Maintenance cannot be left out of the technological evolution. The sector needs to look for tools and follow new trends in the search for excellence. Its value to the business needs to become more evident. In order for this to happen, it is necessary to constantly update the growth mindset related to the search for innovation and new technological trends.
– Emerson Duarte
Emerson is an enthusiast of new technologies and innovation in the industrial maintenance field. He has over 20 years of experience in the area, and has played a big role in the evolution of Randon Companies, a corporation that produces solutions in equipment, automotive systems and transportation services.
A journey of lots of learning
Emerson has 20 years of experience working in industrial maintenance, specifically at Randon Companies. He currently works at Master Brakes as Maintenance Analyst, focusing on TPM (Total Productive Maintenance), audits and innovation projects.
Throughout this period, he has been through and participated in many changes such as the expansion of the industrial park, acquisition of new equipment, restructuring of the maintenance sector and culture changes.
Currently, besides TPM and audits, he is helping out in the creation of the maintenance sector at Ferrari, a casting company that belongs to Master, and is also working on innovation projects within the area.
According to Emerson, we must always seek excellence in the activities performed by maintenance teams, both in routine activities and in new projects, and this is where the partnership with TRACTIAN comes into play.
The expectation is very high. We have already managed to act in a proactive way, avoiding breakdowns that would certainly impact the delivery of our products and income. We always work focused on our clients, seeking effectiveness in our work and TRACTIAN is certainly helping us a lot in that sense.
– Emerson Duarte
Insights that save the day
According to Emerson, the company has more than 250 machines, and it was difficult to monitor all components, especially the most critical ones. In those cases, guaranteeing availability is essential.
In conventional predictive maintenance, the measurements and data collections are carried out monthly. In this period of time, a simple anomaly could become the breakdown of equipment and unexpected downtime in production.
By monitoring machines online and remotely, it is possible to manage these components with precision and assertiveness, since several checks and collections are done throughout the day.
Among the times in which our platform was crucial in the process of detecting failures, we can highlight a couple.
Dial Machine operation 30: This equipment performs machining on the Caliper, an important item for Master’s export market. For more context, Dial Machine has 3 stations with 10 heads each. TRACTIAN now monitors operation 30, which has the highest expenditure of money. Emerson says that they chose this section to monitor because “the operation is extremely critical, and it would completely stop the production flow of this equipment.”
During the machine’s uptime period, the sensor detected signs of anomalous vibration and sent an alert to the maintenance team. Action needed to be taken as soon as possible since, as it was later verified by the staff, there was a serious problem.
The problem occured in the spindle or coupling of the servo motor, which was due to fail, and we would lose practically an entire work shift. That is, there would have been 4 operators on duty and about 1000 parts that would not be produced.
Through the platform’s insight, the maintenance team was able to anticipate and correct a problem that otherwise would become really serious.
Mori Seiki “O”: This machine presented a water pump specific insight. The platform then instructed the maintenance team on how best to assess the problem. By replacing a suction filter, the pump was prevented from malfunctioning and the machine didn’t stop. “Now, with real-time monitoring, it is possible to identify failures and act preventively with greater assertiveness.”
In this case, our platform issued an insight due to the temperature limit reached by the equipment. When the problem was found, the filter was replaced and the pump housing was cleaned, which meant the equipment returned to its normal operation patterns.
Promoting safety and precision
Before implementing the sensors, the Master team had recently replaced the main wheel bearing on a press machine. Emerson points out that this equipment required continuous monitoring, due to the criticality of operation and breakdown history.
“There was a risk involved in daily monitoring vibration and temperature of the steering wheel bearing, due to the height of the press and how difficult it was to access. These types of activities require training and mandatory compliance with safety standards. The time wasted in this entire verification process was around 40 minutes per day.”
After commenting on this constant concern with the press, Emerson highlighted the change after the installation of TRACTIAN sensors and the access to online monitoring: “The sensors brought greater security, precision and reliability to our monitoring. It is now possible to keep track of all machines in real time through the platform and using the app installed on our cell phones, with all the information in the palm of your hand.”
I feel motivated and challenged in this project, as well as convinced that it will add a lot of value to our business in the future.
– Emerson Duarte
