Condition Monitoring/Predictive Maintenance

Premier Foods is the UK’s largest food producer, with over 60 UK and Ireland sites, around 15 thousand employees, and a £2.7 billion turnover.

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In this reliability article, I will discuss my observations of what the best performing organizations do differently than other organizations. It can be said in one word. These organizations I have worked with implement, the rest do not implement. Most organizations spend more time planning what to do than actually doing it. In the best organizations, much time is spent on developing, documenting, and agreeing on what to do; but much more time is spent on implementing reliability and maintenance plans over a long time period.

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The art of maintaining assets has been around for many years, whether it was the ancient farmer cleaning the weeds out of his field to get a better crop, or the hunter checking his bow and sharpening his arrows.

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Fixturlaser UPADXA – A Real Fixturlaser Innovation


Inspired by t
Shaft alignment with Fixturlaser UPADXAhe consumer market, where the trend is all about making articles smaller and portable, the Fixturlaser UPADXA was born – the very first hands free laser based shaft alignment tool.

 
Designed for Comfort
 

The Fixturlaser UPADXA is a remarkable innovative step forward for any one who works with servicing machines. It gives you complete freedom to move and walk around the job site while doing your job.


The Fixturlaser UPAD
XA is designed to maximize your comfort of using a hands free tool; it has an angled display box that is equipped with a Velcro® strap that keeps it in place on your arm.
The display box has a large color touch screen, 3.5”, with a full VGA resolution of 640 x 480 pixels. The screen is both backlit and transreflective to provide the best possible visibility in poor light conditions, as well as in strong sunlight.

The combination of reliability improvement (through precision maintenance practices), condition monitoring, and root cause failure analysis provides the best all-round approach to reducing maintenance costs and improving

Delivered in a two days (or three if appropriate), it is possible to give people are more thorough understanding o these important topics. This course is ideal for Reliability Engineers and Condition Monitoring program leaders.

Duration: 2 days (3 if appropriate)

Course Description:  Download the full course outline 

 

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Forty years ago, SPM Instrument were pioneers in shock pulse measurement. Since then, the True SPM® method has found users in industries throughout the world, being commonly recognized as the best method for measuring bearing condition.

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The new SKF Microlog Adviser Pro gives maintenance, service and quality inspection technicians on-the-spot and easy to understand machine condition diagnosis. This ‘stand-alone’ device does not rely on prior measurement data, and does not require advanced PdM software. As a result, users immediately benefit from a proactive maintenance approach without the need for vibration expertise, or prior setup of an advanced PdM route-based system. And with the ability to choose from a range of application modules, the SKF Microlog Advisor Pro delivers the functionality of several maintenance tools in one handheld device.

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Monition’s reliability service has convinced many organisations that condition monitoring is the most viable method to maintain machinery uptime, and has illustrated that even machinery repairs and component renewals can be no guarantee for troublefree running.

Monition’s Multi-Technology Condition Monitoring at a food processing plant identified a loose rotor bar on a critical watercooling pump motor. The engineering manager scheduled an immediate
replacement, expecting the problem to be cured.

However, immediately following the work, Monition discovered that the unit was still at risk.

Monitoring indicated that the coupling had been incorrectly refitted and was being
subjected to accelerated wear.

Realignment work was promptly undertaken, but further monitoring again revealed problems. The pump support bearing had been damaged during the realignment process and now required urgent attention.

Monition assisted the client to prevent a plant breakdown on 3 occasions and also highlighted an important need to troubleshoot repair processes.

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Companies that need to monitor the condition of both slow and fast rotating plant and machinery can now benefit from a unique combination of vibration and acoustic emission monitoring products, available from a single source in the UK.

Schaeffler (UK) Ltd has now extended its condition monitoring range of products and services to offer customers a complete ‘A to V’ of Acoustic emission and Vibration monitoring products.

Whilst most suppliers of condition monitoring equipment and services offer either vibration or acoustic emission monitoring, Schaeffler’s condition monitoring range now includes both systems. This means customers can select the most suitable condition monitoring solution from a comprehensive range of acoustic and vibration monitoring products and services – all from a single supplier. These products cater for every maintenance scenario and all types of rotating equipment, from high speed rotating components or machines, down to slower moving (0.25rpm) mechanical systems with fluctuating loads.

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The Heritage of Brush Traction at its 70 acre site in Loughborough stretches back to 1864,

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IBA was created in 1986 as a spin-off of the Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium).

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The next generation shaft alignment system from Damalini, Easy-Laser® E710, is a wireless, colour display system with functions for all the important stages of machine setup.

Using a single instrument, you now have the potential to trouble-shoot and prevent wear and breakdowns in your machines: check the flatness of the machine base – check any bearing play and soft foot ¬– measure and align the machine. Easy-Laser® E710 is also first on the market with barcode reader. Just scan the machine tag, and you are immediately ready for measurement! Other features are multi language programs and electronic laser targets.
The Easy-Laser® E710 is expandable for digital sheave/pulley alignment, vibration level check and geometric measurement. No other system on the market can offer this flexibility. A very long operating life, a robust design and 2-year warranty provide a measurement system that is both reliable, easy to use and to own.

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The February 2010 edition of Engineering Maintenance Solutions magazine is now available to read online. This edition contains articles on achieving best practice in condition monitoring and plant maintenance. As well as special focuses on value driven  maintenance, ATEX Equipment and more as well as the latest industry news and products.

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These sensors are general purpose products that can be used in a very wide range of applications involving machines, processes and structures for :

    * investigations
    * diagnostics
    * application development

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The world's first temperature independent electro-chemical lubrication system.

EUERDORF. If you have ever used an electrochemical lubrication system, you know the effect that fluctuating ambient temperatures have on the discharge and the discharge period.

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The February 2010 edition of Engineering Maintenance Solutions magazine is now available to read online. This edition contains articles on achieving best practice in condition monitoring and plant maintenance. As well as special focuses on value driven  maintenance, ATEX Equipment and more as well as the latest industry news and products.

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These two new offerings along with many of our other solutions including LinerSCAN help you extend engine life, increases efficiency, and reduces emissions to assist with environmental compliance.

The DieselSCOPE performance analyser is designed by marine engineers for marine engineers.  The portable, handheld unit helps you monitors the combustion process in the diesel engine in real time allowing you to tune the engine whilst measuring. Using DieselSCOPE you can balance cylinder load, optimize injection timing and detect worn or damaged engine components and thus reduce the engine’s operating cost.

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By:  Ernesto Wiedenbrüg, Baker Instrument Company, an SKF Group Company

Introduction:
Gone are the days when a MegOhm meter and a digital multi-meter were the main tools in electrical maintenance.  Advances in technology now offer engineering professionals both off-line and on-line (real time) instruments to verify the health of rotating machinery.  

Modern on-line technologies permit assessment of the ‘whole motor system’, which is comprised of three components:  power, motor & load.  By focusing on these three components, troubleshooting now becomes truly predictive!

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The contribution of maintenance to an organisation is unfortunately too often not fully understood until something goes wrong e.g. a failure of a significant plant item or asset.This will inevitably result in a consequential loss through the inability to produce or provide a service or the occurrence of an environmental health, safety or quality incident.

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TechAlert 10 and TechAlert 20Problem: Wind turbines by their nature are located in remote locations. Daily monitoring of systems is often an impractical solution.

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http://www.engineeringmaintenance.info/images/stories/SPM%20PR%20pic.jpgSPM Instrument, now presents a new portable instrument for on-site vibration measurement and assessment. VibChecker is a cost-effective and user friendly addition to the SPM line of entry-level instruments for condition monitoring, where BearingChecker for bearing measurement is already a successful member.

Vibration monitoring is the most widely used preventive maintenance technique in industry. Regular vibration measurements give early warning of developing machine problems and help prevent premature replacement of machine parts.

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http://www.engineeringmaintenance.info/images/stories/newsletter/Mimic-and-Mcm.jpghttp://www.engineeringmaintenance.info/images/stories/newsletter/Mimic-and-Mcm.jpgArtesis, a leading supplier of intelligent predictive maintenance solutions, has recently partnered with marine specialists James Fisher Mimic to integrate its Motor Condition Monitor (MCM) solution with the marine company’s industry leading Mimic condition monitoring system. The powerful combination of technologies has resulted in a highly efficient and unparalleled maintenance solution that is specifically targeted at inaccessible, high cost, critical assets in the marine sector.

James Fisher Mimic (JFM), providers of reliability engineering and condition monitoring solutions to the International Shipping Industry, has fully integrated the Artesis MCM solution to analyse motor current performance within their Mimic predictive maintenance product. This detailed information, in conjunction with other maintenance data, then provides an in depth analysis and overall picture of machine health and performance.

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http://www.engineeringmaintenance.info/images/stories/ARTESIS%20PR.jpg Artesis, leading supplier of intelligent predictive maintenance solutions, has secured a significant agreement to supply and install its market-leading Motor Condition Monitor (MCM) systems to all of the most critical escalators across 4 terminal buildings at Heathrow Airport. Reliability and minimum breakdown of passenger moving equipment is crucial to the successful operations at Heathrow and this deal secures Artesis as BAA’s leading supplier of condition monitoring solutions.

Following successful testing and evaluation trials at Heathrow’s Terminal 1, the MCM devices have been installed on the most critical escalators and passenger conveyors in the first phase of the project, providing predictive maintenance and crucially preventing downtime of the equipment.

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Hygroscopic breathersRemove moisture and particles before entry to the system.Moisture and particle accumulation are major factors of oil contamination in industrial equipment. Neglected, these detriments restrict equipment efficiency, causing machine downtime and significant expense in replacement oil, parts and repair labour. Des-Case hygroscopic breathers incorporate a proven, field tested design.

They prevent water and contaminates from entering fluid reservoirs as differential pressures occur through thermal expansion and contraction of the fluid, or during the filling or emptying process. Manufactured with a hygroscopic agent, they have the capability to extract water vapour from the air as it is drawn through the unit. Accompanying solid particles are then removed by a patented polyester fabric filter, allowing only clean, dry air to enter the system.

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Motor Condition monitorArtesis, a leading supplier of intelligent predictive maintenance solutions, is pushing the boundaries of machine monitoring technology with its next generation solution. Delivering a range of powerful new functionality the Artesis MCM (Motor Condition Monitor) system now includes wireless technology for deployment in remote and inaccessible locations; fully automated condition assessment reports for even faster diagnostics; and the ability for engineers to easily and quickly customise the application for wider enterprise use.

Building on the success of the MCM system that has revolutionised automated fault diagnostics, Artesis has now integrated robust wireless technology, using intelligent GPRS modems, to allow the use of remote communications in condition monitoring. This allows cost-effective, easy installation of wireless monitoring stations at any site in remote, hazardous or inaccessible locations, while maintaining reliable and transparent access with centralised users via the Artesis communications server.

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submersible vibration sensorsHansford Sensors Ltd. now offer a range of submersible vibration sensors, which has been specifically designed for operation in partial or complete immersion in water, making them ideal for the monitoring of pumps in a maintenance role.

Pumps perform important tasks across many industries, some operating continuously and others triggered into action to move liquids at specific times or as a result of leakage.

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MCM SOCArtesis, a leading supplier of intelligent predictive maintenance solutions, has launched the MCM System on a Card (SoC), a product for the OEM sector, bringing a highly efficient and easy to use tool suite that allows the fast and complete integration of Artesis

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RCPE ProcessAn effective root cause analysis process can improve production reliability significantly.  But, few organizations have a functioning root cause analysis process in place.  This article will discuss common problems and some suggested solutions in order to improve root cause problem elimination.

Don

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NDTThe Acoustic Emission (AE) technique is based on the detection of the high frequency component of naturally occurring stress waves (or structure borne elastic waves). There was a time when AE was regarded only as a means of monitoring defect growth in stressed materials and structures. Despite numerous instances of its successful application to machinery condition monitoring since the 1960

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DELTAFLOWEnergy savings, especially in the current economic climate are high on the agenda of all industry sectors, so components which offer, amongst other features, a precise and economical performance, are likely to be the preferred choice. Deltaflow flow meters recently introduced by FLOWLINE, meet these requirements for measuring media in gas, steam and liquid applications.

Deltaflow is a differential pressure probe which measures the flow in pipes and conduits and can be used to meter gases, steams and liquids under almost any operating conditions and across a broad spectrum of industries.  

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Fluke 744 Until 15th December 2008, Fluke is offering a free Pressure Module to purchasers of a Fluke HART

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Parker Condition MonitoringWorking with equipment manufacturers, hydraulic system designers and maintenance engineers, one of the key factors for Parker Filtration

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ImageCondition monitoring of machinery lubricants is an established method of predicting and avoiding impending machinery breakdown. With Kittiwakes

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the VS0004Monitran, a world leader in the development and manufacture of sensors for the measurement of vibration and displacement, has launched the VS0004, a complete condition monitoring and alarm module.

Fixed to a piece of plant machinery, the VS0004 can respond to a rise in vibration levels in a number of user-definable ways. The unit has two alarm levels, with the user able to set Alarm 1 between 1 and 50mm/s and with Alarm 2 capable of being set as a multiple of Alarm 1, either 1.5, 2, 3 or 5x.

Bob Pickard, Monitran

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Figure 1"What is actually the added value of maintenance?" is a frequently heard question in boardrooms the world over. Even though maintenance is often critically important, few maintenance managers are able to answer the question convincingly. Especially when they are asked to express the benefits in terms of economic value added or shareholder value - the language increasingly being spoken in European boardrooms .

For this reason Mainnovation developed the Value Driven Maintenance

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Paper MillSPM Instrument India has been awarded a contract for the first comprehensive installation of online condition monitoring equipment ever in an Indian paper mill. Emami Paper Mills Ltd in Balasore, India has selected SPM Instrument to provide equipment for continuous shock pulse and vibration severity measurements on critical parts of its latest paper machine.

With its two mills, Emami Paper is one of the major domestic newsprint manufacturers in India. The Balasore paper mill has a production capacity of 110 tonnes of writing and printing paper and newsprint per day. The purchase of another paper machine in Balasore will increase the daily production to 400 tonnes in all for the two paper mills.

The SPM contract is entered into as part of an ongoing investment plan to become the number one newsprint manufacturer in India. To reach that goal, a high level of production equipment availability is very important. After installation of the SPM equipment and when optimized, the monitored paper machine is likely to be the fastest in India.

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St Fergus TerminalTOTAL E&P UK, one of the largest exploration and production subsidiaries of the TOTAL Group has installed a 10,000 point + CitectSCADA system to provide monitoring - with full dual redundancy - of the control and safety systems for the giant St Fergus gas terminal in Scotland. The Terminal plays a key role in supplying Britain

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Kate HartiganBy using the latest condition monitoring systems and services, manufacturing companies can reduce unforeseen breakdowns. Schaeffler UK's managing director, Kate Hartigan, explains

When owning and managing high value items like cars or homes, most people are comfortable paying insurance premiums. So, surely manufacturing companies need to ensure their high value capital goods are adequately insured against unforeseen breakdowns? After all, lost production could equate to tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of pounds per day. Although the cost of machine components like bearings and motors is small compared with the total machine price, the cost of production downtime and consequential losses resulting from a component failure, are often significant.

Take a steel or aluminium manufacturing plant. The typical cost of production downtime is

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Beamex CalibrationPlants can improve their efficiency and reduce costs by performing calibration history trend analysis. By doing it, a plant is able to define which instruments can be calibrated less frequently and which should be calibrated more frequently. Calibration history trend analysis is only possible with calibration software that provides this functionality.

Manufacturing plants need to be absolutely confident that their instrumentation products

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Preventative MaintenanceThe first step toward realizing this goal is to figure out where you are presently. Determining the present baselines and gaps that exist in your processes and organization is best accomplished by performing a reliability assessment. This exercise will point out the areas within your business that need to be addressed from a reliability perspective. All facets of your organization must be analyzed. We have identified 21 key elements that, when integrated, provide the basis for reliability excellence (Fig. 1). Assessing the current state of each of these elements will identify the gaps that exist and provide the basis for a master plan of improvement.

Master plan

A master plan is the tool that tracks what must be done, who will do it, and in what time frame the task(s) will be completed.

The master plan should initially outline the process-launching activities. These activities include reviewing the master plan and initiating the improvement process, developing the return on investment, establishing a reliability excellence leadership team, and identifing focus teams and support resources.

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optimal asset performanceLeading maintenance repair and operation (M.R.O.) organizations are leveraging a range of best practices for optimal asset performance. Such methods encompass maintenance best practices that drive efficiencies and equipment life cycles, as well as cost-cutting ideas from allied industries like field services.

Efficiently run field service teams have, for years, used and benefited from automated scheduling applications that deliver the right service tech to the right location at the lowest cost. They have cut wasteful travel and duplicate visit expenses to complete more service calls that better serve their customers and extend asset life.

Conversely, asset managers are well aware that more work order information and background, with more details, in the hands of technicians at the point-of-performance is a key productivity driver that means improved equipment performance. Data captures reported electronically also are driving better decision-making by management, in addition to fueling accurate and timely compliance reporting.

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CheckingArticle written by Torbjörn Idhammar  VP and Partner, IDCON, Inc., a maintenance management consulting and training company.Further information is available by contacting This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Visiting plants in different corners of the world, we often are asked:

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Damaged BearingsBy carrying out regular condition monitoring checks on critical rotating plant and machinery, Corus Northern Engineering Services (CNES), the maintenance, condition monitoring and engineering services company within Corus Group, has helped a limestone quarry in Cumbria maintain its output, efficiency and profitability.

CNES

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Preventative MaintenanceReliability Centered Maintenance has changed the way we think about Preventive Maintenance (PM). It has caused some to question whether it is even necessary to do preventive maintenance. The truth is most manufacturing facilities would benefit from a good preventive maintenance program. It would be especially beneficial for those plants that rely on breakdown or run-to-failure maintenance. But, a preventive maintenance program is potentially risky, so it must be administered and performed properly to be successful. This paper will examine both the benefits and risks of preventive maintenance and offer some ideas on how to make it successful. We will start with a definition of preventive maintenance.

What is Preventive Maintenance?

Preventive maintenance is planned maintenance of plant and equipment that is designed to improve equipment life and avoid any unplanned maintenance activity. PM includes painting, lubrication, cleaning, adjusting, and minor component replacement to extend the life of equipment and facilities. Its purpose is to minimize breakdowns and excessive depreciation. Neither equipment nor facilities should be allowed to go to the breaking point. In its simplest form, preventive maintenance can be compared to the service schedule for an automobile.

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ETher NDE, a UK-based manufacturer of Eddy Current products, is pleased to introduce the VANTAGE Eddy Current Flaw Detector.

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Fixturlaser XA Pro – Redefines the Standard for Laser Based Shaft Alignment

 

At its launch a few years ago, the Fixturlaser XA definitely set a new standard for laser based shaft alignment products. With the introduction of new technology in both hardware and software, this alignment tool took a huge innovative technology leap forward with regards to its user friendliness and the once so time consuming task of performing shaft alignment. The Fixturlaser XA Pro is a new and improved successor to the Fixturlaser XA with more new features and more content that will make your every day maintenance job a lot easier.

 
See the Fixturlaser XA Pro in action!
 
Fixturlaser XA Pro Hardware

Quick facts; 

Condition monitoring has a very important role to play.  In a day at your site we can provide an overview of vibration analysis, oil analysis, wear particle analysis, ultrasound, motor testing technologies and other technologies listed below.  If you are have an in-house program or use consultants, this seminar will provide a great overview to everyone associated with maintenance and production.

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SPM Instrument, Sweden, leading worldwide provider of condition monitoring technology and products, now announces the arrival of Intellinova Compact, the latest addition to the successful Intellinova family of products for online condition monitoring of rotating machinery.

Intellinova Compact is a high performance system, well suited for remote monitoring or industrial environments with measuring points in spread-out clusters. Wind turbines, pumping stations and auxiliary equipment in the pulp and paper industry are a few examples where Intellinova Compact is the ideal condition monitoring solution. Fans and gear boxes are other typical applications. Because it implements the new and sophisticated SPM® HD measuring technique, it is also the appropriate choice for any low speed application, such as agitators, crushers and conveyors.

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Intellinova Compact, the most recent addition to the Intellinova family of online systems, has attracted much attention from windpower and other industries and SPM now announces its first order for the system.

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SPM®HD is a development of the well-known and reliable True SPM® method, commonly recognized as the best method for measuring bearing condition on rotating machinery.

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IBERDROLA has launched a renewal plan for the existing condition monitoring systems in their plants in Spain. This plan will be implemented gradually and PROSIG was selected to install their PROTOR Vibration Condition Monitoring System in three IBERDROLA power stations. The contract was awarded to PROSIG in partnership with Aries Ingeniería y Sistemas, who are PROSIG’s representative in Spain.

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Monition was able to quickly assist a new client to prevent a potential major production breakdown when Multi-
Technology Condition Monitoring of a continuous-operation industrial cooker detected the severe deterioration of a motor drive-end bearing.

Although the sealed-for-life bearing wasn’t displaying any outward sign of defect, Monition’s diagnosis convinced
engineers that urgent investigation was required.

Dismantling of the equipment confirmed that the bearing fault had reached a near-critical state – a sudden breakdown of this unit would have shut the line down and
cost the manufacturer thousands of pounds in lost production and consequential losses.

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For over 60 years The Anstee & Ware Group have provided electrical and mechanical engineering services to UK industry. From their 7 sites they are well placed to service the needs of industries as diverse as steel, aerospace, oil and gas, utilities, paper and quarrying.
In addition, the company identified an important market opportunity to become leaders in the servicing and repair of traction motors for the expanding rail and mass transit industry.

The Company agreed to commit £300,000 to the latest technology to enable rapid and high quality repairs to traction motors, with the focus of the investment to be at their Castle Donnington site adjacent to the famous motor racing circuit.

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As a result of Sonatest’s drive to bring desirable and innovative products to the NDT market, a new Phased Array instrument is now launched, the veo 16:64.  The veo is a fully capable Phased Array instrument with multi-technique functionality, including TOFD; fast data recording, a simple to use interface and rugged housing design renders the veo a performance leader from the beginning.  Combine this with Sonatest’s outstanding commitment to customer support and product service; the user experience is a winning one.  Typical applications include Pipeline Weld Inspection, Corrosion Mapping, Aerospace and Composite Testing.

Key design elements considered in the development of the veo series are user and performance focussed which include simple controls and a workflow driven Menu structure.  The 3D Scanplan feature displays a full 3D view of the user’s test set up including probes, wedges, the weld and geometry, with phased array beams.  There are also on-board probe and wedge databases for fast setups.
Power & Performance perfectly packaged.

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The Icount particle detector and now the IcountBS remote operating Bottle Sampler represent some of the most up to date technology in solid particle detection. The design dynamics, attention to detail and moulding compactness of the IcountPD combines with on-board, laser based, leading-edge technology to bring to all industry a truly revolutionary particle detector. For more information on the Icount family of products e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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In  conjunction with the company’s 40th anniversary, SPM Instrument AB now presents the next generation of its well-known shock pulse method.

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Stan Jackson, managing director of SPM Instrument UK, looks at the financial benefits of condition monitoring. The trend in British industry has been towards larger companies operated by less people. Machines have as far as possible replaced human labour.

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Did you know that approximately 50% of vibration-based damage to rotating equipment involves misalignment issues? When machinery is well-aligned, MTBF increases and power consumption drops. Not a bad way to cut operating costs!

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Monitran Technology’s digital signal processing (DSP) unit delivers real-time turbine blade tip condition monitoring.

Monitran Technology, the R&D arm of vibration and displacement sensor OEM Monitran, has developed a digital signal processing (DSP) unit for the real-time monitoring of turbine blade conditions.

The unit reflects ‘live’ blade health by providing traffic-light-type indicators: green for safe, amber for advisory and red for danger. Also, for each condition, there is a programmable output capable of switching up to 30V at 5A, which means the unit can be easily integrated into control circuitry and to provide an automatic shut-down of the turbine if necessary.

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Monitran’s Group I intrinsically safe sensors are awarded ANZEx for use in mining applications in Australia and New Zealand.

All of Monitran’s Group I intrinsically safe accelerometers and velocity transducers have been approved by certification body Simtars to ANZEx for use in mining applications throughout Australia and New Zealand. This certification is in addition to the (EU) ATEX and (International) IECEx approvals Monitran’s Group I sensors already possess.

Andy Anthony, Monitran’s Operations Director, comments: “Many countries, whilst acknowledging international standards like IECEx, still impose their own standards for certain applications. We sought ANZEx in response to requests from end-users based in Australia and New Zealand, and companies based elsewhere wishing to supply machinery into these countries.”

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It is common knowledge that a range of Condition Monitoring (CM) techniques are available such as Vibration Analysis, Oil & Wear Debris Analysis, Thermography and Acoustic Emission. Each of these techniques has its own particular areas of strength and in this regard the Acoustic Emission (AE) technique has the noted advantage of giving real time information with early sensitivity to faults and applicability to a wide range of rotational speeds including slowly rotating (source : ISO 22096).

It follows that on-line monitoring systems should be capable of integrating the required mix of CM technologies for each particular spread of machine types in an installation. However the use of AE for machinery condition monitoring has historically been viewed as a separate specialist field and it has not been easy to integrate it into third party or industry standard monitoring and control systems.

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Sonatest are proud to launch the new Corrosion Wheelprobe, which has been specifically designed for Pipeline Corrosion Mapping applications.  Continuing the proven success of Sonatest’s WheelProbe range, this new model is proving to be unrivalled in the field of corrosion mapping in terms of speed and ease of use, in addition to achieving excellent results.

Ergonomically designed, the Corrosion Wheel Probe offers smooth handling, good control and comfortable grip positions for scanning around pipes and for easy overhead work.  Circumferential and Longitudinal scanning are both completed rapidly and can be performed on pipes with diameters between 3 and 32 inches.

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ems front cover oct 09
The October edition of EMS magazine is now available to read online in page turning digital format or PDF format. This edition contains articles on achieving best practice in condition monitoring and plant maintenance as well as the latest products, news and case studies.

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http://www.engineeringmaintenance.info/images/stories/MCP%20PR%20Pic.jpgSend for your free pocket guide to TPM and see how you can greatly improve the condition and performance of your company assets and operational processes using shop floor based teams. The guide has been produced by Roy Davis, probably the most experienced TPM implementer in the UK.  

MPI  have specialised in the implementation of TPM for over 14 years and provide a range of top quality training and support services to meet your specific requirements. Attend  our ‘An Introduction to TPM’ training workshop on 15th September 2009 and find out how we can help to make sure that your TPM programme is practical, achievable and successful.  

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http://www.engineeringmaintenance.info/images/stories/newsletter/Mutual%20Consultants%20PR1%20Pic.jpgOur new eBrochure comprehensively describes all of our products and services in a single slick page-turn document. The brochure can be viewed directly on our web site, downloaded for off-line viewing or ordered on CD-ROM. A PDF version is also available to download.

Mutual Consultants are one of the UK’s leading specialists in the application of Reliability-Centred Maintenance (RCM). We assist clients to apply RCM through world-class training, consulting, facilitation and the supply of dedicated RCM software.

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whiteleggWhy Monitor?
The concept of Predictive Maintenance has now become accepted practice, world wide.

Locating, defining and acting on potential problems before they become catastrophic is the main objective of a predictive maintenance programme. Techniques include thermography, vibration analysis and motor monitoring. Routine monitoring is not only the most effective method of determining an early diagnosis, but has many other positive aspects.

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Tritex GaugesDorchester based, Tritex NDT have developed a new range of triple echo ultrasonic thickness gauges for measuring metal thickness to check for corrosion on pipelines, storage tanks and other industrial applications where corrosion occurs. The new Tritex Multigauges have been designed for robustness, simplicity of use and most importantly, accuracy.

The range includes the Multigauge 5500, designed for hands free use when climbing on staging, scaffolding or when accessing large storage tanks by rope.The Multigauge 5600 has been developed for most common thickness gauging applications on pipelines. The easy to use keypad allows operator interface whilst the bright graphical LCD display gives detailed information such as echo strength, probe type and measurement units.

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spare parts and materials storesIn about 50% of organizations spare parts and materials stores reports to the maintenance organization. In about 50 % of organizations spare parts and materials stores is part of the purchasing function.

One of the areas that are first attacked when an organization wants to become lean is the materials and spare parts areas. Through reducing the value of spare parts and material kept in storage you can of course reduce costs. It is true that there are often big opportunities to lower the value in many stores, but it can also become very expensive if it is not done correctly.

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Vibration SensorAndy Anthony, Operations Director with Monitran, discusses the importance of vibration sensor selection, placement and use for condition-based predictive maintenance.

In the December issue of Engineering Maintenance Solutions Donald Lyon, MD of Monitran, explained how cost-effective condition-based predictive maintenance (PM) strategies can be formed around the intelligence gathered from vibration monitoring and analysis. 

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Lean MaintenanceTo continue where we ended part I of this series of articles about lean maintenance, I like to give an example on the impact of reliability in a situation where you can not sell everything you manufacture as a result of increased reliability. The example also shows the importance of including the quality component of the reliability formula.  

In a pharmaceutical industry there was a lot of over capacity and it was thought that manufacturing reliability wasn

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MCM UnitThe water industry is increasingly turning to predictive maintenance as it addresses the challenge of improving asset performance.  Artesis has successfully combined advanced technology with a cost-effective implementation to meet their current and future needs.

The nature of the challenge: There is an increasing pressure on water companies to maximise the performance of their physical assets, a critical factor in optimising shareholder value and customer service.  The water industry regulator (Ofwat) reviews the prices that companies charge, and takes into account the benefits of the capital investments planned and improvements in operating efficiency. 

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Cressall Resistors~ Success due to customer focused implementation ~ Leicester based Cressall Resistors has put in a place a lean programme, managed by manufacturing director Cy Wilkinson, that has helped increase turnover by 100 per cent in 18 months. It has also contributed to the successful integration of a business, valued at over a million pounds, into the company's Leicester facility. The resultant plant layout uses less floor space than the original did before the new company was integrated.

The fundamental strategy was formed through the use of eight lean tools: value stream mapping, 5S, standard work, flow, pull, TPM (Total Productive Maintenance), mistake proofing and set-up reduction.

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oil condition sensorThe emergence of onboard sensor technology and usage is clearly at hand and ever expanding. Sensors represent a dynamic, long-term paradigm shift in the way oil is and will be analyzed. Tracing the history of oil analysis will help us understand how this came about and, perhaps, where it might lead.

In the beginning: The first serious inspection efforts were made in laboratories

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Corus Brochures Corus Northern Engineering Services and Corus Process Engineering (CNES/CPE) work together to provide a wide range of engineering disciplines including mechanical, electrical, structural and civil. We deliver them through our workshops and our design, project engineering and project management organisation to provide engineering support to all process industries, OEMs, and infrastructure facilities such as defence, rail, airports and nuclear.

This interactive brochure describes the services we offer, and some of the projects we've worked on, in pdf format.To find out how to get our expertise working for your business, please contact us, using
the contact details below. We look forward to hearing from you.

Please click on this link to view our current brochures!
SENSONICS monitoring equipmentUpdating to the latest monitoring systems which provide more reliable, more accurate data and eliminating time consuming physical overspeed tests associated with mechanical systems, were the important benefits achieved at Fawley Power Station, following the installation of SENSONICS monitoring equipment. The RWE Npower, Fawley facility is an oil fired power station providing 1000MW of generating capacity and a key facility within the UK

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Pocket Vibra The new PocketVibra from UK company C-Cubed allows maintenance personnel to easily track bearing performance, identify bearing faults and check mechanical systems for misalignment, balance and hotspots.  
Previously the domain of outsourced consultants, new technology, new PDAs and some good old British innovation now permit service managers to analyse vibration issues on the spot - for themselves - and to automatically trend results to allow predictive maintenance.

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MaintenanceMahatma Gandhi was once asked what he thought of Western civilization. He replied that he thought it would be a good idea. The same thought comes to mind when considering management skills in maintenance departments.

Maintenance personnel often become leaders by the touch of

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Intellinova SPM Instrument, Sweden, leading worldwide provider of condition monitoring technology and products, today announced the launch of its new high-performance online system for condition monitoring of critical industrial equipment.

The system, named Intellinova

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Hand held marinerWhile condition monitoring systems have obvious advantages to the manufacturing sector, other industries are now also benefiting from their use.Preventing maintenance problems using condition monitoring systems has obvious advantages to manufacturing plants. However, other sectors, such as the marine industry, are now starting to see the benefits of implementing similar vibration-based detection systems onboard ships.

FAG Industrial Services (F

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Condition Based Maintenance (CBM). When we purchase a machine we accept that it will not last forever. The problem isn

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Oil refineryOver the past 17 years, Management of Change (MOC) has received increased attention at chemical plants and refineries due to the promulgation of new OSHA regulations. Officially designated 29CFR 1910.119 Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals, the OSHA PSM regulations state that any time a critical component in an oil or chemical plant changes, a formal MOC program is required to ensure that the proposed change is made safely.

However, recent analysis conducted by Gateway Consulting Group, a specialist in the design and implementation of enterprise content management (ECM) solutions for chemical and petrochemical plant environments, notes that while plant owners are in compliance with OSHA regulations, their MOC processes are not necessarily efficient. [Ref. 1]

Evidence of poor efficiency includes:Long cycle times for MOC closure; The need for, and hiring of, temporary staff to

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vibration monitor detects rolling element bearing failures Cost-effective predictive maintenance vibration monitor detects rolling element bearing failures and shaft imbalance conditions in four locations simultaneously.

The innovative efector octavis bearing condition monitor from sensor market leader ifm electronic is now available as a master unit which can monitor up to four seaparate locations.   These new versions make predictive maintenance efector octavis even more cost effective.

The octavis central unit can also now be programmed via ethernet. The vibration pickups, which can be up to 30m from the central diagnostic, are made in stainless steel with a IP69K rating  for arduous environments.

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Reliability MaintenanceThere are many sources of machinery health and production availability information available to an organization's maintenance and operations staff. Two of the most commonly used sources of information are scheduled inspection of machinery and condition monitoring.

In most cases, scheduled inspection of machinery has been managed through a plant

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Productivity EuropeFor many organisations today, the most important issue is how to reduce costs to compete profitably in global markets.  The two key approaches to manufacturing cost reduction are Lean and TPM (Total Productive Maintenance).Lean reduces costs by eliminating waste in the end to end process, following Henry Ford's original dictum "the longer anything is in my factory, the more it costs me".

Total Productive Maintenance reduces costs by eliminating losses in equipment based processes - once you have a lean flow, the key is to run equipment as efficiently as possible. Both Lean and TPM are based on a foundation of 5S and Continuous improvement (Kaizen) and our success is based on helping companies develop this foundation as well as applying more advanced Lean and TPM approaches.

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Maintenance ManagementIf one could get the right mix of preventive maintenance (PM) and corrective maintenance (CM), things might not be so bad. If CM could be reduced to zero, that would be grand, but that is not going to happen. Amid the propositions of RCM, TPM, RCA, the Pareto rule, best laid plans, etc., one still must contend with randomness. When our programs result in high levels of performance, the limiting factor is often randomness. Using the concept of randomness in analyzing equipment failure events is helpful in establishing the realistic limiting factors in PM and CM program development and management.

Before getting enthused about understanding the technical milieu of equipment failure modes and causes, failure intervals and maintenance task development in recovering a dysfunctional maintenance program, first look for an opportunity of a large reward for a small resource expenditure.

One large reward, for example, could be a 50% reduction in corrective maintenance resulting from a program developed and implemented in-house (small resource expenditure). That 50% number is not unrealistic.

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Power PlantPredictive maintenance (PdM) techniques are commonly used on motors and drives. But how often is the power to the equipment inspected? Adding basic power quality measurements to equipment maintenance procedures can head off unexpected failures in both the equipment and the power system.

Cost savings
Insurance claims data in the NFPA 70B maintenance standard show that roughly half of the cost associated with electrical failures could be prevented by regular maintenance. A study published in IEEE 493-1997 says that a poorly maintained system can attribute 49 percent of its failures to lack of maintenance.

To determine the cost of a failure, it helps to consider three key categories:

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The Pillars Of TPMThe definition and use of Overall Equipment Effectiveness over the years has been widely debated.

Many practitioners have found that OEE has several uses and definitions which have led to
considerable confusion when comparing machine-to-machine, plant-to-plant, or company-tocompany.
Unfortunately, OEE was not designed to make comparisons from machine-to-machine,
plant-to-plant, or company-to-company, but it has evolved to these common levels of misuse. OEE is not a statistically valid metric, but it has been used as such for years.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the original intent of Overall Equipment Effectiveness as a metric and a measure. I initially learned OEE from Seiichi Nakajima, the

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Risk Based InspectionRisk Based Inspection (RBI) is a method for using risk as a basis for managing an inspection programme. The concept of risk is used to target inspection and maintenance resources at areas of the plant where they can have the greatest effect in reducing risk, the occurrence and consequences of unplanned failures and to reduce the cost of unproductive inspections. Risk is a function of both the likelihood of a failure and the consequences of the
failure.

An RBI programme must include updating from results of inspections,monitoring and process changes and will specify an inspection requirement and frequency. The inspection requirement may be satisfied by a number of alternative inspection methods.

Tischuk Enterprises (UK) Ltd has developed an integrated software systembased on the Tischuk Operational Criticality Assessment (OCA) system of analysis. This is designed to assess risk in a simple and cost effective way and is a fundamental part of the development,implementation and management of risk based strategies. OCA uses a 3 x 3 risk matrix to represent the different levels of risk.

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PM ProcedureIf you want to change your current maintenance reality, you must begin with the basics. One of the cornerstones of a successful maintenance effort is the precise execution of thoughtful, well-written preventive maintenance (PM) procedures. There are several steps that must be followed to ensure that these procedures are as effective as possible.

Step #1: Assessment The first step in the development of an effective PM procedure is to determine the condition of the machine or machine center. You have to know where you are before you can decide where you want to go and how you intend to get there. If the machine is newer equipment, this evaluation should be fairly straightforward. If, however, you are dealing with equipment that has been in service for a period of time or has a history of unreliability, this assessment could be quite a lengthy undertaking. Still, it

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The Cost Of FailureThe Huge Instantaneous Impact on Your Business of Defect Cost and Failure Cost. When a failure incident occurs there is a consequential loss of profits and a massing of costs. The cost of failure includes lost profit, the cost of the repair, the fixed and variable operating costs wasted during the downtime and a myriad of consequential costs that reverberate and surge through the business. These are all paid for by the organisation and seen as poor financial performance. The costs of failure cannot be escaped and are counted in millions of dollars of lost profit per year. Total defect and failure true costs are not normally recognised by managers, yet they can send businesses bankrupt. In the instance of a failure all its costs and losses are automatically incurred on the business. These costs can only be prevented by precluding the failure in the first place. This article explains the 'instantaneous cost of failure' (ICOF) and introduces a proactive technique, 'Defect and Failure True Costing', that adds economics to RCM and FMEA to help companies recognise and prevent this tremendous waste of money.

The Cost of Failure to a Business
When a business operates it expends fixed and variable costs to make a product which it sells for a profit. Figure 1 is graphical representations of a business in operation. The business produces a product that requires an input of costs which it sells to pay for them and make a profit.

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Corrective MaintenanceWhat constitutes adequate PM frequency in your plant? How do you know when enough is enough? Where do you want your PM program to take you? Think before answering. No guessing allowed.

When establishing an effective maintenance program, one must determine not only which preventive maintenance (PM) routines to accomplish, but how often they should be done. On the surface, the answer to this question would seem to be quite simple. Is it really?

One proven theory is that the PM to corrective maintenance (CM) work order ratio should be about 6 to 1. This theory assumes that PM inspections reveal some type of corrective work that should be completed on an asset on average every six times it is performed. The assumption is that, if the ratio is greater than 6:1, you are performing the PM too often; if the ratio is less than 6:1, you are not performing it often enough. (The "6 to 1 Rule" was proven by John Day, Jr., manager of Engineering and Maintenance at Alumax of South Carolina, during the period when Alumax of South Carolina was certified as the first "World-Class" maintenance organization.) You might accept this theory, put it in place in your Maintenance program and forget about reading the remainder of this article. Or, you might choose to continue reading, as we attempt to prove or disprove this theory.

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Specifically designed to promote technical excellence in maintenance, informing and educating the top maintenance professionals across the globe. Maintenance is often seen as a cost to business instead of a major benefit. A properly structured maintenance programme not only reduces downtime but also increases productivity and efficiency levels, which in turn improve the profitability of a company.

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