A heavy building materials giant improves asset health and reduces costly downtime
According to research by RS and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, downtime is the biggest challenge facing maintenance engineers. Given that an average of nearly 20 hours per week is spent on unscheduled maintenance, at an average cost of over £100,000, it is also a major challenge for the organisations they work for.
The same report also found that the biggest drivers of unscheduled downtime are ageing assets and mechanical failure, but there are ways to address these issues. Condition monitoring, for instance, uses sensors, oil analysis and the tracking of lubrication levels to detect faults before they become apparent and avoid unscheduled outages. The data generated also improves preventative maintenance so that it is based on the actual performance of components in service.
RS Maintenance Solutions can help take the complexity out of the process of condition monitoring. Here’s an example showing how.
The challenge
RS has worked alongside a leading building materials manufacturer for the last four years, providing a tailored, onsite condition monitoring programme at its Liverpool plant. The site produces a range of asphalt mixes for surfacing applications such as roads, runways, car parks and driveways and has an annual output of more than six million tonnes.
By visiting customers onsite and using condition monitoring diagnostics such as vibration analysis, ultrasonic testing, oil analysis, lubrication tracking and thermal imaging, RS technicians can monitor the resulting data for indicators of failure such as wear, contamination and excessive heat. These tools provide a baseline for asset performance and thereby flag issues early while also helping with diagnosis of potential causes.
Site Services Technicians from RS visit the site monthly. As part of the routine condition monitoring checks, RS Field Service Technician Carl Boyce discovered an issue in a critical piece of equipment: the hot stone elevator, which transports hot aggregates. “The use of infrared thermography picked up that the NDE bearing was emitting intense heat, while the plastic seal around it had begun to melt and distort,” Boyce explains. “Vibration analysis also confirmed the issue.”
The solution
Vibration analysis is a key condition monitoring tool used to identify underperforming machinery and flag potential issues. In this instance, the predictive maintenance method was essential in picking up the fault early. Had the asset failed during use, it would have halted production and shut down the entire plant.
Early identification of the issue also stopped the potential for secondary damage to the shaft and gearbox. Had this occurred, it could have meant replacing the shaft and motor/gearbox and therefore increased the end cost for parts and length of downtime. Instead, on discovery of the issue, the technician was able to inform the customer immediately. Once production for the day had been completed, the bearing was replaced, removing the risk of an unexpected outage.
The outcome
Had the NDE bearing failed, the potential cost of downtime was estimated at around £60,000, with considerably higher costs if the shaft and gearbox had also been damaged as a result. By supporting the customer with a robust condition monitoring programme, RS has helped flag issues before they could significantly impact the site’s operations.
It has also led to a general improvement in asset health and a reduction in downtime at the plant. As Stuart Eccles, Technical Team Leader for RS Maintenance Solutions, notes, “Implementing a condition monitoring programme can reduce downtime by 40%, cut maintenance costs by half and extend the lifetime of assets by a third.
“It’s an essential tool in an effective predictive maintenance strategy, giving you an insight into the health, condition and performance of machinery and flagging any inefficiencies or potential for failure.
“Having a tailored condition monitoring programme means our customers can put their maintenance resources and budget in the right place at the right time. Crucially, in an age of rising energy prices, implementing condition monitoring can also identify areas of wastage and cut energy losses and the associated costs, too.”
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