analog devices reduces exposure to unplanned operating
TRANSCRIPT
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Analog Devices Reduces Exposure to Unplanned Operating Expenditures ADI Improves Instrument Health Using Keysight PathWave Asset Advisor Software
Test equipment (e.g., an oscilloscope, network analyzer or spectrum analyzer)
makes up a large portion of a company’s financial investment. That investment
comprises both the equipment’s capital expense (CapEx) and it’s associated
operating expense (OpEx)—the cost of keeping a piece of equipment over its
useful life (e.g., general maintenance, calibration, repair, depreciation, and other
overhead). One factor that can dramatically impact an instrument’s OpEx is the
environmental conditions in which the equipment operates.
Over/under voltage or high operating temperatures can lead to a number of
undesirable effects, including premature failures and risk of poor measurements.
At higher operating temperatures, for example, equipment specifications may
degrade and its components may age at a faster rate. The impact is dramatic:
frequent calibration intervals, a shorter overall life, and the potential for increased
failures requiring more repairs over the instrument’s life. Unless the true health of
an asset is tracked over time, it’s impossible to know whether equipment is falling
prey to such issues. This leaves equipment owners less able to make informed
program decisions and vulnerable to rising operating expenses.
Unbeknownst to Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI)—a world leader in the design,
manufacture, and marketing of a broad portfolio of high performance analog,
mixed-signal, and digital signal processing (DSP) integrated circuits—it faced just
this scenario. To resolve the issue, ADI turned to Keysight Technologies, Inc.,
Company:• Analog Devices Incorporated
Key Issue:• Accurately monitor and
track instrument health
Solution:• Monitored real-time
health parameters in test equipment using PathWave Asset Advisor software
Results:• Identified equipment with
low humidity environment readings
• Mitigated poor cooling/venting to bring equipment back into normal operating conditions
C A S E S T U D Y
Page 2This information is subject to change without notice. © Keysight Technologies, 2018, Published in USA, December 5, 2018, 5992-2776EN
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and its PathWave Asset Advisor software, a solution designed to significantly
improve asset productivity sitting at the core of Keysight’s Test Asset Optimization
Services portfolio.
Key Issue
The primary challenge ADI faced was not being able to properly monitor the health of
its test equipment when it suspected a problem with high operating temperatures of
some instruments. High operating temperatures can lead to a number of undesirable
effects, including premature failures and risk of poor measurements. Additionally,
equipment specifications may degrade and components may age at a faster rate. In
addition, test equipment residing in low humidity environments can pose an especially
troublesome issue resulting in increased sensitivity to static electricity. At very low
humidity, around 3%, instruments can sustain damage from static discharge. The
damage can occur during instrument handling, such as when equipment is taken
out of a rack and transported for calibration or repair.
Solution
Dealing with this challenge first required ADI to know that it even existed. Fortunately,
ADI has a long-standing relationship with Keysight, routinely using Keysight instruments
to test its products. One Keysight product ADI was considering using was PathWave
Asset Advisor. The software’s ability to monitor an instrument’s health parameters in
real-time made it the ideal solution for flagging potential issues like over/under voltage
or high operating temperatures. With PathWave Asset Advisor in place, Keysight
noticed that some ADI test assets were reporting high internal temperature readings,
as well as residing in low humidity environments, and alerted ADI to the situation.
Results
Keysight discussed its temperature findings with ADI, who confirmed that the
anomalous readings were due to a heat flow issue. ADI then took immediate action
to mitigate the poor cooling/ventilation situation and brought the equipment back into
normal operating conditions.
www.keysight.com/find/AssetOptimization
““We are grateful to Keysight for alerting us to a potential temperature issue with our instrument. Without this information, we might have faced a problem that would not only drive up our OpEx, but also result in a time-to-market delay.”
- Tony Giannasca
Analog Devices Incorporated
Development Site Service
Manager