Success Story
Industry: Food & Beverage
Application: Confectionary Washing Process
Cost Savings: $100,950
Introduction
A confectionary manufacturer was experiencing short service life (only 3 months) from deep groove ball bearings used in a Dürr Head Wash application. Due to the high water levels used in the process, water ingress into the bearings caused premature failure. Costly downtime and loss of production was a result. NSK recommended the use of stainless steel bearings with Molded-Oil lubrication, designed to perform well in wet applications. Regular monitoring of the newly applied bearing in the application showed that the bearing lifetime was extended to over 18 months. This offered significant performance improvement from the original design.
- Head washing
- Molded-Oil Bearings
Key Facts
- Wash Application in a Confectionary Manufacturer
- Wet environment causing standard bearings to fail prematurely
- Unplanned failure of the machine resulted in loss of production
- Only 3 months service life
- Maintenance time of 4 hours for each failure
- NSK Stainless Steel Molded Oil bearings were tested
- Performance increased to greater than 18 months
Value Proposals
- Application review showed that water ingress was causing premature bearing failure
- NSK recommended using stainless steel Molded-Oil deep groove ball bearings to prolong the bearing life
- The new bearings were installed and monitored showing no failures for 18 months
- Productivity and reduced maintenance costs were significant on his production line
Product Features
- Complete stainless steel bearing assembly ideal for corrosive environments
- Molded-Oil Lubrication System provides continuous lubrication
- Grease-free property with no oil refilling keeps operating environments clean
- Operating life more than twice as long as grease lubrication, in water or dust-contaminated environments
- High integrity contact-seal type
- Achieves extended maintenance-free performance as Molded-Oil provides a continuous supply of lubricant.
- Available for high speed applications
- Available in ball bearing, spherical roller bearing and tapered roller bearings types
Cost Saving Breakdown
| Before | Cost p.a. | NSK Solution | Cost p.a. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bearing Costs: Bearing replacement: | $121 | Bearing Costs: Bearing replacement: | $395 | |
| Engineering Costs: Maintenance costs: 2 men @ $35/h each × 4 hours repair time × the qty of bearing replacements over the period |
$1,689 | Engineering Costs: Maintenance costs: 2 men @ $35/h each × 4 hours repair time |
$281 | |
| Costs of lost production: Potential lost sales profit: $4,159 per hour × 4 hours downtime over the period |
$99,816 | Costs of lost production | ||
| Total Costs | $101,626 | $676 | ||
Reference:SS-E-2034
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