Faster health check for machining centres
Starrag’s new online Fingerprint service provides a fast, qualified machine analysis.
Anyone who cares about the “health” of their production machines – i.e. their availability and productivity – should have them checked regularly. Since the middle of 2021, Starrag has offered an online version of a very efficient instrument made just for this purpose – the Fingerprint. This digital tool, which perfectly complements Starrag's service offerings, is cost-effective, quick and, above all, revealing. The customer only has to take the machine out of production for one hour.
The advantages are considerable: Without any need for extensive disassembly and assembly work, the customer receives a quick and meaningful analysis of the state of wear of the main components of the machine. The bottom line is that it assists with increasing machine availability and productivity, extending machine lifetime and lowering workpiece costs.
Christoph Wunderlich, Head of Customer Service at Starrag GmbH, Chemnitz, recommends that the online Fingerprint is carried out at regular intervals after a baseline survey with the initial commissioning – ideally quarterly, or at least every six months: “This allows continual changes and wear to be observed. A history of the machine's condition over its entire life cycle is also revealing, which can be a good argument for a later sale, for example.” Of course, an unscheduled online Fingerprint is also possible. “This is ideal if, after a shock event – for example, a small crash during set-up–the customer cannot see any damage with the naked eye, but still wants to err on the side of caution,” explains Wunderlich.
In just one hour, service technicians can record important machine conditions via remote access, and by the next working day at the latest, the customer will receive a detailed overview of the degree of wear on the mechanical assemblies. This can help prevent any unplanned, wear-related machine failures. Quality is assured, machine availability increases and workpiece costs are reduced.
How does the online Fingerprint work? On the agreed date, Starrag Remote Service contacts the customer, who has already prepared the machine for the examination. Specifically, there should be an empty pallet on the machine and no tools should be loaded, to ensure that any risk of collision is excluded during the test runs. The machine operator enables access to the Fingerprint on the machine. Only once this is done can the service technician remotely access the machine from Chemnitz. The service technician starts a specially developed program, which processes various tasks.
These include:
• Frequency response analyses on all processing axes for monitoring the drive mechanisms (ball screws, toothed belts) and for identifying resonance points.
• A vibration analysis of the work spindles to determine the bearing condition and wear.
• A circularity test for checking the passage of squares and the static friction.
• The measurement of the current consumption of all processing axes for the assessment of the wear condition.
• The degree of contamination and wear of the linear measuring systems as well as meter readings and temperature data are recorded.
The information is backed up and evaluated within a few hours on the basis of comparison data. By the next working day at the latest, the customer receives a result report that breaks down all the conditions and, if necessary, includes suggestions on how to eliminate errors or information about maintenance work.
The advantages of the online Fingerprint
At a glance:
• Save on maintenance and resource costs
– Plan repairs according to the degree of wear
– Reschedule personnel during repair times
• Prevent unplanned machine failures due to wear and tear
• Increase machine availability
• Reduce workpiece costs
The degree of contamination and wear of the linear measuring systems as well as meter readings and temperature data are recorded.
The online Fingerprint offer has been available since the middle of the year for all Heckert machines built in 2017 or later with Siemens operate control. It is gradually being rolled out to other Starrag brands too. The “on-site” Fingerprint is still available, where a service technician performs the described measurements and analyses on-site. Moreover, they can carry out further investigations, such as additional geometric and thermal measurements.
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