Predictive Maintenance Case Story Summary Case story of setting up and operating a cost-effective predictive maintenance program at Champion Paper Company MB02006 SKF pages April 2002 SKF Reliability Systems @ptitudeXchange 5271 Viewridge Court San Diego, CA 92123 United States tel +1 858 496 3554 fax +1 858 496 3555 email: info@aptitudexchange.com Internet: www.aptitudexchange.com Use of this document is governed by the terms and conditions contained in @ptitudeXchange Predictive Maintenance The Case Story “This plant is only two years old, and we’re fortunate that our upper management decided to go with a predictive maintenance program from the very beginning,” advised John Daniels, predictive maintenance specialist at the Champion Paper Company plant in Quinnesec, Michigan “We have two people assigned full-time for vibration analysis … plus two SKF Condition Monitoring Microlog portable data collectors, an IBM PC computer with a Bernoulli box, a real time analyzer and plotter, and a printer.” Microlog system developed by SKF Condition Monitoring, of San Diego, California “At the time we selected SKF Condition Monitoring, their system offered some of the most enhanced features available,” he added “In fact, we were a beta test site for them, and were able to work closely with them on any questions, concerns or problems that came up.” The predictive maintenance program currently monitors approximately 6,600 points For each unit they take vertical, horizontal and axial readings … so that one motor and pump represents 12 monitoring points There is one weekly data collection route which is run each Thursday, and consists of critical equipment that affects production throughout the entire plant In addition, there are 29 monthly routes and two quarterly routes … with each route including approximately 250 points and taking 2-3 hours to collect “At first, we listed every piece of equipment in the plant that we wanted to monitor, and divided those into four areas; the pulp machine, the pulp mills, the boilers and the wood yard area,” he continued “We had approximately 1,000 machines that we wanted to look at, and thought that a monthly schedule would be the most efficient for the majority of the points.” “In fact, after we set up the data collection routes we found that we could conveniently include less critical points that were in the same area, and monitor them on a monthly rather than quarterly basis." When the program was started two years ago, they looked at a variety of vibration monitoring equipment and selected the Figure SKF Condition Monitoring’s Microlog Portable Data Collector “One of the most important considerations that we found in integrating this technology into our plant was educating our people We developed one program that allows our mechanics the opportunity to spend 2-3 days working with the system … outlining what we’re trying to accomplish, and providing basic information about how the system works We let them load the Microlog with the computer, go out and take a route, then dump the data back into the computer.” “This experience is important for two reasons; first, it helps them understand what we’re trying to in this department and how it relates to their job and second, if a problem develops during the second or third shifts © 2004 SKF Reliability Systems All Rights Reserved Predictive Maintenance when our people are not here, one of these mechanics can come to our office, pick up one of the Micrologs and use it to record critical information They might not understand all of the details of the program, but they can be very helpful in an emergency.” “We’re also in the process of developing a similar program for all of our managers and production people One that provides an overview of what we’re doing and the type of information that we collect and process We’ve found that some managers who were not aware of vibration analysis have been amazed at what we have been able to … they too have become believers.” Even though the plant is relatively new, there have already been a number of situations where the predictive maintenance program has been particularly cost-effective “One of the systems is a 1,250-hp primary cleaner pump motor which we monitor on a monthly basis,” he continued “We noticed that the system had a high axial vibration reading, and by trending the data we found that it was consistently climbing each month We scheduled to replace it during the next scheduled downtime, and when we got it into the shop we found that the motor had a 0.050” differential in the air gap fitting That is something that you can’t see, feel or hear … and without the analysis we would have run the motor until it had failed … probably when we could least afford it; at a.m some morning.” “Production downtime represents a significant cost for us, in addition to the cost of parts and labor to repair a piece of equipment That experience alone saved us thousands of dollars.” Figure “By trending vibration readings they can identify developing problems that otherwise would go undetected.” © 2004 SKF Reliability Systems All Rights Reserved Predictive Maintenance “We make a point of documenting each of these instances where the predictive maintenance program has made a difference, and we present the data in a variety of reports and graphs We keep educating our management on the problems that we control or prevent, and then put these abilities into the financial and production terms; terms that they more easily understand As a result, our management usually supports our annual budget requests, as well as requests for special project funding.” “We’re also constantly working to improve the efficiency of the program We’re currently re-evaluating which pieces of equipment are included in the program, and we’re trying to determine if we can reduce the number of points that we monitor on each machine … for example, from 12 points to points If we can reduce the number of points that we monitor in the current program, we’ll be able to add more of the less critical points to the schedule, and expand our information data base even more.” “The best advice for someone who is considering starting up a predictive maintenance program is to sit down and identify what equipment you have, and what you want to accomplish,” he concluded “Over the last three years a lot of new diagnostic equipment has been developed, and you can accomplish just about anything that you might want with one form of the technology or another.” “However, if you don’t have a clear idea of what you want, you may end up with state-ofthe-art technology that sits on the shelf … or that provides information that really isn’t useful © 2004 SKF Reliability Systems All Rights Reserved .. .Predictive Maintenance The Case Story “This plant is only two years old, and we’re fortunate that our upper management decided to go with a predictive maintenance program... 2004 SKF Reliability Systems All Rights Reserved Predictive Maintenance “We make a point of documenting each of these instances where the predictive maintenance program has made a difference, and... were able to work closely with them on any questions, concerns or problems that came up.” The predictive maintenance program currently monitors approximately 6,600 points For each unit they take