Complicated Versus Complexity in Maintenance

I’ve always thought that knowing when something was going to fail was unknowable. Of course, predictive maintenance vendors shout from the rooftops about the effectiveness of their technology. Even the onboard computers tell you to replace components, somehow knowing when the failure will occur.
But really, most failures are not related to wear or aging, so how can we know what is going to happen and when? This discussion leads me into the sales pitches for AI (Artificial Intelligence). Can we ever get to the point where there is so much data that we can really predict the future?

• Joel Levitt
• Springfield