Do your customers demand your products on a ‘just-in-time’ basis or on very short lead times? Do your production machines need to run 24/7 without any unplanned downtime in order to satisfy these demands?
Knauf Gips KG, a manufacturer of building materials, faced these same challenges, which it is solving by installing Schaeffler’s OPTIME Condition Monitoring (CM) solution at its Iphofen gypsum plant. OPTIME CM monitors numerous pumps, fans and motors, as well as core production equipment such as the rotary kiln. Knauf’s customers want to order products ‘just-in-time’, which is why its machines must run round the clock. Reliable condition monitoring of machines and lubrication points is therefore critical.
OPTIME CM was chosen for the product cooling ovens and Roto-Packers. The scalable solution consists of wireless sensors, a gateway and a digital service that includes automatic data analysis in the cloud and the provision of key information in an app and a web-based dashboard.
For monitoring the rotary kiln, Knauf preferred to use the multi-channel ProLink condition monitoring system (CMS) from Schaeffler. Its high performance enables reliable monitoring of the rotary kiln, despite the variable operating conditions and surface temperatures. An LTE router is used to connect the rotary kiln’s measurement data to the OPTIME cloud. Integration into the company’s own network is not necessary. Knauf uses the modular ProLink CMS with 11 vibration sensors attached to various bearing housings, gearboxes and motors.
To discover the benefits Knauf has seen since implementing OPTIME CM and ProLink CMS, read the full story here.
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