI models that produce new content (text, images, or summaries) rather than only classifying or predicting from existing data.
Explore term: Generative AI
Human-Machine Interface
The screen or panel through which a person observes and operates a machine or control system, translating raw data into readable, actionable information.
Explore term: Human-Machine Interface
Industrial Internet of Things
The network of connected sensors and devices on industrial equipment that collect and exchange data over a network, at scale.
Explore term: Industrial Internet of Things
Machine learning
A method where a model learns patterns from data, rather than following explicitly programmed rules, to make predictions or classifications.
Explore term: Machine learning
Machine logbook
An ongoing, running record of day-to-day observations and events on a specific machine, kept by operators and technicians.
Explore term: Machine logbook
Maintenance data model
The formal structure defining how maintenance data objects and their relationships are organized within a system.
Explore term: Maintenance data model
Manufacturing Execution System
A system that manages and tracks the execution of production on the shop floor, connecting order-level planning with real-time machine activity.
Explore term: Manufacturing Execution System
Master data
The stable, foundational data describing the objects a maintenance system operates on (assets, locations, parts) as distinct from transactional records.
Explore term: Master data
Modbus
A simple, widely adopted serial or Ethernet-based industrial communication protocol for exchanging register-based data between devices.
Explore term: Modbus
Motor Current Signature Analysis
A technique that analyzes patterns in a motor's electrical current to detect mechanical and electrical faults without additional sensors on the motor itself.
Explore term: Motor Current Signature Analysis
MQTT
A lightweight publish-subscribe messaging protocol suited to sending small amounts of data efficiently, especially over constrained networks.
Explore term: MQTT
Oil analysis
Laboratory or field testing of a lubricant sample to reveal contamination, wear-particle content, and remaining lubricant quality.
Explore term: Oil analysis
OPC UA
A platform-independent, structured industrial data-exchange standard with built-in security and rich information modeling, widely used across manufacturers.
Explore term: OPC UA
Optical Character Recognition
A specific computer-vision technique that recognizes and extracts text from an image, such as a scanned document or nameplate.
Explore term: Optical Character Recognition
Predictive analytics
Statistical or machine-learning methods that estimate future asset behavior from historical and current data.
Explore term: Predictive analytics
PROFIBUS
An established serial fieldbus protocol for connecting industrial controllers, sensors, and drives, predating the shift to Ethernet-based industrial networking.
Explore term: PROFIBUS
PROFINET
An Ethernet-based industrial communication standard, the successor to PROFIBUS, widely used particularly in Siemens-centric automation environments.
Explore term: PROFINET
Programmable Logic Controller
An industrial computer that executes programmed logic to control machinery or a process based on sensor inputs and defined rules.
Explore term: Programmable Logic Controller
Retrieval-Augmented Generation
A technique that combines a search step over specific source documents with generative AI, so answers are grounded in verified content.
Explore term: Retrieval-Augmented Generation
Sensor fusion
Combining data from multiple different sensor types into a single, more reliable assessment than any one sensor could provide alone.
Explore term: Sensor fusion
Speech-to-text
AI methods that convert spoken language into written text, such as transcribing a hands-free field report.
Explore term: Speech-to-text
Structured data
Data organized according to a predefined, explicit schema (fixed fields and types) making it directly queryable and analyzable.
Explore term: Structured data
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
A system that monitors and enables supervisory control of equipment and processes, often spread across a wide geographic area, from a central interface.
Explore term: Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
System integration
The overall project and work of connecting multiple separate systems so they function together as one consistent workflow.
Explore term: System integration
Thermography
A non-contact inspection technique that captures a thermal image of a component or system to reveal abnormal heat patterns.
Explore term: Thermography
Time-series data
A sequence of measured values, each tied to a specific timestamp, used to observe how a quantity changes over time.
Explore term: Time-series data
Ultrasound inspection
A technique that detects high-frequency sound produced by friction, leaks, or electrical discharge, inaudible to the human ear.
Explore term: Ultrasound inspection
Unstructured data
Content without a predefined schema (free-text notes, images, or PDF documents) requiring further processing to extract usable information.
Explore term: Unstructured data
Vector database
A database specialized for storing embeddings and quickly finding the closest matches by semantic similarity rather than exact keyword match.
Explore term: Vector database
Vibration analysis
The interpretive method of extracting frequency content from measured vibration data to diagnose the specific mechanical condition causing it.
Explore term: Vibration analysis

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Machines, components & failure symptoms

Technical components, how they work, and common evidence of failure.

Brake resistor
A component that dissipates excess energy regenerated during motor deceleration as heat, preventing DC-link overvoltage.
Explore term: Brake resistor
Centrifugal pump
A pump that uses a spinning impeller to add kinetic energy to a liquid, converting it into pressure as the liquid exits.
Explore term: Centrifugal pump
Chain drive
A power-transmission method using a rigid, interlocking chain over sprockets, providing high power capacity without slip.
Explore term: Chain drive
Circuit breaker
A protective switching device that automatically interrupts an electrical circuit when it detects an overcurrent or fault condition.
Explore term: Circuit breaker
Compressed-air leak
An unintended escape of compressed air from a distribution system, wasting energy and reducing available pressure at points of use.
Explore term: Compressed-air leak
Compressor
A machine that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume, distinct from a pump, which moves an incompressible liquid.
Explore term: Compressor
Computer Numerical Control
A control system that automates the motion of machine-tool axes according to programmed instructions, for precise cutting or shaping.
Explore term: Computer Numerical Control
Contactor
A heavy-duty electromechanical switch specifically designed to make and break higher-power circuits, such as motor supply lines, repeatedly.
Explore term: Contactor
Control valve
A valve specifically designed for continuous, modulated flow control in response to a process signal, rather than simple on/off switching.
Explore term: Control valve
Conveyor
A mechanical system that transports material or product along a fixed path, using a belt, chain, roller, or similar moving surface.
Explore term: Conveyor
Cooling fan
A component that moves air across a motor, drive, or enclosure to remove heat and keep operating temperature within limits.
Explore term: Cooling fan
Coupling
A component that connects two rotating shafts, transmitting torque while accommodating a degree of misalignment or motion.
Explore term: Coupling
DC link
The intermediate DC voltage stage inside a drive that sits between the rectifier and inverter, storing energy for the conversion process.
Explore term: DC link
DC-link overvoltage
A fault condition where the DC link voltage inside a drive rises above its safe operating limit, often triggered by rapid deceleration.
Explore term: DC-link overvoltage
Electric motor
A machine that converts electrical energy into rotational mechanical energy, driving most industrial rotating equipment.
Explore term: Electric motor
Encoder
A device that measures a shaft's position or speed and converts that measurement into a signal a controller or drive can use.
Explore term: Encoder
Encoder fault
A fault condition where an encoder's feedback signal becomes unreliable or is lost, disrupting the closed-loop control that depends on it.
Explore term: Encoder fault
Filter
A component that removes unwanted particles or contaminants from a fluid or gas stream, protecting downstream equipment.
Explore term: Filter
Flow meter
An instrument that measures the rate or volume of fluid or gas passing through a point in a system.
Explore term: Flow meter
Gasket
A static seal placed between two mating surfaces to prevent leakage of fluid or gas at that joint.
Explore term: Gasket
Gearbox
A component that changes rotational speed and torque between an input and output shaft using meshing gears.
Explore term: Gearbox
Ground fault
An unintended electrical connection between a live conductor and ground, creating a shock hazard and abnormal current path.
Explore term: Ground fault
Hydraulic cylinder
An actuator that produces linear force and motion by pressurized hydraulic fluid acting on a piston.
Explore term: Hydraulic cylinder
Inverter
The power-electronic stage that converts DC to AC, producing the controllable output frequency and voltage a VFD uses to drive a motor.
Explore term: Inverter
Lubrication system
The physical hardware (reservoirs, pumps, lines, and distribution points) that delivers lubricant to a machine's moving parts.
Explore term: Lubrication system
Mechanical seal
A dynamic seal that prevents fluid leakage where a rotating shaft passes through a stationary housing, such as on a pump.
Explore term: Mechanical seal
Motor overcurrent
A fault condition where the current drawn by a motor exceeds its rated safe limit, indicating overload or an internal or mechanical problem.
Explore term: Motor overcurrent
Motor overtemperature
A fault condition where a motor's winding or bearing temperature exceeds its rated safe limit, risking insulation damage.
Explore term: Motor overtemperature
Phase loss
A fault condition where one phase of a three-phase electrical supply is lost, unbalancing the remaining supply and risking motor damage.
Explore term: Phase loss
Photoelectric sensor
A sensor that detects an object's presence or position using a beam of light, without physical contact.
Explore term: Photoelectric sensor
Pneumatic cylinder
An actuator that produces linear force and motion using compressed air acting on a piston.
Explore term: Pneumatic cylinder
Positive displacement pump
A pump that traps a fixed volume of liquid per cycle and physically forces it through the system, producing flow largely independent of pressure.
Explore term: Positive displacement pump
Pressure sensor
A device that measures fluid or gas pressure at a point in a system and converts it into an electrical signal.
Explore term: Pressure sensor
Proximity sensor
A sensor that detects the presence of a nearby object without physical contact, typically using electromagnetic sensing principles.
Explore term: Proximity sensor
Pump
A machine that moves a liquid by adding mechanical energy to it, raising its pressure or flow.
Explore term: Pump
Relay
An electromechanical or solid-state switch that uses a low-power control signal to open or close a separate, typically higher-power circuit.
Explore term: Relay
Resolver
An electromagnetic feedback device that measures shaft angle using analog signals, valued for ruggedness in harsh environments.
Explore term: Resolver
Robot controller
A specialized controller that manages a robot's coordinated multi-axis motion, program execution, and safety functions.
Explore term: Robot controller
Safety PLC
A specially certified PLC variant designed with redundancy and independent verification specifically for safety-related control functions.
Explore term: Safety PLC
Safety relay
A specifically certified relay designed for safety-critical switching functions, with monitoring and redundancy a standard relay lacks.
Explore term: Safety relay
Seal leakage
The escape of fluid past a seal (mechanical seal or gasket) indicating the seal is no longer preventing leakage as intended.
Explore term: Seal leakage
Servo drive
A motor drive that uses continuous position, speed, or torque feedback to control motion precisely, rather than only regulating frequency.
Explore term: Servo drive
Servo motor
An electric motor specifically designed for precise, closed-loop position, speed, or torque control, typically paired with a servo drive.
Explore term: Servo motor
Short circuit
An unintended, low-resistance connection between two live conductors, causing a sudden, potentially damaging surge of current.
Explore term: Short circuit
Soft starter
A motor starting device that ramps voltage up at fixed line frequency to limit inrush current and mechanical shock, then bypasses to full voltage for normal running.
Explore term: Soft starter
Solenoid valve
A valve actuated by an electromagnetic coil, typically switching quickly between fully open and fully closed rather than modulating flow continuously.
Explore term: Solenoid valve
Spindle
The rotating shaft in a machine tool that holds and drives a cutting tool or workpiece with high precision.
Explore term: Spindle
Stepper motor
A motor that moves in discrete, fixed-size steps rather than continuous rotation, positioned by counting the number of steps commanded.
Explore term: Stepper motor
Temperature sensor
A device that measures the temperature at a point on or within equipment and converts it into an electrical signal.
Explore term: Temperature sensor
Valve
A device that regulates, directs, or stops the flow of a fluid or gas through a system by opening, closing, or partially obstructing a passage.
Explore term: Valve
Variable Frequency Drive
A power-electronic drive that varies motor speed and torque by converting incoming AC power to a controllable variable-frequency, variable-voltage output.
Explore term: Variable Frequency Drive
Vibration sensor
The instrument that measures mechanical vibration and converts it into an electrical signal for recording or analysis.
Explore term: Vibration sensor

View all terms in this category

Maintenance strategy & planning

Preventive maintenance

Predictive maintenance

Condition-based maintenance

Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)

Autonomous maintenance

Calibration

Commissioning

Corrective maintenance

Decommissioning

Inspection

Inspection route

Lubrication management

Maintenance

Maintenance backlog

Maintenance interval optimization

Maintenance optimization

Maintenance planning

Maintenance scheduling

Maintenance strategy

Maintenance window

Operator care

Planned maintenance

Reactive maintenance

Reliability-Centered Maintenance

Risk-Based Maintenance

Run-to-failure

Scheduled maintenance

Service interval

Shutdown maintenance

Turnaround maintenance

Reliability & failure analysis

Root cause analysis (RCA)

FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis)

5 Whys

Availability

Bad actor

Bathtub curve

Cavitation

Common cause failure

Contamination

Corrosion

Degradation

Diagnostic reasoning

Failure cause

Failure effect

Failure mechanism

Failure mode

Failure Mode, Effects and Criticality Analysis

Fatigue

Fault isolation

Fault Tree Analysis

Functional failure

Imbalance

Maintainability

Mechanical looseness

Misalignment

Overheating

P-F interval

Pareto analysis

Potential failure

Redundancy

Reliability

Repeat failure

Single point of failure

Vibration

Wear

Weibull analysis

Maintenance KPIs & performance

MTTR (Mean Time to Repair)

MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures)

OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness)

Asset criticality

Backlog weeks

Downtime

Emergency work percentage

Failure rate

First-time fix rate

Maintenance cost

Maintenance cost as percentage of RAV