Global test equipment manufacturer Fluke is enjoying significant market success following the launch of Fluke Connect, which combines high-quality test tools and digital technology to help small, medium-sized and large industrial companies streamline critical maintenance operations.

Developed by the company to provide an all-in-one solution to address multiple maintenance challenges, Fluke Connect is an integrated system of condition monitoring, wireless test tools and asset management software. The solution provides a radio-enabled platform to upload measurements obtained in the field to an asset’s ongoing performance record through the Fluke Connect application (app), which is installed on a mobile device.

Targeted at companies operating in the electrical, instrumentation, mechanical and condition-monitoring fields, Fluke Connect was introduced in South Africa last year, with the app available for download on Apple and Android devices.

“Thousands of Fluke customers are using the system globally and, since we launched in South Africa, we have been impressed at the fast rate at which it has been adopted,” says Fluke sub-Saharan Africa regional sales manager Francesco Pagin.

An unlimited number of Fluke Connect enabled tools can be connected to the platform, allowing for information to be transferred from a range of thermal imagers, digital multimeters, clamp meters, insulation resistance testers, power loggers and vibration testers to a central point. Measurements obtained from these tools can then be viewed simultaneously at the inspection site and from the office or an off-site location, fostering collaborative and quick decision-making. The company, moreover, aims to connect more tools, as they become available for the market.

Pagin notes that test tools are used several times a day in any industrial operation, regardless of the size, to monitor and control various aspects of a company’s production operations.

“This produces a very large amount of data, which is only growing as technicians require more comprehensive troubleshooting processes on equipment, and the number of assets that require monitoring increases. It has, thus, become very challenging to store and retrieve the data required to compare the most recent measurements with historical ones. Fluke Connect provides a simple, but vital and immediate solution for all these challenges.”

The Fluke Connect app enables customers to conduct routine maintenance tasks and solve problems faster than before by facilitating the immediate logging, tracking and sharing of equipment records between users. The effectiveness of measurements that aim to address equipment problems can, moreover, be tested remotely using live measurements and video, with all images and data securely stored on a central cloud storage platform that can be accessed at any time by a mobile device.

Pagin points out that the app also facilitates remote collaboration between maintenance teams, with live video capabilities and readings delivered to users from any location. Fluke Connect also allows data sets to be entered and compared on devices, such as smartphones and iPads, enabling users to access and visualise information, identify trends, assign and report on work orders and make decisions immediately.

Critically, Fluke Connect also improves the safety and convenience of electromechanical maintenance and troubleshooting by enabling users to take live readings of energised circuits and operational mechanical equipment from a safe distance.

Fluke Connect ensures that all data pertaining to each asset is accurately recorded and stored and enables more experienced members of maintenance teams to weigh-in easily on plans to address equipment problems, he adds.

“Most importantly, it ensures that our customers have immediate and easy access to the information they need to ensure their equipment – and, therefore, their businesses – are always running,” Pagin concludes.