Processing's Weekly Mixer: How VFDs can be used as predictive maintenance tools, and more
Welcome to the latest installment of Processing's Weekly Mixer, which highlights recent content from EndeavorB2B brands relevant to process manufacturers.
This week's entry features content from Control Design, Pharma Manufacturing, Chemical Processing, Plant Services and Food Processing, as well as this week's content from Processing.
How VFDs can be used as predictive maintenance tools
Those of you who have read some of my earlier articles know that I am truly fond of preventive and predictive maintenance, stemming from my early certification in the Navy as a vibrational analysis technician in the 1980s. Using vibrational analysis tools that can sense wear, imbalance, noise or harmonics can help identify machinery issues prior to failure. This allows for correcting those issues at a more convenient time, such as scheduled downtime, and avoids costly catastrophic failure.
The latest, somewhat unlikely tool that has grabbed my attention is the variable frequency drive (VFD). For decades, VFDs have been viewed primarily as motor control devices. Their role was straightforward: regulate motor speed, improve process control and reduce energy consumption. While those benefits remain important, modern drives are increasingly acting as a predictive maintenance sensor for the entire drivetrain.
This evolution is changing how maintenance teams monitor rotating equipment. Rather than relying solely on periodic inspections or dedicated condition monitoring systems, engineers can now extract valuable health information directly from the drive that is already controlling the motor.
Read the entire article HERE.
AI, digital twins find their footing in pharma manufacturing: report
With artificial intelligence well-established in drug discovery, AI is increasingly being utilized in pharmaceutical manufacturing as drug manufacturers look to make production faster, more reliable, and easier to manage, according to a new report from data and analytics firm GlobalData.
“Rather than replacing established manufacturing practices, AI is being harnessed to strengthen them,” Edita Hamzic, analyst at GlobalData, said in a statement. “Companies that see AI as part of their operational model, not as a standalone technology project, are most likely to benefit.”
Using digital twins, a virtual representation of a physical system that is continuously updated with real-world data and used to simulate, predict, and optimize performance, manufacturers run simulations that can identify potential errors and optimize processes before committing to a physical run.
Digital twins, predictive maintenance, and real-time quality monitoring are being used to minimize downtime, reduce waste, and improve batch consistency, according to GlobalData, which contends the industry’s major challenge is to maximize supply for existing assets where manufacturing capacity is limited.
“The primary AI opportunity in pharma manufacturing is to improve the performance of existing facilities without the need to build new infrastructure,” GlobalData said.
GKN Aerospace incident offers lessons in reactive hazard management
A practical framework for maintenance prioritization in industrial operations
When maintenance priorities are unclear, the loudest alarm wins—and backlogs grow. This method scores maintenance work by business impact and resource intensity, helping teams decide what comes first, what can wait, and whether the work they finished actually reduced the loss it was meant to fix. A 30-day pilot puts it in place.
Maintenance teams are rarely short on effort. They are short on clarity. When every shift has a different definition of “critical,” the schedule gets driven by the loudest alarm, not the highest-value job. Urgent requests multiply, planners feel trapped, and the backlog becomes a parking lot for work that never gets cleanly defined.
Quick test: if next week’s capacity dropped by 40%, which work orders would still protect throughput, safety, and customer risk—and which could safely wait? If that is hard to answer, your prioritization system needs a business anchor.
The fix is not a bigger dashboard. It is a short loop, repeated every week: anchor priorities to real business loss, score every request the same way, schedule the work through a few clear buckets, and verify that what you finished actually moved a number.
Balancing lubrication performance while maintaining regulatory compliance
In a world of automation, the parts and pieces of each machine need to be protected from wear and tear as much as possible, and that’s where the proper use of lubricants and maintenance come into play. Lubrication may be a longtime industrial era necessity, but it remains critical in today’s increasingly automated food and beverage processing plants.
Samuel Cole, director of product certification - Equipment and Chemical Evaluation, Food Retail, for NSF International, says processors may be paying even closer attention to lubrication from a food safety standpoint than they did in the past, with a bigger-picture approach creeping into conversations.
“Countries like Brazil have requirements around lubricants such as ISO 21469, and India put legislation in place more than 10 years ago requiring H1 lubricants in food processing facilities,” he explains. “Companies are opening new plants in new regions and new countries to keep up, and people are having to learn the requirements very quickly.”
Furthermore, global regulations continue to expand with regard to PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) and other chemicals of concern, meaning companies are seeking a reduction of risk from the lubricants they use throughout the supply chain, not simply in the processing plants. This, of course, drives innovation, says Amber Dzikowicz, senior manager at NSF International. Lubricant companies are approaching NSF saying that customers have requested PFAS-free lubricants to meet the requirements.
Recapping the week on Processing
Articles
Mastering flow measurement technologies in interactive plant environments
Where experienced engineers go wrong when designing high-velocity dust collection systems — Part 4: Dust collector configuration mistakes
The case for energy optimization in industrial operations
New twists on training address the workforce gap
End tension versus side tension screens: How to select the right fit for your bulk solids screening operation
Podcast
Why powders don't flow: Troubleshooting bulk solids processes
Processing’s Photo of the Month — June 2026
Processing’s photo of the month for June is this nighttime view of the Daicel Corporation’s Aboshi plant in Himeji City, Japan. The plant manufactures acetic acid, cellulose acetate, and acetate tow. Himeji is in the heavily industrialized coastal region known as the Hanshin Industrial Area, where many chemical plants, steel mills, and semiconductor and electronics factories are located. The site was originally established in 1908 as the Nippon Celluloid Artificial Silk Co., Ltd.
The photo was taken by Tetsurou Kobayashi, a professional photographer in Japan who also teaches courses for the Nikon College Photography School and has published several books of photography.