Prevent From Major Repairs

The mechanical parts damages are the major root cause for most of the major repairing. If we look back our maintenance records, we will find that the mechanical wear & tear of our motors, pumps, gears, compressors air end, blowers, etc. are the main reasons to cost us more than million dollars as our maintenance cost per annum. This figure could be higher if we include the production downtime losses and this amount is reducing the company profits significantly.

It is very important that, as maintenance personnel to implement preventive & predictive maintenance programs to prevent from any major repair and maximize the machine reliability. It is desirable for every company to attain Zero Breakdown and this is the ideal concept to ensure the machine availability at all times and the cost for predictive & preventive maintenance is much lower than unexpected breakdown as well as major repair.

Rolling bearing is the most common rolling component in most of our machine. Therefore, bearings’ condition is the most concern issue in maintenance. Protect the bearings able to protect the machine effectively. In order to protect the bearings, here are the suggestions:

a) Correct Lubricant Selection
b) Re-lubricate Intervals
c) Amount of acoustic lubrication
d) Proper alignment
e) Eliminate vibration

In order to monitor the machine bearings condition, here are the suggestions:

a) Ultrasound inspection – Collect ultra sound to hear the friction & analyze oil film thickness
b) Vibration inspection – Collect vibration data to justify the corrective actions
c) Thermography inspection – Analyze the bearings temperature, to know the lubricant status and decide the re-lubricate intervals.

Company can reduce the waste in maintenance repairs, increase the production profits, if they able to handle mechanical components problems effectively.