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 – pulp, paper and sugar, Sean Weir.
SKF’s scope of services employed to assist the customer in achieving the ultimate objective of restoring the operational integrity of the equipment 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.
Knowledge transfer in the form of formal and informal training as well as recommended maintenance procedures formed an integral part of the project.
After four months of trouble-free operation, the customer is reporting that to date no repairs have been necessary on some of the equipment that previously had a 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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