When setting up new Condition Monitoring programmes the first considerations are technical and financial - can the technology give sufficient warning for the important failure modes and, if so, will the benefits outweigh the cost of monitoring? It is important to understand the different benefits to be gained from Condition Monitoring.

Condition Monitoring allows early detection of costly failures. Repairs carried out promptly are cheaper than these made later on, when damage might have spread from the failing part to other components. Early detection also provides insurance against unplanned downtime. To quantify these benefits a risk-based argument is usually followed. Risk is evaluated as the product of the consequence of failure and the probability of the failure occurring.

Condition Monitoring brings the ability to determine whether an item of plant is in a fit condition to continue in service for a given period of time. For example, a standby machine might have developed a fault whilst the duty machine undergoing repair. Alternatively Condition Monitoring could be used to see whether it is possible to safely defer a planned shutdown for production or cash flow reasons.

Condition Monitoring can be used to identify priorities for maintenance, as might be required before a planned shutdown where resources and/or time are tight.

When plant reliability improves through the use of Condition Monitoring, a substantial reduction in stores inventory is often possible.

Condition Monitoring can check the quality of installation or repair on return to service, giving confidence that the machine will run satisfactorily. It can also find potential problems within the vendor or repair's warranty period allowing mistakes to be rectified at minimum cost.

These latter two uses of Condition Monitoring bear directly on improving plant reliability and can bring significant savings when Condition Monitoring is used in conjunction with a proactive maintenance programme.