Drive engineering company SEW Eurodrive has recorded increased demand for its condition-monitoring service since it was launched at last year’s Electra Mining Africa event, especially from larger industries such as mining, mixing and bulk materials handling.

Condition monitoring is carried out on industrial gearboxes using sensors that are fitted on the gearbox.

“We offer a vibration sensor, called a DUV, to monitor wear on bearings and gears; an oil-ageing sensor, called a DUO, to identify the ideal oil-changing period; a break diag-nosis sensor, called a DUB, which analyses functionality and wear on all SEW Eurodrive motors; and temperature sensors, which moni- tor the lubrication temperature of gear units.

“The condition-monitoring service also includes the thermography of control cabinets and drive components, mobile vibration analysis, an endoscope of gears and gear-wear analysis, which are all carried out on site by our trained technicians,” says SEW Eurodrive GM of operations Raymond Obermeyer.

The advantages of condition monitoring, he notes, are a reduction in production down-time, owing to planned maintenance, a reduc- tion in maintenance costs, using sensor tech-nology, and a more efficient and productive system.

in accordance with its German parent company, SEW Eurodrive is rolling out its Complete Drive Service (CDS), which it hopes to implement at all five of its South African branches by the end of this financial year.

The CDS comprises 14 services – inspection and maintenance, pickup and delivery, a 24-hour service hotline, spare parts, condition monitoring, training, repair, complete drive management (CDM), industrial gear services, application programming, installation advice, express assembly, start-up and retrofit.

“Implementing these services at our branches in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Nelspruit and Port Elizabeth will allow a faster turnaround time and a better service offering for all our clients, which is our focus,” says Obermeyer.

The express assembly service offers the assembly of motors and geared motors at short notice, while the start-up service offers the evaluation of the dimensioning of drive components and the start-up and parameter setting of electronic components, as well as the improvement of the efficiency of drive components, to meet application needs by undertaking test runs and integration tests.

The retrofit service offers analysis of installed drive technology and application solutions; and realignment according to client requirements, based on the newest technology and energy efficiency specifications; as well as recommendations to develop the most effective maintenance concept.

“The CDM maintenance management service provides data recording for improved maintenance planning and history review. It includes technical data of all motors, gearboxes, industrial gears and frequency inverters, as well as their usage information and classification of their condition.

“Drives are marked with a unique CDM number for identification and data is stored with SEW Eurodrive equivalents and current information on the condition of the parts in the database of our online customer portal, DriveGate. Access authorisation is on a person-by-person basis, specified by the customer,” explains Obermeyer.

He notes that SEW Eurodrive will have to work hard to achieve its goal of implementing these services at all its branches, adding that rigorous planning is taking place.

“We have also upgraded tonnage capacities at all our facilities so that they can handle any gearbox size, which is part of our drive towards supplying better service delivery,” he concludes.