Significantly reduce maintenance costs with predictive maintenance | i.Cee

In automotive production, the line never stops. Collaborating robot arms for assembly and welding are in continuous use, as are all the components that supply them with energy and data. It is in just such environments that intelligent concepts such as predictive maintenance make the most sense. For a new Industry 4.0 project or for efficiency-driven retrofitting, our smart plastics solutions are available as universal modular systems and can be individually adapted to any system.

Advantages of our smart plastic solutions:

▲ Tech

• Extension of the maximum service life
• Increase in overall plant efficiency
• Integration into Industry 4.0 / IIoT concepts

▼ Cost down

• Reduce maintenance costs through early warnings
• Eliminate unplanned downtimes
• Reduce inventory costs

Condition Monitoring

Such concepts are the simplest and quickest way to make a self-monitoring product. By attaching sensors, values (e.g. temperature, forces, sound waves/vibrations) are measured within a previously defined limit value and an alarm or at least an information message is issued if these values are exceeded. The next steps (maintenance or shutdown) can be decided on the basis of this information. At igus® we summarise condition monitoring under the term i.Sense ("I feel").

Predictive maintenance

In contrast, predictive maintenance solutions use sensors and software to create a system that enables dynamic service life calculation and optimised maintenance times. Predictive maintenance is therefore the next stage in the realisation of a comprehensive system for intelligent Industry 4.0, always with the aim of achieving maximum system and user safety as well as product service life. At igus® we summarise predictive maintenance under the term i.Cee (derived from "I see ahead").

Your data does not leave your company network at any time, as the i.Cee software only communicates within the networks of your choice. The information spectrum ranges from a single energy chain within a machine to a complete machine park and its own output interface.

There are two ways to use the internet-based solution: either the sensors transfer their data directly to the cloud, where it is made available in a protected area via a browser dashboard. Or they make an intermediate stop via the i.Cee.net, a so-called data concentrator. The i.Cee.net is located on your premises, allowing you to customise the data exchange to the cloud at any time.

Should an unforeseen difficulty arise during actual operation in such a highly dynamic application, this can be detected directly with the unique breakage monitoring i.Sense EC.B from smart plastics.

In order to avoid unplanned breakdowns and plant downtimes, smart plastic from igus® is used on hall gantries for the automated handling of engine blocks at an Austrian automotive supplier.

Always clean trains and a reliable energy supply thanks to predictive maintenance.

By integrating smart plastic sensors into the energy supply, the customer's condition monitoring system is supplied with data.