The digital revolution is moving forwards at an impressive rate. Latest figures from EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, show that just 27% of manufacturing firms surveyed are still at the ‘conception’ phase of Industry 4.0, while 39% have now reached the ‘evolution’ stage and are optimising their business with smart technology. Lesley Eaton, Marketing Executive for progressive cavity (PC) pump specialist SEEPEX, outlines how today’s smart pumps can help you climb the digital hierarchy…
Pump and process control
Pumps are becoming ‘smarter’ with increased integral sensors and connectivity, enabling local control and/or integration into higher control systems. Smart dosing pumps from SEEPEX comprise a PC pump with drive and control software, plus flow rate sensors and optional safety functions. They use real-time feedback to compare data, automatically adjusting the pump speed as process conditions change. This reduces maintenance requirements and ensures cost efficient system operation.
Condition and process monitoring
Pump monitoring systems from SEEPEX observe operational information such as flow rate, temperature and pressure in real time, recording the pump’s operating conditions and efficiency. Deviations from set values trigger alarms, notified by SMS or email, reducing standard inspection tours, providing greater safeguards for critical production processes, and enabling pump maintenance to be predicted and service intervals scheduled accordingly.
Connected services
By connecting pump monitors and automation equipment, data can be transferred to cloud-based online services. This connectivity is the basis for Industry 4.0 and provides the information needed to improve equipment and process performance. SEEPEX connected services compare the data received from their pump monitors with previously defined operational specifications to determine deviations from optimum performance. Any deviation is communicated to the user to enable corrections to the process to be made.
Predictive maintenance and service digitalisation
Data collected by pump monitors using bluetooth, wifi or SCADA systems can be analysed against historical pump trends and specifications to identify when maintenance is needed – predictive rather than scheduled. Connected services can link this data to SEEPEX to identify which parts are needed and ensure they are available, even arranging shipment to site.
On-site technicians can use service apps to provide virtual reality instructions for pump maintenance; and access to service and instruction manuals, spare parts lists, chat service lines and ordering systems can all deliver maintenance efficiency, too. For example, SEEPEX pumps have QR codes which uniquely identify the pump and generate a spare parts list and O&M manual if needed.
