Condition Monitoring „to go“ with the Portable Monitoring System

The new Portable Monitoring System from Balluff is a digital assistant for monitoring the condition of machines and plants

The system consists of the condition monitoring sensor BCM, a mobile gateway for data transmission via wireless communication, and software for visualizing the data on any device.

In production facilities, pumps provide coolant supply, oil extraction and much more. If just one of these pumps fails, it can bring the entire process to a standstill. "The difficulty here is to always keep an eye on the condition of all pumps," explains Balluff Product Manager Robert Tilch. "Frequent manual vibration measurements would be necessary to draw conclusions about the condition of the pump. With up to 100 pumps distributed decentrally throughout the entire production facility, regular manual condition monitoring and documentation of the results would be very time-consuming.” This problem is solved by the new Portable Monitoring System from Balluff: it can monitor pumps, but also fans, motors or machine tools digitally and efficiently. The condition monitoring sensor BCM provides condition data that can be used to plan maintenance and repair in advance and automate cost-intensive manual inspections. It detects vibration, but also temperature, humidity and ambient pressure. This ensures efficient and trouble-free operation of the plant, and unplanned downtimes are a thing of the past. The complete system is preconfigured and easy to use: just plug it in and you're ready to go. "Maintenance staff do not need to be IT experts for the Portable Monitoring System or even interfere with existing IT systems, because the data is transmitted directly via wireless communication. Implementation time is reduced to a minimum – simply by 'plug and play'. And at up to one data point per second, it has the highest transmission interval among cloud-based condition monitoring systems," says Tilch.

Implementation of the Portable Monitoring System is very simple: The condition monitoring sensor BCM included in the system is mounted on the machine and connected to the gateway. The gateway is battery-powered and thus can be used on demand. All the user has to do now is connect the power supply and log in to the online portal – after registration. After logging in, the status of the monitored machine or plant can be viewed anytime and anywhere, whether on the monitor in production or on mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets. The software used for this purpose can be started very simply via the web browser. The user can manage the devices and users on a user-friendly dashboard. The minimum and maximum values defined by the user for the monitored machine or system are displayed there, and an alarm is triggered if they are exceeded or undershot.

About the company Balluff

The success story of Balluff began exactly 100 years ago with the set up of a precision mechanics repair workshop in Neuhausen a. d. F. On the occasion of the 100-year anniversary, with 3600 employees worldwide, the global company stands for innovative technology, quality and cross-sector experience in industrial automation. As leading sensor and automation specialist, this family-owned company in its fourth generation offers a comprehensive portfolio of high-quality sensor, identification, network and software solutions. In 2019, the Balluff Group reported revenue of around EUR 469 million. With 38 subsidiaries and other representatives in a total of 68 countries, Balluff guarantees fast worldwide availability of the products and a high caliber of advice and service locally.