Steel Producer uses OEM to supply Force Measuring Instrumentation to improve Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM)

When one of the largest steel producers in the UK decided to improve the PPM (planned preventative maintenance) on their site cranes, OEM were approached to supply force measuring instrumentation.  This was to monitor lifting cable tension on the massive overhead cranes used to move product across the site from unloading the raw material from cargo ships to steel production at the furnaces.

After a site inspection and discussion with the site contractors a list of requirements was agreed that were necessary to improve crane cable life and reduce costly breakdowns.  The overhead cranes on site use a tracked ‘Bogie on the Jib’ which is moved along the track by two 30mm diameter steel cables.  Over time the cables stretch unevenly which causes the bogie running gear to wear out prematurely resulting in a breakdown which is not only disruptive to production but also very costly.

OEM and Tecsis GmbH, one of the foremost manufacturers of force measurement equipment, recommended a system comprising a F9304 Cable Force Transducer and ViSens hand held digital display unit.  Together the ViSens and F9304 make a fully portable cable tension measurement system that the maintenance engineers use to ensure the twin track cables are evenly tensioned and the bogie has an equal and constant pulling force applied.

Visens features
•    Selectable units; Newtons, Kilonewtons, Kilograms, Tonnes
•    Rechargeable batteries (8hrs use)
•    Large dot matrix display
•    Minimum-, mean- and maximum value memory and tare function via softkeys
•    Integrated bypass connector; it is possible to link the ViSens to the measuring cable and the sensor will stay connected to the installation

F9032 features
•    Full stainless steel construction
•    4-20mA output
•    1-30 Tonne measuring range
•    Rope diameter 8-44mm

For more information contact;

OEM Automatic Ltd, Whetstone, Leics. 
Tel: 0116 2849900 Fax:  0116 284 1721
E-mail : anne.massey@uk.oem.se
Web: www.oem.co.uk