Sumitomo (SHI) Demag optimise machine reliability with activeCare

Asset care is a critical element of any production environment. In the last decade the emphasis has shifted from reactive actions to adopting a proactive maintenance approach, says Sumitomo (SHI) Demag.

Injection moulders can now have every Sumitomo (SHI) Demag NC5 machine in their fleet thoroughly checked and certified to ISO 9001 and VDA 6.4 standards, increasing reliability and enhancing production performance with activeCare.

Providing early warning signs of any potential machine issues, activeCare helps to break the cycle of reacting to emergency maintenance tasks.

Issuing a clean bill of health each year and covering all the critical machine components, highly skilled engineers physically check and document the performance of each Sumitomo (SHI) Demag injection moulding machine on site.

activeCare ensures a machine receives a complete service, including lubrication, annually, through Changing filters, exchanging and testing batteries and checking everything from the toggle system to terminal tightness, screw concentricity and dosing speed.

Applying the same logic to machine asset care as vehicle MOTs, regular servicing helps to bring an element of predictability to mass-manufacturing injection moulding facilities notes UK Managing Director Nigel Flowers.

He said: “For many of our customers, the COVID pandemic has reaffirmed the cost and inconveniences that are incurred by machine downtime. The increased disposition towards predictive maintenance is high up on customers’ priority list during these uncertain times. Being able to monitor, test and check all critical areas of machinery assets, using equipment that is calibrated to ISO 9001 and VDA 6.4 certification standards, helps instil confidence and provide early ‘red flag’ warning signs of potential problems.”    

activeCare engineers provide quantifiable measurements to determine when equipment or parts are likely to fail in service.

A certificate and cabinet sticker is issued at the end of each check, as well as a copy of the condition and measurement monitoring reports.  If a machine fails to meet the original factory settings, customers receive a detailed report and quotation, breaking down the steps needed to bring a machine back up to specification.

Flowers adds: “The benefit of this thermographic data is there is no bias. The facts cannot be manipulated. It’s a real-time report of the condition of each machine and all of the critical components, solving issues in the fastest possible time before a worn part causes more damage.”