SKF has launched a sophisticated condition monitoring system with cloud connectivity to cut downtime and increase fleet reliability through enabling predictive maintenance in the marine sector. Introduced to the market for the first time at Posidonia 2016, the SKF Marine CM Route Kit, includes all the tools needed to implement reliable condition monitoring techniques onboard ships and allows operators to adopt an integrated approach to condition based maintenance on their entire fleet.
The kit, which includes the SKF Microlog handheld monitoring device and dedicated marine software with marine typical equipment models, can be used on all kind of vessels, as well as offshore platforms to collect data on machine and component condition. For each asset it will gauge the overall vibration levels and will be able to identify possible issues, such as imbalance, misalignment, wear, mechanical looseness, and bearing and gear faults.
The measurement data is securely transferred via satellite to the SKF One Global Cloud, where SKF’s Condition Monitoring (CM) expert remote diagnostic team can retrieve and analyse the assets data as part of its maintenance consulting services. Furthermore all data can easily be accessed by the chief engineer and fleet manager, closing the loop and involving the crew in the Condition-based maintenance process.
The SKF CM expert analysis output are the recommended actions of needed maintenance which are sent to the chief engineer to take the appropriate actions and to keep the assets running smooth and efficiently.
By introducing long term monitoring and machine efficiency evaluation techniques, the SKF Marine CM Route Kit allows industry professionals to adopt a centralised predictive maintenance programme across their entire fleets. Through the detection of the machine conditions that lead to failure, proactive remedial work can be carried out to extend maintenance intervals, eliminate potential breakdowns and ensure consistently high operational safety, while also enhancing service life and reducing repair costs considerably. In addition, it is possible to coordinate the service and spare parts supply to generate further cost savings.
