When production failure is not an optionRemote Service – Case study Eurocoating, Italy

Robotics

At Eurocoating, an ABB robot carries out the company’s core business – plasma spray coating medical applications. So it is safe to say that the robot’s uninterrupted operation is truly mission critical. That is why Eurocoating relies on ABB’s Remote Service to guarantee continuous production.

Eurocoating uses an ABB IRB 2400 S4C+ robot for its plasma spray coating operation, and has a full ABB Robot Care service agreement including maintenance service, telephone support and response service. Eurocoating was also one of ABB’s first Remote Service customers in Italy. A decision that proved worthwhile in the summer of 2012.

Which alarm is serious?Like most industries, Eurocoating’s robot engineers receive several robot alerts on a daily basis – often more than ten every day. Most of them can be easily managed. But some-times, an event occurs that require attention and action.

The difficult part is knowing when and how to respond, not least since these alerts may require in-depth robotic knowl-edge to interpret. Failure to take the proper action may result in costly standstill.

A seemingly harmless glitchIn August 2012, Eurocoating received what seemed to be just another of many alerts. The glitch warning showed no signs of being any different. However, it was immediately identified by ABB’s service engineers as a potentially alarming condition.

They concluded that the glitch could have been the result of cable failure, thus seriously threatening the robotic operation.

Eurocoating was contacted about the condition and could report back to ABB that there had indeed been damage to a cable shortly before the alarm.

Back in operation within 24 hoursGuided remotely by ABB personnel, Eurocoating was able to replace the faulty cable and eliminate the risk of a likely stand-still. Within one day of ABB picking up the alarm, the new cable was in place and the robot back in operation.

The Eurocoating incident captures the very essence of Re-mote Service. It is about staying on constant alert, having the insights necessary to sort out the crucial signals and alarms and correctly interpret and understand them – and to act decisively to eliminate the problem in order to avoid downtime and costly failures.

Contact ABBTo find out more about how ABB Robot Care Service Agreements with Remote Service technologies can reduce your downtime, contact your local ABB Service Centre.

Contact details available on www.abb.com/robotics