Sieves are used in the production of powders, fertilizer, granulates, when refining ores, but also in food processing and other industries. They are employed in multiple stages of the process, for example in separating different fractions that have to follow different process routes, or when isolating the final product from the overall stream. Materials are in most cases fed to or evacuated from the sieve installation through conveyors. A smootly running sieve means a smoothly running process. Clogging, breakage, damage... are to be avoided to ensure smooth operations onsite.

Today most often technical data sheets coupled with the knowledge of a number of unique experienced individuals are used to determine when maintenance is required for the sieve. Repairs are done when it's already far too late: the machine has come to a halt, or too loud a noise escapes. All of this puts tremendous strain on the people responsible for the maintenance, while it can be avoided, quite easily.

The only way to validate the actual health is by having a continuous look at a broad data set and adding a specific multi-aspect monitoring setup consisting of operational data combined with different sensor types that follow the behaviour of the sieve's general state-of-health.