Capital Equipment News July 2018

TALKING POINT

Metric Automotive Engineering has also ploughed a sizeable investment in its cylinder block section where it has put up two huge Rottler CNC block machining centres.

“As part of the maintenance plan, OEMs know that within a certain number of hours, the engine is supposed to come out for a full remanufacture, and this is factored into the costing and metrics of the whole lifecycle of the particular piece of plant.”

Andrew Yorke, operations director at Metric Automotive Engineering

He reasons that, to ensure that this is possible, there is now a big swing towards preventative maintenance and preventative overhauls, especially driven by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Metric Automotive Engineering components that are still on maintenance plan – as a positive way to maintain their warranties. Yorke says OEMs monitor the engines and ensure the right level of service workmanship to avoid catastrophic failures. “As part of the maintenance plan, OEMs know that within a certain number of hours, the engine is supposed to come out for a full remanufacture, and this is factored into the costing and metrics of the whole lifecycle of the particular piece of plant,” says Yorke. “Preventative maintenance ensures that there are no failures of major components recorded. As a result, when the engine comes out for its complete remanufacture, there is still a good handle on the cost of the rebuild.” The shift towards planned remanufacture of engines is one of the major drivers of Metric Automotive Engineering’s business. To date, the specialist diesel engine component is contracted by several OEMs to remanufacture customers’ engine

QUICK TAKE

Beyond their first overhaul, usually around 15 000 hours, today’s diesel engines used to power commercial heavy equipment are now designed for two or more service lives between overhauls

The shift towards planned remanufacture of engines is one of the major drivers of Metric Automotive Engineering’s business

A huge investment in a new crankshaft grinder kicked off Metric Automotive Engineering’s advanced tooling revolution. The custom-built machine is capable of handling 4,75 m of shaft length, making it the biggest in Africa

Metric Automotive Engineering has also invested in a new crankshaft polisher which can handle crankshafts with lengths of over 6 m, making it the largest of its kind in Africa

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS JULY 2018 25