The Finnish crushing contractor Hämeen Moreenijaloste Oy is one of the customers piloting the new Metso Metrics remote monitoring system, and the company has been testing it since November of 2015. Their experiences have been good.
Jan 30, 2017
Remote monitoring of Metso’s Lokotrack operating data by satellite makes maintenance planning easier
Since the beginning of 2016, all Metso Lokotrack® crushers manufactured at the Tampere plant, Finland, have been equipped with a satellite link that enables versatile remote monitoring. The optional system enables the location, key operating data and maintenance needs of a unit to be monitored remotely, and recommended spares and wears can be ordered directly through the system.
“All I need now is a laptop and network connection and I can check key data related to our Lokotrack® LT330D™ unit in an instant practically in real time. In addition to location, I can clearly see the daily crushing hours, fuel consumption and upcoming maintenance needs,” says CEO Lauri Mertsalmi.
Maintenance forecasting important, alarms help in adjusting settings
According to Mertsalmi, the most important feature of the remote monitoring system is maintenance forecasting:
“When we plan our contract schedule, the remote monitoring system makes it easy to plan the optimal time for regular maintenance. This allows us to confirm that all the necessary spares and wears have been ordered, and that the required personnel will be available.
“The alarms that are linked to the Lokotrack’s operation and which are entered automatically in the system should also be monitored. If the same alarm is repeated often, we can take action in time and adjust the equipment, thereby avoiding the need for more serious repairs,” he adds.
CEO Mertsalmi monitors the operation of the company’s Lokotrack plant via the Metso Metrics remote monitoring system at least every second day.
“When you can see the crushing data directly in the system, there’s no need to call the site as often or even to visit the site necessarily. The satellite link can retrieve data even from work sites situated in poor cell-phone reception areas, which are surprisingly common, even in Finland,” says Mertsalmi.
Switching from paper notebooks to cloud storage on the work site
In early March, Hämeen Moreenijaloste’s LT330D crushing and screening plant crushed 25,000 metric tons of rock as a secondary unit in Jari Koskenniemi’s quarry in Joutsa. In the two-stage crushing process, close to 5,000 metric tons of 0–16 mm, 0–32 mm, 0–56 mm and 8–16 mm grades were produced in two shifts.
Metso’s remote monitoring system has also been used by Site Manager Jarkko Nieminen and crusher operator Joni Kangas for some time.
“We still use the traditional blue paper notebooks to record details about the operation and production of each unit. There’s no doubt that some of these recorded accounts can be transferred to a cloud service,” says Nieminen.
“Remote monitoring will be very useful in the future, once we replace our current primary crusher with Metso’s Lokotrack LT120E jaw crusher plant,” estimates Nieminen.
“The best thing about the remote monitoring system is the spare and wear parts recommendation that is part of the maintenance program. It sends a reminder to order all the oils, filters and other items on time. Hopefully in the future we will also be able to order single spare parts through the system,” says Kangas.
*Metso Outotec was formed July 1, 2020 when Metso and Outotec merged into one company. This case study has been written prior to the merger under the old company name.
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