Success Story
Industry: Food and Beverage
Application: Conveyor Tail Drum
Cost Savings: $205,045
Introduction
An internationally renowned Italian Food Company was experiencing problems with its fixed tail drum conveyor bearings. Operating in a very damp environment bearings life was only 6 months. The company asked NSK to analyze the application and propose technical solutions to increase the bearing life. A solution was necessary in order to reduce maintenance costs, which had become excessive due to multiple failures. NSK proposed a heavy duty Spherical Roller bearing with Molded-Oil lubrication system. Performance was increased improving machine reliability and reducing maintenance costs.
Key Facts
- Food production with frequent wash downs
- Conveyor Tail Drum application
- Regular bearing failures due to water ingress
- NSK analyzed the application to find the best solution
- Spherical Roller bearings with Molded-Oil Lubrication were suggested
- Improved reliability and reduced maintenance costs were realized
- Tail Drum Conveyor
- Molded-Oil Bearings
Value Proposals
- Failed bearing analysis and application review
- NSK proposed Spherical Roller Bearings with Molded-Oil to replace the existing greased double-row ball bearing
- Change resulted in 15 months maintenance free operation
- Improved machine reliability allowed maintenance intervals to be increased
- Additional tests are on-going in order to verify the possibility of increasing the bearing life even more
- Cost saving calculation based on reducing maintenance costs and reducing unplanned failures
Product Features
- High Capacity Spherical Roller Bearings with Machined Brass Cage and Molded-Oil lubrication system provides a maintenance free bearing solution
- Grease-free property with no oil refilling keeps operating environments clean
- Operating life more than twice as long as grease lubrication, in water or dust-contaminated environment
- Achieves extended maintenance-free performance as Molded-Oil provides a continuous supply of lubricant.
- Available for high speed applications
- Available in ball bearing, spherical roller bearing and tapered roller bearings types
Cost Saving Breakdown
| Before | Cost p.a. | NSK Solution | Cost p.a. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bearing replacement: | $2,302 | Bearing Replacement: | $1,918 | |
| Production loss: 6 production lines × 3 maintenance stops × 3 hours × $3,731/h |
$201,474 | Production loss: The bearings can be replaced during standard maintenance – bearings are still running after 15 months | $281 | |
| Maintenance: 6 production lines × 3 maintenance stops × 2 persons × 3 hours × $32/h |
$3,454 | Maintenance: none | $0 | |
| Total Costs | $207,244 | $2,199 | ||
Reference:SS-E-4004
