SICK Real-Time Condition Monitoring

Charlie Walker, the SICK Digital Solution Consultant is at the forefront of the company’s condition monitoring solutions.

Manufacturers all over the UK are squaring up to higher operating costs as a result of energy price hikes. That means everyone from the maintenance technician to senior management is tightening their grip to protect and optimise their plant and machinery and get the most efficient operation. Using the latest Condition Monitoring sensor from SICK combined with Monitoring Software solutions will help improve your process and save you money.

With the recent addition to the RS portfolio of SICKs condition monitoring sensors, engineers can bolt on real-time, continuous condition monitoring to many different machines, including motors, pumps, conveyor systems, fans and machinery and equipment using compressed air.

Visibility of the data from your machines is just the first step to taking proactive, rather than reactive, service and maintenance decisions. As well as the sensors you also need the connectivity, e.g. via an IoT gateway device, to deliver the data securely. Most importantly, you need the ability to integrate, visualise and analyse the data exactly where and when you need it. That is where SICK’s Monitoring Software comes into the picture.

The SICK Monitoring Software is an important platform that facilitates digital integration and visualisation for SICK customers. The Monitoring Software has already been tried and tested in all kinds of customer operations, from manufacturing and logistics to ports, transport systems or waste management facilities. It enables plug-and-play condition monitoring to assist with preventative and predictive maintenance of sensors, machines, processes and plants. It can be adapted for all sorts of operating requirements to provide live status feedback and historical analysis supporting more effective maintenance and optimised efficiency.

The SICK Monitoring Software can be useful to monitor the status of sensors in inaccessible locations, where a physical inspection would otherwise be time-consuming and costly. It provides transparent data monitoring through an intuitive, browser-based dashboard for desktop or mobile devices.

The MPB10 condition monitoring sensors measures vibration, shocks and temperature whilst the FTMg is a multifunctional flow sensor that enables the measurement of live values for compressed air. They can be easily set up to alert when measured values exceed pre-configured thresholds or, by analysing the sets of sensor data together, new insights can be gained. As a result, faults are detected early and maintenance work can be planned based on real data.

The SICK MPB10 (275-4079) can be the tell-tale signs of approaching machine failure. Insufficient lubrication, bearing damage or motor imbalances, wear or mis-alignment are just a few of the conditions that can be monitored.

The SICK FTMg measures real-time values for Air Flowrate, Pressure, Temperature and innovatively Air Consumption (kWh) all from one single device. When used for Compressed Air Monitoring the value of the Data enables the user to monitor and trend the Energy Consumption over a pre-defined period of time. Preventing unnecessary consumption, leakage identification, and unplanned downtime resulting in increased productivity and improved process system efficiencies. The FTMg onboard Webserver allows the Data to be transmitted through a variety of industrial connectivity, TCP/IP, MQTT or OPC UA, integrating smoothly into existing or new networking architecture.

We are already seeing how early adopters are gaining unexpected insights. For example, using SICK’s monitoring software for its FTMg multifunctional flow sensor, our customer was able to identify energy cost savings from compressed air usage. By tracking consumption over time, compressed air energy losses were also easier to spot and correct. The visualised data made it easy for the production team to identify ways of making start-up and shutdown processes more energy efficient, improving compressor control and manage peak loads.

Condition monitoring is also possible with other sensors in the SICK range. Take the SICK MPS-G (285-4185) position sensor, for example. It is used to detect the position of the piston in small cylinders. However, it also provides comprehensive diagnostic data via IO-Link on the piston velocity, cylinder stroke, magnetic fields strengths, temperature, vibration, and acceleration. These values can help to track the performance of a pneumatic drive, as well as the service status of the machinery.

Find all of the SICK range stocked at RS here