TPT January 2011

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86 January 2011 ›
Handling, Packing & Transportation
Remote monitoringservices
Handling line for hot-rolled tubes up to 340mm OD
KONECRANES is a group of lifting
businesses, serving manufacturing and
process industries, shipyards, ports and
terminals. The group provides lifting
solutions and services for lifting equipment
and machine tools.
Konecranes offers real-time remote
monitoring services to capture critical
production and crane usage data on
demanding process cranes. Reliability and
productivity services with remote monitoring
can help to maximise uptime, increase
safety, optimise performance, and achieve
the highest lifecycle value of equipment.
Remote monitoring allows for more accurate
and in-depth analysis of crane usage that
helps to reveal issues outside standard
maintenance checklists, including emerging
deficiencies in processes, capacity, usage
and overall operating efficiency.
The company’s remote monitoring pack-
ages include reliability-based monitoring for
more efficient troubleshooting and a more
proactive productivity, and a performance-
based monitoring solution that ensures the
highest level of crane availability with Global
Technical Support (GTS).
With more than 350,000 cranes under
service contracts worldwide, Konecranes is
able to apply its knowledge and resources
PRESTAR, Czech Republic, has delivered a
new automation line for Interpipe, Ukraine.
The line is designed to transport and handle
hot-rolled tubes within the OD range 168 to
340mm, and lengths up to 15m.
The automated line provides the transport
between individual technological operations
to develop solutions that improve crane
reliability and performance. The Konecranes
remote monitoring system sends around-
the-clock crane usage data via advanced
connections to Konecranes GTS centres
located in the USA, Finland and China. The
main fixed connection and a secondary
wireless connection (ie 3G, GPRS or
satellite), attached to the crane, transfer
information through a secure VPN on a
redundant w24 router. In addition, some
processed data can be integrated with the
customer’s IT system.
As maintenance issues arise, customers
and service technicians can troubleshoot
more efficiently with faster response times
and resolutions. Maintenance services can
be performed based on the actual usage
data of cranes. Reliability monitoring tracks
usage trends, including unsafe or improper
crane usage, which might not be detected
during standard, periodic maintenance
inspections. Downtime can be minimised
or prevented using the fault histories
generated through remote monitoring to
predict emerging technical and mechanical
problems. Optional improvement reports
are also available for planning predictive
maintenance. The advanced productivity
remote monitoring services provide real-
at the non-destructive testing of tubes. The
control system, on the basis of tube quality
evaluation (surface quality, wall thickness
and inherent defects), evaluates the further
transportation of tubes.
Tubes designed for surface defect repair
are sent to three independent storage
time data that is monitored online by skilled
engineers to enable higher crane availability,
optimal Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE),
informed lifecycle planning and continual
customer process improvement.
Konecranes engineers use state-of-the-
art technology and software at the GTS
centres to locate and predict maintenance
needs and other critical issues, including
production-related process problems.
Recommended improvements can be put
into action within the same work shift,
if appropriate. Problems can also be
proactively identified using a simple graphic
interface that is available online. In order to
help determine the customer’s competitive
position, productivity and performance-
based monitoring also benchmarks actual
crane OEE performance with the customer’s
other cranes or with industry standards.
Optional productivity and performance-
based services are available, including
production and working cycle analysis.
The historic and predictive production
and working cycle analyses gained from
remote monitoring services can be used
to optimise production processes and
achieve the highest lifecycle value of the
equipment.
Konecranes Service Ltd – UK
Email:
Website:
points. The operator controls the supply of
individual tubes to the position of abrasion,
tube rotation and displacement of tubes
after abrasion. Via bypass the repaired
tubes are frequently sent to non-destructive
testing. The good tubes, after their ends
are automatically cut off, are sent by the
operator to the next treatment, and from the
control board orders the tubes to be placed
into prepared single or double bags.
Prestar is focused on the construction
and production of transport lines for tubes,
together with equipment for their treatment,
such as conveyers, straightening machines,
saws, grinding machines, pointing and
bevelling units, packing machines and
separating units. The equipment and
automated production lines are designed
according to the users’ requirements, and
are optimised according to the production
line productivity.
Prestar sro – Czech Republic
Fax: +420 553 759 721
Email:
Website: Prestar produces transport lines for tubes