Infrared Camera Success Stories
In order to demonstrate how a FLIR infrared camera can impact a company's bottom-line, their customers tell about their own experiences.
The following is a case study submitted by Dan Sinclair, the resident thermographer in the General Motors Powertrain Motor Plant in Romulus, Michigan.
The Million Dollar Chain Repair
Infrared technology has been used at the General Motors Powertrain Engine Facility in Romulus, Michigan on a full-time basis since 1988 as part of our predictive maintenance program. Infrared inspections add real value to our total predictive/preventive maintenance program.
The V-8 engine assembly process is terminated on a “power and free system” in which the finished engines are marshaled and sorted for shipment by automated equipment. Within the system many dips and turns have been incorporated to facilitate the 15 miles of chain needed to accomplish this task.
During a walk-through inspection, the FLIR infrared camera detected an overheated chain on the V8 engine track. While examining the west chain on the V8 engine track, we noticed that it was about 10 Fahrenheit degrees warmer than the east chain. An elevated temperature indicates friction, which causes wear and increased electrical load.
After a short investigation we discovered the culprit—an empty automatic grease system, which was promptly refreshed. This simple proactive repair was an exemplar of the value of predictive maintenance.
The cost of proactive repairs to the overheated chain included $45 for one man-hour of labor plus $20 for grease—a total of $65. Compare the “projected reactive task costs” that would have accrued had the chain been run to failure: 136 hours of repair labor at $45 per hour, plus 1,072 hours of lost production labor at $39 per hour. Add parts costs of $32,430 to replace 4600 links of chain, $750 for new drive chains—and $20 for grease. The total post-failure repair would have been $81,078.
While these avoided costs were clearly substantial, the total value of the proactive repair was actually much greater than $81,013. Consider the unquantified “cost” of lost production for two shifts, which would have occurred during repairs carried out after a catastrophic failure. During that time, an estimated 2,100 V8 engine units would not have been sorted and shipped. Thus, the total savings to General Motors was actually an order of magnitude greater than the repair itself—conservatively in the range of $1 million—made possible by means of a simple, timely $65 repair.
Infrared cameras are extremely cost-effective and valuable diagnostic tools in many diverse applications. To visually see how IR can help you detect and identify heat-related problems, be sure to visit our image gallery for visual examples which show how an IR camera interprets thermal energy variances.