Maintenance management: Smart methods (cont.)

Note: This column is a continuation of the December, February, and April P&P maintenance columns by Christer Idhammar discussing smart corrective maintenance methods. This month, he covers some techniques in preventive and corrective maintenance for beginning to advanced readers.

MICROCANS TECHNOLOGY IS THE closest thing to a paperless maintenance system I have seen. The MicroCan is a stainless steel container about the size of a dime with a thickness of about three dimes. Inside the container is a microchip that stores information. With a handheld probe, you can touch the MicroCan and read information from it, or you can add information it.

This technology has been used for many years in security systems, car locks, maintenance management, and other applications. Many years ago, I saw a MicroCan fastened in a cow's ear. This triggered my curiosity and led me to develop a demonstration route system for preventive maintenance that was used for training and idea creation in training programs. Today, many companies are using MicroCan technology in their maintenance departments-especially for lubrication and inspection routes.

The applications for this technology are limited only by our imaginations. I have introduced it to many maintenance software suppliers without success. They apparently do not see its benefits and say that they have other solutions, including bar codes and other technology. However, bar codes can easily be damaged or painted over.The biggest obstacle with software suppliers is most probably a resistance to change.
The MicroCan technology is so effective that I am convinced we will see more and more of it in the future. If you are interested in learning more about it, you can contact Dallas Semiconductor in Dallas, Texas, and ask for a demonstration kit. We can also give you names of lubrication suppliers offering this system as part of their services.

HYGROSCOPIC BREATHERS AND FILTERS. Poor filtration and moisture in hydraulic systems and lubrication systems are costing the pulp and paper industry millions of dollars. If you keep hydraulic fluids cool and clean, hydraulic systems -to the contrary belief of American industrywill not leak as much as they do in most U.S. pulp and paper mills. If hydraulic fluids and lubrication oils are kept clean from particles bigger than five microns and there is no water content in the systems, components in these systems will have much longer life.

If you use silica-filled filters as breathers on hydraulic systems and, for example, gearboxes, you will eliminate one source of contamination. Desiccant bag filters will dry the air entering the system and filter out particles down to one micron. An indicator will change color when it is time to change the unit. More information is available from Des-Case Corp. in White House,Tenn.

I talked with a pulp and paper maintenance manager in a mill I worked with for many years. This mill used to have problems with the short life-about eight months-of small gears driving its big rotating filters and washers.After trying to solve the problem with other types of oil, the lubrication team modified the gears so that it was easy to connect a mobile filter. They also put hygroscopic filters on the gears. They have now been running the gears for six years without a problem!

HIGH INTENSITY LIGHT. We recently followed up on the results of a PM/ECCM (preventive maintenance/essential care condition monitoring) program that was implemented in two pulp and paper mills. They both used cost avoidance reports to follow up on results. A conservative estimate showed that, in both mills, savings were about ten times the cost of implementing the program in the first six months.

Most of these savings came from avoiding production losses. In one mill, 80% of all work in a shutdown was the result of inspections instead of short notice work orders. Also, one mill followed up on the methods used to identify potential problems. It showed that 73% of identified problems were detected by use of high intensity light and that another 15% were detected by the use of strobe lights. Before the program was implemented, sporadic "when-we-have-time" inspections were done using flashlights. In the initial training, the inspector trainees were introduced to better lights with a light beam of l000w. They discovered that this opened up a new world when they inspected equipment, especially when it was performed in conjunction with detailed cleaning of components.