Good vibrations
March 1st 2009

AV Technology's Spi-VR hand-held vibration data collectors are playing vital asset management roles at Montupet's manufacturing plant in Belfast

French owned Montupet is a major supplier of specialist cast components to leading European and American automobile manufacturers. The company's UK plant, located in the Dunmurry area of Belfast, produces cylinder heads for Ford and PSA Peugeot Citroen.

The company operates a Computerised Maintenance Management System (CMMS) and the data collectors are now important assets within the system. The effectiveness of any Condition Monitoring (CM) program within a CMMS is dependent firstly on the input of accurate condition based data from machinery and secondly on the ease with which this information can be analysed, allowing prioritised maintenance actions to be implemented.

Vibration measurement and analysis is a powerful tool in a well implemented CM program and over the past five years there has been a marked increase in the use of portable data acquisition (PDA) equipment. AVT have recognised that most vibration collection systems require high-level database set-up and support; usually requiring set-up on a PC before readings can be taken.Also, the software, which can be expensive to buy, licence and operate, typically has complex setting combinations, placing significant demands on the user during set-up and training. AVT claim the design of their Spi-VR (Spectrum Inspection and Vibration Recorder) addresses the limitations of competitive 'high end' data collectors, especially in terms of set-up flexibility, easeof- use and connectivity at a lower entry and through-life cost. The Spi-VR is user friendly and set-up is carried out using the instrument's powerful set-up wizards and built-in templates.

Montupet, already one of AVT's condition monitoring customers, decided it wanted to carry out certain routine CM tasks itself.

However, AVT is still wanted to provide ongoing remote data analysis and support. The Spi-VR is suitable for such scenarios, allowing direct data sharing remotely via the web.

During the set up stages, two Montupet engineers attended one of AVT's regular BINDT accredited VA1 vibration analysis courses to gain an understanding of vibration analysis and how the Spi-VR can be implemented.

Montupet engineers collect vibration data from the equipment and this is uploaded via the dedicated web based interface developed by AVT. The results can then be shared directly with a network of trained AVT engineers as part of their Vibration Analysis Diagnostics Centre. This allows expert analysis and advice to be given from anywhere in the world, without the need for AVT personnel to visit the plant.

"Insourcing key parts of our condition monitoring program has a number of operational and financial benefits," says Robert McKenzie, CM technician,Montupet, Belfast, "the Spi-VR hand-held collectors play a vital role in this and allow us to record essential equipment data on a regular basis. They are proving to be extremely robust, yet lightweight, and are very easy to program and operate. Once we've collected the data, we have the added security of knowing that this can be shared with highly qualified AVT engineers via the web portal. They can immediately offer professional advice as and when it's required, without the need for site visits." The Spi-VR is portable and engineers can also capture observations and faults, while making notes directly on the instrument. Each and every piece of equipment in the plant can have its own pictogram, highlighting individual monitoring points on the PDA screen. The traffic light alerts and trends immediately highlight critical areas within the plant. (In-built vibration limits are in line with ISO standards including ISO10816).

Additional key condition monitoring data from maintenance technologies such as thermography and oil analysis can be imported directly into the Spi-VR server to provide a comprehensive 'health check' of vital equipment. Automatic web-delivered software updates ensure users have access to the latest operational information. All critical set-up and operational data is stored on a flash memory card so even if the PDA is damaged, vital information can be quickly transferred to a new unit.

AVT's md Stephen Mottershead is clear on the importance of the ability to provide diagnostic support for Spi-VR clients and as he concludes: "An increasing number of our clients are being trained to use and implement the Spi-VR at their plants.

However they need on demand support and our Diagnostics Centre has been established for exactly that purpose. Spi-VR makes possible low cost, efficient, sustainable machine condition monitoring, improving plant reliability and availability."