Thinking of the industrial plants maintenance as the single repair of a machinery is an outdated and limiting concept. In fact, the UNI EN 13306 standard defines maintenance as “the combination of all technical, administrative and managerial actions during the life cycle of an item intended to retain it in, or restore it to, a state in which it can perform the required function”.
In addition to preserving or restoring the original functionality, such an activity can prove to be an opportunity to evolve the entire process. Maintenance work can improve productivity, lower costs and adequate the plant to new regulations that came into force after the implementation.
An example of the latter case is the ATEX directive, applied since the early 2000s, and which is relevant to many sectors. Indeed, many plants had to be adapted to the new directive in order to avoid risks related to the possibility of explosions or fires and the related sanctions if this standard is not respected.
Maintenance is certainly the preferred method to keep the process functional and efficient, carefully planning controls to schedule intervention times through established criteria and techniques for the prevention of any failures, while maintaining a conservative approach. It is similarly important to innovate and optimize processes by implementing new concepts and technologies and therefore questioning standards that are now outdated.
In the specific case of industrial plants maintenance, for example, it is possible to proceed through a series of small measures with the aim of improving performances, lifespan and reliability of the plant, without the risk of incurring in new problems caused by a relatively little-known or never applied technology.
An example of this type of maintenance, that allows for improvements without utterly upsetting the operating methods, as well as containing costs, is the update of the process instruments.
CAMLogic level indicators, in particular, do not require periodic maintenance or at rigid deadlines. Thanks to their proven durability, reliability and quality, they come with a 24 months warranty. Being able to rely on such a durable instrument helps the proper operation of the plant and lessens the workload of the maintenance crews.
Moreover, CAMLogic gives the possibility of implementing operating controls on its rotary level indicators: voltage control and 8 pulses output. The voltage control verifies that the device is properly powered, while the 8 pulses output signals the correct rotation of the shaft. All this is possible thanks to one of CAMLogic's founding values: customization. All our measurement instruments can be modified through the dedicated configurator section.
It is therefore important to make sure that, although the instrumentation is still functional, it is also updated with features that improve its efficiency.