- Company: FP McCann
- Industry: Process & Manufacturing
- Services: Wireless Monitoring, Server Hosting, Data Analysis
- Location: United Kingdom
- Cost-Saving: £120,000
The Overview
We supplied and installed a Ronds wireless system on four bullet skips. An alarm threshold was triggered on a drive gearbox. On further inspection the drive chain tensioner had snapped. The quick reaction prevented a catastrophic failure, resulting in cost savings of £120,000.
The Situation
A large manufacturer and supplier of precast concrete solutions in the UK installed Ronds’ wireless vibration monitoring system on four bullet skips, which feed fresh concrete throughout the factory in a track system suspended in the factory roof.
The Challenges
The bullet skips are not accessible during normal production hours as there are many interlocked gates, which cut off the system if accessed by personnel.
The Solution
The maintenance manager at FP McCann asked us to supply and fit Ronds wireless vibration sensors on their drive motors and gearboxes on all the bullet skips.
The data was transmitted to a remote server via 4G for analysis. FP McCann maintenance staff were notified via email and text if an alarm threshold was triggered.
The Results
An email alert was sent to members of the maintenance and management team after an alarm threshold was triggered on a drive gearbox.
Upon inspection, the drive chain tensioner had snapped meaning the chain was jumping teeth when starting and stopping.
Figure 1: Example of bullet skip suspended in factory roof
The team immediately replaced the drive chain tensioner to prevent catastrophic failure, which would have resulted in a loss of one day’s production and required a lot of resources to replace the drive train components.
It was estimated that a catastrophic skip failure can cost up to £15,000 per hour in lost production, resulting in a potential cost savings of around £120,000.
Figure 2: Ronds wireless vibration and temperature monitoring sensor