Music and Production Line Sound, are there similarities?

In the realm of music, melody, harmony, beat and tempo differentiate one song from another. The beat serves as the underlying rhythm, providing structure and regularity, while tempo dictates the speed of a musical piece. If a musical piece we are familiar with isn't played at the exact tempo of the song, we can very easily notice the difference.

Similarly, in machinery and production lines, the beat and tempo of the process sounds (some call it noise !?!) offer crucial insights into the health and operation of the equipment. Tempo can be used to describe the pace of machine operations, like motors, gears, or conveyor belts, while the beat signifies the rhythmic cycles of machinery. A consistent beat can indicate a smooth operation. Acoustically monitoring these processes / sounds reveals changes in the way these machines operate.

Real-world and machinery: Sound duration, time and tempo

APL Systems Head of Acoustic Analysis, Roy Hjort underscores the significance of closely monitoring the sound duration and tempo of production processes:

"We have noticed that abstract concepts, such as tempo, continuous sound with no tempo and duration matter when evaluating and monitoring production processes."

"For instance, considering and combining both the tempo and time, we detected abnormal behavior in the soundscape of a screw conveyor at certain selected frequencies. We were able to distinquish it from the normal sound and duration of the process, just like a musician would notice, if the tempo of a performance wavers or is out of tune."

Optimizing Production

"So, in summary, paying close attention to the soundscape of the critical machinery can provide valuable insights into optimizing production and reveal potential maintenance needs."