SKF Enlight Collect IMx-1

The thinking behind our approach and a real life example

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Our latest innovation in
reliable rotation

As the Industrial Internet of Things continues to grow, plants can take advantage of a range of exciting new technologies that can not only improve performance and reliability, but also free up skilled workers to focus on important tasks. One such example is the scalable SKF Enlight Collect IMx-1 that creates an easy to set-up mesh sensor network to collect data on rotating components. We sat down with Chris James, Product Line Manager at SKF Group to learn how and why the IMx-1 was created and find out what future developments SKF have planned.

What were your main strategic drivers for developing the IMx-1?

Our strategy doesn’t start with our bearings; it starts with our customers. They tell us they want to keep their rotating equipment running reliably, so we look at everything it takes to achieve that over the entire life cycle of their machines. The bigger picture includes bearings, seals and lubrication, of course, but it also includes gathering vibration and temperature data in condition monitoring programs; using that to feed SKF remote diagnostic centres using AI, machine learning and human experts to provide insights into machine health; and predicting failures far enough in advance that corrective action can be taken, to avoid unplanned downtime and collateral damage.

Today, much of that data is still collected manually in “walk-around” routes with portable measurement equipment, but an industry trend is to automate much of this task with easy-to-fit wireless sensor networks that can collect data more often and detect problems more quickly – hence the SKF Enlight Collect IMx-1.

There are many companies offering customers wireless vibration sensors these days, but for SKF the IMx-1 is a tool we use in delivering mechanical services for reliable rotation, rather than a technology product to sell.

In developing the IMx-1, what were your key considerations?

Actually, the first key consideration was whether to develop in the first place – the “make or buy” decision. When we looked around the industry, we saw many possible candidates for a “buy” – from organisations ranging from technology start-ups to large corporations. However, when we dug into technical details, although we found lots of wireless connectivity benefits, the vibration measurements they could achieve were confined to a velocity band defined by ISO 10816. This is fine for detecting common machine problems such as unbalance or looseness, but not so good for early detection of bearing damage – a detail which is, of course, something of importance to the world’s largest bearing company. So that meant a requirement to align to the quality of measurements that we have successfully used for decades in our other condition monitoring products and programmes and led us to the “make” decision.

Another key consideration was the environments in which SKF products work – there are many. However, the main industries that would need the IMx-1 would be heavy ones – steel, mining, pulp and paper. In these applications, the environment around the bearing – where the sensors would need to be located – is far from that of a nice clean and dry manufacturing plant. There are high temperatures, moisture, dust, debris, and lots of metal surroundings – a challenge for wireless transmissions. The pain points for a user of this technology are reliability, quality of measurements, and a cost that is economic enough to contemplate replacing manual measurements. So, matching those points to the environment was a significant challenge.

What sort of feedback have you seen from those already using this system?

With our wired online systems, we’ve been achieving great results for many years in the toughest of applications. This new wireless solution builds on this experience in a wider scope. We have only recently released the product and have had positive feedback from the customer sites that have used it so far. They’ve reported the product to be relatively quick and easy to install, which is an important factor when you think about the scalability to eventually replace walk-around monitoring.

We’ve also seen some “saves” from the system – insights into mechanical condition of machines that, if they had gone unnoticed, would have led to failures. That has confirmed that the quality of measurements is aligned with those we would have taken with our portable devices.

So overall the feedback so far is that it looks like we’re on track to release skilled manpower, which is currently tied up in data collection tasks, to higher value work.

Where do you see the future developments for the IMx-1 program maybe over the next year?

What we have developed already stands up very well, but we are constantly working to increase the value we can create for our customers. Over the next year or so we will be looking to expand the measurement capability of the IMx-1. Future-proofing has been achieved by making sure we can add features by “over the air” firmware updates to the same installed hardware – just like how apps in your pocket add new features without you needing to buy a new phone.