Written by Running machinery and steady production are top priorities in any business – but maximum production also requires optimum maintenance of the equipment. Many crucial observations cannot be made at a running machine and regular maintenance activities and routines are therefore often a challenge. PREMAS® 4.0, developed for AUMUND and non-AUMUND conveying machines, has understood this challenge: this solution helps companies to plan regular maintenance activities, detect machine weaknesses at an early stage and act proactively before operations are affected.
Source: International Cement Review, January 2022 Issue & AUMUND Group
See what you can´t see, detect what you can´t measure with Predictive Maintenance
Cement plants all over the world run around the clock to meet the huge demand. If a machine fails due to damage or malfunction, an entire plant stands still for hours or even days. Clinker production is interrupted Mostly the maintenance is left to do walk-by inspections and to rely on continuous measurements and sensors, indicated in the central control room. Today, the world is spinning faster and faster, walk-in inspections are turning into rushed emergencies and most companies must adapt their operations to the exact pace. This leads to machines, that cannot be maintained as required, postponed inspections, and a lack of detection if it comes to wear or even damaged components. Bucket elevators, pan conveyors, or other conveying machines are sometimes named auxiliary equipment but are as crucial in the production process as the main machines (e.g., kiln, cooler, mill). They are often the bottleneck in the production line, as they are the only transport line in front or behind the main equipment. PREMAS® 4.0 breaks this Gordian knot between operation and maintenance and helps you to see, what you can´t see and detect, what you can´t measure.
Why PREMAS® 4.0?
In general, four maintenance strategies are distinguished: Reactive maintenance also referred to as “damage-dependent maintenance”, which is only carried out when a defect has occurred. Planned maintenance, which is carried out regardless of the actual condition of the system – certain measures such as replacement of wear material, or other maintenance work are carried out on a regular and routine basis. When a company wants to get the maximum out of maintenance, it relies on the proactive and predictive maintenance strategy, which has proven to increase the overall efficiency of the equipment – like PREMAS® 4.0.
The difference between proactive and predictive maintenance
OEE and its impact explained:
The Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) productivity measurement standard can be used to determine the actual percentage of a machine’s productivity and how much productivity is lost due to factors such as downtime or reduced production. The OEE formula is calculated by multiplying availability, performance, and quality.
Proactive Maintenance
Proactive means acting before damage has occurred. This includes replacing parts that are usually not yet defective but could soon show damage. Main advantage: Potential problems are detected before serious damage and failures occur, maintenance and necessary shutdowns can be planned. Main disadvantage: The wearing part could have been used further – in other words: Why not increase the return on investment (ROI) even more? This leads us to predictive maintenance.
Predictive Maintenance
This strategy takes, for example, the condition of a belt and analyses it using digitally collected data. If the analysis shows that the belt is aging faster than expected, it gives the company the decisive indication to order and replace the belt within a convenient lead time. It’s a data-based strategy, that considers all machine data in real-time (e.g., service life, wear, load, external circumstances such as temperature and empirical values). It constantly measures the machine’s condition, monitors key performance indicators (e.g., belt or chain life), predicts when maintenance might be required, and proactively informs maintenance managers of anomalies.
Main advantage: The maintenance manager receives information about the condition of the machine and critical wear parts at any time. He or she knows immediately when and where to act. It is his or her knowledge base to act in time, plan maintenance needs, schedule repairs and carry out inspections before serious damage occurs.
Main disadvantage: Data is the key, and the algorithm needs some time to learn from the machine. No data means no condition monitoring and no predictive maintenance.
PREMAS® 4.0 is both: proactive and predictive. This allows you to plan, take timely action, and prevent potential problems before your operation is impacted.
PREMAS® 4.0 at Jura-Cement-Fabriken AG
„PREMAS® 4.0 allows us to recognise immediately when we need to act, no matter where we are or what time of day or night it is.“
Ramona Keller, Head of Maintenance, Jura-Cement-Fabriken AG
Since the beginning of 2021 Jura-Cement-Fabriken AG Switzerland has been using the PREMAS® 4.0 Predictive Maintenance Solution at its cement plant in Wildegg on a kiln-feed Belt Bucket Elevator which was supplied in 2015 by AUMUND Fördertechnik GmbH, from Rheinberg in Germany. Ramona Keller, Head of Maintenance at Jura-Cement-Fabriken AG, draws a positive conclusion after almost a year with the Predictive Maintenance Solution. “We are convinced that predictive maintenance is the future. With PREMAS® 4.0 we can better plan our spare parts and maintenance, which has a positive effect on resources and costs. The PREMAS® Portal is easy to use and very clear. It allows us to recognise immediately when we need to act, no matter where we are or what time of day or night it is.”
PREMAS® 4.0 can be installed on new or existing equipment within a few hours. Commissioning is done via plug-and-play: install the IoT Box (Internet of Things), connect it to the signals, log into the PREMAS® Portal on any preferred device, and then go back to production.
