mAchinery


industry urged to resume PreventAtive mAintenAnce AheAd of BreAkdown BAcklog


equipment maintenance spending. Alfa Laval, operators of one of the largest industrial servicing facilities in the UK, warns that this is a more expensive route than companies may first realise and explains how they have overcome the challenges posed by COVID-19. “Businesses might think they’re making the best


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GettinG back on your feet after equipment failure


Here, Neil Ballinger, head of EMEA at automation parts supplier EU Automation, discusses restarting production in the aftermath of equipment failure.


engineers working with them is a touch absurd, the practical consequences are the same. With potentially thousands of inter-reliant, imbricated pieces of equipment all synchronised and highly tuned for maximum productivity, there is always the potential for something to fail, and the evidence bears this out with hardware malfunctions being the leading cause of unplanned industrial downtime. Almost half occur this way. You might be forgiven for thinking that


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this sort of thing is a thing of the past. After all, modern computers with SCADA software, with recent generations boasting machine learning algorithms, should be able to identify and flag up failing equipment well in advance of it breaking. Shouldn’t they? Theoretically, yes, as with a fully


integrated modern SCADA system, sudden and unplanned equipment failure can be entirely avoided through planned and predictive maintenance scheduled using data from the SCADA system. But how does this theory align with the


reality in the market, where operating margins are tight, quotas keep coming and human error must be factored in? To paraphrase Napoleonic-era Prussian army general, Helmuth von Moltke, “No plan survives contact with reality”. If a single conveyor servo were to


suddenly seize, for instance, the other motors on the line will experience a huge spike in torque, which can have serious consequences, such as causing a risk of fire. Even if the motor does not seize up and simply stops working, the other motors have to pick up the slack, directly reducing their expected lifespan by putting them under stresses exceeding


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hile suggesting that industrial equipment holds personal grudges against the


the initial designed parameters of the line. This makes assessing linked and adjacent equipment the first, and possibly most important aspect of restarting safely after a shutdown, and motors are only one part of this puzzle. Monitoring gauges, mechanical valves and hydraulic compressors are all considerations, as well as almost any other piece of equipment related to the failed part in question. Another consideration is that, while no


stress or damage may be apparent, the procedural equipment may have halted in place when the failure occurred. This is often the case after sudden power failures and emergency power-off states, and can have very damaging consequences when uninitialised autonomous equipment suddenly starts back up. There are few situations that place such a


huge value on time than a shutdown industrial production line. Every second of downtime costs literally hundreds of dollars in lost production, but the effects echo up and down the supply chain to your suppliers and customers alike, consequently slowing their production and pushing the true cost of a stopped line to dizzying heights. Speed is king in this context, which is the


entire purpose of the previous steps. Ignoring this advice and simply flipping the breaker to the production line might initially seem time efficient, but the stress and potential damage to line equipment simply serves to bring the next inevitable breakdown around even quicker. This vicious cycle can entrap entire businesses in its repetitive, stress inducing and wasteful gyre. So, while machines probably do not have


it in for us quite yet, a little bit of extra effort means we can the most out of them while they are on our side.


EU Automation www.euautomation.com/uk/


decision by saving money on maintenance,” says John Smith, service operations divisional manager UK & Ireland at Alfa Laval, “But time and time again, we have seen what can happen when companies don’t implement a serious preventative maintenance strategy. Keeping your machinery in good condition costs a lot less than unplanned downtime or replacing broken equipment.”


he pandemic has left many businesses with dwindling budgets, so cutbacks are inevitable, and the first solution reached by some is to reduce


The idea of preventative maintenance is not a new


one, but has been gaining momentum as of late. Until lockdown was imposed the servicing industry was growing and more businesses were taking their equipment maintenance seriously. However, with COVID- 19 restrictions in place, it became more difficult for companies to plan for their servicing and maintenance. Alfa Laval, like many businesses, has had to modify its


operations to function efficiently within the new parameters that COVID-19 has forced upon the world. To combat these challenges, the business has shifted its focus to increasing the efficiency of its service centre in Camberley while things return to normal. Smith explains: “We’ve had to adapt our workflow to


guarantee clients a quick turnaround while ensuring our customers and staff remain safe. We have upgraded some of our machinery to improve our quality and efficiency, and replaced all of our light fittings with energy-efficient LED bulbs.” It is still uncertain how long restrictions will last and


for how long companies will be feeling the effects of the pandemic, so future-proofing business operations will aid in being more resilient to whatever comes next. It is harder than ever for businesses to remain productive, so great care must be taken to maximise productivity while having contingency plans in place. Smith concludes: “Businesses must adapt to remain competitive in these harsh times, but cutting preventative maintenance out of the equation is just asking for trouble as it is one of the best ways to safeguard against problems that occur down the road. We’d be happy to talk to anyone concerned about the potential breakdown backlog.” www.alfalaval.co.uk/fitforduty


Summer 2021 UKManufacturing


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