The Generation of Smart Bearings

Rosalyn Bearing

With the advent of the industrial internet of things (IIoT), several machinery and equipment are beginning to get connected and their conditions are starting to be continuously monitored. This trend has impacted the bearings market too. Two of the leading bearing suppliers have started supplying smart bearings, whose condition can be continuously monitored to predict faults before they occur. The smart bearings market is still in the nascent stage of adoption. Many of the other leading bearing manufacturers are expected to add smart bearings in their portfolios during the forecast period. As faults in smart bearings can be predicted before they occur, they add significant value to end-users by minimizing the cost of unexpected downtime. This factor is likely to increase the adoption of smart bearings.

This ability to predict faults and failures in bearings will add advantage to bearing manufacturers, as they will be able to better forecast the demand for spare parts, leading to more efficient inventory management and tighter control over the after-market segment, which has been strongly influenced by distributors. At the same time, the growing adoption of IIoT-based smart bearings is expected to decrease the replacement rate of installed bearings. This is because, smart bearings, when installed, will be replaced based on the actual condition of the bearing rather than on a predetermined replacement schedule. In the latter case, bearings are replaced after a pre-defined lifetime, even if they are in perfect working condition.