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02/08/2010
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KPM UK reports that investing in a thermal imaging camera is helping it to predict mechanical faults before they become costly failures.
 The company, which is the UK arm of Kawasaki Precision Machinery's Heavy Industries Group, supplying hydraulic motors, pumps and maintenance services, bought a Flir T425 camera.
"We are actively developing new programmes to improve our OEE [overall equipment efficiency] by reducing unplanned downtime," explains Ray Wilson, assistant manager, maintenance with KPM.
"To that end we are moving from a reactive to a proactive approach. So we have appointed a PPM engineer and it's his job to encourage machine operators and production managers to use predictive maintenance tools. Thermal imaging is now one of the tools at his disposal," he adds.
An important ingredient in this initiative is the introduction of a 'birth certificate' for each KPM machine, Wilson explains. He also says that it was in the creation of one birth certificate at a customer's site that showed a problem with a breaker to a machine tool.
"The camera detected the fault in time for us to get a replacement from Japan," explains Wilson. "This part had to be made to order, so if the camera had not flagged up the problem and the breaker had failed, we could have had a machine down for weeks. Worse still, if the faulty breaker had caused a fire, the electrical system would have been damaged and the safety of the workforce compromised."
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Author
Brian Tinham
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