Infrared Cameras Enhance Productivity and Safety at GM

Daniel Sinclair, General Motors Corporation Leonard Phillips

ABSTRACT
In this paper we show some of the varied applications of infrared technology as used at the General Motors Powertrain Engine Facility in Romulus, Michigan. Emphasis will be on predictive maintenance of mechanical equipment and the aging electrical buss, both feeder and plug-in. Cost-avoidance procedure and calculation will be shown. In addition, we present how General Motors has adopted our written practice and how effective the GM Infrared Users Group is.

Keywords: IR thermography, electro-mechanical, written practice, predictive maintenance, cost avoidance

calculations

INTRODUCTION

Figure 1. The GM V8 assembly process at the Romulus Powertrain Engine Facility terminates with an extensive, 15-mile long conveyor system that automatically sorts finished engines for shipment. Dan Sinclair is shown using a FLIR ThermaCAM infrared camera to check the condition of the rollers and the chain.

Nearly all electro-mechanical equipment becomes anomalously warm before it fails, making infrared (IR) cameras extremely effective diagnostic tools in the manufacturing environment. Inspections using infrared cameras can find many problems before failure occurs. In many cases the time to failure can be projected, enabling the most convenient scheduling of proactive, or preemptive, repairs. This practice, called predictive maintenance (PdM), enhances both productivity and safety. IR cameras play a major role in PdM programs in manufacturing plants, electric power transmission and distribution systems, chemical plants, paper mills, and numerous other industrial operations. IR cameras are also ideal for monitoring objects and arterials that present diagnostic thermal profiles, such as electricity transmission and distribution systems, material in containment vessels and pipelines, materials and associated equipment during the manufacturing process, and breaches in security. Other well-regarded inspection tools include human senses, vibration analysis, oil analysis (tribology), and ultrasound analysis. However, IR thermal inspections are accurate, rational, intuitively interpretable, nondestructive, noninvasive, noncontact, and fast. They provide instant images and data that are immediately usable in reports, and they can be easily archived to maintain a trending study of performance, which in turn may be used to project time-to-failure, enabling optimal scheduling of maintenance, based on actual operating condition, and preempting catastrophic failure. Infrared technology has been used at the General Motors Powertrain Engine Facility in Romulus, Michigan, on a full-time basis since 1988 as part of our predictive maintenance program. Infrared inspections add real value to our total predictive/preventive maintenance program. We continually inspect electrical componentsincluding the aging electrical buss, all mechanical equipment, and the building envelope, including the roof.
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Through a corporate initiative, the GM Infrared Standards Committee continually tracks the value of this program on the basis of a written cost avoidance calculation and procedure. As a result of continued, demonstrated savings, GM has adopted our written practice, which we treat as a living document and continually encourage input from the members of the GM Infrared Users Group. Following are three recent cases at the Romulus facility in which inspection of equipment using FLIR infrared cameras has yielded significant savings.

Engine Delivery System Turns

The V8 engine assembly process is terminated on a power and free system in which the finished engines are marshaled and sorted for shipment by automated equipment. Within the system many dips and turns have been incorporated to facilitate the 15 miles of chain needed to accomplish this task. Turn roller failure (Figs. 2 and 3) and an overheated chain (Figs. 4 - 8) were two recent problems that were resolved with proactive repairs before they could cause major downtime if allowed to run to failure, which would have necessitated more costly and time-consuming reactive repairs.

Case 1: Turn Roller Failure

Figure 2. During a walk-through inspection, an anomaly was spotted thermally (left) and visually (right) in a roller in this turn.

Figure 3. Upon closer inspection, the infrared camera pinpoints the actual failed roller, which has an anomalously warm temperature of 103.9F. Photo at right shows the roller close up.

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Case 2: Overheated Chain

While examining the west chain on the V8 engine track (Figs. 4 and 5), we noticed that it was about 10 Fahrenheit degrees warmer than the east chain (Figs. 6 and 7). An elevated temperature indicates friction, which causes wear and increased electrical load. After a short investigation we discovered the culprit (Fig. 8) an empty automatic grease system, which was promptly refreshed.

Figure 4.

Figure 5.

Figure 6.

Figure 7.

Figure 8.

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Case 3: Overheated Bearing

On one of our transfer machines we employ large cutters with precision bearings, such as the one shown in Figures 9 through 12. The infrared camera immediately revealed an abnormal heating pattern consistent with failed bearings. Upon further examination, the machine repair crew found that an oil seal had failed and allowed the machine cutting fluid to contaminate the bearing lubrication.

Figure 9.

Figure 10.

Figure 11.

Figure 12.

Proactive repairs avoid major reactive repair costs

The success of any preventive maintenance program is measured by comparing the costs that are avoided by early, proactive detection and optimal scheduling of repairs vs. the costs of making reactive repairs after a failure or breakdown occurs. Proactive repairs make the same common sense as locking the proverbial barn door before, rather than after, the horses are gone! At the Romulus engine plant, we have a formal Cost

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Avoidance Worksheet for proactive repairs, which includes: 1. A statement of the root cause for action a description of the imminent problem 2. A description of the proactive repair performed 3. An analysis of the costs of the actual proactive repair task 4. An analysis of the projected costs of the reactive task that was preempted By comparing the costs of the proactive task with the projected costs of the reactive task, the value of the preemptive repair is determined. While some cost factors may remain unchanged in both cases, e.g., replacement of worn-out and broken parts, three major benefits can be realized by proactivity. First, repairs can be scheduled during convenient times, such as during shift changes or during planned downtime. Second, the collateral effects of actual failure are avoided, such as additional damages, production losses, and worker safety issues. Third, the time required to make proactive repairs is likely to be substantially shorter than reactive repairs, further minimizing or eliminating lost production. With this in mind, here are analyses of the costs avoided in two actual examples of proactive repair.

Example 1: Overheated Chain on V8 Engine Track (Case 2 Above)

The cost of proactive repairs to the overheated chain included $45 for one man-hour of labor plus $20 for grease. Compare the projected reactive task costs that would have accrued had the chain been run to failure: 136 hours of repair labor at $45 per hour, plus 1,072 hours of lost production labor at $39 per hour. Add parts costs of $32,430 to replace 4600 links of chain, $750 for new drive chainsand $20 for grease. The avoided costs were clearly substantial. The total cost of the proactive repair was a mere $65, but the total reactive repair would have cost $81,078, plus the unquantified cost of lost production for two shifts, an estimated 2,100 V8 engine units, for a total savings in the range of $1 million!

Example 2: Anomalously Hot Feeder Buss Isolation Switch

Infrared inspection revealed that a feeder buss isolation switch on the north side of the plant was emitting a heat signature consistent with a high-resistance connection. The switch was shut down, locking out the buss supply. The feeder buss was disconnected from the switch, the buss bars were cleaned, buss insulators were replaced, and buss power was reset without incident. The cost of this proactive repair was $1080 for 24 manhours of repair labor at $45 per hour and $590 for replacement buss insulators, a total of only $1,670. If the situation were ignored and run until failure, the reactive repair costs would have totaled $41,977, the sum of 156 hours of repair labor at $45 per hour, 672 hours of lost production labor at $39 per hour, and $8,749 for parts, including replacement buss insulators, a section of buss, a new buss isolation switch, temporary service wire, a 1000A temporary buss plug, and a 1000A fuse. The savings totaled $40,307, plus the avoided costs of ripple effects throughout the section of plant crippled by the resulting unplanned power outage. These avoided costs would include the cost to recover machine programs, cost of cutters and tooling destroyed due to in-cycle power failure, and the significant but incalculable cost of in-process engine blocks that would have to be scrapped due to tooling failure.

CONCLUSION: An ounce of PdM prevention is worth a ton of cure

Dramatic savings are achievable from regular preventive and predictive maintenance in large manufacturing facilities, based on detection of incipient failures by infrared thermal inspections and other test methods. The savings accrue from three perspectives: First, repairs are much cheaper to make before catastrophic failure occurs, and such proactive repairs avoid collateral damage to other equipment, in-process product, and even personnel. Second, repairs can often be made during scheduled downtime or during shift changes, minimizing or eliminating lost production. Third, the time required to make proactive repairs is likely to be substantially shorter than to make reactive repairs, further minimizing or eliminating lost production.

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The dollar value of proactive savings has traditionally been difficult to certify, but modern smart infrared cameras and other computer-friendly test equipment are greatly facilitating record-keeping by downloading data to easily analyzed digital archives. In addition, report-generating and data-archiving software such as ThermaCAM Reporter and DataBase from FLIR Systems are greatly facilitating the quantification of proactive repairs at General Motors. The result is an ongoing paradigm shift by enlightened plant management. The plant maintenance paradigm is moving from the cost side of the ledger, where it has traditionally been considered overhead Maintenance & Operation (M&O) costs, to the nascent category of Avoided Costs. This shift is in turn recasting maintenance professionals and PdM programs as part of the profit-making side of todays manufacturing organizations. Indeed, a dollar saved has always had the same value as a dollar earned. In a highly competitive global industry such as automobile manufacturing, the true value of Avoided Costs produced by todays predictive/preventive maintenance professionals is realized on the income side of the ledger and can be expressed in terms of dollars-worth of increased productivity, lower manufacturing costs, and larger margins.

Note
The Romulus Engine Plant and UAW Local 163 was recognized for the fourth year in a row as the most productive 8-cylinder engine plant in North America by the authoritative Harbour Report 2004, with a production rate of 3.49 hours per engine, a 3.6% improvement over last year. Overall, GM Engine operations continued to lead the domestic car companies with a 5.2% improvement over last year

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