SKF South Africa provided a turnkey solution that increased equipment reliability, component service life and mean time between repairs (MTBR) for a long-standing key customer in the sugar industry.
The Mpumalanga-based sugar mill contacted SKF authorised distributor, Bearing Services Nelspruit, to request support with the replacement of bearings and the alignment of 11 fans and four screw conveyors.
“During our site visit to determine our customer’s exact requirements, we also obtained an additional project scope for the replacement, geometric alignment and commissioning of support roller bearings on three sugar dryers,” says SKF key accounts manager Sean Weir.
SKF received instructions to proceed with the project early in 2014 and the scope of services included: the installation of bearings, seals and power transmission components; the inspection of drive components, balancing, belt, shaft and geometric alignments; and vibration analysis on commissioning.
SKF products and services that were consumed during the course of the project represent five of the company’s global core technologies: all types of bearings, seals, power transmissions (pulleys, drive belts, sprockets and drive chains) as well as lubricants. In accordance with SKF’s precision maintenance practices, dimensional and geometric conformance of associated components was examined and repairs or replacements implemented accordingly.
SKF concluded the project successfully in March 2014. Now, after four months of trouble-free operation, the customer reports that to date no repairs have been necessary on equipment that previously had an MTBR of only 1,5 months. “The sugar mill has a knowledgeable and competent service partner in SKF and we remain committed to supplying quality products supported by comprehensive services to assist our customer in maximising up time for overall improved mill productivity,” concludes Weir.
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