NSK's Asset Improvement Programme has produced savings of GBP 11,700 in replacement bearing costs for a UK processor of fresh fish The savings have been achieved by replacing the existing bearing inserts on fish processing lines with NSK's Silver-Lube bearings

These are designed for use in industries where hygiene considerations and corrosion and chemical resistance are important.
The bearing problem on the fish processing line centred on a conveyor which was subject to frequent wash-downs, at least two per day. These were damaging the conveyor bearings through the ingress of water and contaminants. As a result, failures were being experienced every six months, resulting in lost production and increased maintenance expenditure. In total 60 bearings were failed in a six month period, each costing GBP 130.

This figure was amplified by the cost of two fitters to the replace the bearings, the replacement operation for each bearing taking three hours at a cost of GBP 30 an hour Engineers from NSK's Asset Improvement Programme (AIP) were called in to give advice.

AIP is designed for end-user bearing customers that are looking for a value-added service that helps them to improve reliability, reduce operating costs and improve efficiency and profitability. These objectives are achieved by delivering tangible savings to assets, such as equipment and machinery and also by improving the working knowledge of maintenance and engineering personnel. The NSK engineers quickly identified the problem and suggested a solution using the Silver-Lube series of bearings.

These provide an effective application solution where hygiene considerations are important, or where replacement and maintenance costs need to be minimised within hostile corrosive environments. The Silver-Lube bearings were installed and trials conducted over a six-month period. At the end of this period, the NSK bearings were still performing 'as new'; performance that has resulted in Silver-Lube replacing all the existing bearings on the conveyor line.

To-date, twelve months after the first Silver-Lube bearing was installed, none of the units has failed.

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