Essegi Kitting Systems Cut Change-Over Down-Time

Accelonix will sell Essegi Systems' kitting solutions in the UK, Spain and Portugal after being appointed distributor for the Italian manufacturer. Essegi's kitting systems provide an affordable method of reducing change-over down-time, which can be considerable for low-volume contract manufacturers in industrial and military sectors.

Feeding the system with a bill of materials generates an entire kit; the software can handle all the materials on the board, including mechanical and electronic components. While the system automates reels it can also handle other components, keep track of them and tell the user where to find them, providing accurate inventory control and the location of manually handled components.

Essegi's kitting solutions have an extremely small footprint, enhance production rates by increasing automation and provide complete component traceability. Systems are easily expanded; linking multiple units means that an unlimited number of reels and trays can be stored.

Guide Helps Users Cut Compressed Air Costs

EnergAir has released a free guide to reducing costs in compressed air systems. Challenge Convention in Compressed Air details several ways to improve the energy efficiency of compressed air systems. Aimed at plant managers, site maintenance managers and energy managers the intention is to help address preconceived ideas about compressed air generation (one of the major energy costs to industry) that are currently the cause of huge amounts of energy waste, the alternatives can add literally tens of thousands on the bottom line.

'The industry needs to challenge convention on compressed air in order to realise the savings that can be made', according to Peter Tomlins of EnergAir UK. EnergAir believes that it can provide vital knowledge regarding the purchasing and integration of variable speed compressors, compressor sizing, balancing system pressure, providing visibility of actual energy consumption, and monitoring saving when changes are made, information that would not normally be available to individual plant and maintenance managers.

The brochure also contains real examples of how savings have been made by leading UK manufacturers such as Britvic and the equipment used to achieve those savings. The guide also aims to dispel some myths about how much difference new equipment can make without being properly integrated and offers advice on how to get the best from an existing compressor installation. The EnergAir guide to reducing the running costs of compressed air systems is available in paper format free from EnergAir and as a high-resolution pdf from the company website.

Bearings Cut Stress On Ship Structure

Bearings from Trelleborg Bakker improve FPSO manoeuvreability and safety. One of company's most complex projects was the supply of 42 specially designed bearings for the Sea Rose. Constructed of steel and rubber, these compensated for the flexing of the hull, lowering the stresses on the ship's structure.

As floating production storage offloading (FPSO) vessels travel further offshore to extract oil and gas, the demands on them become greater. They need to house more large pieces of machinery such as compressors and pumps. Weighing considerable amounts, these can create significant stresses on the vessel, affecting manoeuvreability and safety.

This effect is intensified by the potential severe weather conditions of deeper waters, with increased forces from waves and wind. Another complication is that the tonnage of the ship constantly changes as oil is pumped in and then offloaded to tankers. Trelleborg Bakker, an operating unit of Trelleborg Engineered Systems, has worked with leading FPSO fabricators and operators since the inception of these floating rigs.

Machinery fitted to FPSOs is commonly installed on Trelleborg Bakker bearings. These, constructed of steel and rubber, compensate for the flexing of the hull, lowering the stresses on the ship's structure. One of Trelleborg Bakker's most complex projects was the fitment of the Sea Rose. This required the installation of 42 bearings in three special designs. Each of them over 2m high and the heaviest weighing close to 10 tons, they can withstand exceptional load vertically up to 10,000kN and horizontally up to 3500kN. They are also capable of compensating for distortions up to 75mm. The Trelleborg Bakker bearings fitted on the Sea Rose are proving successful in her assignment extracting oil off the coast of Newfoundland in Canada. Technology developed for this project and others globally, allows Trelleborg Bakker to offer cost-effective bearing solutions for frames a secondO vessels worldwide.