Capital Equipment News November 2020

CONDITION MONITORING

Barloworld Equipment's condition monitoring centre.

Condition monitoring: simple in principal, complex in application, essential for every fleet Condition monitoring of capital equipment can save millions of rands in secondary damage, lost production and unnecessary maintenance. It is critical as it provides fleet operators with a better understanding and knowledge of their equipment and allows for equipment longevity, lower TCO and improved long-term productivity. By Mark Botha.

A ddressing the role of condi- tion monitoring in a world where every fleet equip- ment owner seeks to get the best out of their mis- sion-critical capital equipment assets, Barloworld Equipment head: Technology JP Briggs says condition monitoring is a pro-active process of evaluating equip- ment and application data. This, he says, provides maintenance, component replacement, application and repair recommendations that help customers lower owning and operating costs. “Understanding the condition of your assets means you have more opportunity to save cost by acting before failure

occurs, or to structure maintenance tactics that keep your assets running when you need them.” He says Barloworld Equipment helps customers by analysing electronic data, fluids analysis results, inspection results, equipment history and site analysis, and provides value-added recommendations for its customers. Lourens Zeelie, product manager: Condition Monitoring at SKF, notes that condition monitoring also allows continuous surveillance, providing the fleet equipment owner with the peace of mind that, should anything happen, “they would know about it”. “This allows the owner to better

understand the condition of their fleet and thereby manage it better.” Condition monitoring plays a key role in boosting the bottom line for fleet equipment owners who seek to maximise the productivity of their capital equipment assets, says WearCheck MD Neil Robinson. “Unscheduled machine failure is never good news, particularly when it is severe. The unbudgeted costs of wasted downtime, lost production and emergency spare part replacement can be brutal to the financial well-being of an operation.” He says WearCheck has developed proven techniques to reduce maintenance

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS NOVEMBER 2020 12