FEBRUARY 2018 An Applied Technology Media Brand

CMMS, EAM Tips

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Root-Cause Analysis 18
Bearing Healthcare 21
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CONTENTS FEBRUARY 2018 | VOL. 31, NO. 2 | efficientplantmag.com

10
The tribology program at
Auburn Univ. is helping fill
the skills gap by developing
graduates who have exten-

Maximize CMMS, EAM Use sive practical experience

and can step into manufac-
Experts say focus on stakeholder buy-in and strong data management to get the most out of your turing positions without
software investment. substantial training.
See p. 14.
Gary L. Parr, Editorial Director

14 18 21 24 28
Tribology Program Don’t Ignore Caring for Press-Brake Oil Systems
Fills Skills Gap Small Failures Bearings Safeguarding Need to Breathe
Michelle Segrest Randall Noon, P.E. In Extreme Matters Ken Bannister
Contributing Editor Environments Contributing Editor

FEBRUARY 2018 EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM | 1

CONTENTS

8
31 Implementations
Know Your R&M Quartile
SAP: Kicking
Bad Habits Dr. Klaus M. Blache
Contributing Editor

32
Advice for
Automated
Substations

33
Good BOMs Boost 38
Maintenance
IIoT
Efficiency Digital Platforms Join
10
TPM and IIoT

34
Grant Gerke
Contributing Editor DEPARTMENTS On The Cover
Successful reliability and maintenance
6 Editorial efforts typically leverage CMMS/EAM
Smarten Up About
Rotor Analysis 36 On the Floor systems in managing assets and making
the best use of resources. This month’s
39 Solution Focus “Industry Views” (p. 10) highlights advice

41 Products from experts on maximizing the value of

35 45 Showcase
such systems in your operations.

Heed These 46 Index

Signs of Inefficiency
48
Efficiency Insight
Embrace IIoT Technology
Gary Mintchell
Contributing Editor
Visit our website!
efficientplantmag.com
...
For information on
web-exclusive content,
see page 4.

2 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM FEBRUARY 2018

 Choose Performance,
Quality, and Value
Without Compromise
More than 40,000 quality-tested
products at a competitive price.

© Allied Electronics & Automation, 2018 Find this and more at alliedelec.com/rs-pro 1.800.433.5700
EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM

THERE IS MUCH MORE AT EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM

WEB Our website, efficientplantmag.com, is constantly updated to keep you informed of the latest
in reliability and maintenance developments. The most recent information you’ll find includes:

MOBILE TECHNOLOGY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, DEVELOPING SKILLED

PODCAST
In a new podcast, Schneider Electric’s Kim
Custeau discusses mobile technology trends, the
role mobile systems are playing in companies
of all sizes, hurdles that might be slowing future
growth, and data security issues.
efficientplantmag.com/1801mobile
DIGITAL-TWINS PODCAST
GE Digital vice president of Intelligent Systems
explores, with editorial director Gary L. Parr,
the roles artificial intelligence and digital-twins
technology are playing in developing and im-
proving efficiency and asset reliability.
efficientplantmag.com/1801aitech
WORKERS PODCAST
Gary L. Parr interviews Uponor North America
president Bill Gray to learn about the company’s
efforts to develop skilled workers, increase fe-
male manufacturing employment, and educate
students in local schools.
efficientplantmag.com/1801uponor

BANNISTER ON LUBRICATION WEBINAR: COST OF WEBINAR: ASSET

PODCAST
In this month’s podcast with lubrication expert
Ken Bannister, he discusses often overlooked
breathers, the role they play in lubrication sys-
tems, and the various factors involved in
selecting and maintaining the devices.
efficientplantmag.com/1802lube
UNRELIABILITY
In this webinar, industry consultant and author
Al Poling explains what unreliability costs plant
operations and how building and sustaining
a reliability-focused culture can have a direct
impact on the bottom line.
efficientplantmag.com/1709unreliability
MANAGEMENT AND IIoT
Connecting your smart devices, through an
asset-management program, to the Industrial
Internet of Things is a good way to begin real-
izing the benefits of IIoT technology, including
mobile monitoring.
efficientplantmag.com/1708emerson

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 Choose Performance,
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column | editorial
Plenty of
Skills Gap
Fillers
Gary L. Parr
Editorial Director
The Kids to Love KTECH mechatronics
program is open to youth, military vet-
erans, homeless adults, and anyone else
who needs a helping hand. Graduates are
qualified to take the Siemens Certification
exam. Photo courtesy Kids to Love KTECH
6 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM
M
Y FIRST EXPOSURE to
skills-gap-filling programs
was 16 years ago when I was
teaching high-school science at a very small
school in northern Illinois. The closest the
vast majority of students at that school were
ever going to get to a college was watch-
ing Saturday football on TV. Fortunately,
years before I arrived, an educator saw the
same thing and partnered the school with
a nearby community college that offered a
significant skills/technical training program
for high-school students. The “skills gap” we
address today was not an issue then, but the
student need for skills in that community
could have easily been described as critical.
Students in the program would begin
and end their days with core courses (sci-
ence, math, English). About mid-morning,
they would fill up a couple of busses and
head to the community college where
they would learn building construction,
welding, electronics, and other skills. They
would return late afternoon for another
core course, then head home for the day.
For many, I think I can safely say, the
program was a lifesaver. Without those
skills, their futures were not very bright.
I’ll never forget one young man who strug-
gled with “book learning,” and found it
extremely difficult to sit still in my science
class. He was a good kid, and I’m confident
is a good man today, but simply wasn’t
wired to sit in a classroom. Yet he couldn’t
wait to get on that bus each morning.
His efforts earned him a summer job at
a local metalworking business and, upon
graduation from high school, when most
were wondering about their futures, that
summer job became a full-time position.
I still carry the memory of his proud
face when he told me about the job. One
student saved.
OTHER SUCCESSES
Since our December “Industry Views”
article that illustrated what several compa-
nies are doing to fill the skills gap, I’ve be-
come aware of many other programs that
are making a difference for people young
and old. For example, visit efficientplant-
mag.com/1801uponor to hear my podcast
discussion with Bill Gray, president of Up-
onor North America (Apple Valley, MN,
uponor.com), about the three-pronged
approach they are using to develop skilled
workers.
Recently, I came across an article
on al.com by Shelly Haskins about the
KTECH school, which is part of the Kids
to Love program located in Madison,
AL (kidstolove.org). Former foster child
Lee Marshall started The Kids to Love
Foundation to care for foster children.
According to Haskins, Marshall worried
about the futures of the children in her
care. After some fundraising and generous
philanthropic contributions, Marshall
started the KTECH school as an effort to
provide foster children with employable
skills and keep them out of prison.
The mechatronics program is managed
today by Dorothy Havens and, in its two
years, has graduated 29 students ranging
from 18 to 42 years of age. The program
offers 16-week and 6-month paths and is
open to youth, military veterans, homeless
adults, and anyone else who needs a help-
ing hand. Upon completion, students are
skilled enough at mechanical, electrical,
and computerized technologies to take the
Siemens Certification exam. Some 93%
have earned certification.
It’s programs such as these that tell me
the skills gap may not be closing quickly,
but it’s closing. EP
gparr@efficientplantmag.com
FEBRUARY 2018
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 column | implementations
Know “
W
HY IS IT important
to know your R&M
Your R&M
(reliability and mainte-
nance) quartile?” Just like all contin-
uous-improvement efforts, you need
Quartile
to understand your current status to
establish a baseline from which to
measure progress. Let’s take a look at
Reactive Maintenance Percentage and
Dr. Klaus M. Blache Maintenance Cost/Replacement Asset
Univ. of Tennessee Reliability and
Maintainability Center (RMC) Value as means of understanding the
impact of quartiles. The accompanying
table shows percentages, by quartile,
for those two measurements, based on
my 2016 study of more than 140 com-
panies representing more than 3,000
facilities (all types of industries).
Companies in the 1st quartile are at
9% reactive maintenance and operations
in the 2nd quartile are at 19%. Historical
data shows that a reactive-maintenance
event is five to ten times more expensive
than a scheduled-maintenance event. If
you are in the 2nd quartile, that means
10% of your total maintenance budget
x average cost per maintenance event x
5 = your minimum savings if you are a
1st-quartile operation. If you are in the
R&M Percentages by Quartile 3rd or 4th quartile, the savings become
even more eye opening.
The Maintenance Cost/Replacement
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
Asset Value numbers tell the rest of
Reactive
9% 19% 47% 64% the story. I’ve calculated values to less
Maintenance
than 1% (discrete manufacturing) and
Maintenance
exceeding 20% (mining operations),
Cost/
2.1% 3.6% 9.2% 13.3% with most between 2% and 9%. What’s
Replacement
unique about this universal metric is
Asset Value
that it’s scalable for all types and sizes
of businesses. When I go into a facility,
Results from the Univ. of Tennes-
see Reliability and Maintainability I observe current practices to assess
Center study indicate the high how they are actually spending their
level of maintenance expense real-
ized by companies that operate in resources. This includes such things as
the 3rd and 4th quartiles. in-place lean-process elements, daily
maintenance processes, material flow
8 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM
practices, and problem-solving/con-
tinuous-improvement robustness. It
doesn’t take long to determine whether
these processes are in place, understood,
and being applied. By doing this, I can
determine whether daily practices are
driving improvements or costs are being
cut simply to improve the metrics.
Replacement Asset Value (RAV) is a
good indicator of how effectively you are
using financial resources to maintain as-
sets. If you are at 20% of RAV, you spend
enough on maintenance each year to pay
for a new plant every five years. At 2.1%
(1st quartile) of RAV, it would take more
than 47 years for your maintenance ex-
penditures to equal the cost of acquiring
a new plant.
Take time to collect necessary data
so you can have an informed discussion
and make fact-based decisions. Other-
wise, you are only another person with
an opinion. Also, keep in mind that
everything is related. When looking at
industry overall, note that, for each quar-
tile, there is about a 5:1 ratio of Reactive
Maintenance to Maintenance Cost/
RAV. This ratio can vary by industry
type. However, as you get to best-practice
numbers with either of these metrics, the
top-quartile values are similar for most
types of industries.
Know your current and target quar-
tile for these metrics. If you don’t know
where you are going, you may end up
where you are headed. EP
Based in Knoxville, Klaus M. Blache
is director of the Reliability &
Maintainability Center at the Univ. of
Tennessee, and a research professor
in the College of Engineering.
Contact him at kblache@utk.edu.
FEBRUARY 2018
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 feature | industry views

Maximize CMMS,
EAM Use
Gary L. Parr
Editorial Director

Experts say focus on stakeholder buy-in and strong data management

to get the most out of your software investment.

AT THE HEART of just about any reliability-based mainte-
nance program is regular and widespread use of CMMS (com-
puterized maintenance management software) and/or EAM
(enterprise asset management) systems. Organizations that
leverage these systems find it easier to be proactive at sched-
uling maintenance tasks, tracking work orders and logging
results and feedback to apply to future situations, managing
backlogs, communicating with management, and staying on
top of spare parts and consumables and the potential runaway
costs they can generate.
Safety, though, is probably the most important benefit of
effective CMMS/EAM usage. Better planning, organization,
and scheduling allows workers to approach tasks in a calm,
organized manner, fully equipped to do the job properly. In
other words, there are fewer, if any, rushed, pressure-filled
situations that can lead to workplace mistakes and accidents.
CMMS/EAM systems really shine in operations that have
moved to a reliability-based culture that is driven by predic-
tive/prescriptive asset management. Lifecycle management,
analytics, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) data, and com-
pliance are just some of the factors that are effectively handled.
To help you maximize your CMMS/EAM use, we asked
industry experts two questions this month:
 What is your top tip for CMMS or EAM implementation?
 What is the one benefit everyone should be getting out of their
CMMS or EAM software?
Whether you’re at the entry-level end of the spectrum or
your CMMS/EAM system is part of the fabric of your opera-
tion, it never hurts to take a moment to assess if you’re truly
benefiting from your investment.

10 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM FEBRUARY 2018

 feature | industry views

Team Buy-In is Critical CMMS simplify the day-to-day battles ‘A CMMS

Paul Lachance, senior manufacturing advisor,
Dude Solutions, Cary, NC,
dudesolutions.com
Top Implementation Tip: Get “buy
in” from the entire team. A CMMS
will impact and benefit many people,
often in different ways. For example, if
you are looking to improve efficiency, asset
reliability, and profitability, a CMMS can be a
big help. But, before you take on a project such as this, form a team
and ensure they are ready, willing, and able. No one likes to have
software forced on them.
It’s also better for all, and usually much more effective, if the
entire team is involved at appropriate levels. What does manage-
ment want in terms of metrics and reporting? What problems are
the maintenance/operations managers trying to solve? How can a
for the technicians? You won’t know will improve
unless they are all involved at the
uptime,
appropriate levels. Full team buy-in
ultimately allows a more effective, effi-
create a more
cient, and quicker implementation. predictable
Primary Benefit: A CMMS should production
enable everyone do their job better environment,
and look great while doing it! A reac- and reduce
tive-maintenance culture can be toxic fire fights.’
and downtime is a killer to operations,
profitability, and morale.
A CMMS will improve uptime, create a more predictable produc-
tion environment, and reduce the “fire fights” often found in a non-
CMMS environment. Ever see a production supervisor the moment
they find out their critical asset is down unexpectedly?
When unplanned downtime becomes habit, it creates a toxic, un-
welcoming environment. A CMMS changes all of that, and makes
you look good doing it!

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FEBRUARY 2018 EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM | 11

 feature | industry views
Focus on Quality Master Data
Tara Holwegner, CPLP, PMP, CMRP,
learning and performance subject
matter expert, Life Cycle Engineering,
Charleston, SC, LCE.com
Top Implementation Tip: Our
subject-matter experts publish
extensively on this topic, and
two themes surface repeatedly:
the importance of including all
stakeholder groups early in the design
process and a focused effort on quality mas-
ter data. ISO 55000 details a formula of people and physical assets
creating value for the organization. In this spirit, when planning
to implement a CMMS or EAM system, it is critical to understand
how information passes between and through organizations so you
can identify stakeholder groups and design requirements to meet
the needs of different workers.
How do people work with and interact with each other and
Management Support is Critical
Steve Wigton, training coordinator/consultant, Mapcon Technologies Inc.,
Johnston, IA, mapcon.com
Top Implementation Tip: Management support is needed, especial-
ly beyond the original purchase. It is imperative to have full engi-
neering and operations involvement to gather equipment items and
other data to correctly implement the system for future use. These
days, the only honest hands-on commitment there is are the front-
line technicians and supervisors actually entering daily transactions.
While this is important, it is typically post-implementation and is
often too late at that point. Without other departments involved in
the implementation of a CMMS, systems can stagnate and fail. In-
volving all stakeholders in the implementation will greatly increase
the chances of CMMS success.
12 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM
assets? Early involvement encourages user buy-in, influences
functional requirements, and can identify training needs early in
the process to promote proficiency in the system’s use. Regarding
master data, in LCE’s four decades of experience working with
organizations striving for reliable operations, we’ve seen around
30% data accuracy in CMMS/EAMS systems. Making sure that an
organized asset hierarchy is in place and establishing standards for
asset types, naming conventions, and additional necessary data,
such as replacement asset value, provides the foundation for pull-
ing reliable information to make data-driven decisions.
Primary Benefit: I discussed this question with colleagues,
and although our discussions yielded different perspectives, each
agreed on a few general assertions: CMMS and EAM systems
should provide valuable data for better decision making, the sys-
tems should provide an enterprise approach to asset management,
and ideally, companies should see 20% to 40% maintenance-cost
reduction through its use. For work and materials management, re-
liability engineering, and operations, the history kept in a CMMS/
EAM tells a story that supports troubleshooting and problem-
solving activities to reduce downtime, increase productivity, and
ultimately increase profitability.
Primary Benefit: The main benefit
of a CMMS is definitely the delivery
of meaningful reports. Generally
speaking, a CMMS is just a large
database, so being able to run
reports using that data can be a
huge advantage. It can even help
with business-intelligence analysis.
For example, if a maintenance man-
ager needs to determine whether it is
more cost-effective to repair a machine or
replace it, they can look at the machine history
and run a report that details the cost and time spent on repairs for a
given amount of time. Additionally, the ability to run reports within
a CMMS allows users to quickly and easily gather information that
can be used for audits. EP
FEBRUARY 2018
 55+
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 feature | tribology

Near right. Professor Robert

Jackson teaches Collin
Phillips how to use the Bruker
Dektak 150 profilometer to
measure surface roughness.

Middle. Mechanical engi-

neering student Kaylee Wynn
is developing skills in the De-
sign and Manufacturing Lab.

Far right. The Design and

Manufacturing Lab offers
students an opportunity
to learn how to use major
manufacturing equipment,
and also teaches them how
to design equipment for the
facilities of the future.

Tribology Michelle

Program
Samford Hall is an iconic Segrest
building on the expansive Contributing
Auburn campus. All images Editor
by Michelle Segrest

Fills Skills Gap

A one-of-a-kind program at Auburn Univ. is helping
develop manufacturing engineers with hands-on
experience that translates directly to real-world jobs.

WHETHER IT’S AN AIRPORT runway, a
manufacturing robot, fluid couplings, power
transmission, a tile floor, human-joint replace-
ment, hard-drive technology, or biomedical
equipment, surfaces are in constant contact
with each other in the mechanical world. The
result is friction and wear. In fact, one fourth
of the world’s manmade energy is lost to
friction. Tribology is used to maintain, control,
monitor, and positively manipulate friction,
and studying it has the potential to make in-
novative contributions to industry, society, and
environmental conservation.
“Friction is very complicated,” said Robert
L. Jackson, Ph.D., professor and director of the
Auburn Univ. Tribology Program, Auburn, AL
(auburn.edu). “We teach our students to not
oversimplify. Friction changes with elements
like temperature, humidity, and the geometries
of the surfaces. Everything affects it, and it’s
difficult to predict. Part of what we teach is to
know where to look. In engineering, we are
teaching specifics, but we are also teaching the
students where to look for solutions and how
to solve problems.”
Tribology is the multidisciplinary study of
surface contact, friction, wear, and lubrication.
While most accredited engineering programs
offer an elective on the subject, Auburn is the
only school in the United States that offers a

14 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM FEBRUARY 2018

 feature | tribology
minor in Tribology and Lubrication Science for its engineering students.
For the students and the mechanical-engineering world, the program is
making a difference.
“If companies need an intern or to hire someone with experience right
out of college, they come to us,” Jackson explained. “This program is
unique. People from industry approached us and said no other universi-
ties were teaching tribology with any kind of depth. There is a real need
in manufacturing for these skills. One student got a job with a compa-
ny that makes baby carriages. They said the tribology knowledge this
student gained in our program was a key in her hiring. Any facility that
has moving parts needs to worry about friction. Every mechanism in a
manufacturing plant needs proper lubrication.”
Tribology drives modern technology and is critical to improving
energy efficiency and reducing environmental waste by extending the
life of consumer products and industrial equipment. Industry demand
is high for graduates with a background in tribology, Jackson said. “Stu-
dents who participate in Auburn’s unique minor gain a multidisciplinary
appreciation and broad understanding of the field of tribology—espe-
cially in the subjects of engineering, chemistry, and business,” he said. “It
provides a pipeline for well-prepared graduates to meet industry needs.”
In addition to the required courses—Friction, Wear, and Lubrication;
Rheology; and Organic Chemistry—the Tribology and Lubrication
Science minor involves a diverse laboratory in which students participate
in actual studies for major companies, as well as projects they invent
themselves. The program also offers a full-service Design and Manufac-
turing Lab in which students will become nationally certified apprentice
machinists in one semester.
Minors include electives in Corrosion, Boundary, and Full-Film Lubri-
FEBRUARY 2018
cation; Metalworking and Manufacturing Tribology; Macroscale Assem-
bly and Applications of Nanomaterials; and Multiscale Contact Mechan-
ics. In the lab, the students gain practical experience that manufacturing
employers consider to be the equivalent of real-world experience.
“We create all kinds of projects for the lab,” Jackson said. “Sometimes
there is a new technology we want to research. Sometimes problems
come from the industry. Sometimes students come up with ideas. One
wanted to measure the surface roughness of Legos. Another group mea-
sured the wear on their cell-phone screen. One student was a trombone
player, and he did a report on the lubricants used for the instrument’s
sliding mechanism. We are truly producing professionals who have
extensive expertise in the field of tribology.”
“We have potential employers who ask for five to ten years of expe-
rience on their job applications,” Jackson continued. “When they learn
about our program, they waive this requirement because they can see
that the practical experience is being earned through this minor.”
Among the students who have benefited from the program are Collin
Phillips, Zoe Tucker, and Kaylee Wynn. Each has excelled in a variety of
ways, and each has chosen a different career path.
MECHANICAL-CONTACT ENGINEER
In May 2018, Collin Phillips will earn his Mechanical Engineering degree
with a minor in Tribology and Lubrication Science. After summer in-
ternships with Chevron (chevron.com), he landed a job with ExxonMo-
bil (exxonmobil.com) in its Baytown, TX, location as a fixed-equipment
mechanical-contact engineer.
“I can say with absolute confidence that my tribology experience at
Auburn helped me get this job and the internships,” Phillips reported.
“ExxonMobil specifically recruited me because of my three summers
working in the tribology lab at Chevron (Pascagoula, MS). ExxonMo-
bil works closely with our [university] program to recruit people with
tribology experience. They are always looking to recruit people who
understand lubrication, and especially tribology. Even the marketing
people at companies like this need to have at least a basic understanding
of lubrication and engineering.”
Phillips’ physics team activities at McGill-Toolen High School in Mo-
bile, AL, and spare-time hobby tinkering with cars, fostered an interest
in engine longevity and fuel efficiency. When he arrived at Auburn in the
fall of 2014, he learned about the tribology program during Engineering
Orientation and knew it would be a fit for him.
“I am terrible at math, but I enjoy solving problems,” Phillips said. “I
like the classical mechanical physics, but when I came to Auburn, I didn’t
even know that tribology existed. I learned quickly that anywhere you
have two surfaces contacting in motion is where tribology comes in. You
don’t have to have lubricants. You can just study surfaces. If two surfaces
don’t wear away over time, then maybe there is not a problem… but this
EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM | 15

doesn’t exist too often. Friction is complicated.
We’ve gotten a good mix of knowledge about
how to analyze wear and friction and learn
where it comes from.”
At Chevron, Phillips focused on testing and
analyzing lubricant additives for new motor
oils. “We are specifically looking at boundary
lubrication,” he said. “One key thing I used at
Chevron in the tribology lab in Richmond,
CA, was through researching Stribeck curves,
which define how friction is related to several
variables like speed and load. They use the
Stribeck curve to understand where an engine’s
performance is coming from.”
A common theme when studying lubrica-
tion is understanding what kind of film you
are dealing with and trying to predict the life
of the equipment, Phillips added. “In the lab,
we take whatever the problem is in real life and
try to mimic it in a controlled environment,”
he explained. “We use the same geometries,
load, speed, to make it as close as possible. We
receive real-world, hands-on application ex-
perience, in addition to classroom instruction,
scholarship support, internships, upper-level
technical lab experience, and research experi-
ence—all in one bundle.”
RESEARCH-LAB TECHNICIAN
Zoe Tucker grew up in Huntsville, AL, in a
family of engineers. “My entire family is in en-
gineering,” she said. “Growing up, I didn’t even
know there was an option to be anything but
an engineer. It was only a question of which
type of engineering. I’m the black sheep of the
family because I got into mechanical engineer-
ing instead of electrical.”
Tucker is a fifth-year senior at Auburn in
mechanical engineering and plans to pursue
a doctorate in materials engineering. Her
passion is research, and advanced academia
is her path. “I first heard about the tribology
program during my first-semester chemistry
class,” she said. “I thought it was interesting
and later became an officer in the TLSS (Tri-
bology and Lubrication Sciences Society). I’ve
16 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM
feature | tribology
been conducting research with Dr. Jackson for
several years.”
During a past summer, Tucker worked
an internship with RSC Chemical Solutions,
makers of Liquid Wrench, in Charlotte, NC
(rscbrands.com). “The lab had people who had
been studying tribology for 25 years and I felt
very comfortable discussing tribology issues
with them because this program prepared me
so well,” she said. “I was still learning, but was
comfortable and confident with my knowledge
level. We are getting useful skills, education,
and training to prepare us for the real world.”
Tucker’s ambition is to work at a research lab,
perhaps with the U.S. Department of Energy.
She received an Auburn undergraduate re-
search fellowship and the Society of Tribology
and Lubrication Sciences Boozer fellowship to
support her research, in which she compared
transparent and opaque nanoparticle-en-
hanced lubricants.
“For this project, we used one lubricant that
is dark and has nanoparticles that darken the
lubricant,” she explained. “You can teach the
user that this is normal, but to some extent it’s
important to look at it and ensure that it’s how
you expect it to look. The consumer may look
at it and say, ‘This isn’t what I’m used to seeing.’
We wanted to use a clear nanoparticle to see
if it had the same effects as the darker particle,
but without any change to the lubricant
performance. A grad student in chemical
engineering put together the chemistry of the
lubricants and then I tested them. In the end,
it was determined it didn’t make a difference.
But it was interesting to see that there are some
nanoparticles that won’t change the way [the
lubricant] looks. We hope we can continue to
do this kind of research so we can get some
that won’t change the appearance but still do
the work it needs to do.”
Tucker has worked with the tribology pro-
gram for four years. “It’s given me many op-
portunities I would not have gotten elsewhere,”
she said. “One thing is we go to the Society of
Tribologists and Lubrication Scientists (STLE)
conference every year. After attending three
times, I began to know people at the confer-
ence, and this gave me confidence to pursue a
doctorate.”
MANUFACTURING-DESIGN
ENGINEER
Growing up in Ocilla, GA, Kaylee Wynn had
an early interest in engineering.
“My dad went to school for civil engineering
and owns a construction business with his
brother, so growing up on a farm and on the
construction site, I was always around machin-
ery,” she said. “As a kid, I was always curious
about how things worked, and I was also good
at problem solving and building anything I
could get my hands on. All these things pushed
me to go into the engineering field.”
Wynn is now a second-year graduate stu-
dent in Mechanical Engineering and has been
doing research on orthogonal metal cutting
infused with additive manufacturing with, Dr.
Lewis N. Payton, Ph.D., director of the Design
and Manufacturing Lab.
“This program has really helped me to
understand more than just what you read in
books and in classes,” she explained. “Being
here in the lab with Dr. Payton has taught me
more hands-on skills and especially how to be
more creative and how to solve problems. I’d
love to find a job somewhere in manufacturing
and work my way up with the company. I want
to be involved in the designing of equipment.
In this lab, the students are taught how to use
the machines, but we take it a step further. We
are taught how to design machines in a way
that someone else can use them. The idea is
to make designs that are not impossible, but
realistic.”
Wynn learned about wear and lubrication
through the tribology courses.
“For instance, in the Design and Manufac-
turing Lab we create parts by using several
different tools,” she said. “The class taught me
about the wear of those tools and how lubri-
cation can help to not only preserve tool life,
FEBRUARY 2018
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 feature | tribology

but also give a much better surface finish to the part make better artificial joints, perhaps we
being made. This knowledge can be used in future can make better industrial bearings.”
jobs, especially if I go into a manufacturing field.” Another nontraditional research
“The lab has given me more hands-on experience area is electrical contacts. “In tribol-
in manufacturing engineering than anything else I ogy, the chemistry, fluid, thermal
have done,” she continued. “Working in it has taught effects, etc., are all considered but
me how to apply what I’ve learned in my classes. then you add electricity into the
For me, I can try to learn everything you can think problem and it makes things more
of in a class, but until I do it myself and apply it to a complicated,” Jackson explained.
real-world situation, I won’t truly learn it. This lab “We do a lot of research on
has taught me how to apply what I’ve learned so that the reliability of electrical
when I graduate, I have a much better understanding connectors. Tribology
of what I was taught in my classes.” is very diverse. We
always get new things Above. Zoe
FILLING THE SKILLS GAP to work on. Anytime Tucker operates
the software
The number-one concern of the future of manu- you have interactions controlling the
facturing is filling the skills gaps, Professor Jackson between surfaces, Bruker UMT
friction and wear
stated. “Industry is full of people getting ready to tribology is very
test machine.
retire. Auburn is positioning graduates to be able to important.”
fill these positions.” Dr. Payton agreed that
Left. A view of
Jackson is a graduate of Georgia Tech, Atlanta, this kind of experience helps the multi-scale tribology
which had a strong tribology research program. to fill industry’s skills gap. “In laboratory at Auburn.
“I took an elective and wondered why no one was the Design and Manufacturing Lab it is
talking about this,” he said. “I couldn’t believe I had not our goal to make machinists,” he said. “It is our
to take an elective to learn about this. I asked one of goal to make designers who understand what their
the professors if I could do some summer research. technicians can and cannot do. We have 1,400 qual-
He gave me a project and it grew from there.” Those ified users of this lab. They build things for research,
experiences later inspired him to spearhead the personal, and class projects. Once they finish the
program at Auburn. basic course, they are very skilled on these machines. See videos about the
Auburn Tribology
“Students come into the lab and get their hands They learn in one semester everything about operat-
Program in the online
dirty, helping with experiments, making measure- ing these machines that students learn at a two-year version of this article at
ments, and then analyzing the data,” Jackson said. community college.” efficientplantmag.com.
“This is very valuable experience, even if they are not There is a misconception in industry that someone
going to do research after school. It’s very applicable coming out of a two-year college is ready to do real
to an environment where they may need to evaluate machinist work on a production line, Payton said.
the wear and friction and lubrication of a certain ap- “They are capable of doing basic things like setting
plication. Some companies have similar machines to up a CNC machine,” he explained, “but they are Michelle Segrest is
what we have here. These machines are actually used not qualified to optimize the machines to achieve president of Navigate
in manufacturing facilities.” maximum throughput. They can’t design tooling. Content Inc. and
specializes in creating
The students also learn from some nontraditional “Some major four-year universities also are
content for the processing
studies. For example, Jackson is collaborating with not offering this education and training,” Payton industries. If your facility
Auburn’s Veterinary School to study the cartilage of a noted. “It’s difficult to imagine who will build the has an interesting
horse’s leg. next generation of machines when the colleges efficiency, maintenance,
and/or reliability story
“We theorize that the cartilage on the different don’t have several generations of old machines to
to tell, please contact
joints is also different,” he said. “This is different than teach with, and the students are not actually using her at michelle@
other engineering materials. For instance, if we can the machines.” EP navigatecontent.com

FEBRUARY 2018 EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM | 17

 feature | reliability strategies

Don’t
Ignore
Small
Failures
While a power plant’s fractured oil plug seemed
like a small failure, the root cause suggested
larger, more costly incidents could follow.

Randall Noon, P.E.

THE FOLLOWING CASE study
involves a fractured oil plug in a power
plant. In itself, a fractured oil plug isn’t
a significant failure in a large industrial
facility. However, even back-of-the-
envelope analyses of seemingly small
failure incidents can reveal larger
patterns that should be addressed.
INITIAL FAILURE STORY
The oil plug shown in the above
photograph had been removed from
a 300-hp vertically mounted electric
motor. That motor drives a mixed-flow,
single-stage vertical pump in a power
plant. The pump feeds cooling water
from a river to various heat exchangers.
The plug is from the lower oil reservoir
that services the lower motor bearing.
An upper reservoir services the motor’s
upper bearing.
The fracture was discovered when
the plug was removed to collect a
lubricant sample for periodic analy-
sis. Leakage from this plug had been
occasionally reported in the past. Each
time a leak was noted, a mechanic was
dispatched to fix it.
No other information was supplied
at the time the photograph was pro-

Following maintenance recommendations for inexpensive components, such as the oil plug in
the inset (above), can prevent damage to much larger, more expensive equipment.

18 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM FEBRUARY 2018

 feature | reliability strategies
vided for review. What could the image
possibly tell us?
OBSERVATIONS
The plug’s threads (standard right-hand
type) are undamaged. The head of the
plug has tool marks on the edge of the
flat, i.e., in the top left in the photograph.
These marks are consistent with those
made when a tool slips off the head. In
this case, they appear on the side of the
head typically engaged when the plug is
being loosened.
The edge between the two visible flats
is rounded off. This typically results when
a tool slips on the head. There are tool
marks opposite the aforementioned ones,
near the thumb of the person holding the
plug. These marks are serrated, similar to
those that would be made by a tool with
gripping teeth.
The plug is equipped with an O-ring,
i.e., gasket. Instead of being round, the
gasket profile is misshapen. A ridge down
the middle of the gasket indicates it had
been crushed by tightening and had not
elastically recovered its original round
shape.
Note that the crack in the plug begins
at a thread root. This crack is within the
smallest diameter of the plug’s shaft and
has a barber-pole-type fracture angle
of about 15 deg. The crack also passes
through a hole drilled through the small-
est diameter of the plug. Superimposing
the two sides of the hole bisected by the
fracture, one can see that the hole was
slightly distended in the area where the
crack passed through it. This suggested
the plug was subjected to relatively high
levels of tensile stress.
ANALYSIS
The crack started in the weakest part of
the plug with respect to axial tensile stress:
at the root of a thread where the shaft
FEBRUARY 2018
diameter is smallest and where there is a
3X stress riser.
The 15-deg. angle of the crack indicates
that not only was the area of the fracture
in tensile stress, but that torsional stress
was also present. The angle of fracture
provides a way of determining the ratio of
tensile stress to torsional stress that was
present when the plug fractured. Recalling
a little mechanics of materials, i.e., Mohr’s
Circle of Stress equations, assuming there
was tensile stress due to tightening, as
well as shear stress due to tightening or
loosening of the plug, then the following
holds true:
tan(2q) = (2t)/s
where q = fracture angle of the crack
t = torsional stress
s = axial tensile stress
In this case, the tangent of 2 x 15 deg.
(or 30 deg.) is 0.577. So, when the crack
occurred, the torsional stress being
applied was equal to about 28.8% of the
tensile stress that was present. Substitut-
ing this data into the maximum principle
stress equation for a two-dimensional
case, the maximum principle stress that
existed when the plug fractured is as
follows:
smax = s/2 + [(s /2)2 + t2]1/2
smax = 1.077 s
The plug clearly fractured when it
reached the limit of its ability to resist in-
ternal stress. Thus, smax (above) is equal to
the ultimate strength of the material. The
preceding equation also tells us that the
oil plug was tightened such that its axial
tensile stress was about 93% of its ultimate
material strength.
This amount of tensile stress is unneces-
sary for a simple oil plug. The plug is not
a structural bolt that has to be stretched
EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM | 19

This oil plug clearly frac-
tured when it reached
the limit of its ability to
resist internal stress.
But that wasn’t the root
cause of the problem.
20 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM
feature | reliability strategies
nearly to its breaking point. It merely requires
enough tension to compress the rubber O-ring or
gasket sufficiently to prevent oil leakage from a
low-pressure oil system.
In applying torsion to the plug, shear stress was
added to the axial tensile stress. The additional
shear stress caused the principle stress angle to
shift about 15 deg. The combined tensile and
shear stresses then exceeded the ultimate strength
of the material. In short, the oil plug was tight-
ened until it broke.
WHY?
The motor-maintenance manual recommends
replacing the gasket after the oil plug has been
tightened twice. This is a reasonable recommen-
dation since the elastomer in the gasket, given
time, degree of compression, and ambient
operating temperature, won’t rebound
There’s more to
this story than
meets the eye.
elastically to its original shape. With
each cycle of compression and release,
the gasket becomes misshapen just a little
bit more.
Review of the motor’s maintenance history
revealed that no replacement gasket had been
released from inventory for this specific work
task in several years. Each time an oil leak was
reported, the plug was simply tightened until it
the leakage stopped.
In failure reports from other power plants that
had experienced similarly fractured oil plugs in
similar machines, some authors blamed the orig-
inal material in the oil plug for being too weak.
Personnel at those sites then changed the original
material specification for the plug to a stronger
material. They apparently reasoned a stronger
material would allow them to tighten the oil plug
as needed without fear of fracturing it.
If the primary concern of those power plants
was the oil plug itself, that rationale would hold
true. The additional compression on the gasket
afforded by greater tightening of the oil plug
would allow the gasket to be used several addi-
tional times before leakage occurred or the plug
fractured. Unfortunately, by electing to use oil
plugs made of a stronger material, site person-
nel risked damaging the pump-motor housings.
The economics don’t make sense, considering
the modest cost of new gaskets versus the cost
of a re-designed plug or replacing a cracked
pump-motor housing.
LESSONS TO BE LEARNED
Several lessons can be learned from this case
study.
 Gaskets are cheap. Replacing one every time the
oil plug was removed would have been better than
replacing it every other time, given the fact that
doing so could reduce the amount of tightening
needed to compress the gasket and stop leakage.
 Changing the material specification to make
the oil plug stronger would actually introduce
unnecessary levels of stress into the pump-motor
housing. In such cases, the risk of cracking the
housing will increase. Compare the cost of a gasket
to that of re-designing the oil plug, or replacing a
cracked 300-hp pump housing. It’s significantly
less—very much so.
 Equipment maintenance manuals are valuable
resources, but only if they are read. The facts in this
story indicate that the power plant’s personnel, for
whatever reasons, didn’t follow the motor manu-
facturer’s recommendations. How often was this
occurring with regard to other plant assets?
In the end, the most important lesson for other
plants is to ensure this scenario isn’t occurring in
their operations. EP
Randall Noon is a registered professional engineer
and author of several books and articles about
failure analysis. He has conducted root-cause
investigations for four decades, in both nuclear and
non-nuclear power facilities. Contact him at 
noon@carsoncomm.com.
FEBRUARY 2018
 feature | maintenance strategies

Caring
For Bearings
In Extreme Environments
ENSURING THE RELIABILITY of equipment and human safety, cost, overall equipment effective- The old ‘give it
assets in extreme operating environments, such as ness, and sustainability. more grease’
those often found in food- and beverage-processing approach
applications, isn’t easy. A well-planned and consistent EXTREME-CONDITION CONCERNS has been
best-practice approach to lubrication management Consider these individual examples of extreme envi-
supplanted by
is key in these demanding situations. Fortunately, ronments and the implications to bearings operating
safer, more
there are better alternatives today than the “give it in those conditions:
more grease” solution. Less resource-intensive than  Subjecting bearings in ovens to temperatures
cost-effective
past solutions, they also reduce the chance of product exceeding 350 F and high levels of humidity increases strategies.
contamination. maintenance requirements and costs. Limitations of
Technological advancements in those types of al- available grease technology do not permit increased
ternatives are changing the thinking about lubrication oven temperature that would allow faster through- Above. Operating in cold
environments (below 32 F)
strategies and the way they are practiced in plants. In put. High-temperature lubricants—those that are
has an adverse effect on
the process, they’re having a positive impact on food formulated to function at temperatures of 250 F and bearings.

FEBRUARY 2018 EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM | 21

 feature | maintenance strategies
Subjecting bearings to
temperatures above higher—are required for extreme conditions.
350 F increases mainte-
nance concerns.  Operating in cold environments, as found in chillers
and freezers below 32 F, also has an adverse effect on
bearings. Oil viscosity changes and appropriate grease
consistency with an NLGI 0 or less is required. If the
oil becomes too viscous, the all-important film sepa-
rating the rolling elements and the race surface will not
form. Subjecting bearings to sudden temperature shifts
during washdowns increases the chances for moisture
to seep into the bearing, emulsify the grease, and cause
it to leak out.
 Pressure washing with hot water and caustic agents
creates a variety of reliability problems. Lubricants
can be washed out, resulting in the need for frequent
22 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM
re-lubrication. Corrosion may occur in areas with
poor chemical resistance, creating flaking and possible
contamination. These combined effects can lead to
reduced service life of bearings, as well as increased
costs for re-lubrication.
Many times those individual adverse conditions
combine in the same application. In addition to
causing potential bearing failures and downtime, such
combinations can also pose risks in the areas of food
contamination and operator safety.
ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS
The following types of lubrication and sealing
solutions can reduce the critical control points in
your HACCP (hazard analysis critical control point)
process, as well as reduce the need to stop production
lines for re-lubrication and frequent replacement of
bearings:
 Graphite-based lubricants: Advanced graph-
ite-based lubricants contain minute quantities of
graphite that lubricate the bearing during operation,
preventing metal-to-metal contact. This NSF-ap-
proved technology allows bearings to perform opti-
mally in humid and continuous operating tempera-
tures as high as 660 F without re-lubrication.
 Solid-oil lubricants: Solid-oil lubricants use an
oil-saturated polymer matrix that effectively fills
all of the free space within the bearing allowing the
bearing to contain two to four times more oil than
is possible with conventional greases. The porous
polymer material is molded into the bearing, form-
ing very narrow gaps around the rolling elements
and raceways and enabling the bearing to rotate
freely. These micro-pores hold the lubricating oil.
In service, oil is released from the material into the
narrow gaps between it and the bearing components,
thus providing effective minimum-quantity lubri-
cation that makes re-lubrication unnecessary. The
micro-pores withstand the negative effects of high
humidity and the breathing effect caused by air-vol-
ume expansion and contraction. These features make
solid-oil work reliably, even when faced with rapid
operating-temperature changes, such as those found
in freezer applications.
 More effective seals and housings: Specially de-
signed housed bearings incorporating corrosion-
FEBRUARY 2018
 feature | maintenance strategies

resistant materials and an improved sealing system
are a good choice for high-pressure washdown envi-
ronments. Glass-fiber-reinforced polyester housings
and insert bearings using a multi-lip seal design,
coupled with end covers, to form an effective barrier
to hazardous conditions. Stainless-steel balls and
bolt-hole bushings prevent corrosion. The benefits
of these re-lubrication-free solutions include:
 reduced foreign-body contamination
 no dripping grease or purge contamination
 decreased re-lubrication costs and
environmental impact
 compliance with OSHA requirements
 no risk of missed lubrication points due
to human error
 reduced risk of premature bearing failure and
maintenance intensity.
These types of specialized lubricants and com-
ponents can help plants overcome the challenges of
harsh conditions and, ultimately, reduce downtime,
extend bearing life, and increase cost savings. EP
Information in this article was pro-
vided by Stephen White of SKF
(Gothenburg, Sweden), and
Richard R. Knotek, of Motion
Industries (Birmingham,
AL). White is the SKF Food
& Beverage industry port-
folio manager. Knotek is a
technical-training specialist
with the Motion Institute, a
division of Motion Industries.
A former adjunct instructor
with Northern Michigan Uni-
versity’s Industrial Maintenance
Program, Knotek is the co-author of
Mechanical Systems & Principles for
Industrial Maintenance (Pearson, London
and New York, 2005). For more information, visit Groove ball bearings
MotionIndustries.com, or take a closer look at SKF’s with solid oil have been
Solutions Factories by clicking on the following link: a stable solution in this
Swedish bakery’s yeast
motionindustries.com/miHow2.jsp#H-7VfbmoGak. house for many years.
Photo courtesy SKF

WE
OPTIMIZE
YOUR
MACHINES
ALIGNMENT
VIBRATION
BALANCING

www.pruftechnik.com
ULTRASOUND

FEBRUARY 2018 EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM | 23


Press-Brake
Safeguarding Matters
PRESS BRAKES ARE unforgiving ma-
chines, and a frequent source of workplace
amputations of hands, fingers and arms. Sta-
tistics from the United States Department
of Labor (dol.gov, Washington) indicate
an average of 368 instances of amputations
annually from press-brake accidents. And
these are only the reported accidents.
Press brakes have a long history of pro-
ductivity and danger. Hammers were the
tool of choice for any blacksmith until 1784.
That was when Scottish inventor James
Watt came up with concept of the “steam
hammer.”
The building of the first steam hammer in
1840 marked a turning a turning point for
manufacturing with steel. The downside of
this industrialization, though, was safety:
24 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM
feature | human/machine safety
it was largely disregarded in the rush to
use labor-saving machines and processes.
Developments of press brakes and other
machinery occurred within a legal and
regulatory climate that diminished em-
ployer’s interest in safety. In the process,
while highly effective production methods
became commonplace, for various reasons
they often were unsafe. Manufacturing
operations have come a long way since then
in terms of productivity and safety.
Older press brakes, i.e., those built prior
to 1985, were mechanical or flywheel types.
Stopping times were long, making modern
safeguarding techniques such as light cur-
tains impractical. After 1985, press brakes
were hydraulic, allowing a wider variety of
safeguarding options with faster stopping
Today’s advanced
technologies offer safer,
more operator- and
production-friendly solutions
than earlier approaches.
times. Still, regardless of their age, press
brakes present a unique set of dangers.
SAFETY CONCERNS
The primary safety concerns with press
brakes involve access to the point of
operation at the front of the machine and
reaching around the safety device to get
to the point of operation at the ends of
the machine. Pinch points and hazardous
motion created by the back-gauge system
are also problematic. But the dangers don’t
stop there.
However well intentioned, machine
fabricators often employ lower cost, used, or
refurbished press brakes that can make the
primary controls and/or condition of the
machine and safety system suspect. Because
FEBRUARY 2018

Left. Laser AOPD systems allow operators to work within close proximity (15 mm) of the point
of hazard. Photo courtesy of Laser Safe
personnel in such enterprises may not
have safeguarding competency, serious
shortcomings can be overlooked or
ignored. Plus, original equipment manu-
facturers (OEMs) generally consider the
point-of-operation aspect of the press-
brake safety system to be the end-user’s
responsibility. The end user, in turn, may
incorrectly assume that the machinery
arrived on-site in full operating condi-
tion for commissioning. Lastly, press
brakes have always been operator-inten-
sive technologies—sometimes involving
multiple operators. Unfortunately, oper-
ator behavior is not always predictable.
That’s why it is good practice to make
one operator the leader of the crew.
Training should be completed before
any employee or operator is allowed to
work near the press brake, and the em-
ployer should maintain accurate records
of all training. Employees should also be
encouraged to report press-brake hazards
and make suggestions related to safety.
Refresher training should be conducted
as needed.
It is also good practice to develop and
enforce a written safety program, one
that incorporates guidelines for operat-
ing all machinery and performing tasks.
Employees should be given a copy and
provided training that emphasizes safe
operating procedures, limitations of
equipment, use of guards, and hazard
recognition and control. Employers
should monitor employee compliance
with all policies.
OSHA/ANSI REGULATIONS
There are two sources of press-brake reg-
ulations: OSHA and ANSI. Of the two,
ANSI is considered the more specific and
modern.
FEBRUARY 2018
feature | human/machine safety
OSHA’s machinery and machine
guarding regulations (29 CFR 1910
Subpart O) require one or more
guarding methods to protect em-
ployees from exposure to hazardous
machine energy during the operation
of press brakes. There isn’t a great deal
of detail to the OSHA regulations, so
fabricators in search of answers would
be better served by turning to ANSI
B11.3-2012, which covers safeguarding
of power presses. The B11.3 adopted EN
12622 (European standard), giving it
even more specific instructions to follow
and minimizing any vague, gray areas.
ANSI B11.3 is the only safety-system
standard specifically applicable to power
press brakes used in America, and it
excludes mechanical power presses,
hydraulic power presses, hand brakes,
tangent benders, apron brakes, and
other similar types of metal-bending
machines. It discusses hazards associat-
ed with the point of operation at length
and identifies alternative guards and
devices,including, for example, the “close
proximity point of operation AOPD”
safeguarding devices, discussed later in
this article, and a means of safeguarding
referred to as “Safe Speed.”
PRESS-BRAKE
PROTECTION OPTIONS
Today, there several ways to safeguard a
press brake, some better than others. All
have advantages and drawbacks.
The most basic type of safeguarding
is a fixed and interlocked barrier guard
coupled with two hand controls. This is
not a functional solution for fabricators,
as a work piece held by hand in close
proximity to the point of operation
during the braking process can
Fig. 1. The main difference between laser AOPD and
light-curtain systems is that the first protects the
point of hazard itself and the second restricts operator
access to the point of hazard.
+
THE ‘GOLDEN RULES’
OF PRESS-BRAKE USE
Basic safety procedures bear
repeating. The “golden rules” of
press-brake use can save body
parts and lives:
 Keep work area clean, orderly, and
free of oil, grease, or scrap.
 Use work supports, mechanical as-
sists, or helpers when loading and
unloading parts or heavy sheets.
 Wear PPE, i.e., gloves, goggles:
never wear loose clothing, wrist-
watches, rings, bracelets, and oth-
er items, when operating machin-
ery to avoid being dragged into
the danger area.
 Never leave machine running
unattended.
 Keep hands away from all moving
items (ram, work pieces). Avoid
trip hazards with foot switch
and cord.
 Always lockout/tagout (LO/TO)
equipment before performing
maintenance, no matter how small
the task.
 Never use damaged dies.
 Never attempt to tamper with
wiring or bypass safety control.
When finished, position ram at
bottom of stroke and LO/TO.
EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM | 25

Safety light
curtains protect
personnel in
the vicinity of
point-of-opera-
tion hazards.
potentially whip up as bending occurs.
A second approach involves pull-backs
and restraints. These types of devices are
restrictive and have limitations—and opera-
tors hate them. Both shackle the operator to
a machine and restrict mobility.
The two-hand, down/foot-through device
is yet another approach. While this method
will work in some cases, it raises ergonomic
issues and is very slow.
Then there are light curtains and laser
active-optic protective devices (AOPDs).
They represent more advanced press-brake
safeguarding options. The diagram in Fig. 1
(p. 25) shows how these technologies work.
SHEDDING LIGHT ON SAFETY
Light curtains started out as simple product
detection devices, then developed into
machine-guarding solutions. Early versions
used incandescent lamps strung together
with a corresponding line of light detectors.
Presses were one of the first machine-safety
applications where safety light curtains were
26 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM
feature | human/machine safety
used. A light curtain is a photoelectric
presence-sensing device. It protects against
access into hazardous points and areas.
These solutions range from very compact
to larger, more robust and resistant models
that can withstand demanding ambient con-
ditions. Note that a stop-time measurement
(STM) device is needed to calculate the
safety distance on a regular basis, just as it is
needed with two-hand controls.
Safety light curtains safeguard personnel
in the vicinity of point-of-operation haz-
ards. This is done with an LED transmitter
and receiver. Any interruption of the plane
of light by an object equal to/or larger than
the “minimum object sensitivity” initiates
an output signal. That could be a hand or a
finger or a misplaced tool, and it causes the
machine to stop or it doesn’t allow a cycle
until the blockage is removed. To not initi-
ate this output signal, the operator must be
outside the protected area through the en-
tire stroke of the press-brake ram. The safety
distance between the light curtain and the
machine depends on the application, the
type of light curtain, and the machine’s
stopping performance.
OSHA has established the following set of
regulations for light curtains:
1. The machine must be able to stop the
movement of the ram anywhere in the
stroke.
2. The stopping time of the ram must be
known.
3. The stopping time of the ram must be
monitored for deviation in stopping
time on each stroke.
4. The minimum distance the light cur-
tains can be located to the pinch point
must be known.
5. The light curtains must be control
reliable.
6. The machine stop circuit, with which
the light curtains are interfaced, must
be control reliable.
7. The light curtains must be self
checking for proper operation on
each stroke.
FEBRUARY 2018
 feature | human/machine safety

Pros and Cons of Advanced Press-Brake Safeguarding Methods

Laser-Based AOPD
Light Curtains (LCs)
Camera Vision System
New vs.
Retrofit Available for both with some manufacturers. Available for both with some manufacturers.
Machines
 Less expensive
 Less setup time tooling or part changes  Box bending or bending with flanges
Pros
 Newer LCs have programmability and  Faster production with smaller work pieces.
features to allow bending of difficult parts.

 Difficult to bend parts with flanges  Higher price

 ‘Muting Abuse’ makes machine unsafe by
over-muting and blanking.
Cons  Slower production with smaller work pieces
 With older LCs, smaller-parts bending is
possible, but complicated (sequence-step
mode at operation).
 Setup time associated with tooling changes
 Restrictions on safe use with tooling
 Does not work with all tooling (larger radius
or flattening dies)
 Unable to protect operator for most step-
bending applications.

8. There should be no easy way to disable
the safety system without special tools.
9. If the safety system is disabled there
should be a clear indication that it is
disabled.
10. The operator and setup person should
be properly trained in the operation of
the safety system.
A LASER FOCUS ON SAFETY
The laser AOPD, is the newest entry in the
press-brake-safety-solution arena. Invented
in 1998 as an alternative to light curtains,
the systems were first used in the European
Union before coming to the United States as
a retrofit solution for existing press brakes.
Today, these systems have become stan-
dard for many press brakes, on imported
machines and those manufactured in the
U.S. Because of their close proximity point
of operation, laser AOPDs are best suit-
ed for applications such as box bending,
bending with flanges, or where light-curtain
effectiveness is diminished due to exces-
sive blanking or muting. Inclusion of laser
AOPD technology in the B11.3 is a welcome
addition to the standard that now gives
press-brake manufacturers, dealers, and
users a clear guideline for implementing
this technology safely (see B11.3 sub-clause
8.8.7 - Close Proximity Point of Operation
AOPD Safeguarding Device).
The biggest advantage of AOPD is that
operators can hand-hold parts close to the
dies, while using a foot-switch to actuate
the machine-cycle—something that’s almost
impossible to accomplish safely with a light
curtain. Another advantage is seen in the
machining of larger-piece parts with tall
side legs, a task that would be difficult using
a vertically mounted light curtain for safe-
guarding. Such applications often require
excessive “Channel Blanking,” which often
allows hands and fingers to become too
close to the dies.
SELECT THE RIGHT
SAFEGUARDING SOLUTION
Light-curtain systems restrict operator
access to the point of hazard, whereas laser
AOPD protects the point of hazard. But
that doesn’t make AOPD perfect for every
application. Nor is it an either-or situation
between the two approaches. There are
advantages and drawbacks to both systems.
In fact, the two technologies can be used on
the same machine—and often are.
For example, light curtains provide for
die configurations, such as compound
bends that a laser AOPD won’t handle.
This is done to ensure that safeguarding is
provided for all die setups. For die setups
where neither light curtains or AOPD can
offer effective safeguarding, but the part can
be machined in a fixture-in-place manner,
i.e., without hand-support, a two-hand
control can be used for safeguarding. The
table at the top of this page sums up the two
systems. EP
This information was provided by Carrie
Halle, a vice president of Rockford Systems
LLC, Rockford, IL. To learn more about these
technologies and other machine-safeguarding
solutions, visit rockfordsystems.com.

FEBRUARY 2018 EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM | 27

 feature | lubrication strategies

Oil
Systems
Need to
Breathe
Properly maintained breathers
make it possible for lubrication
systems to effectively protect
moving parts.

Ken Bannister, MEch Eng (UK), CMRP, MLE

Contributing Editor

The most-common breather
is the combination filler/
breather design that allows
a single reservoir opening
to serve as a fill port and
breather. Note that, as is
the case in this photo, no
breather will do its job if
it’s not properly attached.
Photo courtesy Engtech In-
dustries, Innerkip, Ontario,
engtechindustries.com
TO BREATHE IS to allow air to freely enter and
exit a fully enclosed space. We humans are accus-
tomed to breathing automatically without thinking
about the process. When it comes to machines,
however, the design engineer must be cognizant of
enclosed spaces and mechanisms that can internally
create air-pressure buildup. Any machine or system
design must be able to relieve, or ventilate, the excess
air pressure at a controlled rate to return or maintain
the space to a neutral or positively pressurized state.
The ability of internal mechanisms to breathe
and equalize pressure has a profound effect on a
machine’s ability to perform work efficiently, and its
component(s) lifecycle. A perfect example of this is
found in early combustion-engine design in which
crude piston-and-ring technology inevitably allowed
combustion gases to leak past the piston rings into
the crankcase, a process known as “blow-by.”
With no engineered provision for venting the
enclosed crankcase, pressure would build up and
compromise seals and gaskets, allowing crankcase
oil to diffuse to atmosphere. This would result in
engine power losses, oil contamination, and constant
leaks. The problem was eventually solved through
improved piston and ring design and the introduc-
tion of a crankcase ventilation system that introduces
fresh air through the filler cap. The air mixes with
combustion gases and drafts out through the road-
draft tube, which is connected to the crankcase. The
system was further refined by introducing the pres-

28 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM FEBRUARY 2018

 feature | lubrication strategies

surized crankcase ventilation (PCV) system the lubrication system preventive-main-

in use today.
An automotive crankcase is, of course, a
reservoir similar to any gearbox or hydrau-
lic-oil reservoir. In all cases, the reservoir
is an enclosed container used to house oil
that is pumped through the machine to
lubricate bearing surfaces and return to the
reservoir within the closed-loop system.
When designed correctly, the reservoir will
always have an air space (headspace) above
the oil level designed to permit thermal
expansion of the oil and allow the fluid to
tenance program. The change-out
If air is allowed to freely
schedule is based on application and move in and out of
ambient conditions. If the breather is a the reservoir through
less-sophisticated design that does not the breather, so is
display its condition to the operator or everything contained
maintainer, the rule of thumb is change
within that air exchange.
out every three months in dirty environ-

gap
GET READY TO CLOSE
de-aerate (aerated fluids cause pump cav-
itation). To equalize the internal pressure THE RELIABILITY
build up created through the resulting
changes in the oil level as the machine
moves from rest to full operation, and vice
versa, air must be allowed to enter and
exit the reservoir through a device known
simply as a breather.
If air is allowed to freely move in and out Collaborate with fellow
of the reservoir through the breather, so
is everything contained within that air ex-
leaders to address the
change. This can include contaminants and gap in electric power
moisture, both detrimental to the oil and
the very bearings surfaces oil is designed reliability.
to protect. This now requires the reliability
engineer and/or maintainer to recognize Then close it.
the ambient working conditions and choose
the appropriate breather style and type for Share expertise and insights.
the conditions and, furthermore, exercise Discover fresh perspectives.
diligence, through preventive-maintenance Apply new ideas immediately.
procedures, to ensure that the breather is
always in place in the reservoir, is clean,
and is unencumbered, allowing it to work HOUSTON, TEXAS
as designed. MAY 16–17, 2018
REGISTER NOW TO PARTICIPATE

PowerSummit18.org
ANATOMY OF A BREATHER
Breathers come in all configurations,
shapes, and sizes, and different styles
accommodate different airflow, particu-
late size, and working conditions. Most
breathers are consumable devices. As such,
they must be changed regularly as part of

29
EPRS Maintenance Tech.indd 1 1/3/18 9:06 AM
FEBRUARY 2018 EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM |
 feature | lubrication strategies

ments, such as a foundry, and every six months in ambient and working conditions, or high hu-
in cleaner environments. midity, breather caps designed with a filter and a
pressure valve can be specified. The pressure-
FILLER/BREATHER CAP relief and vacuum-breaker capability is designed
The most common to limit air exchange and pro-
breather in service is the vide a positive suction head at
combination filler/breath- the pump inlet.
er design that allows a
single reservoir opening DESICCANT
to serve two purposes. BREATHERS
The device looks like a Desiccant breathers are recent
typical fill port with its additions to the breather
screw-on cap and tubular family and differ in that they
mesh basket designed to offer superior air exchange
prevent large debris from and condition control and are
falling into the reservoir designed to visually indicate
during the filling process to the operator when replace-
Bannister on (see image, right). The ment is required. Dessicant
Lubrication difference from a regular units are designed with a
Go to the online
fill port is found in the see-through polycarbonate
version of this article at
efficientplantmag.com to combination-unit cap body filled with a silica-gel
hear a podcast in which design, which contains a absorbent designed to hold
Ken Bannister provides
filter element to keep out as much as 40% of its weight
more detail about breathers
and how to specify and contaminants. Filters can in absorbed moisture. The gel
maintain them. be made from different changes from a blue to light
media based on the filter pink color when saturated.
size and airflow restric- The unit also contains regular
tion requirements. For polyester filters designed to
example, a polyurethane capture particulate as small as
Contributing editor
filter medium is good for 3 micron.
Ken Bannister is co-
author, with Heinz Bloch, >10-micron particulates Desiccant breathers use a
of the book Practical and allows an airflow ex- see-through polycarbonate WORD OF CAUTION
Lubrication for Industrial body filled with a silica-gel ab-
change of 140 gpm (19 cfm), Note that a breather will only
Facilities, 3rd Edition sorbent that holds as much as
whereas an impregnated-pa- 40% of its weight in moisture. work when it’s in place. Breath-
(The Fairmont Press,
per medium will capture Replace the breather when the ers taken off to fill reservoirs, or
Lilburn, GA). As managing gel turns pink. Photo courtesy
partner and principal >3 micron particulates and Des-Case Corp., Goodlettsville, for checking purposes, must be
consultant for Engtech allow an air exchange of 110 TN, descase.com replaced or refitted immediately
Industries Inc., Innerkip, gpm (15 cfm). if the reservoir environment is
Ontario, he specializes
to stay protected from outside contamination.
in the implementation of
lubrication-effectiveness STANDARD BREATHERS The opening photo on p. 28 shows an example
reviews to ISO 55001 Standard breathers look almost identical to the in which the filler breather cap has not been
standards, asset- filler/breather cap and is usually screwed onto a refitted correctly, allowing contamination into
management systems,
threaded pipe that provides air exchange through the reservoir. Breathers are an important and
and training. Contact
him at kbannister@ the top of the reservoir. Other styles can look integral part of any reservoir-based lubrication
engtechindustries.com, or similar to an automotive spin-on oil filter. system—and they require their own maintenance
telephone 519-469-9173. In environments that experience large shifts schedule. EP

30 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM FEBRUARY 2018


Kicking
Bad
Habits
Kristina Gordon
DuPont
IF THERE’S ONE WAY to
complete a task in SAP, there are
10 more behind it. Choosing the
correct steps when processing work
orders, entering time confirmations
and history, and creating purchase
requisitions can be exhausting,
especially if the user doesn’t fully
understand the financial implica-
tions behind it.
This month, we will explore five
critical elements of SAP PM that,
if processed correctly, can actually
increase the reliability of your plant.
Video Training
There is no training video
for this month’s column. The
January training video on
planning was delayed due to
technical difficulties. By the
time you read this, it should be
available at efficientplantmag.
com/1801SAPtips. Watch this space
each month for a new
training video.
Kristina Gordon is SAP PM Leader,
DuPont Protective Solutions Business,
and SAP WMP Champion, Spruance
Site, Richmond, VA. If you have SAP
questions, send them to
editors@efficientplantmag.com
and we’ll forward them to Kristina.
FEBRUARY 2018
enterprise software solutions
+ BLANKET WORK ORDERS
Blanket orders are work orders that have time
confirmations or materials for shop supplies con-
tinually added over a long period of time without
being closed.
Acceptable reasons for use:
 Training time
 Housekeeping
 CBT (computer-based training) completion and
meetings.
Unacceptable reasons for use:
 To replenish materials used on a job
 To use for “fill in” time confirmations (other than
startup coverage or similar)
 For repair work that should be confirmed to a
corrective or urgent work order
 For PM work that should be confirmed to preven-
tive- or predictive-maintenance plans.
If not managed well, the following issues can result:
 Loss of equipment history
 Work-order estimating accuracy will be poor
 Could lose the ability to update and make task lists
more accurate due to time not being confirmed.
+
TIME CONFIRMATION
Time confirmation in SAP is a key component in
accounting for maintenance dollars and where
they are allocated. Compliance with this metric
will avoid residual costs at month-end financial
closings.
Acceptable reasons for use:
 Add time spent on a job into the system
 Have history of the real time spent on a job to
improve estimates
 Justify any requirements for increasing/reducing
maintenance labor
 Efficiency allocate maintenance-labor time costs.
Unacceptable reason for use:
 False time confirmation entered by supervisors to
justify full utilization of job resources during shifts.
If not managed well, the following issues can result:
 Loss of time history required to perform jobs
 Manual-labor costs cannot be efficiently allocated
to the correct work/equipment
 Loss of maintenance-cost visibility.
+
WORK-ORDER HISTORY
The accuracy and consistency of reporting equip-
ment history, including failure codes and long
text descriptions of what was observed/found and
completed, are essential to the future reliability of,
and engineering improvements in, our equipment
and systems.
Acceptable reasons for use:
 Keep historical data on cause of failure
 Close feedback loop on improving maintenance
plans and reliability
 Continuous improvement of maintenance execution
and job packs.
Unacceptable reasons for use:
 Failure to complete history or improper history will
cause loss of valuable execution data.
If not managed well, the following issues can result:
 Loss of job safety-observation history
 Loss of valuable data to improve maintenance and
reliability across the plant
 Could potentially put the plant in a non-compliant
state with OSHA.
+
PROACTIVE MAINTENANCE
Increasing asset reliability should always be the
focus of a plant. To achieve this target, we need to
shift from a reactionary mode, where most of the
work is “urgent” or “emergency’” to a proactive
mindset where preventive and scheduled work is
the norm.
Acceptable reasons for use:
 Shift reactive mindset
 Improve asset reliability
 Reduce maintenance costs
 Reduce unplanned downtime
 Improve product quality
 Reduce loss/scrap of product.
If not managed well the following issues can result:
 Have a reactive organization always in
firefighting mode
 Equipment reliability decreased due to lack of
preventive work. EP
EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM | 31
 disaster preparedness
Advice for
Automated
Substations
Any system, no matter how many precautions are taken, can be compromised, be it
through cyber attacks or natural disasters. Automated substations are no exception.
CONNECTED AUTOMATION SYSTEMS are making utilities and
industry more efficient, more productive, and more economic, but they are
also introducing new challenges to those organizations. In a recent online
article, Frank Hohlbaum of ABB (Cary, NC, new.abb.com), suggested sever-
al questions that substation managers should ask themselves regarding their
cybersecurity policies. He also touched on ways to address any problems
that might surface in their responses. Hohlbaum’s questions and advice for
dealing with various issues associated with them are summed up here.
— Jane Alexander, Managing Editor
Frank Hohlbaum is a product manager for cybersecurity
within ABB’s (Cary, NC) Substation Automation business. Learn more about the
issues and network-management solutions discussed in this article at
new.abb.com/network-management/service.
32 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM
+ BACKUP AND RECOVERY
Q: Does the substation operation have a recent backup of its
automation system? If the worst does happen, and cyber at-
tack or natural disaster strikes, then the security of an off-site
backup will make recovery much easier.
+ MALWARE PROTECTION
Q: Is the substation’s automation system protected
against malware? These systems can be equipped with in-
dustry-standard malware- and intrusion-protection solutions
such as anti-virus protection and application whitelisting.
+ PERIMETER PROTECTION
Q: Is the network’s firewall configured properly? Firewalls
can protect the perimeter of a network, and a well-designed
security policy will separate the network into distinct, con-
trolled zones, protected by internal firewalls to ensure that a
compromised server doesn’t mean compromising
the entire network.
+ SECURITY UPDATES & HARDENING
Q: Is the substation’s automation system up to date? It’s not
just the anti-virus software that needs updating. Modern
operating systems and embedded software often need to be
patched to defend against emerging threats. Efficient patch
management is an essential part of any security policy, but
one that’s often neglected.
+ SECURITY ASSESSMENT & MONITORING
Q: Who is regularly assessing and monitoring the substation’s
automation system? Assessment and monitoring services for
system software, system hardware, and communication net-
works are fundamental in order to keep these types of systems
constantly secure.
Hohlbaum concluded by noting that any system can be
compromised. For best results and a consistent security level,
components, such as patch management and virus protection,
should be applied and regularly updated. Cybersecurity will
always be a challenge on a global scale. No single solution can
keep increasingly interconnected systems secure. Leading com-
panies work with sites to create a defense-in-depth approach
where multiple security layers detect and deter threats—if,
where, and when they may arise. EP
FEBRUARY 2018

Asset-intensive operations, regardless of sector, can reap significant benefits
when appropriate personnel are able to access good equipment Bills of Materials.
Good BOMs Boost
Maintenance
Efficiency
MOST CMMS SYSTEMS have the ability to create Bills of Materi-
als (BOMs) for equipment or assets. This type of BOM includes all the
components needed for a piece of equipment. According to informa-
tion from Life Cycle Engineering (LCE.com, Charleston, SC), all types
of asset-intensive industries can reap benefits from good BOMs—with
one of the most important of those benefit coming in the form of
increased maintenance efficiency. Among other things:
For more information from Life Cycle Engineering on this and other important
plant topics, visit LCE.com or email info@LCE.com.
FEBRUARY 2018
mro issues
+ EQUIPMENT BOMs CAN HELP THE
MAINTENANCE PLANNER PLAN A TASK
OR JOB FASTER.
Do your planners spend time looking at drawings, manuals, or
catalogs to find part numbers that could be right at their fingertips?
BOMs can be created for certain PM tasks, shutdowns, or redundant
tasks. Yes, it does take time to create and maintain good equipment
BOMs. If they aren’t maintained correctly, confusion ensues and
end-user time is wasted.
+ EQUIPMENT BOMs CAN HELP
REDUCE DOWNTIME.
Do you have craftsmen working on back shifts, nights, or weekends?
Good equipment BOMs will reduce equipment downtime because,
regardless of the time that any parts are needed, they can be identi-
fied and procured quickly.
+ USING A GOOD BOM SYSTEM CAN HELP
MANAGE SYSTEM SUB-COMPONENTS.
Do you have sub-components with replacement parts that are hard
to identify? Consider a conveyor that uses lifts, curves, and belts of
different lengths or widths, gearboxes with motors, or a hoist made
of several components. The sub-component items can be broken
out into their own BOMs and become part of a sub-BOM for such
systems.
+ USING EQUIPMENT BOMs HELPS MANAGE
SPARE-PARTS INVENTORY.
Do personnel ever decommission and remove equipment from the
plant floor? The associated spare parts can sit in the storeroom for
years, taking up valuable space. With good equipment BOMs, the
task of identifying spare parts that belong to a decommissioned
piece of equipment is a simple task. With a little cross-checking to
ensure that the parts aren’t used on some other piece of equipment
or system, you’re almost done—except for removing the items from
the CMMS and storeroom. This strategy helps reduce the total dollar
amount of a site’s spare-parts inventory.
THE PAYOFF
While it does take time to create and regularly update equipment BOMs,
the payoff is big. When BOMs are correctly set up and maintained, and
appropriate personnel know how to access them, an operation can look
forward to fewer headaches and a reduction in equipment downtime. EP
— Jane Alexander, Managing Editor
EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM | 33
 motors
Smarten Up
About Rotor
Analysis
ROTORS ARE AMONG the many variables that can
affect the reliability of squirrel-cage AC induction motors.
According to Noah Bethel of PdMA Corp. (Tampa, FL,
pdma.com), a study sponsored by the Electric Power
Research Institute (Palo Alto, CA, epri.com), and per-
formed by General Electric in the 1980s estimated that
rotor defects were responsible for approximately 10% of
failures in such motors. Things certainly have changed
since then—including motor-testing equipment and
methods. Yet, even now, Bethel notes, one of the biggest
problems in electrically analyzing squirrel-cage induc-
tion rotors continues to be access to the rotor itself. The
solution? “We don’t want to disassemble every motor just
to look at its rotor,” he explained. “We have to be a little
smarter and a little more equipped with the right kind
of tools and techniques.” As an example, he points to the
following six types of rotor analysis. Keep them in mind.
— Jane Alexander, Managing Editor
Noah Bethel is vice president of Product Development for
PdMA Corp., Tampa, FL. For more information on motor-
testing and analysis topics and solutions, visit pdma.com.
34 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM
As these images show, rotors from squirrel-cage
induction motors are not all alike. Differences aside,
they also can be difficult to access and evaluate in
installed equipment.
+ FP SIDEBAND
Fp (pole-pass frequency) sideband
+
amplitude is one of the more estab-
lished methods of rotor evaluation
using the current-signature analysis
test. The slip between the rotating ro-
tor and stator magnetic fields creates
a modulation of the stator current at
Fp presented as a peak on a spectrum
plot in the frequency domain. Dif-
ferential amplitudes between the Fp
and line frequency can be trended to
identify rotor-bar defects.
+
+
DEMODULATED FP
Demodulating the current and
displaying it in the frequency domain
provides a look into rotor health,
as well as the electro-mechanical
machine-train components of the
motor. Research has found that the Fp
identified in the demodulated spec-
trum is the most sensitive indication
+
of developing rotor-bar anomalies for
large two-pole motors.
+
5TH HARMONIC
Broken rotor bars result in a 180-deg.
phase shift in rotor magnetic flux.
This can be seen in a rotor-evaluation
current spectrum as three peaks
separated by Fp to the left of the 5th
harmonic peak.
ROTOR INFLUENCE
CHECK
Inductance measurements of the
de-energized stator windings at dif-
ferent rotor positions can be plotted
to create a graphical representation
of the rotor magnetic flux. High re-
sistance joints and broken rotor bars
will change the impedance reflected
back onto the stator windings creat-
ing a rotor-defect flux pattern.
IN-RUSH/START-UP
High resistance connections or bro-
ken rotor bars change the reflected
impedance on the stator windings
causing a drop in the start-up current
and start-up torque. This drop in
startup torque will result in a longer
acceleration time for the motor.
AVERAGE INDUCTANCE
Broken rotor bars result in an
increased inductance value measured
on the stator windings of a de-
energized motor. Trending this value
will give ample warning of develop-
ing rotor defects. EP
FEBRUARY 2018

+
Heed These
Signs of
Inefficiency
Ron Marshall
+ STORAGE RECEIVER SIZE
+ EXCESSIVE CYCLE FREQUENCY
Some compressed air systems are more efficient than others in
+
serving end-use applications in plants.
WHILE COMPRESSED AIR is one of the most ineffi-
cient ways to power mechanical systems, it’s also one of
+
the most widely used sources of such power in industrial
operations. For various reasons, some systems are simply
better than others at converting atmospheric air into
compressed air, and efficiently delivering it to end users.
Is yours one of them? The following seven signs may
+
point to inefficiency problems:
Ron Marshall has spent almost 25 years working with
compressed air systems, first as an industrial-systems officer with
Manitoba Hydro (hydro.mb.ca) and, since his retirement, as owner
of Marshall Compressed Air Consulting, based in Winnipeg,
+ HIGH DRAINAGE LEVELS
Manitoba. For more information, email ronm@mts.net, or visit
compressedairaudit.com.
FEBRUARY 2018
compressed air systems
LOW-LOADED VS. RUN-TIME RATIO
If your system runs in load/unload mode, i.e., wherein any compressor alter-
nates between loaded and unloaded, record its loaded and run-time hours. If the
loaded hours are less than 70% of total run-time hours, it’s likely a compressor
is running inefficiently. Are any of yours running in modulation mode? Modula-
tion mode is the least-efficient way to run compressors in part load. If you don’t
know the mode, ask your service provider.
How large is your storage receiver in relation to your trim compressor? The trim
compressor is the one that loads and unloads to take partial load when the plant
air demand only requires a fraction of a compressor. Sometimes, there could be
more than one trim. Take the number of gallons of storage capacity and divide it
by the CFM (cu-ft./min.) rating of the trim compressor. (Usually, CFM is about
4 times the horsepower rating). Is the ratio less than 5? For sites with lubricated
screw compressors, the effective storage should be larger than 5-gal. per trim
CFM. Best practice is about 10-gal. per CFM. For variable-speed compressors,
the storage volume would be 10 times the flow at minimum speed.
When monitoring your load/unload operation, measure the number of seconds
the compressor is in the loaded condition and the time it’s in the unloaded state.
An efficiently running system would have total cycle time (loaded plus unloaded)
above two minutes at around 50% loading (when load and unload are equal).
HIGH SYSTEM PRESSURE
If system pressure is running above 100 psi, the system may be inefficient. It
takes 1% more energy to produce compressed air for every two psi of higher
pressure.
HIGH LEVELS OF LEAKS
Visit your plant during non-production hours. Does the compressed air system
sound like a pit of angry vipers? Obvious audible leakage is indicative of
inefficiency.
LACK OF SYSTEM MONITORING
How much is the energy input to your compressed air system compared to the
flow produced? If you can’t answer this question, your system is likely ineffi-
cient.
Do you have condensate drains that have been cracked open manually or timer
units that are wasting expensive compressed air? These situations typically
reflect efficiency problems. EP
EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM | 35

department | on the floor
Cultural Q
Improvement
A For as long as I can remember,
Takes Work
Dr. Klaus M. Blache
Univ. of Tennessee Reliability and
Maintainability Center (RMC)
Developing a mature culture requires trust
and can take many years to develop; more
than five years if the culture is ingrained.
A productive culture can very quickly be
destroyed without ongoing daily support.
36 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM
Why is improving
culture so difficult
and so important?
culture has been, simultaneously,
the top roadblock and leading oppor-
tunity for large implementations and
ongoing improvement. In simple terms,
culture is what your employees do when
they think that you are not watching.
Many labels have been used to de-
scribe factors that make cultural change
difficult. The top three are fear of change
(lack of confidence), lack of trust (people
need time to accept a new concept), and
lack of a clear communication/under-
standing of why the change is necessary
(what the future state looks like).
Results analyses, case studies, and
related headlines continue to make
statements such as:
 Culture is the main reason we are
not making faster progress.
 Culture accounts for a large
percentage of ROI.
 There is too much employee
resistance to process change or
Answers to questions
facing today’s reliability
& maintenance
professionals
introduction of new technology.
I have found that people, in general,
don’t resist change. What they resist
is the impact it has on their work and
personal lives. This is where employee
involvement in developing workable
solutions is rightfully discussed.
A mature culture requires trust and
can take many years to develop; more
than five years if the culture is ingrained.
However, it can very quickly be
destroyed without ongoing daily sup-
port. Trust and credibility need to be
earned. They don’t just happen.
There are exceptions. You often read
about the one-year cultural turnaround
of employees at NUMMI (New Unit-
ed Motor Manufacturing Inc., a joint
venture between GM and Toyota in
California) after Toyota took over the
General Motors plant. What’s usually
not mentioned is that the previous plant
closed and this venture was the primary
opportunity for workers to stay em-
ployed at their current wage levels. You
can get cultural change in a year if every-
one is standing on a burning platform.
In saying this, I’m not discrediting
anything that happened at NUMMI.
Toyota sent hundreds of coaches to
make lean manufacturing work, but also
wanted to learn more about dealing with
American workers. Early in my career,
while I was a manager at GM Corporate
Industrial Engineering, I volunteered to
work the production line several times to
better understand the workforce and had
numerous discussions with various lev-
els of management. These efforts allowed
me to confidently state that the people
and manufacturing processes worked.
When I conduct reliability and
FEBRUARY 2018
 department | on the floor Keep it
running.
Safely.
Organizational Culture and Reliability Process Maturity

10
Organizational culture index (10-pt. scale)

A
C
0
0 8
Plant reliability process maturity (10-pt. scale)

The graph lines show a comparison of assessment results from multiple plants in three companies.

Offering 12
maintainability assessments, understanding
the current state of the existing culture is
formance, authors J. P. Kotter and J. L. Heskett
found that, over a 10-yr. period, companies
electrical
one of the key elements. Some of the other had reached cultural and reliability maturity technician
15 elements we use are work management,
standardized work, continuous improvement,
realized revenue increases of 682% versus
166%, net income growth of 756% versus 1%,
certifications
and equipment process design. stock-price increases of 901% versus 74%, and and arc flash
In the graph above, the lines show a com-
parison of assessment results from multiple
282% job growth versus 36%.
It’s also not surprising that one of the safety.
plants in three companies. The company key Toyota Principles is about becoming a
represented by line AB has a high correlation learning organization through relentless
(R2 = 0.73) between process reliability and self-examination and continuous improve-
organizational culture maturity. The organi- ment. Cultural improvement will always be
zation represented by line CD started with the difficult to enable and sustain. But those who
same challenging culture as company CE but, understand it and embrace it will have greater
through an increased people focus, will reach success in business performance. EP
cultural and reliability maturity (and realize
related performance benefits) much faster
than company CE. TRAINING INSTITUTE
Planning for and tracking your cultural
progress can be accomplished by comparing Based in Knoxville, Klaus M. Blache
multiple plants or the same plant over time. is director of the Reliability &
Maintainability Center at the Univ. of
While you still need to have efficient and
Tennessee, and a research professor in
www.avotraining.com
effective processes in place to be competitive, the College of Engineering. Contact him Let us bring the training
a better culture will get you there much faster. at kblache@utk.edu. to your location
In their book, Corporate Culture and Per- Call 877-594-3156 for a quote

FEBRUARY 2018 EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM | 37

column | industrial internet of things
Digital T
HE BUZZ AROUND digital
platforms in manufacturing
Platforms
has a lot to do with advanced
automation and the ability to move
machine data to human-machine inter-
Join TPM
faces (HMIs) or to enterprise systems.
However, successful asset management
also involves dependable work processes,
And IIoT
along with technical solutions.
Total productive maintenance (TPM)
aligns nicely with IIoT’s (Industrial Inter-
Grant Gerke net of Things) mission statement of more
Contributing Editor actionable data on the plant floor. TPM
provides an operator with the ability to
perform basic maintenance routines for a
work center and, in theory, relegate larger
reliability issues to the maintenance staff.
Taking on more predictive/preventive
maintenance routines, reporting on dete-
riorating machine conditions earlier, and
providing more support in specifying new
plant equipment are examples of this shift.
One company facilitating this type of
solution is The Aquila Group Inc., Sun
Prairie, WI (the-aquila-group.com), an
automation solutions and consulting com-
pany providing a range of manufacturing
solutions, including a manufac-
turing-execution system (MES)
called the Dynamic Machine
Management (DMM) platform
and the Green Light Monitoring
data acquisition platform.
DMM makes it possible
to create, collect, distribute,
and manage manufacturing
information, instructions, and
performance metrics in real
time. “The system enables man-
agement to create customizable
This screen display, created by
The Aquila Group, alerts operators
dashboards that alert operators of sched-
of scheduled maintenance events uled maintenance events (within their
within their area of responsibility for area of responsibility) for their respective
their respective machine.
machines,” explained David Wilmer,
38 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM
vice president of manufacturing systems
design at The Aquila Group. “The operator
completes the events, and then a digital
maintenance record can be shared with
multiple departments or technicians.”
Green Light Monitoring is a software
platform that manages and automatically
performs OEE calculations. In conjunction
with the DMM platform, the monitoring
system can feed machine data to business
systems for long-term trend analysis and
record maintenance data in one action
with little to no operator involvement.
For example, the monitoring sys-
tem can create a cascade of questions
in real-time to operators experiencing a
micro-stoppage for a machine, such as
a failure alarm for low oil. The system
will then generate a series of questions
around the low-oil alarm and cascade
these questions, such as how much oil was
added to that machine. “You can acquire
micro-stoppage data for OEE calculations,
but now you’re also using that micro-
stoppage data as a maintenance compo-
nent,” added Wilmer.
This national consulting company
works with many sheet-metal manufac-
turers, such as Eaton, Siemens, and Fiat. In
addition to these large companies, Aquila
can also create customized, data-moni-
toring solutions for small- and mid-sized
companies looking to modernize opera-
tions with minimal capital outlay.
“Predictive-maintenance solutions are
now in reach for smaller companies due to
lower implementation IIoT costs over the
past ten years,” said Wilmer. An essential
ingredient of machine data visibility is in-
teroperability between devices. Third-par-
ty companies, such as The Aquila Group,
are providing this much-need expertise for
enterprises. EP
ggerke@efficientplantmag.com
FEBRUARY 2018

DCS Opens New
Markets for
Farm
Cooperative
AFTER OPERATING FOR decades,
Nebraska’s Midwest Farmers Cooperative
(MFC, midwestfarmers.coop) found itself
facing limited opportunities for an expand-
ed global-market reach. With most of its
grain transported by truck, the co-op de-
termined the best way to grow the business
would be to build a new central-hub termi-
nal with access to major U.S. rail lines. In
addition to train service and highway access
for inbound trucks, the terminal would also
need to be strategically located with respect
to MFC’s existing operating facilities.
Having settled on a location that met
FEBRUARY 2018
feature | solution focus
those requirements, the co-op worked with
system integrator Wachter Inc. (wachter.
com, Lenexa, KS) to design a fully automat-
ed facility based on the scalable PlantPAx
distributed control system (DCS) from
Rockwell Automation (rockwellautomation.
com, Milwaukee). Now up and running, the
terminal is helping MFC efficiently move
corn and other grain into new markets
around the world.
THE CHALLENGES
MFC is a full-service cooperative. It brings
together 4,100 farmer patrons in Nebraska
Process automation
is providing critical
production insights and
centralized control for a
major agricultural terminal
operation.
to negotiate higher prices as a group and
reach customers to which individual mem-
bers might, otherwise, not have immediate
access. The co-op operates 28 Nebraska
facilities where trucks bring grains to be
dried, conditioned, and stored until pur-
chased and transported out.
Previously, only a few of those terminals
had access to trains to haul grain to market.
Reliance on trucks as the primary means of
transit, in turn, limited the co-op’s customer
base solely to companies operating in the
Midwest. The co-op’s efficiency also was
limited given the fact most of its terminals
EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM | 39

weren’t automated. Consequently,
operators needed to manually keep
processes moving forward.
An automated greenfield cen-
tral-hub terminal, MFC reasoned,
would not only be key to developing
a larger customer base for the co-op’s
patrons, it could help keep operating
costs low.
THE SOLUTION
Co-op management found a location
in Syracuse, in southeastern Nebras-
ka, that met their requirements for
rail-line access. Once the land was
secured, the project moved forward.
“This was the first time MFC was
deploying a centralized DCS in a
terminal,” said Daniel Alvarez, auto-
mation software systems consultant
at Wachter and a lead on the project.
“We knew that the PlantPAx modern
DCS would be easy to design and
deploy quickly, helping to get the
facility operating sooner.”
When designing the control system,
Wachter leveraged the Rockwell Automa-
tion Library of Process Objects. The pre-
built, pre-engineered, and tested process
objects allowed Wachter to quickly design
and deploy the system.
The Rockwell Software Studio 5000 Logix
Emulate software application enabled the
Wachter team to validate, test, and optimize
code without hardware. This reduced design
time by about 25%, and allowed the team to
gather buy-in from MFC stakeholders and
train operators.
With an EtherNet/IP backbone, the
modern DCS integrates smoothly with the
facility’s new machines, including conveyors
and dryer systems, to efficiently monitor
and visualize the terminal from inbound to
outbound. This comprehensive view enables
operators to control all areas of the site
through only three workstations located at
40 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM
feature | solution focus
Up and running since October 2016 with no major downtime events, the
Midwest Farmers Cooperative’s fully-automated central-hub terminal
in Syracuse, NE, is helping efficiently move corn and other grains to
customers around the world.
receiving, weighing, and loadout. Typically,
terminals would require multiple operators
to manually manage the process.
The new system also smoothly manages
enterprise-level monitoring, data storage,
and alarming. The system’s connectivity to
the enterprise-level monitoring also enables
remote access. If an issue arises, Wachter
can remotely access the control system for
maintenance and troubleshooting, reducing
costs and time for both.
THE ROI
MFC’s greenfield terminal has been oper-
ating with no major downtime events to
date. Its rail-line access allows the co-op
to deliver corn and other grains to more
national and global markets, at higher profit
margins.
The business is realizing a number of
specific benefits from its first centralized
DCS and fully automated operation. Among
them, production moves more
quickly and efficiently compared
to older terminals. Case in point:
The terminal has a capacity of
2.75 million bushels, which could
more than double if warranted.
The receiving end has the capacity
to take in 1,000 bushels every two
minutes, and receives an average
of 300 trucks each day. The site
also reports that remote monitor-
ing reduces downtime and helps
save maintenance costs.
One of the biggest benefits,
though, may have come as a result
of the project’s development
process and expedited commis-
sioning. MFC began building
the terminal in December 2015.
Wachter began performing the
upfront engineering and design
in March 2016. The PlantPax
DCS was deployed by October of
that year—and began validating
processes less than two weeks later.
“Our operations, management, and
leadership teams have varying levels of
automation experience, from little or none,
to full-on, wholly automated facilities,” said
Eric Werth, manager for the MFC Syra-
cuse terminal. “With the PlantPAx system,
Wachter helped us go from design to oper-
ations at the same location, within a year,
letting our patrons reach a bigger customer
base faster than expected.”
Bottom line: The Midwest Farmers Coop-
erative plans to standardize on the PlantPAx
system across its facilities as it builds future
terminals and upgrades existing ones. EP
Results mentioned in this article are specific
to the Midwest Farmers Cooperative’s use of
Rockwell Automation products and services
in conjunction with other products. Specific
results may vary for other users. For more
information, visit rockwellautomation.com.
FEBRUARY 2018
 department | products

PRODUCTS
FEATURED PRODUCT

Redundancy Modules Protect

Against Power Failures
The SolaHD SDN2X power-supply redundancy modules continuously
monitor two power supplies connected in parallel. In the event one
power supply fails, the unit automatically switches to the second power
supply, eliminating the potential for single power-supply failure causing
an unexpected shutdown. Because the power supplies are decoupled
using the module, the operating power supply does not feed into the
failed power supply. The modules use a MOSFET design that generates
less heat than diode-based redundancy modules. Three module sizes
are available, each supporting redundancy between two 12 VDC or two
24 VDC power supplies.
Emerson
St. Louis
emerson.com

INTERFACES FOR MOTOR SMART MACHINE CHECKER

FEEDBACK KIT ENCODERS Accurex is automatic diagnosis software
Interfaces for the company’s magnetic Kit built into the company’s Fixturlaser Smart
Encoders include support for the non-proprietary open- Machine Checker (SMC). The SMC
source BiSS Line communication protocol. This enables includes several built-in tools to provide
single-cable technology, increasingly popular with an accurate and comprehensive report on
motor and robot manufacturers. The kits, which feature a machine’s health. Tools include a laser
17-bit electronic resolution, bridge the gap between pyrometer to check bearing temperature,
simple resolvers and more complex optical encoders for a stroboscope to pinpoint the exact
servomotors, robot joints, and other applications where RPM, and a camera to document sensor
absolute rotary position feedback is required. placement or machine defects.
Posital VibrAlign Inc.
Hamilton, NJ Richmond, VA
posital.com vibralign.com

SLIDING-VANE PUMPS
The GNX series sliding-vane pumps are alignment-free, reduced-speed pumps for
portable and stationary applications. The design eliminates the couplings between
the gearbox and the pump and motor by rigidly connecting them in alignment with a
C-face (or similar) motor on the high-speed and low-speed sides of the pump. The
result is a pump that reportedly will not need to be realigned either at initial installation
or following a maintenance procedure. Applications include chemical transfer.
Blackmer
Grand Rapids, MI
blackmer.com

FEBRUARY 2018 EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM | 41

department | products

PROXIMITY SENSORS
The V3 series AC-powered inductive proximity sensors are
available in 8, 12, 18, and 30 mm. Extended sensing distances
range from 2-mm shielded and 4-mm unshielded for 8-mm
versions to 12-mm shielded and 18-mm unshielded for 30-mm
models. Sensors operate on 20 to 250 VAC/VDC input with
N.O. and N.C. output options, and are short-circuit protected.
AutomationDirect
Cumming, GA
automationdirect.com

FIELD CALIBRATOR, COMMUNICATOR

The MC6-Ex field calibrator and communicator is a
documenting, multifunction calibrator and communicator
that offers calibration capabilities for pressure, temperature,
and various electrical signals. It also contains a field
communicator for HART, FOUNDATION Fieldbus, and
Profibus PA instruments. The device is an IEC and ATEX
certified calibrator and can be used in any Ex Zone/Division.
The certification classification is Ex II 1 G and Ex ia IIC T4 Ga.
Beamex Inc.
Marietta, GA
beamex.com

PRESS-FITTING SYSTEM
MegaPress XL press-fitting system for 2 1/2- to 4-in.- dia. carbon-steel pipe can be used
with Schedule 10 to Schedule 40 pipe. On average, the system is said to make secure
connections in 25 sec. Unlike welding and threading, the system does not require a fire
watch or cutting oils and creates no sparks. It also has an FKM sealing element that allows
it to be installed in higher temperature (to 284 F) applications.
Viega
Broomfield, CO
viega.us

42 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM FEBRUARY 2018

 department | products

INSULATION TESTER
The MIT485/2TC-LG2 insulation
and continuity tester replaces the
company’s MIT480 range tester.
The handheld instrument features
fixed test voltages of 50, 100, 250,
and 500, and variable test voltages
from 10 to 500. A gated access
feature to 500 V prevents accidental
application of high voltage to
sensitive equipment. The tester has
a three-terminal connection for tip,
ring, and ground testing. Accuracy WEAR RINGS
is +2% to 0%. The HiMod Slydring HC wear-ring line includes more than 180 part numbers in outer
Megger diameters from 1 to 12 in. The rings have high compressive strength and wear resistance
Norristown, PA even at elevated temperatures, provide low friction performance in lubricated settings, and
megger.com are said to be easy to install with a simple closed-grooved design.
Trelleborg Sealing Solutions
Streamwood, IL
tss.trelleborg.com
HYBRID PPTC
MINI-BREAKER
The MHP-TAT18 metal hybrid PPTC
battery mini-breaker with resettable

Looking to refocus or revitalize

thermal cut-off has a 9-VDC rating.
The device meets battery safety
requirements of higher-capacity lithium
ion polymer and prismatic battery cells. your maintenance program?
Applications include protection for cells
used in gaming PCs, notebook PCs,
Looking to prepare for ISO 55001 certification?
ultra-books, tablets, and other battery-
Does your program currently:
powered portable devices.
P Lack confidence in its P Lack the time to
Littelfuse Inc. maintenance data? complete all work?
Chicago P Lack strategic direction? P Lack succession planning?
littelfuse.com
P Lack effective communication? P Lack effective work planning
and scheduling?

If you answered YES to any of the above,

ENGTECH Industries Inc—
call Ken Bannister at ENGTECH
successfully implementing usable asset management
programs for over 27 years—at (519) 469-9173
or email kbannister@engtechindustries.com
and let’s talk maintenance!

Helping People manage People who Manage Assets!

FEBRUARY 2018 EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM | 43

department | products

ULTRAHIGH-SPEED CAMERA
The Phantom v2640 4-Megapixel camera has a CMOS image sensor that delivers image quality as high
as 26 Gpx/sec., while reaching 6,600 frames/sec. at full 2048 x 1952 resolution. The high dynamic
range shows significant detail, especially in high-contrast environments. The camera is available with
as much as 288 GB of memory, and is compatible with Phantom 1TB and 2TB CineMags for fast data
saves. Alternatively, 10 Gb Ethernet is standard, saving significant download time.
Vision Research
Wayne, NJ
phantomhighspeed.com

ENGINEERING FRAMEWORK PORTAL

The new version of the TIA Portal V15 engineering framework
emphasizes applications, enhancements within the digitalization
portfolio, and functionality ensuring engineering efficiency.
Applications are enhanced with high-level language programming,
integration of additional drive systems, and handling functions.
A broader digitalization portfolio includes improved features
for OPC UA functionalities and the powerful feature of virtual
commissioning. The version focuses even more on Standardization
Functionality and better engineering efficiency with teamwork, as
well as expanded diagnostics of machines and systems.
Siemens
Atlanta
siemens.com

CLOUD-HOSTING SOLUTION
The company’s Connected Plant Uniformance Cloud
Historian is a software-as-a-service cloud-hosting solution
for enterprise-wide visualization and analysis, improving
asset availability and increasing plant uptime. It fuses the
real-time process data analysis of a traditional enterprise
historian with a data lake, enabling the integration of
production, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and
other business data coupled with analytics tools to provide
business intelligence. This allows enterprise data to be
analyzed instantly on a scale not previously possible using
tools and functions already in use at sites and plants. The
software collects, stores, and enables replay of historical
and continuous plant and production site process data and
makes it visible in the cloud in near real time.
Honeywell Process Solutions
Houston
honeywellprocess.com

44 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM FEBRUARY 2018

 efficient plant | showcase

Level Sensors
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Over 57 Hands-On NCR-80
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data. Non-contact crusaders with x-ray
vision overcome the densest dust
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800-278-4241 Your Sensor
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Intrinsically POWER +
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communicate alarms
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800.433.7642 A COMPANY OF MARECHAL ELECTRIC SuperiorSignal.com/MT

FEBRUARY 2018 EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM | 45

efficient plant | ad index

INTEGRATED MEDIA SPECIALISTS

Midwest/West Coast INTERNATIONAL SALES LIST SERVICES
PATRICK KEEFE PHIL SARAN BRIAN CLOTWORTHY
pkeefe@efficientplantmag.com psaran@efficientplantmag.com brian@inforefinery.com
FEBRUARY 2018 • Volume 31, No. 2 800.529.9020
535 Plainfield Road, Suite A East Coast SHOWCASE &
Willowbrook, IL 60527 JULIE OKON CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING
PH 630.325.2497 jokon@efficientplantmag.com MARIA LEMAIRE
FX 847.620.2570 mlemaire@efficientplantmag.com

Allied Elec. & Auto. ....................................3, 5 AutomationDirect........... inside front cover AVO Training Inst. ................................. 37, 45 BinMaster Level Controls...........................45 Engtech Industries...................................... 43
alliedelec.com automationdirect.com avotraining.com binmaster.com engtechindustries.com

Exair Corp. .................................................... 47 IMVAC...............................................................9 Lubrication Engineers...................................11 Mapcon ......................................................... 45 Meltric Corp. ................................................ 45
exair.com vibrationconference.com lelubricants.com mapcon.com meltric.com

Pruftechnik.. ..................................................23 Reliable Plant Conf. .......................................7 Royal Products. ............................................ 47 SAP Conference. .......................................... 13 Schneider Electric........................back cover
pruftechnik.com conference.reliableplant.com mistcollectors.com sapeamconference.com schneider-electric.us

SD Myers Inc. ................................................29 Superior Signal ............................................ 45 Test Products Intl. ....................................... 45 Univ. of Tennessee ...........inside back cover Allied Elec. & Auto. ...............................online
powersummit18.org superiorsignal.com/MT testproductsintl.com rmc.utk.edu alliedelec.com

AVO Training ..........................................online Baldor Electric .......................................online Dude Solutions ......................................online Emerson................................................. online Exair .........................................................online
avotraining.com baldor.com dudesolutions.com emerson.com exair.com

Fluke Corp. .............................................online Ludeca. ....................................................online NSK Corp.................................................online Schneider Electric.................................online U.S. Tsubaki Power................................online
fluke.com ludeca.com nskamericas.com schneider-electric.us ustsubaki.com

Submissions Policy: E Pla welcomes editorial submissions. By sending us your submission, unless otherwise ne- Reproduction of Materials: Materials produced by
gotiated in writing with our editor(s), you grant Applied Technology Media Inc., permission, by an irrevocable license, to edit, E Pla may not be reproduced in any form,
reproduce, distribute, publish, and adapt your submission in any medium, including internet, on multiple occasions. You are for any purpose, without permission. For reprints, con-
free to publish your submission yourself or allow others to republish your submission. Submissions will not be returned. tact Phil Saran, at psaran@efficientplantmag.com.

46 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM FEBRUARY 2018

 efficient plant | showcase

YOUR
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FEBRUARY 2018 EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM | 47

column | efficiency insight
Embrace W
HILE SITTING IN a
coffee house recently, I
IIoT
was joined by an engineer
acquaintance. The resulting discussion
focused on what is meant by digital
Technology
factory, smart manufacturing, cyber-
physical systems, and Industry 4.0/IIoT
(Industrial Internet of Things).
Our conversation actually had started
Gary Mintchell with Internet of Things comments. My
Contributing Editor
friend works for Emerson Commercial
and Residential Solutions, St. Louis
(emerson.com/en-us/commercial-res-
idential-solutions), manufacturer of
HVAC and refrigeration compressors.
We began talking about how they can
use the internet to connect and monitor
their compressors.
What would they monitor? The same
things you all do within your plants.
They can monitor performance aimed
at developing a database to aid future
design and evaluate components. Most
of all, they can monitor reliability and
maintenance issues—downtime, perfor-
mance degradation, problem prediction.
Oh, and they could possibly sell services.
The maintenance managers among
you readers will recognize these issues.
And you’ll recognize the tension among
the many companies wishing to provide
those services. Do you “own” the data
and then use it for in-house mainte-
nance? Do you contract with a distrib-
utor or integrator who is positioned
between you and the OEM who might
want to tap into this information trove
and sell the services? Do you contract
with the machine builder? Or do you
Industry 4.0, IoT, IIoT, digital factory,
smart manufacturing, and cyberphysi- go to the source and contract with the
cal systems have become the backbone
equipment builder?
of today’s manufacturing operations
because the technology facilitates effi- The IIoT can be thought of as the end
ciency and reliability. result of all the buzz words that I used in
48 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM
my opening statement.
Design is now done digitally. The
CAD drawings, components, parts lists
are all just digital files these days. The
cyberphysical systems part of this means
that you can have a digital (cyber) repre-
sentation of just about everything in the
physical world. And not just a database,
but also motion, engineering, perfor-
mance curves and models, and metadata
of the parts and system. Potentially huge
amounts of information.
This information can now be manip-
ulated and studied. Dump it into a sim-
ulation application (maybe with virtual
reality headset), and operators, techs,
and engineers can “see” the process. This
is great for training new operators or re-
freshment training for current operators.
Suck the information models into an
application with performance informa-
tion and analyses can be made to predict
problems or even prescribe solutions
before problems crop up.
With all the information coming
back from the system automatically,
think of the cost savings and error
prevention from sending technicians
out into the field to manually record
data. These concepts are more than just
buzz words. They point to very real plant
efficiency and profitability benefits.
Only four years ago I gave a talk at a
maintenance conference where one of
the audience members told me “engi-
neering says this stuff doesn’t work.”
Guess what? It does. EP
Gary Mintchell is an industrial-
technology subject-matter expert.
He can be reached at gmintchell@
efficientplantmag.com.
FEBRUARY 2018
Dow Corning makes

time to profit with

Schneider’s EcoStruxure™ Plant

For Dow Corning, the largest silicone materials production facility in the world, bringing innovation
to control, operational safety and reliability at their petrochemicals plant was a bold idea.

Schneider confidently provides Dow Corning with modernization services using their EcoStruxure
Foxboro DCS, enabling a seamless, fast control system upgrade for faster time to production.

EcoStruxure Plant including EcoStruxure Foxboro DCS offers:

• 50% faster migration
• Reduction in CAPEX by 50%
• Saving 2 days of production and a faster time to profit

#WhatsYourBoldIdea

schneider-electric.com/processautomation

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