Pump maker extends machine tool life

The Renishaw QC20-W ballbar system is widely recognised as a preventative maintenance tool for new and installed machines.  Aquasub Engineering (Coimbatore, India), part of the Aqua Group, one of the largest pump manufacturing companies in Asia, is using QC20-W ballbar to reduce maintenance costs, increase capacity and reduce scrappage. 

With an increasing emphasis on Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Aquasub started looking for solutions and on discovering that Renishaw had launched a new wireless

QC20-W ballbar system, decided to get a demonstration.  The scope and precision of data given on various machine errors with a QC20-W test amazed them.  With up to 18 separate geometric, plug and dynamic errors diagnosed, this gives far more reliable diagnosis than their existing practices.

The demonstration carried out on Aquasub’s machines won their confidence and convinced them that QC20-W ballbar was an essential health check tool for their TPM programme.

Multiple benefits of QC20-W use

To reduce the necessity of purchasing new machines, Aquasub want to maintain their 200 existing machines, many of which are 25 years old.  Mr K Senthil Kumar, General Manager, explains, “We would obviously prefer to maintain our old machines and return them to their original condition rather than buying new machines.  This a more cost effective option than investing in new machines.”

“If we extend the life of a machine, the improved performance also reduces machine downtime hours, i.e. keeping our machines more efficient and in good condition, they are rarely down.  In fact we have seen a 10% reduction in machine downtime. We strive to be more pro-active and have detailed information on each machine so that the operator is aware of the smallest technical issues. In order to extend the life of the machine we are also carrying out regular ongoing tests with QC20-W ballbar.  We are now able to carry out 3 plane testing with a single set-up which has reduced our maintenance inspection time by 20%.”

Regular testing is the key

Mr Kumar continues, “test data from each machine is stored in theAlle Artikel