On the edge of tomorrow
Sensors mounted in and around lift components provide data that can give early warning of potential problems. This speeds up the process of diagnosis and repair, helping to improve reliability and minimise downtime
Laser-guided track to safety
The increased loading of the rail network, along with the greater speeds of modern trains, has led to higher stressing of the rails. The track itself is therefore the most important safety aspect and so needs to be inspected regularly to prevent accidents. To that end, several leading rail inspection companies around the world are now using the latest non-contact, laser-based profile measurement sensors from Micro-Epsilon. Infotrans, for example, a leading supplier of inspection systems and services to Russia's sole railway network company Russichen Eisen Bahn (REB), is using Micro-Epsilon sensors on a newly developed wagon inspection system to measure and monitor for wear on the track. This ensures improved safety and reliability, but is also helping the customer to reduce maintenance and downtime costs. Nine Micro-Epsilon ScanCONTROL LLT 2800-100 (205) sensors are being used in the application.
Testing the waters
No one likes being overburdened with regulations, and plant engineers are no exception - fact. However, in a world forced into a rather late, reactionary effort to clean up its act, pollution in the waste water and effluent sector was always going to be fair game, and we have had to adjust to living in a tightly regulated climate where awareness is all.
Make sense of data to boost profit
Significant advances are constantly being made in gathering information about what is really going on in process and industrial plant - especially where located in more remote locations - and in processing this information to reduce downtime and improve profitability.
Health check-ups reap big rewards
In the age of lean, condition monitoring of capital equipment is an obvious aid to efficient operation, as opposed to waiting for something to break down. As Chris Haines, Rockwell director of customer support and maintenance UK and Ireland observes, "in an effort to improve business performance and meet shareholder expectations, many engineering, operations and maintenance departments are faced with the reality of having to do more with less. A manufacturer who views maintenance operations as a long-term investment can reap the benefits of significant returns and process improvements".
Hospital robots
The robot revolution is underway and will be happening in a hospital near you very soon. So says Dr Patrick Finlay, director of Prosurgics, the company he founded back in 1995 to build medical robots. And he adds: 'Within the next 20 years, medical students will think it highly amusing that surgeons used to put their hands inside patients to carry out significant procedures.'
Low-cost VOC sensors
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) perform many vital roles as fuels, solvents, feedstock and sterilants, to name a few. Monitoring their concentration is essential because of the potential health and safety risk that they pose. Alternative sensing technologies may bring down the costs involved, but care must be exercised in choosing the right one
Sensing Industry 4.0
Industry 4.0 promises improved performance and enhanced maintenance activities, but many companies are often unsure of where to start. Mike Lomax, electrification manager at Bosch Rexroth, spoke at the Maintec show at the NEC in November to offer some practical advice on how to add sensors to existing equipment
Data-driven MRO
Maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) items are used in production and plant maintenance, and include maintenance supplies, spare parts and consumables used in the production process. But, as Mark Venables explains, in the drive towards the smart factory these are often overlooked in the race to increase productivity
Wet engineering
With the likely passing of the European Environmental Liability Directive 2004/35/EC into British law in December - extending the existing 'polluter pays' principle to water sources, inhabited land, and protected species and habitats - industry is going to have to clean up its act, or face big bills for damage. So says Defra (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs).