Condition monitoring systems are becoming more prevalent across the aggregates industry.
Now, Rulmeca Corp. is getting in on the action.
The company recently introduced the Rulmeca Monitoring System (RMS), offering continuous real-time monitoring of conveyor components. With RMS, Rulmeca aims to minimize conveyor system downtime by detecting early signs of malfunction and supporting more informed maintenance decisions.
“We monitor vibration, temperature, amp draw and drum rotation – essentially surface speed,” says Zach Laymon, sales manager at Rulmeca. “We’re collecting all that data continuously.”
According to Laymon, the information comes out of a terminal box and feeds into a gateway box that interprets it.
“First, they can take that data and feed it into their existing monitoring system, alongside other components, and manage it themselves,” he says. “The second option – and the one we encourage – is to use our RMS software.”
That software takes incoming data and establishes benchmarks, positioning Rulmeca and users to monitor performance.
“If we start to see issues – increased vibration, rising temperatures or other concerning trends – we can alert the customer and provide guidance before a failure occurs,” Laymon says. “Instead of them just saying, ‘Hey, my motor is getting hot,’ we’re giving them something actionable.”
Laymon says the RMS establishes benchmarks after about 400 to 500 hours of operation. Once those baselines are set, the system tracks trends.
“If the customer is using their own software, that level of benchmarking may not happen,” Laymon says. “But with our system, it’s built in. From there, notifications are triggered if something starts to spike or drift out of range.”
Rulmeca began development on the RMS about a year and a half to two years ago, he adds.
“Right now, we have 11 pulleys on the way – not yet in the field, but they should be installed by mid- to late April,” Laymon says. “It’s gaining a lot of traction.”
The RMS took center stage for Rulmeca at this month’s ConExpo-Con/Agg.
“For the most part, motorized pulleys haven’t changed much since the 1950s,” Laymon says. “We’ve fine-tuned the technology over time, but this is something new. Customers have been asking for it for years, and now we’re finally bringing it to market.”
Related: Other equipment and technologies that surfaced at ConExpo-Con/Agg
