A food processor has achieved annual cost savings of €189.166 per year on a potato processing line, as a result of replacing sealed, single row radial ball bearings with Molded Oil bearings.
The bearing problem on the potato processing line centred on the rollers of a potato peeling machine. The harsh nature of the process meant that the sealed radial ball bearings in the rollers were subject to the ingress of waterand dirt, causing them to fail consistently every 6-8 weeks.
These frequent failures were resulting in extremely costly downtime of €164.364 a year. Added to this figure was the maintenance cost (€20.550) to replace the bearings; the cost of replacement bearings themselves, and other expenses such as the regreasing required at weekly intervals, and the holding of spares inventory. What all this added up to for the potato processor was a total annualloss, from downtime and lost production, of €189.352.
In the highly competitive world of food production this cost was unsustainable, so an initiative was launched with a view to sourcing higher performance bearings. As part of this initiative, engineers from NSK’s cost reduction programme were called in to give advice. The cost reduction programme is a value-added service that actually helps bearing users to improve reliability, reduce operating costs, and improve efficiency and profitability. These objectives areachieved by delivering tangible savings to assets,such as equipment and machinery, and also by improving the working knowledge of maintenance and engineering personnel.
The engineers visited the process and identified the problem. They suggested a solution using Molded Oil Bearings, which they were certain would prolong bearing life. The bearings employ a special solid lubricant to positively transform the performance of machinery in environments exposed to high humidity, corrosion and contamination. The bearings achieve improvements in performance and reliability by offering more than twice the operating life of grease lubricationin water- contaminated environments. The solid lubricant technology also means that operating environments are kept free of grease; and there is no need for refilling of lubricant, as Molded Oil provides a continuous supply of lubricating oil.
Sample bearing inserts were fitted to the rollersof the peeling machine and operated successfully for over 10-months without problems. The bearings were then removed for inspection having already provided over four-times the life of the previous single row radial units. The inspection revealed that the bearings required no maintenance, and continued in operation. On the strength of this performance thefood producer has replaced all the single rowradial ball bearings on the potato peeler with Molded Oil units. In addition to providing improved life, these bearings are also saving the customer the considerable cost of regreasing of bearings, estimated at €3.424 per annum.
