AUTOMATED The Maxolution's automated guided vehicles
Visitors to the SEW-EURODRIVE South Africa stand will be spoilt for choice as the company unleashes more technologies to drive productivity and efficiency.
Addressing growing demand for reduced total cost of ownership, SEW-EURODRIVE South Africa will launch its DriveRadar solution for remote condition monitoring and maintenance forecasting.
An extensive package of sensors captures operationally relevant physical parameters including vibration behaviour, oil level, oil temperature, ambient temperature and input speed. Gear unit data is digitally recorded and automatically assessed. Results areused to evaluate the unit’s condition and predict future changes in condition, providing a firm basis for predictive maintenance.
Also on the Electra Mining Africa launch pad is the single-stage M1 series industrial gearbox, for high speed and high power applications.
“We will be demonstrating our girth gear capability, with a 3.5-m diameter static model specially imported for the show,” says national sales and marketing manager Jonathan McKey.
Four of these girth gears have already been supplied to a big mining operation in Limpopo.
At the SEW-EURODRIVE South Africa stand will also be the company’s purpose-built gearbox solution for air-cooled condensers (ACCs) used for driving fans in power stations.
“Our SEW ACCs will be locally assembled, which differentiates us from competitors,” he says. “No-one else stocks these components, and we will be able to slash the lead times of other original-equipment manufacturers by a multitude of weeks.”
McKey says the new Aeroton production facility could deliver at a rate of three units a week.
High efficiency IE3 SEW electric motors will also be on show, as examples of the extensive range from 0.75 kW to 335 kW rating.
“An important benefit of our electric motors is that SEW-EURODRIVE designs and supplies the add-ons, such as encoders and braking systems,” he says. “Customers can source add-on accessories from us, which ensures them of world-class quality and accountability.”
McKey notes that customers will also appreciate the different ways that SEW-EURODRIVE strives to reduce total cost of ownership on its motors. For example, in contrast to competitors, the motor casing design features a detachable foot. If this is broken, it can be replaced, rather than forfeiting the whole casing or motor.
The MOVIGEAR mechatronic drive system will also be at the exhibition, comprising a motor, gearbox and variable-speed drive. This is designed for flexible use across various communication infrastructures, making it ideal for decentralised applications in the field. MOVIGEAR is especially tailored for effcient use in the general materials handling sector.
Customers will be exposed to SEW’s new electronic drive – the MOVI-C – which will soon be one of the key product lines to be locally assembled. This suite of modular products will allow SEW-EURODRIVE to offer better-than-ever capabilities to control the speed, acceleration, position and torque of multiple motor-driven axes of control systems.
“Another exciting innovation is our automated guided vehicle systems (AGVs),” says McKey. “These are valuable assets in any automated process, and they are typically used for logistics and in the automotive industry.”
He says they can be programmed by a SEW mechatronics engineer to perform many different tasks of a frequent and repetitive nature. These AGVs will be able to be locally assembled, supplied and supported from the new Aeroton factory.