Introduction
In this article, we explore how replacement of worn or broken parts with third party and/or non-approval of the OEM ones can be a quick, short-term fix with possibly extensive production losses and/or harmful situations for people and production. By implementing a maintenance plan whereby the utilisation of orginal, manufacturer approved spareparts is the standard, such incident can be avoided.
Background
During the lifetime of a production line, certain parts are required to be replaced by new ones. This can be the result of normal wear, tear and usage as well as due to external causes (manual interference, high electrical surges in the main power grid, unjust usage of the machine, operator errors, etc.). In many cases it can be something as simple as an electrical fuse; although this might be a minor replacement, it can have enormous impact if not done properly and/or with the right hardware.
Besides the difficulties it could present in the future, when servicing or performing maintenance on the line later on, such as changes in the wiring of the machine compared to the as-built MEAF wiring diagram, it can also lead to more drastic and unexpected issues.
Practical example of a spare part replacement gone wrong
When MEAF is performing a machine check-up at one of our Customer’s extrusion line and/or plants we often find several original parts replaced by unknown brands and of various origins. Although this may seem an easy and quick fix, it brings along significant risks which can have disastrous consequences.
One of such examples is detailed below:
An original 50A fuse is replaced by a local sourced part, which on the outside and description looks similar, but has a different specifications and quality level compared to the original parts.
The consequence of utilising a non-orginal, non-approved sparepart as quick fix is overheating at the contact point between fuse and its holder, resulting in a burned-out fuse holder.
Root-cause analysis
After careful analysis together with the customer, the following root-cause of the equipment was identified:
The original fuse 50 Amp cylindrical fuse, went defective after a few years of production time, and was replaced by a similar fuse from an non-approved, locally sourced unknown brand. Although the fuses looked similar on the outside, technically there were important differences, which caused the improper working of the fuse:
- The original 50A fuse is an aR or fast type, whereby the replacement fuse is an gG or slow type. This difference in characteristic, lead to the fuse not tripping immediately on any possible short-term over-current, creating the circumstances for overheating;
- In addition to having the wrong type of fuse installed, the size of the replacement fuse had a shorter length of 1 millimetre (mm) compared to the original fuse. This difference, although minimal, causes suboptimal contact of the fuse in the fuse holder resulting in overheating.
Conclusion and recommendation
Although a locally sourced part might look the same superficially, it might not be the fit for purpose you might think it is. Even the slightest differences in dimensions and/or selection of the wrong type can eventually lead to large interruptions, loss of precious production time (or worse, people getting hurt) and costly repairs to remedy what seemingly looked like a perfect quick fix.
This is the basis for us to supply, with each MEAF extrusion line, a set of spare parts that are critical, as well as a stock of the most important and widely used spare parts in our facilities, to ensure fast delivery.
Besides having a spare part package to begin with, we advise our Partners/Customers to contact us when a part is replaced to keep the existing stock at your factory filled with the right parts.
Even if there are questions on additional spare parts to be considered, our service and engineering team is available to assist you with your requirements, questions and advise how to fill-up your spareparts inventory.
