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customer-service

Recalculating – That’s how sustainable a retrofit is

Modernisation enables even older machines to be brought up to a technical level equivalent to current systems. In addition to increased production quality and availability, the issue of sustainability plays an increasingly important role today in deciding to perform a retrofit.

In the past, the issue of sustainability played a less important role in the decision-making process for investments within the manufacturing industry. However, this is changing on a fundamental level, as companies are faced with demands for sustainable production from many sides, from political and governmental organisations as well as customers, users and investors. “Whereas previously the focus was more on economic benefits, nowadays issues such as energy and resource efficiency as well as reduced CO2 emissions play an increasingly important role for our customers,” observes Hans Jeschke, Director Service at Starrag Technology GmbH. This not only applies to new acquisitions, but also increasingly influences the decision to modernise an existing plant instead of replacing it.

Many reasons for modernising

This question always arises once a machine has been in use for several years. At some point, guides, bearings or spindles wear down, cable chains start to become brittle, or control and drive components are discontinued by their manufacturers. Ultimately, once quality problems start to occur, availability decreases and regular maintenance is no longer sufficient to rectify these problems, an urgent need for action arises.

“For large-scale machines such as our vertical turning lathes, portal milling machines and boring mills in particular, modernising production facilities is worth it,” emphasises Jeschke. “Customers often save around 50 percent of the costs in comparison to purchasing an equivalent new machine. Additionally, it may be possible to put the machine back into productive operation more quickly – after all, the foundation and frame are already in place.” Furthermore, the “ramp-up time” after modernisation is very small, as employees are already familiar with the peripherals and performance of the machine.

Modernisation of our large-scale machines pays for itself many times over

The service team knows machines inside and out

Starrag Technology boasts an experienced team of experts who are ready to help with retrofitting large-scale machines: a total of more than 100 specialists perform maintenance and repairs on customer machines, provide support for relocating existing machines – whether to a different place in the same hall or to a different continent –, audit plant components, and carry out comprehensive modernisation to bring even older machines up to date with the latest technology. The majority of the service team is based in Mönchengladbach, Germany.

Archive for historical machine documentation

This long history has a major benefit: The majority of the personnel currently working in the service department were previously involved with design and manufacturing of the various machine tools that have been brought together under one roof at Starrag. “If a customer contacts us, he can be confident that he will be able to talk directly to a specialist with truly in-depth product expertise,” emphasises Hans Jeschke. And that is not all – thanks to the historical development of the company, the service team also has access to complete documentation for all of the “old” machines – regardless of whether they are machines under the brand names of Dörries, Ecospeed, Scharmann, Schiess or Wotan. There are even still documents available for old Froriep systems. These documents are archived in a dedicated building with a floor space of approximately 700 square metres. “Even for machines from the 1940s, we are still able to dig out the matching original documents,” Jeschke states. “This means that even before we come face to face with an old machine at the customer's facility, we already know which components are installed in it.”

Starrag Technology has already modernised more than 100 plants.

Powerful organisation

In order to efficiently implement the wide range of service projects, a complete company structure has been mapped out in Mönchengladbach: starting with purchasing, then design and workshop, through to logistics. Two former production halls are set aside for use by the service technicians. These contain not only machine tools, test benches and assembly stations, but also the spare parts warehouse with approximately 6000 items in stock. This ensures that spare parts and replacement assemblies such as engine spindles and milling heads are always available at short notice – both for current machine generations and for all predecessor models.

The halls themselves underwent a “retrofit” in 2021, as they received a new coat of paint, energy-efficient LED lighting and new sanitary rooms, among other improvements.

Starrag Technology operates another service team in Bielefeld to look after the machining centres under the Droop+Rein brand. “For electronic modernisation – such as replacing control systems – we have yet another team of specialists in Amt Wachsenburg near Erfurt, Germany,” Hans Jeschke adds.

A retrofit saves up to 50% of costs in comparison to purchasing a new machine

Updating old machines

“Our services contribute a substantial proportion of the turnover of the Starrag Group,” Jeschke continues. Modernisation of old plants itself represents a stable source of business, because large-scale machines can easily continue to perform their work reliable over multiple decades – if they receive an update from time to time. “Retrofitting is generally advisable after 15 to 20 years at the latest,” states Jeschke. This can take place multiple times over the lifespan of a machine. By replacing old control and drive components, even a machine from the 1980s can be brought up to a technical level comparable to that of a modern system – and not just in terms of availability, precision and throughput. These old machines can also be upgraded with regard to digitisation, enabling them to meet the requirements of Industry 4.0 and supply data via the Internet of Things (IoT). This can be used for an energy management system, for example, which brings the discussion back around to the topic of sustainability.

Huge reductions in CO2 emissions are possible

However, retrofit measures also directly improve sustainability, Hans Jeschke adds, returning to the main topic: “Modernisation of a large-scale machine results in a substantially better carbon footprint in comparison to investing in a new machine. On the one hand, there is no need to produce significant quantities of cast steel, and on the other hand, the huge quantities of reinforced concrete for the foundation do not need to be poured.” As an example, Jeschke calculated the savings from a current customer project: a large aviation group commissioned Starrag Technology to carry out modernisation of its Ecospeed F 2025. The fact that there is no need to produce new cast steel for the framework alone means that the retrofit of this machine has avoided emissions of between approx. 44.5 and 137 tons of CO2 – depending on the proportion of scrap and melting process used. A further 32 to 34 tons of CO2 emissions were avoided by reusing the existing reinforced concrete foundation. This is in addition to the emissions that would be produced by transportation.

Modernisation pays for itself many times over

However, avoiding the emissions that would be produced by acquiring a new machine is not the only way in which a retrofit helps promote sustainability, as Hans Jeschke emphasises: “For us, sustainability also encompasses the health and safety of the people who work on the machine.” For example, it is possible to create an enclosure around the machine and put into place an extraction system to significantly reduce exposure to cooling lubricant aerosols. At the same time, new control systems and safety functions provide further substantial improvements in safety when operating the machine. Hans Jeschke adds: “All in all, modernisation of our large-scale machines always pays for itself many times over – in terms of higher cost-effectiveness, greater sustainability and health, and a better competitive position – because sustainable action is increasingly becoming a hallmark feature of the manufacturing industry as well.”