The problem
Almost 20 years after the start of production of the induction heat treatment machine, the GH customer service team detected through a preventive maintenance action that the three generators of the installation consisted of some elements with obsolete technology. These needed to be equipped with current technology to prevent unwanted and unplanned production downtime.
The challenge
The three generators in the induction plant had to be refurbished before a machine shutdown could occur. In addition, the customer wanted to avoid a complete replacement of all three units, which would be too high an investment.
The solution
In this preventive maintenance action, the GH Customer Service team, together with our engineering departments, managed to identify the components to be upgraded.
In this way, the investment was optimised to the maximum, extending the useful life of the machine by a further 10 years.
The intervention was limited to upgrading the control of the equipment from analogue to digital technology. The control boards of the power inverters and the user interface screen were replaced, and all other elements such as the inverter bridges were retained.
To ensure the success of the operation, actions such as integration of the flowmeters, adjustment of the capacitors, modification of the machine program for the new interconnection, testing of all safety functions, readjustment of the hardening and tempering programs of the parts, and validation of the treatment by the customer were carried out.
The benefits
The main benefits according to the customer were:
- Increasing the profitability of the investment in the machine by 10 more years.
- Avoiding unplanned production stoppages.
- Generators equipped with:
- the latest digital technology
- with higher energy efficiency and therefore lower consumption,
- and process data generation for analysis, among other features.
among other functionalities.
The key factors
Customer-oriented after-sales service.
Equipment designed to last with replacement components.
