IET Develops Scalable, Cost-Effective Predictive Maintenance App Using MATLAB

Founded by Dr. Terry Riemer and Jim Tedesco, Innovative Electronic Technologies (IET) began with the purpose of improving people’s lives by addressing complex medical challenges with innovative solutions. Now, IET aims to provide effective predictive maintenance solutions to its customers and solve real-world problems through applied research and development. To bring this vision to life, IET began by addressing key challenges in the oil and gas industry, where small- and medium-sized enterprises often rely on reactive or basic preventative maintenance due to resource constraints and a lack of access to sophisticated technologies. In response to this need, IET developed a product that delivers a cost-effective, state-of-the-art, and user-friendly solution grounded in classical digital signal processing techniques based on a physical principle model.

Determined to build the product using its proprietary algorithms and technologies, IET chose MATLAB^® for its powerful design tools that simplified prototyping, development, and testing. The IET team benefited from an interactive environment that allowed them to test ideas without compiling code, enabling efficient creation and manipulation of test signals. Crucially, IET engineers used the intuitive features in MATLAB App Designer to initialize new components as they were added. This streamlined the design process by facilitating real-time testing and refinement. Once the core product framework had been established internally, IET turned to MathWorks Consulting Services to navigate remaining development challenges and optimize the solution. Moreover, the MathWorks Startup Program provided the IET team with access to online training courses and an extensive suite of toolboxes, along with support from application engineers.

A key advantage of the resulting app is that it enables clients to use their monitoring systems’ data to detect anomalies, including early indicators of wear and damage, and perform a forensic analysis of the detected issues. It readily taps into existing data streams and provides real-time alerts via email and text, enabling timely interventions and proactive maintenance that help prevent costly downtime and extend equipment lifespan, ultimately leading to increased productivity. An early use case of IET’s proprietary algorithms and technologies involved a partnership with a major oil and gas company. IET developed solutions that enabled engineers to detect pipeline leaks, damage in submersible pumps, and faults in a gas turbine, leading to process modifications that prevented further damage and extended the equipment’s lifespan. Looking ahead, IET plans to build on its current platform by integrating next-generation, patent-pending anomaly detection technologies through MATLAB web solutions, while catering to wider industry partners.