SKF Certified Maintenance Partner Program

“The terminology, ’predictive and preventative maintenance’, may be clichéd, but the fact is that unplanned plant stoppages are prohibitively costly because downtime, with its attended baggage - non-production, non-delivery, product spoilage and the inevitable repair bill - is simply unacceptable,” says SKF Distributor Development Manager, Robin Briggs.

With a century of experience in rotating mechanical equipment and, through the rapid growth of its global Reliability Systems service business, SKF has designed sophisticated equipment and programs for improving plant predictive and preventative maintenance.

The past five years have seen SKF Reliability Systems developing a Certified Maintenance Partner (CMP) program to combat unplanned stoppages and to streamline planned maintenance shutdowns. The program reduces risk to customers in four major areas, namely; production, assets, people and the environment.

"We were determined to go beyond just customer-supplier relations and the globally developed CMP was the next logical step for us to achieve this goal. With CMP we form strategic partnerships because the program involves everyone - the customer, the SKF distributor as well as SKF Reliability Systems – clearly a win-win-win solution”, comments Briggs.

The CMP program’s key objective is to enable the distributor to provide customers with a technician trained in comprehensive on-sight machinery inspection as well as related technical craft skills to augment customers’ maintenance staff. The distributor must make CMP part of their business development process. “This program, available to customers on an ad hoc or contract basis, allows for a qualified Machine Inspector to inspect plant equipment and identify any problem areas that may lead to unnecessary machine failures. The findings are forwarded electronically to an expert SKF vibration analyst, based at SKF head office in a state-of-the-art Remote Monitoring Centre, who will prepare an in-depth report with the necessary recommendations”.

Briggs explains the basics: “Selected distributors will be required to identify a technician for stringent training to qualify as a Level 1 Machine Inspector (MI). Initial training will orientate technicians as to what can be expected and will provide training on basic condition monitoring, oil inspection and analysis, mechanical fitting of bearings and other preventative maintenance techniques. The first training course will be followed by a further five training courses and selected distributors will be expected to supply the necessary inspection and monitoring equipment such as Micrologs, Multimeters, Infrared Themographers (electrical certification), Oil Test Patch kits (lubrication inspection), etc. MIs will also be required to attend refresher training and, by attending Level 2 and Level 3 courses, they will have the added advantage of mapping a career path which will qualify them as top vibration analysts. Briggs says that Level 1 training will be completed for the first wave of CMPs during the first week of March 2007 after which the successful technician will receive a CMP Certificate for display at his place of work.

“The program enables the MI to become familiar with and gain a much higher level of understanding of his customer’s plant and in so doing, he also engenders a closer relationship between the customer and distributor. Plant inspection encompasses all aspects of plant equipment including pumps, valves, gearboxes, lubrication systems, etc. “But”, adds Briggs, “Inspections are not limited to bearings only; the technician is trained to spot and report holistically only on what he sees, for example, missing guard rails, loose bolts, missing earth straps on electric motors, etc., and not on what he thinks”. Predetermined inspection routes can be recorded on the flexible SKF data logger which guides the MI smoothly through his plant inspection route, allowing him to create comprehensive plant histories by electronically noting problems e.g. a missing bolt on an electric motor.

Briggs points out that customers can expect even better service levels with the CMP program which enables the highly qualified vibration analysts, who previously had to conduct these onsite inspections, to do what they are best trained for i.e. analyse problems, look at the facts, make diagnoses and recommend the best solutions through a report to the MI. Customers will be pleased to note that the MI is also trained to carry out recommended repairs. Only when the repair is above the MI’s competency level, will SKF dispatch professional balancers, aligners, etc. to assist.

The distributor is the channel through which all the added support and technical analyses will flow. SKF fully support their distributors and, through partnering with initiatives such as CMP, will enable them to add value to the end-user customers. Bearing failure is often due to poor fitment and SKF will ensure not only expert installation but also extend bearing life through regular maintenance to guarantee workmanship.

SKF understands the on-going need for cost reduction and that often the easiest way out is to purchase lower cost, inferior quality products. SKF’s CMP program offers customers an affordable alternative. With regular comprehensive inspection, trends emerge, problems are detected early and catastrophic failures can be prevented. Equipment that is well maintained will run optimally over longer periods for maximum production. Because distributors and branches are located closer to the customer, the MI can respond more rapidly to customer requests. All these factors contribute to lower cost of ownership and a positive effect on the bottom line.

Of the 1,400 SKF authorised distributors globally, only 200, who meet certain strict criteria and who are prepared to invest in equipment and personnel, will be granted CMP status. SKF South Africa has identified three distributors - Bearing Services (Mpumalanga), Citi Bearings (Vereeniging) and Bearings Warehouse (George) – as well as three SKF branches – Rustenburg, Jacobs (Durban) and Bellville (Cape Town) – for the CMP program. With Briggs’ appointment as Distributor Development Manager, South Africa will be the only country to have placed a link between the distributor and SKF Reliability Systems. “SKF will lend full technical support while our distributors will ‘own’ the customer”, concludes Briggs.

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