Prompt response to an indication of potential problems in the manufacturing machinnery can be a huge competitive advantage of a machine maintenance company. The down time of a single machine in the production line can quickly cause large expenses for the production line operator: only looking at the cost perspective, a down-time of 5 days of a machine on which 4 workers rely, more than 1.000 EUR is lost in pay-time alone. Not to mention that the manufacturer’s incomes to which this machine contributes are lost.
A just-in-time diagnosis of potential problems helps the maintainance company to:
- learn about the arising problem before the problem actually occurs
- diagnose the problem and prepare for the reparation before the problem occurs
- limit the damage before the problem occurs
With this ability, any spare parts of the machines can be ordered ahead of time, leading to a considerable reduction of down-time. Furthermore, by limiting the damage on the machine, which would be present due to a breakdown of one part, the general damage on the machine and the materials can be considerably lower, reducing the expenses of the final repair.
In some cases, all that needs to be done is tightening of the bolts or joints, or re-lubrication of certain vital parts, to avoid greater damage on some of the parts – and this can in many cases be diagnosed by sensing the noise and vibration of the machines. In a case like this, a just-in-time diagnosis saved another, usually large, amount of money to the machine owner or user.
In both cases, for the machine owner this means lower unnecessary expenses, less down-time, and considerably higher satisfaction with the machines and the company which services the machines.
For the service company which services the machines, this means a happier customer, and the ability to charge for this quick-response service, so it’s a win-win situation for both.
With Elmitel Sensing, a service company can easily buy the sensor equipment over the Internet, install it on the machines they service, turn it on and start using it. Elmitel Sensing provides a custom, unpack-and-use sensor solution for any of your purposes. It’s possible to measure different parameters such as:
- vibrations
- temperature
- different kinds of noises
- presence and concentration of particular gasses
- humidity and liquid presence
as well as a variety of other parameters we didn’t mention here because of the scope of this article.
The solution is very easy to install: you receive the box with the sensor node and sensor probes. The sensor node box is similar to a WiFi router that most of us have at home. Simply plug the sensors into the sensor node, and place the sensor node box close to the machine. Then install the sensor probes, which are on cables connected to the sensor node, to the locations around the machine where you would like to measure the parameters. And turn it on. The next moment, you can start looking at the measurements on Elmitel Sensing online. The sensor node uses cellular (mobile) network (way cheaper than mobile phone itself) or WiFito connect.
With a single event of just-in-time maintenance, the savings from the case described above (including pay time of the workers during the machine down-time, the service work, the additional material costs) for the company can quickly be considerably higher than the price of the sensor system. On the other hand, a service company can offer just-in-time service and through that make higher and more constant revenues, while also making the customers happier.
Elmitel Sensing runs in Cloud and is can monitor the parameters for you, and send you the alerts when the parameters go beyond the expected values. We are proud to offer a high quality of customer support, and even adapt the sensor solution to the custom needs of the user through the SensingService plans, as well as talk with you about your needs and wishes before the purchase. If interested, register here and we will be in touch with you to help you get the solution you need.