NSK’s asset improvement programme reduces costs by €192,600 for major food producer (Oct 2011)
An internationally-renowned Italian snack food company is benefiting from annual savings of €192,600 on production and maintenance costs, since using NSK’s Asset Improvement Programme to overcome a persistent problem of failure of fixed tail drum conveyor bearings operating in a damp environment.
The company operates 6 production lines, and across all of these was experiencing the same problem: bearing life of just six months due to the adverse environment. With production costs running at €3500/hr, this situation was clearly unsustainable and NSK was called in to analyse the application and suggest an alternative.
NSK investigated the application and proposed replacing the existing double-row ball bearings with its Molded-Oil Series of spherical roller bearings. Molded-Oil bearings reduce the total cost of ownership of food processing machinery by removing the downtime associated with regular bearing replacements, and through maintenance cost savings as a result of longer re-lubrication intervals. They provide these benefits with a special solid lubricant that greatly improves the performance of machinery and equipment in environments exposed to high humidity and contamination.
Continuous supply
A highly effective lubricant, Molded-Oil is said to offer more than twice the operating life of grease lubrication in water contaminated environments. Moreover, the technology means that operating environments are kept free of grease – very important in food applications - and there is no need for refilling of lubricant, as Molded-Oil provides a continuous supply of lubricating oil.
Since fitting of the new Molded-Oil spherical roller bearings, bearing life has increased to 15 months (the original Molded-Oil bearings are still operating – with more life to come). As a consequence, maintenance intervals have been reduced, leading to major savings in production downtime costs, calculated at a considerable €192,600 annually.
In addition to this annual cost reduction, the snack food manufacturer is also benefiting because a costly re-greasing operation has now been eliminated. This represents an additional major cost saving in respects of labour and downtime, and a solution to environmental protection.
New Free Publication for Food and Beverage Industry.
Comprehensive details of Molded-Oil and all other NSK bearings for food and beverage applications are contained in a new 24-page publication. The free brochure provides detailed information regarding the choice of bearings for use in food and beverage applications. Free copies of the publication are available from NSK: Tel: Freephone 0500 2327464. Callers should quote the publication reference: FB/B/E/11.09.
NSK at a glance
NSK inaugurated its business in 1916 and produced the first ball bearings made in Japan. Since then, NSK Ltd. has developed a full range of bearings, which have been sold throughout the world, and has contributed to the development of industries and the advancement of technology. NSK has used its knowledge in precision machining technology, refined through years of bearing manufacturing, to diversify into automotive products, precision machinery and parts, and mechatronic products. Since the 1960s, NSK has been developing its overseas markets. At present, the company has overseas sales operations in 25 countries and operates more than 30 international manufacturing locations.
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