Focus on: Circular Economy Annual Buyers’ Guide 2024 www.pwemag.co.uk Plant & Works Engineering | 29 www.hartdoors.com The fact that Hart Door Systems has built a reputation for quality and longevity of its wide range of industrial doors, the importance of door maintenance should not be understated says Keith Fisher, Hart’s National Operations Manager. Servicing industrial doors not only improves their reliability and operational functionality but servicing is also a requirement under Health, Safety and Welfare Regulations which protect people who come into contact with the doors. Indeed failure to maintain industrial doors could put the user in breach of Government legislation incurring liability in the case of an incident involving an industrial door which is non-compliant. As essential support for our clients Hart has comprehensive Service & Maintenance assistance as a specialist department which delivers a range of repair and scheduled maintenance options for its customers to further extend the life of their doors. Given the very wide variety of industrial classifications we supply doors and shutters to, the emphasis has to be on designing servicing and maintenance packages which are tailored to match the specific needs of our clients’ businesses and the arising usage patterns of the various doors/shutters. A preventative Servicing and Maintenance Agreement ensures Hart’s servicing is carried out correctly and at the precise frequency thus complying with Regulations. Typically during a Hart servicing visit all mechanical and electrical elements are checked for missing parts, general wear and tear and Compliance issues. Mechanical checks include inspecting parts such as drive chain tension, alignment and lubrication, bearing wear and tear, motor oil levels and fabric tension and electrical checks include limit settings, cable connections and safety devices. Hart also has a legal responsibility to ensure doors are left in safe working order after servicing. Again the issues are wide ranging such as measuring the closing forces of automatic doors where safe contact is the main strategy to prevent hazards. The closing force of a door ensures correct force limitation under EN 12978 which prevents injury and crushing. Testing should always be carried out with an annually calibrated instrument according to DIN 18650, EN 12453 or EN 12445. On completion of a Hart service visit, a paperless electronic copy of the engineer’s report will be issued which may include additional recommendations necessary to ensure the doors are safe and compliant to relevant legislation due to changing ‘shop floor’ circumstances. The sophistication of door systems such as Hart’s Speedor range or its Typhoon shutter range has changed significantly over the years to cater for changing needs by its customers across the globe and indeed by changing climate. To ensure hard working doors in busy industrial environments continue to make a significant daily contribution to efficiency and safety, planned maintenance is essential. The importance of door maintenance remanufacture. This is due to the cost of disassembling, cleaning, inspecting, and reassembling the bearing, which may be higher than the cost of simply replacing the bearing with a new one. Additionally, the amount of wear and damage that can be repaired on small bearings may be limited, making remanufacturing less practical for these components. Remanufacturing larger bearings, on the other hand, offers a favourable cost-benefit depending on their condition, complexity, price and application. Large bearings – such as spherical roller bearings, deep groove ball bearings, tapered roller bearings, caster bearings and slewing bearings – are good candidates for remanufacturing. Additionally, relubrication services can extend a bearing’s service life and improve operational performance at an affordable price point. Indeed, relubrication is crucial if you intend to repurpose old-yet-healthy bearings for a different application. By doing so, businesses can save money as opposed to repeatedly purchasing new bearings, which makes it a smart and efficient form of recycling. Remanufacturing can also reduce lead times significantly, increasing machine uptime and profit. It can normally take weeks for a replacement specialised industrial bearing to arrive. In contrast, remanufacturing can reduce lead times and allows facilities to maintain better machine availability and reduce stock. Environmental considerations Aside from the economic benefits, bearing remanufacturing also has a positive impact on the environment. The process reduces the unwanted use of natural resources and the disposal of components when they become damaged or fail. Remanufacturing feeds into the circular economy model by recovering and regenerating products and materials, unlike the traditional make-use-dispose industrial model. The energy requirement for remanufacturing is also as low as 90% when compared to the production of a new bearing, which minimises the need for new raw materials and offers quicker manufacturing turnaround times. Additionally, remanufacturing can help reduce the carbon footprint associated with producing new bearings. Finally, remanufacturing can also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with transportation, as remanufactured bearings can often be sourced locally rather than being shipped from far-off locations. After the remanufacturing process has been carried out, it’s crucial to avoid the recurrence of the damage that affected the bearing before it was remanufactured. Condition monitoring techniques, including vibration analysis, can be implemented to monitor the continual status of the components. It’s clear that remanufactured bearings offer a cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and sustainable alternative to buying new bearings. As more businesses recognise these benefits, remanufactured bearings have the potential to become the norm in industries that rely heavily on bearings. For further information please visit: ttps://www.smbbearings.com/
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