Industrial plant operators are increasingly supporting better decision-making by using the digitalisation capabilities available through instrumentation and plant management systems. Saverio Barbero Lodigiani and David Lincoln for ABB Measurement and Analytics in the UK, explain how these capabilities can help to boost plant and process performance by providing the data needed for smarter operation and maintenance.

Nick Boughton, digital lead at leading systems integrator Boulting Technology, examines how AR can be used across the manufacturing industry.

A steel producer has installed a condition monitoring solution from Schaeffler to help prevent unscheduled stoppages to its critical furnace deflection rolls. PWE reports.

Nick Boughton (pictured), digital lead at Boulting Technology, explains how AR and VR are re-defining plant maintenance.

Jonathan Wilkins, marketing director at EU Automation, explains the technology that manufacturers can use to improve MRO in their facilities.

The answer to this month’s trouble shooter is provided by MISTRAS Group Ltd.

Rockwell Automation has updated its HMI software to equip industrial workers with better information to run and maintain their systems. New features in the FactoryTalk View software version 10.0 include greater access to information, new mobile device support and better cross-software integration to improve productivity.`

Dave Dyer, technical sales engineer at Global Heat Transfer, explains how a detailed understanding of a heat transfer system can help manufacturers maintain efficiency and prevent costly downtime.

Sean Robinson, service leader at industrial analytics platform supplier Novotek UK & Ireland, explains how plant managers can make proactive maintenance even more effective with machine learning.

A host of senior engineering professionals will be taking part in the Insights keynote theatre at this year’s Maintec Exhibition in November to discuss and debate the latest challenges influencing maintenance engineering. PWE reports.

It’s widely understood that improving the efficiency of equipment and processes will make a business more competitive and reduce operational costs. However, this is easier said than done, as identifying the areas that need improving can be challenging — especially in sugar plants, where many managers have grown accustomed to high energy usage and carbon emission levels. PWE reports.

Nick Boughton, sales manager at leading systems integrator Boulting Technology, explains how AR and VR are re-defining plant maintenance.

Muntons Malt, one of the UK’s largest producers of malted barley has chosen the Smart Condition Monitoring (SCM) system from Mitsubishi Electric to protect fans and motors vital to its large-scale and sensitive production process. PWE reports.

The answer to this month’s trouble shooter is supplied by FLIR Systems.

Nick Boughton, digital lead at systems integrator Boulting Technology explains how plants with legacy equipment can retrospectively upgrade their facility to a smart factory.

Stefan Reuther, chief sales officer at COPA-DATA, explains how to leverage predictive analytics to reduce factory downtime and increase business competitiveness.

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Over the past five years, the industrial sector has begun to see the value in digitalisation and has invested more in adopting it. With this has come a cultural shift from reactive equipment maintenance to proactive maintenance that pre-empts problems. Sean Robinson, service leader at industrial analytics platform supplier Novotek UK & Ireland reports.

Developments in smart instrumentation and asset management systems are offering a raft of new opportunities for industrial process operators. Providing real-time access to an expanded array of information, these developments can help to dramatically improve process performance. PWE looks at the key developments that have taken place and the benefits they can bring in a process environment.

Phil Taylor Associate Consultant, MCP Consulting Group, looks at maintenance software strategies.

Europe's biggest conference on maintenance & asset management returns to Antwerp, Belgium between September 24-27. PWE reports.

Flowmeter technology has made some significant steps in the past few years. While the traditional mechanical systems have remained relatively unchanged, the development of ultrasonic, sonar and magnetic systems has progressed significantly.

As more companies move to a predictive model of equipment maintenance, they are looking for ways to use connected devices to improve field service. George Walker, managing director of field service management software provider Novotek UK and Ireland, explains how the Internet of Things (IoT) is changing field service.

Marc Heggemann, head of group commercial digital solutions at Sulzer, says that the future lies in gaining insight from the available data, and ensuring we have the right information at the right place at the right time. PWE takes a look at the company’s BLUE BOX advanced remote analytics platform.

Q: Several heat treatment processes are available for gears, what’s the difference between them? The answer to this month’s trouble shooter question is provided by Dennis Lawson, gear expert with R. A. Rodriguez.

A manufacturer of sheet metal assemblies recently sought a solution to short lifespan issues with the drive and guide elements on its automated welding systems. In fact, the linear guides for a robotic welding gun on one particular production line had to be replaced every two or three months. Due to the cost of replacement parts and maintenance time, as well as equipment downtime, the company asked NSK to investigate and provide a proposal to address the problem.-Image1.jpeg - Linear guides in robotic welding systems are subject to harsh operating conditions

Highland Spring, supplier of natural source bottled spring water, has selected Spidex’s Mainsaver CMMS, to support best-practice maintenance at its plant in Blackford, Perthshire. PWE takes a closer look.

Behind the drawn factory doors of facilities across Europe and with the continuing march towards Industry 4.0, humans are working safely alongside a new kind of colleague; one that is stronger, faster and more efficient than ever before: collaborative robots. PWE takes a look at how to choose the right bearing for this new automation application.

For manufacturers interested in harnessing Industry 4.0, condition monitoring is often a quick win. It can reduce downtime, extend the lifetime of equipment, and improve Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). Like Industry 4.0, however, it is also in danger of becoming yet another “buzzword” that is mentioned frequently, but not understood. David Manning-Ohren, condition monitoring manager at ERIKS UK, sheds some light on how to implement condition monitoring effectively, regardless of the business or the budget.

Jonathan Wilkins, marketing director of obsolete industrial equipment supplier, EU Automation, shares his vision for a downtime free age.

David Hannaby, SICK’s UK product manager for Presence Detection takes a look at why sensors are the building blocks of Industry 4.0.

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Composite repairs and wrap systems are not necessarily a hot topic anymore, with many standards, procedures and case studies available on the subject. However, every so often we still come across a story of a simple wrap being used as an ingredient for an unorthodox, well-engineered repair solution. PWE reports.

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Three distinctly different cloud-based remote services for drives offer instant alerts, rapid assistance and support before failure occurs.

Robert Glass, global food and beverage communications manager at ABB, explains the opportunities digitalisation presents for the food and beverage industry.

Software-powered connected services drive digital transformation. PWE reports.

Lee Sullivan, regional manager for industrial automation software company, COPA-DATA UK, explains his five steps towards zero downtime.

When mobile phones were first released in the mid-1980s, a handset would set you back £3000 ($4000) — the equivalent of almost £7500 ($10,000) today. PWE looks at how smaller food manufacturers can take advantage of low-cost digital technology.

A: By the nature of what they do, bearings are prone to spinning within their housings. This action inevitably causes damage, regardless of the type of fit employed. Where, for example, a bearing is secured by a press fit, the actual metal-to-metal contact accounts for as little as 30% of the total surface of the joint. Small micro-movements at the joint interface can then produce particles which abrade and reduce the contact surface even more.

Machine safety is the responsibility of all machine designers, manufacturers and end-users from both a legal and moral standpoint. In the past the desire to offer the very best protection has sometimes been tempered with the need to keep costs down, prompting the question – ‘What price safety?’

Peter Crossen, VP of NCH Europe, looks at the cost of a leaking pipe.

The answer to this month’s trouble shooter is provided by Sam Thiara, Emerson Automation Solutions.

By implementing a temporary monitoring solution for assessing the condition of the trunnion drive end bearing on a cement tube mill, Schaeffler has helped Sunstate Cement prolong the operating life of its mill, thus avoiding the significant cost of replacing the bearing and the associated downtime. PWE reports.

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There is no shortage of vision systems that can offer complex inspection capabilities at incredible speed but their performance often falls short in harsher industrial environments.

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Smart devices have created connections across industrial operations with the potential to empower plant or distributed workers. For many producers going through a digital transformation, these modern tools can take too long to deploy, with too much investment required to decipher and deliver relevant data to the right employees.

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When a motor is in use it is possible for the shaft to become electrically charged, which can be dangerous and also cause internal damage to the motor. Many solutions to this are expensive and also add significantly to the total lifetime running costs of the motor.