Intelligent solutions for improved machine maintenance
Systems that determine the condition of in-service equipment and act only when maintenance is actually necessary are better than ever. However, they are insufficiently used in industry because of prohibitive costs. The EU-funded POWER-OM (Power consumption driven reliability, operation and maintenance optimisation) project worked on a smart, implementable and cost-effective method that will minimise spare parts costs, system downtime and maintenance time. The intelligent technology will be applied to the two key machine tool components – spindles and linear guides – that are most responsible for downtime. Project partners developed several non-intrusive components that can be seamlessly installed into a production machine and methods that detect faults by using current and voltage information. A web-based platform was also set up to collect information from production machines. It carries out regular assessments on the performance of machine tools, including their health and energy consumption. It alerts the user when machine tool performance drops or when a faulty component is detected. The components enable machine tool manufacturers to be more proactive in anticipating or addressing potential client issues and to perform efficient and reliable diagnoses. By preventing unexpected equipment failures and optimising planning of predictive maintenance operations, the solution can increase overall equipment and business efficiency. POWER-OM will boost the competitiveness of the European machine tool industry, which is responsible for one third of the world's machine tool production and for half of its global exports. The timing could not be better, given Asia's emergence as a leader in the market.
Keywords
Production machines, POWER-OM, maintenance optimisation, spindles, linear guides
