An important Italian paper company was having reliability problems with bearings fixed in a combustive air unit of a continuous paper machine. Bearings lasted 4 months on average and, in some cases, they broke down prematurely with correspondent costly unplanned maintenance operations. The customer requested an NSK technical proposal in order to increase bearings life. NSK engineers analysed the application and found high temperature was causing bearing failure. NSK proposed a high temperature specification bearing (heat treatment, seals and lubrication grease). The bearings are still running after 12 months, with reduced maintenance requirement. In addition, re-lubrication operations are no longer necessary.
Before | Cost p.a. | NSK Solution | Cost p.a. | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bearing replacements | € 292 | Bearing replacements | € 114 | |
Maintenance time 3 hours/failure. Costs €25/h x 3 people | € 900 | Maintenance time 3 hours/failure. Costs x €25/h x 3 people | € 225 | |
Downtime x 3 hours x €700/h. 4 replacements | € 8.400 | Downtime x 3 hours x €700/h. 1 replacement | € 2.100 | |
24 operations x 5 min x €25/h | € 50 | Lubricant is no longer necessary | € 0 | |
Total Costs | € 9 642 | € 2 439 |
Reference:SS-E-4005