ABB has selected Sulzer Electro Mechanical Services, as its first Loyalty Partner to provide workshop and repair services to its range of large motors and generators.
Users of ABB’s 6.6 kV and above medium and high voltage motors and generators benefit from the specialised skills and facilities of Sulzer’s workshops in Birmingham and Falkirk. Sulzer offers inspection, remedial work, modification, repair and rewind of ABB large machines, together with some field services. All repairs will be made to ABB approved standards using original spare parts.
Sulzer’s abilities include rebalancing of machines, motor rewinds, rotor repairs and manufacture of high voltage coils. Bringing these skills closer to ABB’s UK customers will cut lead times for repairs and reduce costs.
The Loyalty Partner program creates a network of local service partnerships to complement ABB’s own field services and regional service centres.
“The aim is to create a complete value chain for ABB clients,” Peter Wright, field service product manager for ABB motors and generators, said. “This will strengthen our joint position as collaboration through the Loyalty Partnership brings faster response and advanced service solutions closer to our local markets.”
Sulzer was appointed following its successful completion of an appraisal procedure that all prospective ABB partners must pass. This assessed competence, quality and the company’s ability to comply with ABB’s exacting standards.
“Although we considered several high quality candidates for this partnering role, our global alliance with Sulzer and its strong local relationship with the pump business made it an obvious choice,” Wright added. “The agreement with Sulzer means our customers get more service options in collaboration with ABB without compromising on quality.”
Among the field services that could be offered through Sulzer are ABB’s Life Expectancy Analysis Program (LEAP) and MACHsense. LEAP offers a range of inspection services that optimise maintenance planning for electrical machines and predicts the remaining lifetime of the stator Insulation system. It helps extend machine lifetime and minimizes downtime.
An extension of LEAP is ABB’s Air Gap Inspector. A miniature robot fitted with five cameras, it crawls in the air gap between the stator and rotor of large motors or generators to visually inspect their status, thereby reducing downtime, inspection costs and the need to withdraw the rotor by enabling evidence based maintenance decisions. The Air Gap Inspector can be deployed in air gaps that have historically been out of reach for conventional robotic inspection systems.
MACHsense is a condition monitoring service for electric motors that provides a warning of impending defects. As an early warning system, it provides time to plan maintenance and reduces unplanned shutdowns.