A single rewinder fix scaled into an audit ready, factory wide Lubrication as a Service programme.
7x longer lubrication interval, almost 10x less lubricant - ON HOLD
Euro-Mit Staal in Vlissingen is the European Service Centre of Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co. Ltd. At this site, large coils of transformer steel are cut precisely to the right width for transformer production across Europe. Just under two years ago, Interflon solved a pressing lubrication problem on a rewinder, which led to an intensive collaboration. The company now uses LaaS®: Lubrication as a Service. This has secured the lubrication plan for the entire factory, lubricant consumption is almost 10 times lower and the lubrication interval now stands at 7 months."
Mitsui & Co. Ltd. has supplied small format transformer steel coils from Nippon Steel in Japan to Europe for decades. As delivery times stretched to several months, the decision was made to set up a dedicated Service Centre in Europe to cut the larger master steel coils to the right width locally. Euro-Mit Staal was established, and in 1992 the first coils of Grain Oriented Electrical Steel (GOES, transformer steel) were cut and delivered. The EMS name is now well known throughout the European transformer industry, and production capacity, storage and office space have since been expanded.
Cutting process
Cutting master coils into narrower widths might not sound very exciting, but it is far from simple. Dennie Minderhoud explains: “The most challenging part is achieving the right cutting edge. It has to be cut accurate to within a thousandth of a millimetre, which means we also have to set up the machines to that same accuracy. The finished products must have no ‘angel hair’, no raised edge and no burrs. If the cutting edge is not perfect, problems arise in the power and distribution transformers these coils are used to produce, such as short circuits or hotspots. A stable cutting process is also made more difficult by the fact that the master coils weigh around 9 tonnes.”
In simple terms, the production lines needed for this consist of an uncoiler, a cutting unit and a rewinder. EMS currently operates five so called slitting lines, which the company maintains itself. Good maintenance is crucial for the quality of the finished products, but it also means the entire line stands still while it takes place, and that costs money. Minderhoud: “It is therefore important for us to stretch maintenance intervals as far as possible, to limit downtime wherever we can.”
Wear problems in the rewinder
Interflon has since become a valuable partner for this purpose. The first contact came about when a problem was identified in the rewinder of one of the factory's oldest lines. Material getting into the lubricant had created a kind of grinding paste, which led to excessive wear and, with it, unacceptable inaccuracy. During the annual major maintenance, black grease was found in the rewinder. When functional problems with the moving parts arose, this was recognised as a possible indicator of wear. To map the scale of the issue, a pilot was set up in which the unit was first disassembled, cleaned and regreased monthly as a baseline, before switching to Interflon Grease LS2.
Galling marks in the shaft chamber, where the comb/wedge shifts.
On Interflon's advice, the old lubricant was replaced with LS2, a long fibre grease ideally suited to applications with high loads and low speeds. Because the lubricant contains MicPol® technology, the micronised particles flatten the surface roughness while the polarised particles bond to the metal surface, creating a durable protective layer between the moving parts. This makes the lubricant resistant to being squeezed out, even under heavy load. Minderhoud: "We replaced the old grease with LS2 and then ran the line the way we normally would.
After a month, the rewinder was taken apart again, and the wear pattern turned out to be considerably less. The lubrication interval now stands at 7 months. That is the optimal balance between protection and maintenance.
Lubrication as a Service
Based on this successful pilot, Interflon was asked to help think through further optimisations across the entire factory. An extensive analysis of the factory was carried out first, mapping every lubrication point. This data was entered into ILAC®, Interflon's cloud-based lubrication management software, and linked to the correct lubricants, the desired interval and the quantity needed per lubrication round. This ultimately resulted in a highly complete, new lubrication plan for the entire factory.
ILAC automatically indicates which lubrication point needs attention and when. This means lubrication points are no longer forgotten, and under or over greasing is avoided. Because all relevant data is also stored in the software, the company can also demonstrate during audits that the lubrication maintenance of its machines is kept optimally up to date and cannot give rise to production faults.
Minderhoud is visibly pleased with the collaboration. Interflon's products carry a higher upfront cost, but when a cheaper alternative means using almost ten times more lubricant, the overall cost comparison quickly reverses. The saving is not limited to lubricant consumption alone. Fewer lubrication moments mean fewer maintenance hours and less downtime, and the longer service life of Interflon's lubricants, driven in part by MicPol® technology, is what makes that difference measurable.
In under eighteen months, the lubrication maintenance of the entire factory has been brought up to a consistently high standard, including inventory management and safe lubricant storage. This has taken a noticeable weight off the maintenance team's shoulders and helps the site meet the strict quality requirements set from Japan.
Dennie Minderhoud
Technical Service Planner, Euro-Mit Staal B.V.
In less than eighteen months, Interflon has raised the lubrication maintenance of our entire factory to a higher standard. Thanks to their advice and the right lubricants, we have avoided having to shut down a slitting line every month for disassembly and cleaning. We are now on an interval of 7 months, use almost 10 times less lubricant and have control over our quality.
Euro-Mit Staal is the European Service Centre of Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co. Ltd, where cutting accuracy matters because large coils of grain oriented electrical steel are slit to precise widths for transformer production across Europe. The cutting edge must be accurate to within a thousandth of a millimetre, since any burr, raised edge or angel hair can cause short circuits or hotspots in the finished transformers.
The partnership between Interflon and Euro-Mit Staal started around two years ago, when Interflon was asked to solve a pressing lubrication problem on the rewinder of one of the factory's oldest slitting lines. Contamination in the grease had formed an abrasive paste that caused excessive wear and unacceptable inaccuracy, and the resulting pilot on that single line led to a broader collaboration.
Lubrication as a Service (LaaS®) is Interflon's fully managed lubrication service, covering training, an ILAC® lubrication plan, supplier consolidation and, where relevant, execution and inventory management. Interflon is delivering LaaS® at EMS after a successful pilot made the company open to a broader assessment, resulting in a documented lubrication plan, safer lubricant storage and better inventory control across all five slitting lines within under eighteen months.
Interflon lubricants have a higher upfront cost than standard alternatives, but Dennie Minderhoud, Technical Service Planner at EMS, notes that cheaper alternatives require almost 10 times more lubricant and more frequent maintenance stops. Once lubricant consumption, labour and downtime are combined, Interflon's total cost works out lower, not higher, than standard alternatives.
EMS has achieved a relubrication interval extended from a 1 month baseline to 7 months, a reduction in lubricant consumption of almost 10 times, and a fully documented lubrication plan across all five slitting lines since implementing MicPol® grease and ILAC®. The company also reports improved inventory control and safer lubricant storage, helping it meet the quality requirements set by its Japanese parent organisation.
