Better business performance with the SKF Certified Maintenance Partner Programme
Better performance with ERIKS and SKF
Many manufacturing operations spend more of the maintenance budget on labour and their workshop facilities, and into energy, than they do on the components used in completing repairs. So, rather than just focus purchasing efforts onto component price reductions, why not make savings across more of the operations and maintenance budgets? Greater equipment reliability in turn improves production and operational efficiency, as well as reducing costs related to Health AND Safety, the environment and energy consumption.
The SKF Certified Maintenance Partner Programme, available through ERIKS, provides the opportunity to access a professional and skilled service provider, who can complete vibration analysis work that allows for better maintenance performance to be achieved.
As the heart of the machine (whether a fan, pump, motor, gearbox, or other type of rotating equipment), bearings are a great indicator of machine condition. This is why vibration analysis has been such a long established monitoring practice in industry.
Vibration monitoring recognises the stresses on the bearing, and developing machine problems can be identified and addressed much earlier than by other means. Thus, planned maintenance is a much more efficient and lower cost use of resources:
- The required people, components and tools can be scheduled and all made available at the same time
- The correct maintenance work can be prioritised in relation to available time, resources and business need
- Irrelevant fixed time activities can be eliminated
Understanding vibration levels for critical machines and equipment; the causes of excessive vibration; and then resolving these issues via planned improvement activities is central to what ERIKS, an SKF Certified Maintenance Partner offers to your business.
Lower average vibration levels can impact positively on the overall cost of maintenance, even before looking into the potential improvements such as machine availability and safety.
But data collection alone is only a first step because the data extracted from your machinery is useless until it is interpreted and turned into an action item. The SKF Certified Maintenance Partner Programme ensures you are certain to see an experienced vibration analyst. ERIKS personnel have completed extensive formal and practical training, along with qualification to industry accepted standards, as part of the process of accreditation. This means that ERIKS are on-site with the skills to complete the important sequential stages of data collection, data analysis, reporting and recommendations; that will deliver a valuable vibration monitoring programme.
The hardware and software technology used by an SKF Certified Maintenance Partner to perform vibration monitoring is maintained to a standard that ensures correct, high quality decisions and recommendations can be made. Tools are routinely upgraded to reflect the latest advances in technology that enable accurate interpretations to be made. SKF is a leading global supplier of such condition monitoring equipment and software.
A good vibration monitoring programme isn't just about the technology. The analysis and reporting of results, in terms of timing and accurate recommendations, is vital to the completion of a quality vibration monitoring programme. An assessment of the impact on business performance can then be made. These additional elements are fundamental to the SKF Certified Maintenance Partner Programme, and highlight how such a programme can provide a clear and simple ability to understand and improve the cost/benefit position of maintenance in the business.
The investment costs to set-up, attain and sustain a viable vibration programme in-house are significant. It isn't just the direct purchase cost of hardware and software. Having staff always available, with the requisite skills and experience to complete quality work, also carries a significant cost. For many smaller facilities there is no sound economic justification to do this in-house.
Whether your business is industrial or commercial, the reality is that rotating equipment will be critical to the consistent, safe and economic operation of the facility. ERIKS personnel have the experience to support site maintenance staff (or contractors) to identify and then complete required maintenance to a high standard.
With over 50% of industrial motor energy consumption being related to operation of fans and pumps (source - Defra Policy Brief, July 2008), there is also a clear focus area for ERIKS, and the SKF Certified Maintenance Partner Programme to work for you.
And by using the SKF Documented Solutions Programme, ERIKS also have the ability to define the cost savings achieved through the delivery of the programme. This provides the formal documentation that justifies the investment made in taking on the vibration monitoring services of a Certified Maintenance Partner.
Your ERIKS representative can review in more detail how the SKF Certified Maintenance Partner Programme can best fit your particular situation via a site visit and assessment.
The output of this review would include:
- Identifying optimum asset coverage, based on your business needs
- An understanding of how inputs to maintenance and shutdown planning, based on vibration measurements could save money
- The review process by which continued improvements could be made
- Describing how the value for changes made, and their business benefit would be documented