Ageing analysis of manufacturing equipment: a case study

Abstract

Ageing analysis is applied in an important company which is an industry leader in the production of roller bearings. A modern CNC vertical lathe is analysed to confirm whether preventive maintenance is needed in order to improve the system availability. The rate of occurrence of failure (ROCOF) model is estimated, after a pre-analysis aimed at identifying an infant mortality period. A general approach to equipment ageing analysis is proposed. This methodology is based on several plotting analyses and statistical tests used to confirm whether a preventive maintenance programme should be implemented