July-August 2021

Focus on: Asset Management Maintenance Matters July/August 2021 www.pwemag.co.uk Plant & Works Engineering | 15 approach to the management of both maintenance and upgrades for all VSDs in operation, as well as spares. It considers ongoing maintenance requirements while also considering obsolescence, replacements and upgrades in the future. This can help to take the element of surprise out of having to replace a drive and allow potential failures to be anticipated more effectively. Having the ability to catalogue the expected life cycle of a drive and put appropriate plans in place for each one in a fleet, saves time, cuts costs, and ultimately helps to improve profitability by ensuring that every part of a plant’s processes can continue running uninterrupted in the event of a failure. Overall total cost of ownership can be reduced by taking a strategic approach to replacement and upgrades, ensuring that VSDs approaching the end of their operational life are appropriately replaced before they risk failure, while embracing new drive technologies and functions as they emerge. Approaching maintenance strategically Implementing a comprehensive and ongoing review of the status of all VSDs at a given time can be difficult and time consuming, but services like ABB’s Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) are available to make it easier. ABB’s Andy Pearson says this tool essentially automates many aspects of the process, helping to provide a quick and easy way to establish a life cycle management strategy and an effective maintenance strategy for each drive individually and collectively. In ABB’s case, the service can cover both its drives and other major drive brands. VSDs are registered using information collected from the customer’s own fleet management systemin an online tool. Alternatively, this can be done with a site visit from an ABB engineer or one of its Value Provider partners, who can make the assessment for you. Once VSDs are registered, the tool provides a comprehensive overview of the life cycle state and operating conditions of each drive for better decision making and maintenance scheduling. The LCA tool logs age, location, criticality, operating environment, service history and part replacement history. This allows maintenance to be tailored to the needs of each drive, while flagging any drives or components that need particular attention. Critical drives and at-risk assets are identified, providing a comprehensive overview of the entire infrastructure. The tool also highlights, in a report, those assets which need servicing or are candidates for replacement or upgrade. This helps avoid unplanned downtime and can be used to project maintenance budgets and manage costs. It can also help companies to modernise their operations by providing a schedule for replacing and upgrading equipment that might be approaching obsolescence. While the LCA tool targets VSDs, the impact of using smart sensors to track the health of motors can add to a 360-degree view of the overall powertrain performance. Smart sensors are applied to motors and can digitally feed near real-time performance and condition data back to plant operators. This helps companies to make informed decisions based on hard data and deploy maintenance teams where and when they are needed. Ultimately, it has never been easier to adopt a whole life approach to drive and motor maintenance management, helping to cut costs and reduce failures. IF YOU’RE READING THIS, THEN SO ARE 30,000+ ENGINEERS IMAGINE THE IMPACT YOUR ADVERTISEMENT COULD HAVE Contact Damien Oxlee at PWE Tel: 01732 370340