News Archive

Reliability; The Big Issue

(23/10/2008)
Electrical Apparatus Service Association (EASA) (the worldwide trade association for the Electro Mechanical Industry), recently conducted a survey to find out which factors customers consider most important when making electro mechanical repair decisions. Quality of work scored most highly, followed by customer service, timeliness of work performed and specific industry knowledge.

CPM decided to conduct their own survey and asked customers about the key decisions they make when choosing an electro mechanical maintenance partner. The results almost mirrored those of EASA with customers stating quality as the most important consideration, followed by turnaround time, price and customer service.

The information came as no surprise to CPM although it is invaluable when making strategic decisions regarding skills, training, investment and service levels. CPM has always insisted on having stringent QA standards in place, from the diagnosis and repair of equipment, through to the training and investment in their people. All repairs exceed ISO9000 standards and staff are trained according to the latest industry standards. CPM also meet customers demands regarding turnaround time by operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and ensuring customer requests are responded to immediately.

CPM are always looking for ways to further improve their business and really appreciate the responses they received from the survey. They would like to thank those who responded, and congratulate the chief engineer of a Manchester based food and agricultural firm, who won the Ipod Nano as a result of taking part.

Power Station Saves Energy

(23/10/2008)
CPM recently undertook the retrofitting of a motor and Variable Speed Drive (VSD) in which the savings were calculated to pay back its investment within 18 months.

The application is on a coal feeder plant in one of the UK’s largest coal fired power stations (with a capacity of 2000 MW). The project involved; removing the old system, supplying a new ABB 45KW EFF1 energy efficient motor, the ABB VSD, cabling, mounting arrangements for the new motor, transmission, programming of the VSD and commissioning. The work was completed within 3 days, which was 1 day ahead of the deadline.

The application runs at full load 24 hours a day and is crucial to the power generation process. The turnkey project cost in the region of £20K.





Partners in Maintenance

(23/10/2008)
For the past five years CPM have been working in partnership with one of the UK’s leading paper manufacturers maintaining their rotating machines and electronic controls. The work is undertaken as part of a fixed price contract which in effect, underwrites the customers repair bill against expensive repair costs. The agreement includes a range of proactive services designed to avoid downtime and costs caused by un-planned failures. The result has been a 300% reduction in the number of unplanned failures.

The scheme developed from an initial CBM package on machinery considered by the customer as ‘category 1 applications’. This included machines which pose potential Health and Safety risks, production loss or increased repair costs should they fail. This then developed into an integrated maintenance plan following a practical FEMA study into a wide range of predictive and preventative maintenance activities. The programme was financed by the cost of the repairs being switched to a more proactive approach. Over the 5-year period there was no increase in the customer’s costs and they enjoyed a 30% in production yield.

The partnership has since progressed and CPM has signed a ‘risk and reward’ agreement with the customer. There is a now a basic monthly charge for the maintenance services with a monthly bonus being paid only if the target set for machine failure is below the agreed criteria. This agreement sets another standard in customer partnerships with both parties working towards a common goal and no one benefiting from machine failures.

Maintaining Recycling Equipment

(23/10/2008)
Recycling is becoming increasingly prominent in the current business environment with industry and commerce now being expected to demonstrate their green credentials. One such customer of CPM has installed a machine to recycle waste swarf from their production process, returning it to steel production.

The bespoke process works by reducing the waste product and compacting it into easily handled billets, which in turn are passed onto the steel mills for reprocessing.

The maintenance programme included a complete overhaul of the machine including; the cutting blades, macerators, motor, gearbox and transmission.  Modifications were also agreed with the customer to enhance the efficiency of the machine whilst it was out of production.

The project was carried during a window in production to minimise the effects on output.

 

Precisely Fabricated

(23/10/2008)
For many years now CPM have offered customers a fabrication service as a means of repairing and re-manufacturing when the original fabrication is beyond economical repair. This includes manufacturing from a drawing or specification.

One such recent instance involved the manufacture of a precision fabricated measuring table for one of CPM’s customers in the printing industry. The table was used to measure the size of printing plates used in newspaper printing. The simply fabricated table was made with a calibrated surface, fixing slides and an electronic measuring sensor which fed measurements back to a computer software programme. The software programme confirmed the measurements and provided a quality assurance certificate for the customer.

These tables had previously been manufactured and purchased in the United States but the cost was significant so the customer approached CPM for their opinion. CPM went on to design and build the table at their Manchester workshop at a much lower cost.

Load Testing: The Only Way to Prove DC Motor Repairs

(23/10/2008)
CPM recently diagnosed a fault condition on a DC motor which had eluded a plastics extrusion company for some years and who had accepted the repetitive overhauls as a symptom of the application. The customer was experiencing a mean time to failure of 6 months and the application made it virtually impossible to fault find on site.

Although not a customer, CPM were asked to overhaul the motor for the first time earlier in 2008 to see if anything could be done to improve the life cycle of the motor.  Following the repair process the motor was subjected to a load test at CPM’s Manchester works which measured the torque, speed, power and temperature of the motor under a calibrated load condition. The test revealed an incorrect connection within the motor which had been there for some time and was thought to have occurred during a previous repair process.

Unlike an AC squirrel cage motor where generally a light run test will provide sufficient data on which to diagnose faults, DC motors operate very differently under ‘no load’ conditions than they do when subjected to load. In these instances having a dynamometer is essential in order to diagnose faults on DC motors in order to prove the repair has been conducted correctly.

The AW Dynamometer was designed and built for CPM in the US and installed in the 1990’s.

 

Listen to the Problem

(23/10/2008)
Ultrasound is defined as noise beyond the range of human hearing. Using an airborne ultrasound system it is possible to walk around even the noisiest of environments and listen for ultrasonic defect signatures.

Taking a walk around motors, bearings, belts, gearboxes, pumps, vacuum lines, steam traps and compressed air lines will take on a whole new meaning when listening ultrasonically. Motors with electrical problems will crackle as you listen to the corona, bearings will have a smooth rushing sound if they are OK and a popping sound if there is a problem. Belts, gearboxes and pumps will squeal, and pumps will also pop if they are cavitating.

Perhaps the most common way ultrasound is used however is with airborne leaks and steam trap testing. With today’s escalating energy costs even the smallest compressed air leak can amount to £1000’s in wasted energy. Likewise with steam traps; if unchecked 50% of traps will leak live steam. By conducting an annual survey this can be reduced by 25%, if done biannually a further 12% reduction can be achieved.

For the above mentioned reasons, Ultrasound has now been added to CPM’s portfolio of services. If you would like to find out more about Ultrasound or request a quote for this service then you can contact CPM on 0161 865 6161.

Online Customer Survey & Prize Draw!

(28/07/2008)
What are the key decisions you make when choosing an electro-mechanical maintenance partner? Tell us, and you could be the winner of an Ipod Nano.

During August, September and October CPM will be drawing a winner from the respondents to our survey.

To enter the monthly prize draw simply visit our online customer survey and give a priority score to our nine strategic questions.  We would ask that you rank the factors on a scale of 1-9, with 1 being the most important and, 9 the least.  Good luck with your entry, and thanks for the feedback!

Take part in survey>> http://www.cpm-uk.com/survey.aspx 

 

 

CPM Awarded IEC Ex Certification 001

(01/05/2008)
CPM have recently been awarded the Certificate of Competence No. 001 for the repair and overhaul of Explosive Atmosphere Equipment to the new IEC 60079-19 2006/7 standard

CPM is one of a handful of repair companies to achieve the standard, and the only one in the North West.  The new Standard was revised in 2007 and now requires those persons carrying out repairs and overhauls to apparatus used in Explosive Atmospheres to be competent as defined in IEC 17024.  

The training programme was written by the Electrical Apparatus Service Association’s (EASA) World Chapter, assessed by SIRA Certification Service and accredited by UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service).  CPM have operators and ‘responsible’ persons trained to work to this standard which will allow them to repair and overhaul equipment in keeping with the standard or certificate to which it was manufactured and issue a certificate of conformity.  For more information on how CPM can help you meet current standards, call or email dgriffin@cpm-uk.com 

Pictured here is a CPM engineer receiving his certificate from SIRA at a recent presentation at the Belfry.

CPM Careers: Challenging & Rewarding Roles

(29/04/2008)
Due to continued expansion of the business, we are currently seeking to appoint key personnel in managerial, commercial, technical and skilled roles.

So if you have the experience and drive to cut it with the NW's leading plant maintenance company, then we'd like to hear from you.

See our Recruitment Page for full details on how to apply for any of our currently advertised positions





Its Our Birthday!

(10/08/2007)
This autumn marks the 20th anniversary of CPM Engineering opening its doors in Trafford Park.

The foundations of the company were forged in 1987 when Fletcher Bickerton constructed a £1 million state-of-the art manufacturing and service hub at Trafford Park to support the electro-mechanical service and repair market in the north west.  A decade of robust expansion later, and Northern Drives and Controls was formed as an industrial electronics division to service the regions’ emerging new technologies in power electronics and plant automation.
During 1999 the company changed its name to CPM Engineering.  It was felt that the name change (Complete Plant Maintenance Engineering) better illustrated the company’s range of capabilities and core services:


Electric Motor Repairs
Condition Based Monitoring
Asset Management Programmes
Plant Maintenance and Repair
Overhauls and Refurbishment 
On-Site Services and Balancing
Installation and Project Management
Machining and Fabrication
Gearbox Refurbishments
Pump Repairs & Overhauls


1999 proved to be a definitive year in the growth of both companies. That same year NDC relocated to a dedicated 6,000 sq foot electronics laboratory and service centre in Trafford Park, and the company acquired the McCall Electronics Company in Hampshire to consolidate and progress its position in the UK electronics and automation market. Since then NDC has added two additional custom-built service centres to the Manchester facility, one at Slough and the other at a greenfield site in the midlands – ensuring a true 24/7 nationwide service remit.

Twenty-years on, both companies continue to excel in their respective fields, gaining a reputation amongst maintenance, service and engineering professionals for ‘getting the job done’.
To ensure that our companies continue to further improve and strengthen over the next twenty years, both NDC and CPM are resolved to continually develop technical processes and customer services through the impulse of our continuous improvement and dynamic auditing programmes

Vibration Analysis in Rotating Equipment

(10/08/2007)
What do all electro-mechanical machines have in common - vibration! Best practice of course dictates that we monitor and restrict it within given parameters. However, as we shall see, this requires specialist knowledge and sophisticated equipment.

The causes of vibration (in various directions and frequencies) are related to specific abnormalities i.e. shaft misalignment, bearing support weakness and mechanical imbalance of the rotating system. Each tends to produce characteristic vibration patterns which is how CPM are able to utilize VA in the diagnosis and rectification of customers’ problems.
Almost exclusively we see Lateral Vibration, either; axial, vertical or horizontal. Measuring such movement through displacement and velocity is something our engineers do daily.  Occasionally we encounter an additional form: Torsional Vibration. This is a twisting and untwisting movement , a much more complex property that presents far greater difficulties in measurement and interpretation.  All such vibrations are also subject to Resonance.  This is the match between an exciting force (usually the machine RPM or a multiple of it, and a natural response frequency inherent to the structure). This can have some profound effects as we shall see later.
Torsional Vibration is unavoidably present during the acceleration of both induction and synchronous motors typically at nominal frequency or a multiple of it. Such transient vibrations can be destructive occasionally leading to breakage of large-diameter shafts.
In one case that CPM attended our engineers noted that torque transients during motor start up were six times the rated full-load torque and this was further compounded by resonance causing a factor increase of x20 rated full load torque.  Reduced Voltage Starting was eventually utilised to resolve the problem. This however can be a costly addition and may also result in an unacceptably low overall accelerating torque.
We have known motor shaft failure occurring after only 90 starts and some 7000 hours.  In each case a torsional fatigue crack had originated at the root of the shaft extension keyway.
Our studies found torque oscillations during starting were as high as ten times rated torque and the value exceeded four times rated torque during normal operation. Resonance was once again the issue and we were able to eliminate most of this torque amplification by the installation of a resilient coupling.

Measurement & Interpretation:

Conventional instrumentation is based on the detection of linear motion within the vibrating component.  This motion is converted by our engineers to readings of displacement, velocity or acceleration and identifiable frequencies.  Torsional Vibration however cannot be readily translated into a linear motion, so that we require a different set of techniques to measure and interpret it.

CPM Engineers deploy a number of methods:


 

CPM Achieves Fully Accredited Status with Otis

(10/08/2007)
CPM and our UK - wide industrial electronics division NDC have recently secured Otis accreditation to attend site unsupervised in order to effect repairs.

This means our engineers are now able to lock-off lifts in order to effect repairs to motors, electro-mechanical and electronic equipment on a 24/7 call out basis.   This accreditation complements the approved contractor status held by CPM and NDC to undertake workshop-based repairs and assessments with many of the leading lift companies in the UK and Ireland. 

For further information on this new addition to our lift service portfolio, contact us.





CPM Newsletter

(10/08/2007)
CPM's latest newsletter is now available to our customers and contacts

This edition contains items of interest to the engineering and maintenance professional, in addition to updates about our growing service portfolio and improvements to our technical processes.

The newsletter also includes a short quiz to win an Ipod Nano.  All correct entries received before September 30th 2007 will be placed into the prize draw

You can order your copy via info@cpm-uk.com, or by calling 0161 865 6161

Production Increases at Paper Industry Supplier

(22/02/2007)
A major supplier of tapes to the paper industry called in CPM to advise on ways to increase production on 2-tape cutting and edging machines

In conjunction with a major drives supplier, CPM engineers visited the site and advised our customer how they could increase the machine cutting speeds by 33%. CPM engineers then specified and commissioned the installation of inverter drives to achieve motor speeds of up to 4000rpm.

The complete machines were uplifted to CPM's workshops where our engineers carried out full overhauls before fitting and commissioning the inverter drives to increase the motor speeds as projected.

The machines were returned and refitted successfully.

A large Paper mill has reported unprecedented production figures using CPM as their asset maintenance partner.

(15/04/2005)
In recent months production at Kruger Disley Mill has increased its uptime by over 7% compared to last year.

This is a significant increase in production efficiency resulting from a close working relationship and tailored plant maintenance programme.

 

CPM were contacted by Kruger to assist, identify and target problem areas.  CPM’s dedicated Site Services Team identified problem areas, prioritised them and formulated a schedule of action utilising modern maintenance and condition based monitoring techniques.

 

Rotational equipment catastrophic failures have now been eliminated and have enabled Kruger and CPM staff to schedule machine overhauls.

 

Chris Wickham - Mill Manager commented “We are delighted with the improvements made over the last 12 months and we look forward to working closely with CPM to drive the programme forward

Problematic Cooling Tower holds no water for CPM at Easter...

(05/04/2005)
A large industrial customer recently contacted CPM with an urgent problem. A Cooling Tower supplying the plant with water operates 24 hours a day and without it production would be severely affected.

 

The only times that maintenance could be carried out was at Easter and Christmas.  CPM carried out a full assessment of the tower which revealed high vibration diagnosed to wear in the fan shafts. A full report was quickly drawn up and a decision was taken to perform a full overhaul of the Cooling Tower during the 3 days of Easter.
 
The equipment, a BAC VXT1200 is manufactured by the Baltimore Aircoil Company in the United States and dates back to 1996. The overhaul commenced late on Good Friday and was completed on Easter Monday and included full cleaning, replacement bearings, pulleys, belts, greasing facilities, overhaul of the motors, modification of components from metric to imperial and balancing.
 
This was another example of a 'turnkey' project using electrical, mechanical and logistic skills including method statements and risk assessments.  As a result the customer's production was unaffected and the job was completed on time and to budget.

What is the Root Cause of Failure?

(22/03/2005)
Do you want to reduce maintenance costs and maximise production output? CPM can now offer its customers a new service designed to reduce downtime, increase production, remove cost - hassle free !

 

Avoiding machine failure is key to achieving this objective and with it avoids unplanned downtime.For many years CPM have helped customers to achieve this by offering a 24 hour a day manned service offering PPM programmes, CBM techniques, Site improvement programmes, all backed up by a fast and reliable repair service.

But clearly understanding the reason for a failure is critical to avoid reoccurrence and so some 12 months ago CPM introduced an itemised quotation and invoice which gave its customers feedback on failures, this included:

· The reason for failure
· The remedial work required
· What actions were required to avoid reoccurrence

Continuing further investment CPM have now introduced a formal system of Root Cause Failure Analysis for investigating the ultimate cause followed by sound engineering solutions to avoid reoccurrence.  This system developed by our Trade Association the ‘Electrical Apparatus Service Association’ (EASA) is a tried and tested procedure for which our engineers have been trained.

What this means to you is less downtime, more production, less cost and less hassle !!!

Contact us now and we will be happy to help you.

Proposed Changes in Hazardous Area Motor Repairs

(22/03/2005)
The proposed changes in the IEC 60079-19 Standard need not be an administrative burden to users. The likely changes are designed to improve the Health & Safety of repairs to ‘Ex’ motors used in Hazardous Areas. CPM can guide you through the process...

 

Specific changes under consideration are:

· Increased training for repairers
· Information from Original Equipment Manufacturers
· Record Keeping by user and repairer
· Specific changes with regard to Exd gas group IIC

CPM continue to advise its customers to maintain 'Ex' equipment on a periodic basis dependent upon the gas groups, environment and service factor of the machines.  We can advise further on this and remind you when your equipment is next due for service.

As a service partner we recommend:

· Survey all Ex equipment on site
· Produce inventory of all plant and spare equipment
· Agree service intervals
· Contact OEM/Certification body for certificates
· State to which ‘Standard’ or ‘Certificate’ equipment is to be maintained to
· Web based or hard copy format of service records

For more information on this contact us, we will be happy to advise you and create a hassle free solution !

Why do AC Motors Fail?

(22/03/2005)
A crucial part of reducing costs and improving plant efficiency is to avoid equipment failure and one such area is electric motors. CPM can help you in this process...

 

Whilst specifying, environment, application may vary, a survey by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) across various industries shows that the largest single reason for AC squirrel cage motor failure is due to bearings.  The survey does not detail the root cause for this failure it simply states the component.  The root cause maybe lack of lubrications, misalignment, vibration, contamination etc.  There is clearly a sizable minority of failures where the cause was 'unknown'. 
 
Motor failures are caused by a combination of various stresses acting on the bearings, stator, rotor, shaft and frame.  The type of stresses include Thermal, Electric/dielectric, Mechanical, Dynamic, Residual, Electromagnetic and Environmental.  Conducting a Failure Mode Effect Analysis (FMEA) of the complete system can determine Root Cause and with it feed back into the Plant Preventative Maintenance (PPM) programmes which in turn will reduce repetitive failures and with it reduce costs and improve plant efficiency.

Failure
Rotor bar - 5%
Shaft/Coupling - 2%
Bearings - 51%
Stator Windings 16%
External reasons ie environment/load 16%
Unknown - 10%
 

To view the latest news articles from CPM, visit the news page