Industrial supplies company
Rotary Bearings Industrial has launched a new range of sensor-based parts to help its manufacturing customers improve their operational efficiency. Founded in Northern Ireland in the mid-1980s, Rotary Bearings now serves the whole of the UK and Ireland, partnering some of the world’s leading suppliers with a wide range of products that includes belts, pulleys, adhesives and PPE.
The new solution comprises ‘smart parts’ – where components such as bearings, motors, pumps and gearboxes are fitted with sensor technology – and a web-based customer-facing dashboard which displays data using custom-built software. Manufacturers can see real-time insights into the performance of their assets, then take preventative action before breakdowns occur which reduces downtime and operational risk.
The software solution was developed for Rotary Bearings by cloud engineering company Storm Reply, digitally linking all the hardware and sensors and allowing customers to view insights in one simple dashboard. Rotary Bearings owns the solution built by Storm Reply without any ongoing subscription or license fees.
Michael Cunningham, general manager at Rotary Bearings, said: “We were originally an industrial supplies company, then we discovered sensors and wanted to explore how customers could monitor their assets and get information back and take action before they have a breakdown. The trouble many manufacturers have is they have to go back to the provider who sold them the equipment, who then charges them again for analysis on their own data. With our new solution, they can see the data themselves for any job role or function.”
Lubrication Solution Rotary Bearings’ new auto-lubrication offering uses the condition-based lubrication SmartLube, which adjusts to parameters such as equipment speed, load, and temperature. More than 60% of bearing failures are caused by over-lubrication, so condition-based systems significantly extend the life of bearings.
Its condition monitoring solution uses El-Watch neuron sensors to conduct real-time monitoring of key bearing and machine parameters including temperature, flow rate, pressure, vibration, and operating hours. The smart parts help prevent faults, minimise downtime, and reduce maintenance costs.
Storm Reply partner Rachel Grunwerg concluded: “Our small team of engineers built the solution in a matter of weeks, working with Rotary Bearings. We did a proof of concept, then a production solution, which they’ are now using with their customers. We have built a solution that provides so much more than the physical part itself: you can see a dashboard with insights of that part, how it is working, its usage, energy consumption and performance.”