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IndustryArchive Admin 08/22/2018 Manufacturing Supply Chain

Food Plant Saves €52,000 Switching to Molded-Oil Bearings

Food Plant Saves €52,000 Switching to Molded-Oil Bearings





Highlighting the benefits that can be achieved by using Molded-Oil bearings from NSK, a British snack food manufacturing plant is saving more than €52,000 a year after replacing the existing bearings in a seven-track conveyor system.

B082018-N-Image1.jpeg – Conveyor systems in the food processing industry have to be cleaned thoroughly, which places tough requirements on the bearings

It is well established that the frequent cleaning cycles of machines in the food processing industry curtail the life of standard bearings. Under these harsh conditions, NSK’s Molded-Oil bearings are a more suitable choice as they prevent the penetration of water and contamination.

Able to testify to the advantages on offer is a British snack food plant that has tripled the service life of its conveyor bearings. The standard deep groove ball bearings in a seven-track conveyor system were lasting for only four months due to water that had seeped into the bearings during daily washouts. These bearing failures were resulting in costly maintenance work and damage to ancillary equipment, including conveyor belts.

For each bearing replacement, production downtime of 14 hours had to be scheduled, with two technicians occupied for 12 hours each to perform the necessary removal and installation. Three times a year, a total of 84 bearings required replacement, which generated considerable maintenance costs and provoked excessively long and frequent machine downtime.

The snack food plant duly asked NSK to inspect the bearings and environmental operating conditions. As part of NSK’s AIP (Added Value Programme), a thorough application review and failed bearing analysis were performed by company engineers that confirmed water ingress as the cause of the premature bearing failures. A recommendation was subsequently made to replace the bearings with Molded-Oil lubricated bearings manufactured from stainless steel, featuring DU seals on both sides. These bearings are ideally suited to applications which are in frequent and heavy contact with water.

Importantly, the lubricant within Molded-Oil bearings is durably incorporated inside a stable carrier medium, namely an oil-impregnated polyofin resin. This type of lubricant cannot be washed away by steam or liquids, and prevents contamination from entering the bearing. Moreover, as the carrier only releases the lubricant slowly, sufficient lubrication is maintained over a long operating period. A further benefit is that the operating environment remains clean as no grease can leak out and no oil refilling is needed. The highly efficient DU seals on each side also play a part in prolonging the service life of the bearings under harsh conditions.

As a result of the change, the operating life of the conveyor bearings has tripled, rising from 3 to 12 months. In turn, maintenance costs relating to the bearings, including system downtime, have been reduced by €52,203 euros per year.

This yet again confirms one of NSK’s "rules of thumb": in applications where the environment is contaminated by moisture and dust, the service life of Molded-Oil bearings in stainless steel is more than twice that of bearings with conventional grease lubrication.


B082018-N-Image2.jpeg – Molded-Oil bearings in the stainless steel version feature grease that is firmly embedded in the carrier medium to prevent it being washed away by steam or liquids

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About NSK

Established 100 years ago, NSK (Nippon Seiko Kabushiki Kaisha) is a Japanese-listed company that has evolved from a regional ball bearing supplier to a roller bearing specialist and automotive supplier with a global market presence. Today, NSK employs more than 31,860 employees in 30 countries. As per March 2018 NSK achieved a turnover of 1020 billion Yen. This result has been driven by ever-increasing investment in research & development, enabling the company to continuously improve the quality of its products and services. This investment supports NSK’s objective of “No. 1 in Total Quality”. In addition to a complete rolling bearing portfolio, NSK develops and manufactures precision components and mechatronic products, as well as systems and components for the automotive industry, including wheel bearing units and electric power-steering systems.

In 1963, NSK’s first European subsidiary, Düsseldorf, Germany, was opened and in 1976, the first European production facility in Peterlee, England. Today, NSK Europe supports pan-European sales with production locations in England, Poland and Germany, logistics centres in the Netherlands, Germany and England and technology centres in Germany, England and Poland. In 1990, NSK purchased the UPI Group including the renowned European bearing manufacturer RHP, with its factory in Newark (UK). Additionally, NSK has developed a comprehensive network of authorised sales distributors. NSK Europe is divided into application-based business divisions: Industry rolling bearing technologies & linear and precision technology (EIBU) as well as bearing modules and steering systems for the automotive industry (EABU & ESBU). In this organisation, NSK Europe\'s 3,900 employees achieved a turnover of over 1,056 million Euros as per March 2018. For more information, visit www.nskeurope.com

NSK Deutschland GmbH
Harkortstrasse 15
40880 Ratingen
Germany
PILATH Marie-Dominique
Phone : +49 2102 4810
Fax : +49 2102 4812290
pilath-m@nsk.com

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