Scanimetrics
Equipment Monitoring Solutions to Optimize Productivity

The advancement of internet, cloud and wireless technology, the development of low power on consumer devices, and the proliferation of smartphones has formed a sphere of IOT. The advent of communication and cloud technology on the data generation front has enabled users to generate data continuously for years. This data gets efficiently transported through communication infrastructure and the cloud environment, where the analysis and the analytics can take place. “This allows the metals and mining enterprises to leverage the data to optimize productivity, minimize the damage of assets, create a safer work environment for the people who operate the equipment, and reduce and mitigate risks,” begins Steven Slupsky, President and CEO, Scanimetrics.

However, the enterprises often face problems related to integrating third party devices into corporate IT infrastructure and challenges related to collecting, streamlining, organizing and managing data instantly. Scanimetrics operates in a different way. “Our approach does not require integration. Anyone who has access to our systems can operate through a web browser to get to our cloud environment, and that’s all they have to worry about, from an IT provisioning perspective,” says Slupsky. “What most customers end up downloading into their IT infrastructure are small amounts metadata, analyzed results, and the recommendations in the form of reports and dashboards,” he adds. This provides timely, accurate reporting on the condition of critical equipment, to minimize maintenance costs.

Scanimetrics’ best of breed solutions also focus on security to a large extent. “We take security very seriously, we have a secure web portal where we do audits and follow our security protocols closely to maintain a protected environment. It is a good environment that gives tech savvy people the freedom to interact and make the most out of the service without a lot of restrictions and burdens,” Slupsky explains. Further, as the company manages the entire software infrastructure in the cloud, the clients are relieved from burdens of on-premise software upgrades.

When it comes to the monitoring of equipment, Scanimetrics’ wireless solution visualizes mechanical damage and fatigue. “In any mechanical system, the equipment undergoes stress.

It is all designed to process a material in high volumes. Stress manifests itself over time into cracks and when an object under tension is compressed, the tension compression cycle becomes the fatigue cycle,” explains Slupsky. By quantifying the damage done to equipment, one can start to do an economic analysis of the damage, in addition to the amount of productivity. However, optimizing around the productivity damage index helps in achieving productivity for the given amount of damage.

Assisting clients over past years, Scanimetrics has secured several major names in its customer base. A noteworthy success story is that of an aftermarket company who faced several problems with their shovel saddle block, which continued to fail and had to be re-welded. “It took days of downtime to repair this broken piece of equipment, which was happening on a regular basis and was causing a lot of unscheduled downtime. At the time they were doing this, the productivity loss was 50-100 thousand dollars per hour,” recollects Slupsky. In order to solve this challenge, Scanimetrics outfitted the machine with a number of sensors to collect data that would allow them to size the bolts correctly. The company also helped the client with their design specification phase.

Reliable measurements enable the metal and mining enterprises to start using the data to optimize productivity, minimize the damage of assets, create a safer work environment for the people who operate the equipment, and reduce and mitigate risks

What’s next for Scanimetrics? In the words of Slupsky, “Our road takes us to other industries, apart from metals and mining. We are really focused on pipelines and transportation particularly, for hydrocarbons. There is a lot of social license associated with those industries and greater attention is being given to transportation of materials like oil and gas, where we see enormous opportunities” he concludes.