FEATURE MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT
‘Grey’ repair threat to hydraulic and electronic drives N
on-official or ‘grey’ repairs to hydraulic and electronic drives are
threatening industrial productivity by increasing downtime and placing warranties at risk, according to one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of drives and controls. The warning from Bosch Rexroth has
been issued to production and maintenance managers who continue to use non-official repairers (also known as the ‘grey’ market) to repair highly sophisticated equipment.
NON-OFFICIAL REPAIRERS “We estimate that nearly 65% of electronic drive repairs in the UK are completed by non-official repairers,” explains UK service manager Richard Chamberlain. “The situation in hydraulics is even worse. We estimate that circa 80% of hydraulic repairs are completed by the grey market.” There is a misconception that hydraulic
drives are easy to repair with no account taken of which components are used or how this may affect any warranties. “It’s a big issue with hydraulics in
particular because it’s generally a simpler technology that many maintenance engineers believe can be just sent down
the road to a grey repairer,” continues Chamberlain. “However, even the simplest repair completed in the grey market could increase the likelihood of a premature failure.
PUMP APPLICATION “A customer was using a large pump and upon failure the maintenance engineer took a decision to fit a copy sourced from the grey repair market. “The copy failed which resulted in the
closure of the customer’s production line for a long period of time with tens of thousands of pounds of production time lost. Ultimately, while taking the grey repair route can at the time appear to be the cheaper option, the use of inferior components increases the risk of machine downtime which could end up costing manufacturers thousands of pounds in lost revenue.”
Bosch Rexroth
www.boschrexroth.co.uk Enter 305
Right: servo drive showing damage as soon as it was fitted and powered up following work undertaken by a ‘grey’ repairer
Above: hydraulic motor showing damaged internal parts as a result of poor maintenance and contamination
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www.demagcranes.co.uk Enter 7
Gearbox maintenance free for up to 10 years Housing features a high quality, powder coated finish
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