Service 4.0 – on site, without being there

 Machine malfunctions and standstills that are not eliminated as fast as possible may become expensive for manufacturing companies. BEUMER Group developed the BEUMER Smart Glasses as a pioneering product that supports users quickly and easily. The BEUMER Customer Support technicians use them to take a virtual look over the shoulder of the customer’s service technician to solve the problem together. This digital solution reduces travel times and costs.

“With the BEUMER Smart Glasses, our customers can get in live contact with our service experts anywhere and at any time,” promises Christopher Kirsch, team leader of BG.evolution. With this spin-off at the university location of Dortmund, the company brings digital innovation from outside into the company. In other words: “We are working on a customer problem with the support of start-ups to develop ‘Minimum Viable Products’. These are minimally equipped prototypes whose market potential and customer acceptance we put to the acid test,” explains Kirsch. This makes it easier for the BEUMER Group to decide quickly whether a new technology makes sense to develop into a finished product – such as the BEUMER Smart Glasses.

Together with their colleagues from BEUMER Customer Support and the Department for Research and Development in Beckum, the employees in Dortmund made this digital solution ready for the market. “From October 2018 to January 2019, long-term tests were carried out with various customers, including one with live testing with a long-term customer from the building materials industry. We were successful in concluding this phase,” reports Kirsch. The user has been using a high-capacity palletiser BEUMER paletpac and a high-capacity packaging system BEUMER stretch hood for years.

Reduce idle times by looking over the shoulder

If there is a problem during operation, this may easily result in production bottlenecks. In the worst case, this results in delays of day-to-day operations. “If a machine suddenly breaks down, the problem must be solved as fast as possible,” says Kirsch. This is the only way for the users to save time and money. If the users are not in a position to handle this by themselves, the BEUMER Group sends their globally located technicians to prevent longer downtimes. In addition to service technicians, Customer Support also provides qualified telephone support for trouble shooting, which is available 24/7. However, it can be challenging to successfully communicate complex problems quickly and clearly over the phone. Imagine if the customer had the opportunity to have a BEUMER technician take a quick and easy look at the problem at any time – on-site support, without actually being there. The BEUMER Smart Glasses make it possible.

Just put them on and get started

The employee at the machine puts on the glasses and starts the BEUMER Support app via voice command. The employee transmits a service number and a pin code to the hotline, and the connection with image and sound is established. The BEUMER technician receives the same image as the customer. The technician can directly give instructions and display all relevant information in the field of vision. The employee has both hands free to follow the instructions of the expert and carry out the necessary actions. Faults can be solved quickly and precisely – at any time. The BEUMER experts are available around the clock, seven days a week. “Language barriers or the lack of specialised knowledge are no longer relevant for trouble shooting,” explains Kirsch. “Together with the user, we can also better validate why the fault occurred based on the recorded images.”

“As part of the comprehensive BEUMER Customer Support, users add the BEUMER Smart Glasses as an extension to their monthly or annual hotline service agreement. Together with BG.evolution, the BEUMER Group is currently developing further digital products under the umbrella of “Smart Solutions”. “Many of our customers are already showing clear interest in the BEUMER Smart Glasses,” explains Christopher Kirsch.

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 Carbamide, also known as urea, is currently the most widely used nitrogen fertiliser in agricultural industries world-wide, mainly due to its comparably low costs. The demand is continuously increasing due to our growing global population. The manufacturing plant in the coastal town of Bintulu on the Malaysian island of Borneo has been one of the biggest of its kind in Asia for many years. It is operated by Asean Bintulu Fertilizer Snd. Bhd., a subsidiary of Petronas Chemicals Group Berhad (PCG).

PCG is one of the largest manufacturers of chemical products in Southeast Asia and the leading producer in Malaysia. 25 companies are part of the group, offering a wide range of chemical products, such as olefins, polymers, methanol and fertilisers, which are urea-based for example. Their customers are based in about 30 different countries. The most important markets include Malaysia, China, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

To meet the growing demand for urea, Asean Bintulu had to increase the capacity of its export facilities. BEUMER Group was awarded with the contract as a general contractor, and in a consortium with the PBJV Group Sdn Bhd from Malaysia, who took over the assembly of the system. The service provider from Malaysia is responsible for the transport and installation of onshore and offshore pipelines, in addition to other activities. The company also equips ships for their respective jobs in the oil and gas industries.

Compelling engineering and time management

“This order was a brownfield project,” explains Heinrich Beintmann, Senior Project Manager at BEUMER Group. “This means that we had to integrate our new systems into the existing ones in a way that ensured that the material flow from the longitudinal stockyard to the ship was not interrupted.” Another requirement was that the already available hardware and software components from third-party suppliers needed to be updated to match the increased performance.” The maintenance of the entire system will become a lot easier thanks to this modernisation, because all components are on the same technical standard,” describes Beintmann. BEUMER Group, in cooperation with PBJV Group, developed a technical solution which they presented to ABF together with a schedule that met all the required milestones. Asean Bintulu Fertilizer was convinced by the system providers hard work over the course of the proposal phase.

AFB’s production location is running 24/7. “To minimise the downtime, we had only 55 days scheduled to complete the entire integration, which was quite a challenge,” admits Beintman. BEUMER Group took over project management and engineering, supplied all the systems and supervised installation and commissioning.

The scope of supply included a portal reclaimer for 600 t/h, the ship loader for 1,000 t/h, a fully automatic tripper conveyor for filling the longitudinal stockpile, a mimic panel to comfortably monitor and control the system, the adjustment of the motor control units, a substation, a transfer station with a capacity of 1,000 t/h and a screening station, the most critical element in the schedule. The system supplier installed a solution with a capacity of 2 x 500 t/h. “We had to disassemble the existing screening station down to the main supports of the building and provide it with entirely new technology,” explains Beintmann.

The transfer station divides the material flow towards ship loading and truck loading. This allows the customer to load either ships or trucks or both at the same time.

The assembly of the portal reclaimer and ship loader was less time-critical, because the team could start working on it already prior to the 55-day shutdown, before the production plant was closed down. The assembly of the portal reclaimer in the longitudinal stockpile offered an entirely different challenge. “The low ceiling height made it impossible for us to assemble the reclaimer on the floor and then set it up, as we usually do,” so the BEUMER expert. The system supplier had to find another solution: “Here we had to assemble it segment by segment. Challenging and time consuming.”

BEUMER and PBJV were up for the challenge, and, in close cooperation, developed installation drawings and procedures for each work package, in compliance with the strict safety requirements of all parties involved.

Adapted to the performance requirements

The portal reclaimer traverses the longitudinal stockpile with the urea fertiliser, removes the bulk material in layers from the side slopes and transports it through a primary crusher to a belt conveyor at a capacity of 600 t/h. The portal reclaimer is fully automated. An existing side reclaimer adds another 400 t/h from a second longitudinal stockpile into the system.

“The existing belt conveyor systems were not designed for the higher performance of our new portal reclaimer,” says Otto Schmelzer, Engineering Manager at BEUMER Group. “Which meant that we had to upgrade the drive stations that were already there.” Not a problem for the system supplier: Because you want all systems used by the customer to run seamlessly with each other, BEUMER continuously develops not only its own products further, but its Customer Support takes care of upgrading mechanical and control technology manufactured by third-parties. “Our customers are incredibly satisfied with our modification concepts, because our goal is to keep already existing structures as much as possible,” describes Otto Schmelzer. This helps companies to reduce their costs, by reducing the number of necessary components and ensuring fast return on investment. Adding shorter installation and handover times was also particularly important with this project.

Efficient ship loading

Belt conveyors transport the urea over the screening and transfer stations to the new ship loader, also supplied by BEUMER Group. The mobile and swivel-mounted ship loader has a telescopic chute and a throw-off belt conveyor to make loading as efficient and flexible as possible. “With this system, our customer can now load ships with 1,000 t/h,” says Beintmann.

Petronas and Asean Bintulu Fertilizer are completely satisfied with the solutions, the progression of the project and the work of the BEUMER and PBJV consortium. “Our part aligned perfectly with the milestones of the entire project,” says BEUMER expert Beintmann. “And the cooperation between the PBJV Group has been exemplary.”

The commissioning for the ship loader took less than three weeks, the entire system was completely commissioned after eight weeks and handed over to the operator.

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Companies continue to develop and implement new innovations, shortening the life cycles of individual products and product series. Market developments can also make it necessary to implement the newly developed components into the existing systems. As a result, manufacturers have to increasingly phase out components and technologies. For these cases, BEUMER Group provides their customers with several solution packages so their systems can run without interruption.

A typical example is the development of energy-efficient motors. After an initial market launch, a manufacturer generally phases out previous product generations, which means that they are no longer available for parts supply. New drives are often not compatible with the predecessor models, having for example a different start-up behaviour. In these cases, BEUMER Group customer support provides its customers with targeted engineering and service measures. They are easy to plan and help prevent system downtimes. This means that even older systems can remain operational for many years for BEUMER customers.

Enough supplies for a long operating time

One of these measures is the so-called “last-buy campaign”: “Our customers stock up on the original components or comparable parts prior to the discontinuation notice so that they can continue to use the system,” explains Guido Hesse, Director Customer Support in Beckum, Germany. “We ensure a consistently operational solution, following the slogan: we keep you running.”

Another approach are comparable components that BEUMER provides its customers. The engineering and service departments work closely together: these experts identify and test individual parts and supply them quickly. This means that BEUMER Group can ensure the continued operation of the customer’s systems, even after a discontinuation. With this trustworthy approach, BEUMER provides reliable solutions to maintain system availability.

With the launch of a new component generation comes the occasional need to adjust system control as well requiring new commissioning. BEUMER Group assists here as well.

Systems (almost) for eternity

An interesting application took place recently at a German airport: the baggage conveying system installed by BEUMER is over 20 years old. The programming language of the control technology is no longer state-of-the art. When the airport decided to continue to use the existing technology for another five years with the help from the BEUMER Group customer support, the challenge was to find an expert who is familiar with the dated programming language. A challenge that was quickly resolved. “We could find an already retired, but still motivated colleague who was able to do the reprogramming,” remembers Guido Hesse. “Everybody was happy.”

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BEUMER Group opened a new sales office in the Ruhr area of Germany to support its customers with an even more comprehensive range of services. From this sales office “West”, BEUMER Customer Support will handle worldwide retrofitting and modernisation projects, for example on currently operating conveying systems like bucket elevators and clinker conveyors, including those from other suppliers. The goal is to cooperate closely with the headquarters in Beckum and provide everything from one source, from receiving a query, to technical dimensioning and on-site installation. With only one contact, the operator can be sure of high system availability.

The goals for many building materials companies include being able to compete with the leading cement manufacturers and to position themselves for profitable construction projects. This requires systems that run reliably and can be adapted to the increasing requirements of the market. “We ensure high availability during the entire running time,” says Guido Hesse, Director Customer Support at BEUMER Group. “Our customers know that they can rely on us.” More than 1,000 employees worldwide now work for this business segment. They take care of the customer, starting with the first project discussion, through the time when the system is in operation.

“We provide comprehensive solutions,” explains Hesse. “They are matched individually to the respective needs of the customer, including service intervals and response times as agreed by contract.” In the event of a system standstill, qualified Customer Support technicians arrive quickly on site to prevent long downtimes. Customer Support offers around-the-clock telephone support every day of the year worldwide, helping to further reduce downtime to a minimum. The technicians perform remote analyses, indicate corrective measures and offer quick and reliable solutions to correct malfunctions. BEUMER Customer Support also ensures that the machines are always up-to-date. “We make sure that the machines are comprehensively modernised,” says Hesse. The advantages include higher performance and availability, minimised energy consumption, more ergonomic working conditions, new functions and a better overall system utilisation. For this, the BEUMER employees can update or upgrade the systems.

“As all systems used by the customer need to be complementary, we also take care of retrofitting the mechanical parts and control technology produced by third-party manufacturers, in addition to the continuous development of our own products ,” describes Hesse. To further optimise these processes in the future, the corporate group opened the new sales office “West” in the German Ruhr area. The team of experts focuses on the implementation of projects where BEUMER technology is used to retrofit or update conveying systems for bulk material such as bucket elevators and clinker conveyors, including those from other suppliers.

One contact – faster decisions

“We work closely with our headquarters in Beckum. The customer receives everything from one single source, starting with the query to technical dimensioning and the installation on site,” explains Hesse. Customers have one contact, which means they can benefit from reduced organisational and coordination expenses and they generally decide faster on modernisations. “The costs for these measures are mostly provided from the customer’s maintenance budget or factory investments. Hesse: “From our new office “West”, we can now react to each request immediately, worldwide, and provide support with extensive know-how.” External consultants are no longer necessary, like for the coordination of new investments, which speeds up the decision making-process considerably.

Modernisation pays off

The BEUMER modification concept has already achieved high levels of customer satisfaction, keeping existing structures as they are as much as possible. Companies can reduce their costs because they need to spend money on only a few components, which means a more rapid return on investment. Shorter installation and transfer times are another advantage.

“As a market leader, we have been developing sophisticated technical retrofitting measures for conveying systems of bulk materials from any manufacturer,” says Hesse. “This is why we can offer the optimal solution for different application scenarios. We know our competitors, their products and the differences between each.” An African cement manufacturer suffered recurring production losses due to the malfunctioning belt of a 60 metre high bucket elevator from a different manufacturer used for feeding a silo. “This is a typical problem, according to Hesse. The system had to be stopped repeatedly for the workers to correct the error. In the long run, this needed to be corrected.

 In this case, the modernisation of the plant was recommended. “We didn’t just want to repair the error, but actively support the company to meet upcoming capacity and technology requirements”, emphasises Hesse. The BEUMER experts replaced the belt and the buckets with heavy duty components developed by BEUMER Group. This solution offers buckets that are mounted firmly to the back of the belt by segments and bolts. Belts with wire-free zones are used for the HD bucket elevators just as with all BEUMER belt bucket elevators. The buckets can be fastened to the belt without damaging the steel wires or even cutting them. The traction forces of the bucket elevator belt are maintained throughout. The bucket shape also allows for smoother running and therefore less noise generation. The drive and return pulleys were also exchanged. The new conveyor belts are resistant to mechanical wear and tear and allow conveying of large grain sizes and taking up high tensile loads. This helps the cement manufacturer to increase the availability of the bucket elevator, reduce energy consumption and extend service life. This solution, instead of simply replacing the belt, makes the company more competitive in the long run.

Speaking the same language

BEUMER Group sets high standards for its Customer Support employees. When systems are installed and used in other countries, BEUMER believes that the customer should have access to a Customer Support technician that originates from the same cultural background and speaks the same language. “This is why we decide from our office “West” which of our colleagues for example will be on site for projects in Africa and who will be responsible for Southeast Asia,” explains Hesse. Successful customer support requires successful communication. How is the customer positioned? What are their goals and how do they want to develop in the future? These questions require tactfulness and cultural know-how. BEUMER Group is a global company and capable of meeting this challenge.

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For BEUMER Group, Customer Support is much more than just a service. Approximately 1,000 employees worldwide now work for this business segment. They take care of the customer, starting with the first project discussion, through the time when the system is in operation. The offered portfolio includes different services, in particular Residential Service. With this service, companies can hand over the complete responsibility for availability, performance and economic efficiency of their material flows to BEUMER specialists, who ensure trouble-free operation of the systems – and even stay permanently on the customer’s site.

As an international manufacturing leader in intralogistics providing customised system solutions in the fields of conveying, loading, palletising, packaging, sortation and distribution technology, BEUMER Group knows the particular challenges posed by the customers. They have high demands on machine availability and, therefore, on customer support. This is why the system supplier has developed and extended its customer support and established it as a business segment in its own right. Due to its global positioning, the group has consistently optimised and extended this segment with specifically trained employees during the last few years. “We’re not only providing service products, we really take care,” emphasizes Guido Hesse, Director Customer Support at BEUMER. “This becomes more and more important to users from different industries.” A continuously high level of availability has to be ensured to enable companies to stay competitive.

Enough time to focus on the core business

BEUMER Customer Support offers customised service agreements to customers. These include, for example, the supply of spare parts, preventive as well as routine maintenance, and the operation of the systems. They are matched individually to the respective needs of the customer, including service intervals and response times as agreed by contract. “More and more manufacturers, especially logistics service providers, wish to concentrate on their own core business and to delegate the responsibility for their systems and machines”, says Hesse, identifying a pronounced trend. “Therefore, Residential Service plays an important role within our Customer Support portfolio.” This service means that BEUMER employees take on the responsibility for operating times, performance and economic efficiency – if necessary, they stay permanently on the customer’s site. The systems have to be always perfectly adapted to their tasks, and all processes have to run smoothly. “In a highly competitive environment, we convince our customers with reliability and a high level of system availability,” explains Hesse. Successful customer support requires an understanding of the mentality of the customer: How is the customer positioned? What are his goals and how does he want to develop in the future? These questions require tactfulness and cultural know-how.

Reliable operation increases turnover

A sports manufacturer, for example, relies on this service at his new distribution centre. The newly leased 40,000-square-metre warehouse complex is in the immediate vicinity of the extant building. Both buildings are linked to each other by an approximately 370-metre-long conveying system. In the head office, the supplies for retailers and distributors home and abroad are processed, while the internet orders from all over Europe are exclusively handled in the additional warehouse complex. The company intends to significantly increase its turnover in the E-commerce sector. Up to 200,000 online orders per day are supposed to be processed at peak times.

This calls for efficient material flows and reliable technology. The new building houses fully automated rack systems with about 300,000 storage places, order picking solutions, packaging stations and more. The biggest part of the intralogistics system is an almost nine-kilometre-long conveying system. “The roller conveyors and belt conveyors link the individual areas with each other and transport the goods from A to B”, explains Günther Rother, Maintenance Manager at BEUMER Group. He belongs to a team of 70 service technicians who are working in five shifts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to ensure smooth processes on site.

Smooth operation throughout the service life

To ensure that the systems are always perfectly adapted to their tasks and all processes run smoothly throughout their service life, BEUMER employees also carry out preventive maintenance. Günther Rother explains: “This way, we can avoid uncontrolled machine breakdowns, which can be very expensive for our customers.” The team carries out maintenance and inspection work on the systems at defined intervals. “We remove dirt, for example, since it may affect the operational reliability of machines and systems”, says Rother. “Movable parts are lubricated and correctly adjusted if necessary.” The team checks the safety devices of the machines and systems as well as their electrotechnical components and automation technology. Further work includes corrective maintenance like fault diagnostics and troubleshooting or repairs due to unscheduled failures of components. “We develop and implement concepts which enable a long-term and trouble-free operation of the buildings”, adds the maintenance manager. The employees check the technical installations and maintain them regularly, at agreed intervals.

All spare parts available?

“We manage about 2,500 different spare parts in total”, says Rother. “If required, we continue to adapt the scope and availability of the range.” To support daily work and ensure a high degree of transparency for our customers, the BEUMER team has programmed a precisely matched computerised maintenance management system (CMMS). ´The software manages all information relevant to maintenance in a data base. It provides order information on spare parts as timely as possible, manages the spare and wear parts inventory and calculates the demand. Each procurement process can be precisely documented.

We have worked out a spare parts concept enabling us to take the required component to the corresponding place of repair within two minutes”, explains Markus Petermeier, Operations and Maintenance Manager at BEUMER Group. “In addition, we have developed a training module permitting our technicians to train themselves on all system parts. This helps us to ensure availability as desired by the customer. And here we are talking about a level of more than 99 percent.” To ensure successful functioning, Residential Service also includes emergency schedules and exercises on system recovery and troubleshooting to enable the shortest possible response times. This also applies to remote diagnostics provided by the BEUMER hotline.

One contact person for all needs

The service technician Daniel Schweer also belongs to the team: “We also take care of system parts supplied by others.” The customer only has one contact person who is available directly on his site for all questions, which makes communication much easier. “We also gain more knowledge this way”, says Daniel Schweer. If the customer plans to expand the system, the versatile and highly qualified BEUMER team can develop a variety of individual solutions.

BEUMER Group offers around-the-clock support every day of the year, tailored to the needs of its customers, in this case a sports manufacturer. “Our goal is to continue to improve trouble-free material flow in order to guarantee value-added processes for our customers”, explains Hesse. “We assume the complete responsibility and ensure this way that they remain competitive in the long run.”

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