The Challenge
A facility's primary 250 kVA generator had been in service for 7 years. It was last serviced 18 months prior. During a grid outage, the generator failed to start — fuel pump timing was off, requiring urgent replacement.
What Became Visible
Post-failure analysis revealed that maintenance was overdue by 6 months (operating hours exceeded manufacturer recommendation). The generator had been logging 120–140 operating hours monthly but had no condition-based maintenance schedule. Maintenance was reactive: done only after failure or when someone remembered to schedule it.
What Changed
Generator maintenance schedule automated based on operating hours and load factor. Condition-based alerts track fuel quality, oil condition, and battery health. Service is scheduled 2–4 weeks before maintenance is due.
How it worked: Operating hour counters and fuel consumption data were integrated with maintenance tracking. The system calculated: hours until next major service, oil analysis schedule, filter change intervals, and battery health status. Alerts were generated 30 days before scheduled maintenance, allowing planned downtime during non-critical periods.
Results
through predictive scheduling
no overdue service
in 12 months post-system
from planned vs reactive maintenance
Generator maintenance is not optional — it's risk management. Predictive scheduling ensures generators are available when the grid fails. Reactive maintenance ensures they fail when you need them most.
Operational Reality
Most facility failures during grid outages are due to generators not starting — not from grid issues, but from deferred maintenance. Predictive maintenance prevents this entirely.