No surprises with the lubricators

Customer Success Story

No Surprises with the Lubricators

Westerwälder Elektro Osmose is breaking new ground and is implementing the Schaeffler OPTIME C1 for lubrication monitoring in its production facilities. Thanks to the smart technology, the maintenance management has the lubricators' filling volume in sight at all times. There is no need for manual monitoring, which saves time and reduces costs. As any faults are also displayed early with OPTIME C1.

Expected savings per mill stoppage: EUR 47,000

“OPTIME C1 enables us to identify early on whether areas are not lubricated or if the lubrication point is empty. When I open the app and see that everything is running smoothly, it gives me peace of mind.”

Peter Hannappel

Maintenance Manager at Westerwälder Elektro Osmose

“The message to our customers: Unscrew all the lubrication nipples, screw on OPTIME C1 and forget about the lubrication point.”

René Schmeckthal

Managing Director, Wälzlager-Vertrieb Wiesbaden

Benefit
Challenge
Solution & What's Special
Technical Details
Savings
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Benefits

Do less, achieve more – no more manual monitoring of lubricators
No manual work – no longer necessary to lubricate by hand
Less unplanned downtime – incorrect lubrication virtually impossible
Informed via app wherever you are – thanks to unrivaled OPTIME technology
User-friendly – easy to install, refill and use
More time for core tasks – like sustainability and customer satisfaction
Increased safety – areas that are difficult to access do not need to be checked

Challenge

High pressure during pressing and temperatures above 1,200 °C for the production of porcelain stoneware put a tremendous strain on the machines of the producer of structural ceramics.

The maintenance specialists at Osmose ensure that the mills, screw conveyors, extrusion presses and important units such as fans and motors always run well and have optimum lubrication. Up to now, lubrication has been done manually. Automatic lubrication systems were only used on critical machines. Indeed neither of the methods are a satisfactory solution for the maintenance team. They also do not resolve the risk of accidents with hard-to-access machinery.

“Grease guns do not precisely dose the amount of lubricant. There is always a risk of over- or under-greasing. For this reason, we also use automatic lubricators on critical machines. However, the lubrication system does not show if the line is blocked, which occurs quite often due to the high temperatures. This can quickly result in damage. Regular inspections need to be carried out, which takes up too much of our team’s time,”

says Peter Hannappel, Maintenance Manager at Westerwälder Elektro Osmose.

In order to optimize lubrication processes, Osmose turned to its service provider Wälzlager Vertrieb Wiesbaden (WVW), a certified Schaeffler distributor.

Solution

Schaeffler and WVW recommended the wireless OPTIME C1. The innovative lubrication monitoring solution comprises an OPTIME C1 smart lubricator, a cartridge, a gateway and a digital service. The data is visualized on a mobile device (e.g. smartphone) via an app. This displays the fill level of the lubricant cartridge as well as any faults such as blocked lines. The relevant data is transferred directly from OPTIME C1 to the Schaeffler cloud. The structural ceramics manufacturer can therefore easily access the data from anywhere at any time. Inspection rounds are a thing of the past, which saves time. Furthermore, the compact design of the OPTIME C1 means it can be installed almost anywhere – even in places which are difficult to access. This significantly reduces the risk of accidents.

The OPTIME C1 is fitted.
The Schaeffler app is installed and OPTIME C1 started up.
Data is visualized on the laptop.

What's Special

No other lubricator in the world currently has the smart technology and simplicity of the OPTIME C1. Westerwälder Elektro Osmose is more than happy with the solution:

“We can imagine that the number of OPTIME C1 we install will go into the three digit range.”

Peter Hanappel

Maintenance Manager at Westerwälder Elektro Osmose

The solution is also very lucrative for service providers. The customer-specific display means any necessary action, such as the supply of new lubricators, can quickly be taken.

Technical Details

Technical information – OPTIME C1

Drive system

electromechanical

Communication

Wirepas Mesh 2,4 GHz

NFC1356 MHz, 10 kbps

Communication range

up to 100 m

Operating temperature

-10 to +55 °C

Operating pressure

up to 10 bar

Protection class

IP68

Power supply

Battery (6 V / 2,3 Ah)

Lubricant volume

60 or 125 cm3

Visualization

smartphone, PC, laptop

Straight to product information

Technical information on the machines/units

ICF-mill

CBM 40, clay processing,

motor 1,400 rpm, mill 15 rpm

Screw conveyor

60 – 100 rpm

Press

EVO 3600, drive 110 kW,
3,600 tons

Fan

2,800 rpm

What the customer sees
Customer-specific display: Maintenance management can view notifications and the fill level of the cartridge from anywhere with just a glance at the app on their smartphone. If necessary, relevant measures can then immediately be taken. For example, changing or purchasing new cartridges (CONCEPT1).
What the service provider sees
Specific service provider display: WVW has the same view of the data as Osmose. However, the service provider can also view the data of other customers. Creating customers in the app is easy. And the display views by process area and department make it easy for the service provider to create work lists or similar documents for a customer visit.

Savings

Costs of unplanned downtime of the mill

Repair costs

1,500 €

Personnel costs

540 €

Material costs
(e.g. new motor, bearings)

15,000 €

Production loss

30,000 €

Total costs

47,040 €

Osmose estimates a repair time of 48 hours for an unplanned stoppage of the ICF mill alone.

47,040 €

savings with OPTIME C1
(based on an unplanned stoppage of the mill caused by incorrect lubrication)

Annual inspections

0 hours

with OPTIME C1

(no inspection rounds – only to exchange the cartridge or if there are problems with the machine)

154 hours

without OPTIME C1

(weekly inspections of 3.5 hours each, 11 months)

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For Peace of Mind
No surprises with the lubricators
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Solution Description Schaeffler OPTIME C1
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How-to-video
From the way you will interact with OPTIME C1, to its main benefits – our ‘how-to-video’ will help you answer any final questions you have about our state-of-the-art solution.