Category: Predictive Maintenance

One topic we hear more and more about these days is reliability. Essentially, this refers to initiatives designed to keep manufacturing facilities up and running efficiently and, well, reliably. It consists of several components such as predictive maintenance, planning, scheduling, data collection and analysis, and much more. Today, we’ll review a critical component to the success of any machine shop’s overall reliability program, regardless of size or industry.

Let’s imagine this scenario: your driveway has nails on it from that handywork you did over the weekend. When you pull your car out of the garage on Monday morning, you’re likely going to get a flat tire. You’ll go to the mechanic to have it fixed and when you return home, you will identify the cause of your tire failure — the aforementioned nails — and clean them up so that you do not get another flat tire when you pull your car back in.

This will no doubt seem incredibly obvious: remove the cause of the failure in order to prevent it from recurring. Yet for some reason, in industrial spaces and particularly with machine tool spindles, companies seek out repair services and rarely attempt to learn or address what caused the failure in the first place.

Boost Profitability with Root Cause of Failure Analysis

You can probably see the issue with this mode of thought. You’re already experiencing unplanned downtime, and you want to just get the repair done and get the machine back in service. But without addressing what caused the need for the repair, you’ll eventually need to make the same repair again. And again. And again.

Before you know it, you’ve spent untold thousands of dollars on repairs that could have been avoided. Depending on how extensive the required repairs are and how often they recur, you can be taking a good hit to your profitability.

Luckily, the solution is simple. Every time you have a spindle failure that results in repairs, don’t settle on just the repairs — a Root Cause of Failure Analysis should be done. A Root Cause of Failure Analysis is exactly what it sounds like: figure out what caused the spindle failure, and remedy the issue. For instance, when we take in a spindle for repair at GTI, one of the first things we will do is a failure analysis. We provide customers with a detailed report on not just wait cause the failure but what most likely caused the cause-of-failure. If needed, we can also send a specialist to your facility to assist in determining the root cause. They will investigate and identify other issues beyond the spindle itself, such as the machine it’s in, the environment the machine operating under, related system components, and so on. For instance, improper lubrication is often a contributing cause to spindle failure.

5 Common Causes of Spindle Failure

In the course of our spindle repair work, we’ve encountered any number of failure causes, from the mundane to some more unexpected ones. However, out of the countless repairs we’ve undertaken over the years, we’ve found that the majority of failures are caused by one of five things:

• 

  Improper lubrication — Maybe it works for bike chains, but with machine tool spindles, more grease is not always better. Machinery, and particularly spindles, have very specific lubrication requirements. Straying from prescribed specifications — whether using too much, too little, or a different type — can quickly lead to spindle failure.

• Contaminated lubrication — This one speaks for itself. Lubrication is meant to help different parts move together with a minimum amount of friction. If your lubrication is contaminated with anything, from as small as dust to as large as metal shavings, this will prevent the lubricant from properly doing its job.
• Unbalanced tooling — It pays to take the extra time to get your tool holders/tooling set up properly, within tolerances and ISO balance grade specification. If your tool holders/tools are not within specification and/or out of geometry by even just small amounts, you’re inviting spindle failure (not to mention quality issues for the components you’re machining).
• Electrical mis-programming — Giving too much or too little power to your machinery is a lot like unbalanced tooling in that you only need to go out of specifications by miniscule amounts before your machinery begins to be negatively impacted.
• Operator/machine crashes — Human error will always be a factor, and there’s not much you can do to prevent it. Simply train your operators as thoroughly as possible, and retrain them regularly. For the machine, make sure to keep good maintenance practices (including software updates). Because failures caused by crashes tend to be the most serious.

Addressing the root cause of failure is as important as getting the spindle properly repaired quickly and back in service. Sometimes the fix is simple (like adjusting your lubrication levels). Occasionally the solution requires something more extensive, like outright redesigning and rebuilding older equipment. Whatever the case, with a root cause of failure analysis and taking corrective action, you’ll help keep repair bills in check, and have a much successful and efficient reliability program.

The push and pull between production teams and maintenance teams is a familiar story on shop floors across all sectors. Maintenance wants to keep machines running well, maximizing efficiency and lifespan; production wants a steady stream of finished parts going out the door.

We all know who gets their way most often. Production, who tend to run machinery — spindles, in particular — to the point of failure.

Cost-Benefit Analysis

With a very short-term view of things, this method makes a degree of sense. After all, maintenance means downtime which means you’re not making money, unless you have a back-up unit to swap into service. But the truth is that running spindles to failure leads to repair bills that are higher and lead times that are longer — in some cases, dramatically so — than they would be otherwise.

Here’s an example. If you remove a spindle for repair just as its beginning to show signs of wear, you’re looking at what we call a Schedule A repair: new bearings and light (if any) grind-chrome plate-regrinding, for a cost of about $5,000.

If you run the same spindle to the point of failure, you’re looking at a much more extensive Schedule C repair: new bearings; full grind-chrome plate-regrinding of both shaft bearing journals and of housing bores, and stator rewinds. Repairs at this level start at $15,000, or 300% more. And that doesn’t include the cost of longer periods of unplanned downtime or damage to other parts of your machinery that more violent failures can cause.

Pushing production to the point of spindle failure may seem smart short-term, but in the longer term you’re wasting huge amounts of money on unnecessary repairs.

Cost Savings with Predictive Analysis

Luckily, there is a relatively simple way to get both your production and maintenance teams on the same page, working together to keep production up while simultaneously saving repair and maintenance cost. It’s predictive analysis, paired with cloud-based reporting.

The spindle of any given machine operates within exceedingly specific bearing frequency ranges, particularly when it comes to acceleration and velocity. Your spindle could be far outside of these tolerances, damaging your equipment, long before a human ear would be able to tell.

With a vibration monitoring system, you can keep track of exactly how your spindles are performing. And with cloud-based reporting, both your production and maintenance teams have easy access to current and actionable performance data. They’ll be empowered to stop fighting and instead collaborate on building a maintenance schedule that helps maximize production and the life of machining equipment, while preventing costly Schedule C repairs.

We know that small interruptions to productive work time are a hassle that nobody wants. That is why we often find that customers will ignore the alarm notifications when vibration testing is performed on their machinery.

Frankly, we do understand the impulse. Why pull a machine out of service when everything seems, at face value, to be operating properly? The answer is that if an alarm was triggered, things are not, in fact, operating properly. In reality, bearing frequencies are far outside our hearing range. When bearings start degrading, you won’t hear it or feel it anything out of the norm. Further, once you can hear or feel the vibration, it’s too late. The damage is done.

The small pause now to correct the issue is going to save you huge costs down the road. The longer you ignore them, the greater the repair costs will be.

Understanding the Thresholds and When to Take Action

We’ve discussed unbalance before, and we will do it again in the future. This is because it is one of the biggest causes of issues in spindles, and one of the major reasons why our customers end up pulling spindles from the production line. Remember, it’s imbalance that induces impact, and slowly destroys the bearing over time. We still often see that many manufacturers will still ignore the early signs and run their spindles to failure, which is certainly not the most economical approach long term.

When unbalance is detected and addressed earlier on — by properly setting and paying attention to threshold alarms on your preventative maintenance system’s vibration sensors, for example — it could have been quickly, easily, and, most importantly, cost-effectively corrected. Keep in mind that you don’t have to pull a spindle in order to correct the balance, it could be done right on the machine.

Let’s look at the specifics. If you remove your spindle when vibration and acceleration levels hit the lower end of threshold values roughly 0.1 inches/second and 2.5 Gs respectively, you will most likely prevent extensive, costly damage. Repairs usually consist of bearing replacement and minimal grind-chrome plate-regrinding, if required at all.

If removing the spindle when vibration levels are in the upper end of their thresholds, you still reduce the potential for extensive damage and repair. This usually consists of, but is not limited to, bearing replacement and limited grind-chrome plate-regrind.

If you allow vibration and acceleration to build beyond their thresholds — 0.2 in/sec and 4 Gs — you’re looking at excessive and unnecessary damage. Repairs include, but are not limited to, bearing replacement, grind-chrome plate-regrind of shaft bearing journals and housing bores, and/or stator rewinds. All of which is completely avoidable.

Three Approaches to Maintenance and Their Average Costs

As you can see, catching issues early saves you time and money, both in terms of the ever-dreaded unplanned downtime, but also in overall maintenance costs.

Of the three primary maintenance ideologies — predictive, preventative, and reactive — predictive has been found, time and again, to be the least expensive in terms of per horsepower maintenance costs.

In fact, a study by ASME found that predictive maintenance bears an overall cost of $8/hp for industrial equipment, where reactive maintenance costs an average of $17/hp, more than 100% more. (Preventative maintenance came in roughly between the two, at $12/hp.)

Bottom line is to make sure that you have a maintenance plan in place that avoids costly damage before it happens. We have the technology and the tools today to achieve this, but it does take time and commitment from operations and maintenance management and personnel. Think of it as an investment you make today that pays dividends in the long run. And remember, don’t hit that snooze button!

At GTI Spindle, we do everything we can to get you working spindles at the lowest possible cost. That’s why every spindle that we receive is non-invasively tested for unbalance and other non-bearing related issues before any disassembly. If we confirm that unbalance (which is very often the case) or an alternate issue exists, we can save you from an unnecessarily hefty repair bill.

Unplanned downtime. It’s practically a boogeyman in industrial circles, and rightly so — every minute that your floor isn’t producing, it’s costing you money.

The cost of unplanned downtime is bad enough, but it doesn’t stop there. If production grinds to a halt, the cost of your now unproductive staff adds up too. This doesn’t help with employee morale either. Not to mention unanticipated replacement or repair fees, and the other costs related to emergency maintenance.

Then there are the downstream effects. When your equipment goes cold in the middle of fulfilling an order, you’re at risk of missing deadlines. This means unhappy customers. They are less likely to come back and, perhaps just as harmful to your business, less likely to recommend you to their peers.

If this all sounds bad, that’s because it is. Unplanned downtime due to equipment failure carries a huge cost, in both time and money. And while we would never make light of the financial health of your business, the fact is that if you have unexpected equipment failure and your only cost can be measured downtime and repair costs, you’re frankly getting off lucky.

Spindle Failure Worst Case Scenarios

At a basic level, if a spindle on a piece of equipment fails, the repair could involve more than just spindle. When a spindle breaks, slides and ball screws, tools and tool holders, drive motors, chuck jaws and other related machine tool components are all at risk of serious damage. And each damaged component means more dollar signs added to your repair and replacement bills.

Failing spindles also pose potential fire risks. Faults in the electric motors that power them can cause sparks, and the metal-to-metal contact caused by serious bearing failure can generate a tremendous amount of heat. That, plus highly flammable materials like wood, plastics, or titanium dust, is basically a recipe for serious fire.

The simple fact is that if you neglected a spindle to the point that it failed mid-production, you’ve potentially created a weapon on your production floor. Tool holder retention in particular can lead to this. Spindles can spin at velocities as high as 150,000 rpm, which means tools and toolholders are unlikely to stay nicely contained in the machine when they fail or come loose — it could travel, putting your staff in immediate danger.

Unplanned downtime is bad. We wouldn’t try to convince you otherwise. The costs are high and your all-important customer relationships are put at risk.

But the fact is that these outcomes are, frankly, inconsequential when compared to a worse case scenario like hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment damage, a serious fire, or the very real possibility of serious injuries. All of which can be avoided.

For manufacturers, the up-time and utilization of their CNC Machines is one of the most important performance indicators and has a huge impact on productivity and profits. Spindles are a critical component of a CNC machine and any issue that arises with this critical piece has the potential to seriously impact the speed at which the machine can complete jobs, or worse can bring the shop floor to a halt.

1. Don’t Ignore Vibration

Your machine operators must react quickly at the first sign of abnormal vibrations. This is a tell-tale sign that there is an issue with the overall condition of the spindle, or that there is an alignment issue that needs to be addressed. If your technicians notice this, or if your machine readings indicate that vibration levels are not normal then immediately cease usage of the machine and contact a qualified technician to inspect and repair the fault. Working with independent spindle repair companies with an expertise in vibration analysis is another great way to ensure you’re utilizing this valuable metric to its fullest.

2. Review Temperature Readings

Any increase beyond the normal operating temperature is an indicator that something is wrong. If this is the case, it is essential to stop the machine for inspection and maintenance. Common causes of spindle overheating include coolant component failure, improper lubrication levels, or component grinding. Make sure your technicians are familiar with the correct temperature guidelines for their specific brand of spindle and the exact operating conditions they are using it in.

3. Utilize Sensor Data

CNC Machine technology has come a long way over the years. Many modern machines are designed with sensor devices that can collect real-time data about machine performance as well as the condition and performance of specific components of the machine. This data can be used to predict when a failure is likely to occur and allow for a quick response by service technicians to ensure that any damage to the spindle and other key components are minimized. Utilizing third-party IoT enabled devices as part of a predictive maintenance plan is a great way to keep up to date on your machine’s overall health.

4. Routinely Check Surface Finish

By routinely checking the finish of machined parts you will glean insights into the overall health of your spindle and CNC machine. If you notice a degradation in the quality of the products’ finish, chatter, size fluctuations or a decrease in tool life, then this can indicate there is an issue with the spindle that needs to be investigated. Acting quickly will minimize the risk of causing further damage to the spindle.

5. Optimizing Speeds

Finding the right balance when it comes to production speeds can be challenging, but it also has one of the biggest impacts on the lifespan of your spindle. Manufacturers need to consider the benefit that increased production speed has on their outputs, but they should also consider the effect that it has on the overall cost of repairing the CNC machine, and the associated costs of downtime.

To learn more about how you can extend your spindle life or to schedule a professional repair, contact GTI Spindle Technology today.

About GTI Spindle Technology
At GTI Spindle Technology, we specialize in high-quality spindle diagnosis and repair. Getting your business back into full operation and minimizing downtime is our mission. We offer in-house, on-site, and emergency assistance for machine tool spindle failure analysis, spindle repair, and complete spindle testing. With an extensive range and expertise in a diverse group of industries, our customers know that they are getting the highest quality of spindle repair and customer service. Click here to find out more.

In high-end manufacturing, any machine tool with moving parts will inevitably need to be repaired or replaced. If the machine is improperly maintained, usage over time can cause wear in to critical components. Damaged spindles negatively affect machine performance and can hinder other key systems. It’s essential to catch spindle wear and damage early and conduct necessary repairs before equipment reaches the point of total failure. Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to optimize your machine’s health and extend its usable life.

Proper Staff Training

One of the best ways to keep your equipment in top condition is to ensure it is being used correctly. Operational habits have a significant impact on machine health and performance. Incorrect machine settings such as improper feed rate, excessive loads, improper electrical settings, improper belt tension, lubricant contamination and improper lube rates can all cause unnecessary wear and/or damages to the equipment. Ensuring that your machine operators have read the equipment manuals and are following standard operating protocol will significantly extend the life of your spindles.

Monitor Your Machine’s Bearings

Spindle Bearings are one of the most common points of failure within a spindle. When bearings begin to fail, the machine’s overall performance suffers, and it often causes problems in other parts of the equipment. To extend the life of your bearings, train your staff to spot the most common causes of failure.

Contamination: Contaminants can find their way into bearings through many paths. One of the most common sources of contamination is a misdirected part coolant nozzle. High pressure air guns are another common source of contamination. Running positive air pressure/air purge for 30 to 60-minutes after shutting down equipment along with conducting a visual examination of the nozzle’s direction is a great way to prevent contamination.

Overload: Overload is the result of excessive forces placed on a spindle during operation. It is often caused by maintenance errors, improper feed rates, and incorrect belt tension. When a machine operates with an overload, excessive friction can cause overheating and lead to significant damage. Training your staff to adhere to the correct load and speed ratings for your specific spindle is the best way to avoid overload.

Imbalance: Spindle imbalance is usually caused by using unbalanced tooling. The use of unbalanced tooling significantly reduces the precision of spindle and causes damage to the spindle bearings and other critical components. Make sure all your tools and spindles have a regular balancing schedule to improve lifespan and performance.

Drawbar retention force: When the drawbar springs or Belleville washers’ fatigue and wear over the course of time and use, they lose their retention force which can cause chatter and undue wear on the tools in use. Periodically check tool retention with a retention force gauge replace defective drawbar components as necessary.

Use Predictive Maintenance Data

Utilizing predictive maintenance data can significantly improve your machine maintenance program. We have access to predictive maintenance data acquired by IIoT enabled devices that provide detailed insights into the spindle lifecycle. Vibration analysis is a very popular tool to diagnose a variety of spindle issues including imbalance, bearing issues, and looseness within rotating machinery. A vibration monitoring system can be temporarily mounted on equipment for periodic checks or it can be permanently mounted to receive real-time machine-health updates.

To learn more about how you can extend your spindle life or to schedule a professional repair, contact GTI Spindle Technology today.

About GTI Spindle Technology
At GTI Spindle Technology, we specialize in high-quality spindle diagnosis and repair. Getting your business back into full operation and minimizing downtime is our mission. We offer in-house, on-site, and emergency assistance for machine tool spindle failure analysis, spindle repair, and complete spindle testing. With an extensive range and expertise in a diverse group of industries, our customers know that they are getting the highest quality of spindle repair and customer service. Click here to find out more.

Computer numerical control (CNC) machines are used extensively in manufacturing to automate many processes that would otherwise be performed manually. As a result, CNC driven machines increase productivity, reduce waste, and even minimize the risk of human error. However, due to the high degree of precision that CNC machines achieve, every piece of the equipment must be maintained to the highest standard. That’s why CNC manufacturers turn to independent spindle repair companies to get the most out of their equipment.

The Tolerances are Tight
The industry-standard tolerance for CNC machines is +/- 0.005″, but some industries require even tighter tolerances. For many manufacturers, it’s not unusual to machine parts with tolerances of +/- 0.002″. As a frame of reference, an average piece of paper is about 0.003″ thick. To ensure production accuracy within the thickness of a piece of paper every part of the equipment has to be finely tuned and professionally maintained. Lubrication, debris, vibration, and moisture issues can all damage spindles and reduce the efficiency of the CNC machine over time and diminish the accuracy in the short term. For industries with especially stringent tolerances and high stakes (such as aerospace manufacturing), ensuring consistency literally saves lives. GTI holds tolerances of 0.0001″ or better on all repairs that we conduct.

The Cost of Disruption is Prohibitive
As with all manufacturing, the cost of breakdowns in CNC production can be enormous. From repair expenses to ballooning labor fees and lost productivity. There is nothing more terrifying to a manufacturer than unplanned downtime. While this is just as true on the final product assembly line, the fact remains that in CNC manufacturing the expectations are higher, and the cost of the equipment is significant. CNC machines are state of the art and having one out of operation due to a broken spindle represents a significant investment loss. Professional, independent spindle repair companies can often diagnose and fix problems in machining, grinding, turning, and boring spindles faster than OEMs and get the manufacturer back into operation. 

Technology Advances Faster Than Manufacturers Can Keep Up
Studies show that CNC machining is on the rise with some predicting the overall CNC market to reach 100 billion by 2025. As this equipment evolves and becomes more integrated with IoT enabled devices it will be essential for manufacturers to have spindle repair experts to stay apprised of developments. Independent spindle repair companies with an expertise in predictive maintenance programs such as vibration analysis and thermography will be vital to stay competitive in an ever-evolving global marketplace.

For quick and professional spindle repair for all major brands of CNC machines contact the professionals at GTI Spindle Technology today.

About GTI Spindle Technology
At GTI Spindle Technology, we specialize in high-quality spindle diagnosis and repair. Getting your business back into full operation and minimizing downtime is our mission. We offer in-house, on-site, and emergency assistance for machine tool spindle failure analysis, spindle repair, and complete spindle testing. With an extensive range and expertise in a diverse group of industries, our customers know that they are getting the highest quality of spindle repair and customer service. Click here to find out more.

For years many maintenance technicians would wait until a spindle seized completely before taking action, and some would only find out a spindle is failing when the QA department decided to scrap the previous production run due to manufacturing defects. This kind of reactive maintenance approach can cost valuable time and tens of thousands of dollars in labor, material, and repair costs. It’s also detrimental to the long-term health of the machine.

Fortunately, thanks to advances in predictive maintenance, and our decades of experience in high-tech spindle repair, we’ve developed various methods of monitoring machine health that can prevent breakdowns from happening in the first place and extend the life of your machines.

Proper Documentation is Essential
The value of proper training cannot be overstated. However, it’s not enough to train on how to perform basic spindle maintenance–you must also train your staff on why they’re performing the maintenance in the first place. The first step to knowing what’s going to happen is to observe what has already happened. This is why proper and detailed documentation of machine health is so essential.

Start by devising a plan. What skills are essential to maintain your most important equipment? Prioritize operation-critical machines first and expand incrementally. Utilize a third-party spindle repair service to make sure your staff is staying apprised of the latest technology and techniques. Ask your staff what skills they are most lacking. Having your entire maintenance team involved in the conversation is the best way to convey the importance of proper, continuous training.

Stop, Look, and Listen
Your machine operators are your first line of defense against early machine death. Ensuring that the crew members who interact with the spindles on a daily basis know the warning signs of machine health problems is essential to stay ahead of breakdowns. Scheduling regular visual inspections and utilizing checklists of high-priority areas, is a great way to streamline the inspection process. Ensure your personnel understand what each of the machine’s gauges means and when a readout suggests trouble. Every piece of equipment has acceptable operating parameters for oil level, temperature, pressure, etc., and if a machine is running outside those limits it can be a major red flag.

Train your operators to know what good machines sound like. Most people understand that grinding, squeaking and other irregular noises are indicators of a problem, but knowing what kind of problem these sounds suggest isn’t as common knowledge. For the record, these noises are all indicative of damaged bearings. Leaks or debris build-up around seals should be caught quickly, but often go ignored when machine operators don’t designate time to inspect the equipment. We recommend training your staff to be familiar with the guidelines below for proper spindle installation and inspection.

PROPER SPINDLE INSTALLATION OVERVIEW

• Trim Balance
• Vibration Baseline
• Blow out debris lube lines
• Inspect tool retention
• Alignment and Runout baseline
• Monitor Temperature
• Belt tension and transmitted vibration

SPINDLE/MACHINE INSPECTION

• Coolant Temperature and Flow
• Spindle Operating Temperature
• Vibration Baseline (balance
• alignment and bearings)
• Lube flow and settings (except
• for grease spindles)
• Air purge setting
• Drawbar tooling retention
• Tooling/taper runout and fit

We understand that manufacturing floors are busy places but ensuring that your team has enough time to stop, look, and listen to their equipment can save tens-of-thousands of dollars in the long-run.

Utilize Vibration Analysis
Utilizing vibration analysis programs is one of the most important things you can do to stay competitive. While the algorithms in these smart programs are impressive, they are nothing on their own. Proper vibration analysis, just like all tools, requires insight and experience to get the best results. Your staff must understand which metrics are relevant to your equipment and know what the data means to make informed decisions. The best preventative maintenance programs rely on the staff members’ insight and training to work in tandem with the software. Vibration data starts with a baseline measurement and tracks trends over time to detect problems. Properly trained maintenance staff should be aware of the proper data collection protocols below.

• Always measure at the same speed and the same load.
• Know how to set up the optimal conditions for measurement.
• Conduct monthly data collection during a maintenance shut down or shift change.
• Keep machine measurement routes short and easy to finish.
• For most spindles, a single measurement point per spindle will give you a good trend.
• Data can be collected from permanently mounted vibration sensors.

Once a vibration analysis program is established other data points, such as temperature or lubrication, can be utilized to provide even more accurate predictions.

When you do send your equipment to a third-party spindle repair provider, ensure you’re using a company that can provide a vibration certification report. If your installed vibration readings are significantly different from the shop report, then there could be other components in the system that are contributing to the vibration problems.

To get the most out of your machines, and make breakdowns a thing of the past, contact the professionals at GTI Spindle Technology today.

About GTI Spindle Technology
At GTI Spindle Technology, we specialize in high-quality spindle diagnosis and repair. Getting your business back into full operation and minimizing downtime is our mission. We offer in-house, on-site, and emergency assistance for machine tool spindle failure analysis, spindle repair, and complete spindle testing. With an extensive range and expertise in a diverse group of industries, our customers know that they are getting the highest quality of spindle repair and customer service. Click here to find out more.

Unplanned downtime is universally agreed to be the kiss of death in manufacturing. When machines aren’t running, operating costs rise and revenue plummets. Many things can cause downtime, but machine breakdowns are often the most expensive. Most companies have experienced at least one incident of unplanned downtime in the past three years, which can cost as much as $22,000 per minute. The source of this headache is usually the result of poor planning and a lack of knowledge about proper machine maintenance. As many as 70% of companies don’t fully understand when their equipment is due for maintenance, or replacement.

Prevent Serious Breakdowns

Many of the most common types of spindle failures are the result of improper maintenance. Spindle bearing failure often occurs due to contamination, low lubrication, or improper mounting. Improper maintenance can lead to full bearing failure. Similarly, a damaged spindle taper can cause major machine issues, and drawbar failures often lead to problems with actuators, gripper arms, and a host of other components. This is why it’s essential to swiftly conduct proper maintenance when issues present themselves. A trained spindle repair technician can identify the warning signs for the most common problems and advise when it’s time to replace any damaged parts. These routine check-ups often prevent major breakdowns from happening.

Quick Turnaround

Strategic shut-downs to conduct routine spindle service or replace worn-down parts can be done in a fraction of the time it takes to repair a machine after it’s suffered major damage. This is one reason why routine maintenance is so critical to reducing expenses. Replacing a worn-down part can prevent the need to replace an entire piece of equipment, and it speeds up the turnaround time for machine repairs. To reduce lag-times during shipping, some service providers conduct onsite maintenance, perform equipment tests, and do overall inspections to measure how a machine compares to OEM specs. These onsite checkups by spindle repair professionals can catch problems before they cripple the production line.

Predictive Maintenance Insight

GTI Spindle, partnered with GTI Predictive, has access to predictive maintenance data through IoT devices that can provide more accurate insight into the spindle life-cycle. This valuable information can serve as a better guideline for routine maintenance than OEM recommendations. Spindle repair technicians can even go the extra step to get your company on the right track to building a preventative maintenance program. Their experience with IoT-based automated data collection reduces the time needed to diagnose problems and increases workers’ productivity.

Contact the professionals at GTI Spindle Technology to learn how you can leverage our expertise and spindle repair services to reduce downtime and improve machine productivity.

About GTI Spindle Technology

At GTI Spindle Technology, we specialize in high-quality spindle diagnosis and repair. Getting your business back into full operation and minimizing downtime is our mission. We offer in-house, on-site, and emergency assistance for machine tool spindle failure analysis, spindle repair, and complete spindle testing. With an extensive range and expertise in a diverse group of industries, our customers know that they are getting the highest quality of spindle repair and customer service. Click here to find out more.