On this episode of Reliability Radio, hosts Jonathan Guiney and Brendan Russ welcome Bill Kilbey, Chief Reliability Officer from Weight Sensor Technology, to discuss the ongoing tension between AI hype and the human element in condition monitoring.

Drawing on his background from the U.S. Navy's nuclear submarines, Bill emphasizes that sound and vibration analysis is a detective game that requires deep human expertise. He argues that while AI is necessary to process 5 billion readings a day, a human analyst must always be in the loop to provide curated, in-context data and prevent inaccurate, unqualified recommendations.

Key Takeaways:

The AI Reality: Learn why the hype cycle is in full swing, but true predictive maintenance still relies on certified analysts with industry experience.

Beyond the Sensor: How the company won the Solution Award by creating a product that enables customers, not replaces them.

Future of Data: The powerful role of Large Language Models (LLMs) in ingesting documents (like motor manuals) and cross-correlating them with analysis data to provide contextual maintenance guidance.

The Final Warning: A call to arms to put down the phone, use your brain, and not outsource critical thinking to a digital twin.

On this episode of Reliability Radio, hosts Jonathan Guiney and Brendan Russ welcome Candi Robinson from IFS Ultimo to confront the biggest misconception in Enterprise Asset Management (EAM): that AI is an "easy button" that will magically fix every operational problem.

With two decades of EAM experience, Candi argues that technology cannot solve a foundational problem. She reveals that many organizations are still stuck using antiquated practices, like printing work orders, while expecting to jump straight to Industry 4.0.

This candid session covers:

The Data Reality Check: Why 20 years of inaccurate data will shape (and potentially break) your AI-driven future.

The Work Ahead: The essential steps—like implementing mobile solutions and achieving transparency—that must be completed before AI becomes useful.

Ultimo's Solution: How Ultimo embeds AI into the work order process to aid technicians and enforce better data entry, driving accuracy and educating users.

Single Pane of Glass: The importance of a unified platform to drive KPIs and manage compliance, especially amid changing economic and sustainability pressures.

Stop debating AI and start fixing the fundamentals.

On this episode of Reliability Radio, hosts Jonathan Guiney and Brendon Russ welcome Allen Rienstra from SDT Ultrasound Solutions to discuss the biggest mistake companies make after purchasing new technology: undervaluing training.

Allen reveals that the failure rate for new monitoring programs that neglect continuous, hands-on training aligns perfectly with the 70% program failure statistic. The core problem is the confusion between certification training (learning physics and theory) and implementation training (learning the software, making real-life decisions, and applying it to your assets).

Key Takeaways:

• The Cost of No Training: Learn why checking the box by buying the tool leads to it sitting in a closet, and how a single wrong call can kill a program's credibility forever.

• The Power of Ultrasound: Discover why ultrasound is the most versatile condition monitoring technology, owning the apex of the P-F curve as the earliest detectable method, providing immediate ROI.

• Solution for Budget Constraints: Allen shares a resource that provides thousands of instructional tutorials to help upskill your team, even if you can't get the training budget.

Never value engineer training—it is the difference between a successful program and a tool collecting dust.

On this episode of Reliability Radio, hosts Jonathan Guiney and Brendan Russ (JLL) welcome Robert Skeirik from i-care, the largest independent vibration service company globally, to discuss the limitations of traditional monitoring and the future of Maximo Predict.

Robert reveals the critical flaw in using a single "overall" vibration number, explaining through a compelling "radio dial" analogy why minor but critical signals—like a looming bearing defect—are drowned out by louder faults (unbalance, misalignment).

This session details:

• The Vibration Lie: Why rolling element bearing defects, the #1 cause of rotating equipment failure, are nearly impossible to catch with just overall vibration.

• Beyond Vibration: How i-care's proprietary sensor uses three parameters (vibration, impacting, and lubrication effectiveness) to provide a true severity trend.

• CMMS Integration: How their process leverages AI, human analysts, and a REST API connection to your CMMS (Maximo) to generate precise, validated work orders for maintenance planning.

• Fit for Purpose: Why you must choose monitoring devices that are engineered to catch specific failure modes.

Jonathan and Brendon welcome Jon Mortensen from IFS on Reliability Radio for a discussion that defines the future of enterprise asset management. Jon reveals IFS's commitment to the full Asset Lifecycle Management (ALM) journey, which they call the "Must to Dust" cycle.

The key focus is on solving the universal problem of capital constraint. Learn how the strategic acquisition of a leading Asset Investment Planning (AIP) company allows IFS to optimize capital expenditure, evaluating repair vs. replace decisions, and leveling financial peaks and troughs over a 20-year horizon.

This episode details:

Industrial AI: How IFS avoids the "University of TikTok" problem by using a closed, pre-trained AI ecosystem that leverages your organization's manuals and data, making AI practical and reliable.

The Future of Work: The imminent arrival of AI Agents designed to automate mundane business processes, like procurement, dramatically reducing "busywork."

ALM Strategy: Why 80% of an asset's cost is determined before it's even purchased, and how this data-driven philosophy changes maintenance strategy forever.

Join Jonathan Guiney and Brendon Russ on Reliability Radio as they speak with Sheldon Roper, a CRL Black Belt and Reliability Engineer at JLL. Sheldon shares his unique career path from working on offshore rigs to becoming a reliability engineer and achieving his Black Belt in a remarkably short two and a half years.

This conversation demystifies the prestigious Black Belt certification, explaining that it's not about new, complex projects, but about providing a "proof of concept" by documenting the valuable work you do every day. Sheldon offers practical advice for anyone on the fence about pursuing the certification: just set aside the time to write up the projects you're already completing. The discussion highlights the importance of certifications for professional growth and demonstrates how they serve as a powerful tool for showing tangible value to clients and your organization.

Join Jonathan Guiney and Brendon Russ on Reliability Radio as they welcome Jeremy Frank, CEO of KCF Technologies. Jeremy shares his company's fascinating journey, which began 25 years ago with niche, high-tech work for the Department of Defense on applications for submarines and helicopters. He explains how KCF successfully transitioned this "exotic" technology to the industrial world, applying it to solve complex machine health problems.

Jeremy reveals their key technical differentiator—a proprietary wireless protocol that provides high data throughput on a low power budget, enabling them to "eradicate all the problems, not just the easy ones." The conversation then turns to the biggest challenge facing the industry: the people problem. Jeremy candidly discusses how to overcome the "grizzled veteran" mentality and the fear of change, emphasizing that once workers embrace the technology, it leads to improved work-life balance, recognition, and genuine satisfaction. This episode offers a powerful message for leaders and technicians on why understanding and embracing change is the key to unlocking the true potential of AI.

Join Jonathan Guiney and Brendon Russ on Reliability Radio as they welcome Andy Hancock from SAP to discuss the transformative impact of artificial intelligence on enterprise asset management. Andy explains how SAP is leveraging AI—from its early predictive analytics library to its new digital assistant, Joule—to fundamentally change how users interact with the system.

The conversation delves into the three phases of SAP's AI strategy: a "help me" function for new users, an advanced "decision support" phase that pulls insights from multiple systems, and the future of autonomous workflows that run in the background. Andy also addresses the critical role of data quality and the importance of a well-executed change management plan. This episode offers a clear roadmap of how AI is becoming a core, mainstream feature that will simplify processes, reduce screen time, and empower maintenance teams to make more accurate decisions, quicker.

Jeremiah Woodford – Verusen AI: Optimizing spares inventory tends to be a forgotten item with the focus being on day-to-day operations and maintenance activities. Often enough, companies are over buying parts and/or not accounting their use property to know where to start. We speak with Jeremiah Woodford of Verusen AI to discuss their current capabilities in leveraging organizations purchase history to identify the right MRO strategy based on your needs.

In this episode of Reliability Radio, Jennifer Gatza from Maven joins Jonathan Guiney and Brendan Russ to discuss a common problem in the Maximo® community: the "shiny object syndrome." Jennifer, a computer engineer by background, shares her powerful insight that putting technology first—before process and strategy—is a critical pitfall that leads to poor outcomes and user frustration.

She details Maven's objective, disciplined methodology for guiding clients, which starts with a focus on core asset management principles and the establishment of robust governance. The conversation provides a roadmap for success: hone your fundamentals in Maximo Manage, take an incremental step with the Health module, and then strategically expand to advanced applications like Predict. This is a must-listen for anyone who wants to ensure their Maximo journey delivers sustainable value, not just a collection of cool tools.