Preventive maintenance with the BCM sensor
Case Study
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Balluff's series of Case Studies show real-life situations faced by our specialists when implementing dedicated solutions for manufacturing companies using Balluff tools and solutions.
Trouble-free operation of machines is a key element in maintaining continuous and smooth production. A major role in this process is played by preventive maintenance, which makes it possible to assess the condition of the equipment and thus prevent damage.
Organising this type of maintenance requires knowledge and years of practical experience.The BCM sensor by constantly providing information on the condition of machinery helps equipment operators and maintenance workers with preventive maintenance.
Situation found
One of our customers contacted us to propose a solution that would continuously monitor the condition of 8 bearings in a sheet metal bending machine. Additionally, if possible, they wanted to have access to the historical trend data for evaluation. The purpose of this upgrade was to optimise preventive maintenance.
Problem
Due to the tremendous forces occurring in the machine during normal operation, bearing wear causes a lot of unplanned downtime. Unfortunately, due to frequent changes in product type, maintenance cannot be scheduled. The diversity of manufactured products affects equipment and bearings differently, making it difficult to calculate the life cycle of wearing parts. If the person in charge of the equipment and the person in charge of maintenance do not notice signs of malfunction in time, there will be an unplanned stoppage of the machine.
Solution
The proposed system continuously monitors the bearings and identifies any potential signs of wear. In addition, if the measured values exceed the optimal value - it notifies the relevant custodian. According to an additional request from the customer - the system is connected to the local network.
Implementation
Hardware:
For monitoring bearings, the following was installed 8 BCM sensors, whose signals are received by a 16-port Profinet IO-Link master. Another production line is planned in the future, so it was necessary to be able to expand the system.
Software:
Data collection, display and evaluation were carried out using Excel. The data is downloaded via the mainBNI web serverusing JSON files. The program runs on a specially installed computer right next to the device. Data and alerts can be tracked on the monitor. With a local network connection, current data can be monitored, and measurement results can be saved anywhere for later analysis.
Customer benefits
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Continuous monitoring of bearing condition - warning and critical values can be set in the program and displayed to the person responsible on the monitor.
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Archiving of measurement results - measurement results can be collected and stored for later analysis. With this data, the setting of limit values can be optimized, and preventive maintenance can be planned accordingly.
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Possibility of free expansion with additional 8 BCM sensors.
The biggest benefit for the customer's company is the trouble-free operation of the machines - the system has been in operation for more than eight months and during this period there has been no downtime due to bearing failure.
All our solutions are individually tailored to the problem, which in the long run brings significant benefits, includingincrease in OEE.
Keywords
- Case Study
- Industrial automation
- Smart sensors
Author
Balluff Sp. z o.o.
We have been active on the Polish market for more than 25 years. We serve our customers from Pomerania to the Tatra Mountains, providing first-class service and technical support. We are also present online, where we share our knowledge about the latest implementations, industry trends, events or technical aspects of our solutions.
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