Preventive maintenance is essential for any company that relies on industrial machinery in its production processes. It is a proactive approach to monitoring and caring for equipment to ensure its optimal operation over long periods of time. This maintenance is based on inspection, cleaning, adjustment and replacement of parts before failures occur.
When a company applies an efficient preventive maintenance plan, it guarantees the optimal operation of its packaging equipment and avoids unexpected breakdowns that can affect production. In this way, continuous production is achieved and operating costs associated with emergency repairs are reduced.
Importance of having a preventive maintenance plan
Having a preventive maintenance plan for your flowpack is essential to ensure optimal performance, extend the life of your components and avoid unplanned production downtime.
The main benefits of having a preventive maintenance plan are:
- Increased machine availability and reliability.
- Reduction in unscheduled downtime.
- Reduced repair and emergency spare parts costs.
Differences between preventive and corrective maintenance
Preventive maintenance is based on planned and periodic interventions with the aim of keeping equipment in good condition and avoiding failures. Unlike corrective maintenance, it makes it possible to anticipate possible problems that a machine may have before they arise.
Corrective maintenance is performed once a failure has already occurred, and usually involves unscheduled downtime, higher repair costs and, in many cases, increased wear and tear on the equipment.
Types of preventive maintenance
Preventive maintenance can be adapted according to use, working environment and machine type. For flowpacks, it is common to apply a combination of the following approaches:
Hourly inspection
This type of maintenance is based on periodic inspections based on accumulated operating hours. For example, every 1,000, 5,000 or 10,000 hours, key components such as belts, bearings, sensors, motors or sealing systems are checked.
Scheduled replacements for hours of use
In addition to overhauls, some components must be replaced on a scheduled basis after a certain number of hours of use, regardless of their apparent condition. This includes parts with guaranteed wear such as blades, bearings, cylinders or valves…
Key components to check in a flow-wrapper
Synchropack recommends preventive maintenance tasks according to hours of use to check key components, in addition to planning the corresponding changes of the parts that suffer greater wear. Factories with automatic packaging equipment should pay attention to the following parts:
Pneumatic installation
Verify that there are no leaks in the circuit, and check the condition of valves, cylinders and connections. Make sure that the pressure is stable and adequate for the operation of the pneumatic installation.
Electrical installation
Check the condition of the cables and connectors of the electrical panel, as well as the correct operation of the safety systems. Check the condition of the PLC and the protection of the components against overloads or humidity.
Conveyor belts
Inspect the tension, alignment and wear of the belt and chains, as well as the condition of the pushers and transport hooks. Make sure that the rollers rotate freely and without abnormal noises. Clean any product or film debris that may interfere with product conveying.
Longitudinal welding group (wheels)
Check the condition of the longitudinal welding wheels, as well as the bearings and drive sprockets. Check the condition of the motors and commutators, as well as the brushes. Check that the heating of the unit is uniform and that the sealing is not defective.
Film unwinder
Checks the condition of the rollers and that the drive system moves forward without jerks. Checks the centering and tension of the film, as well as its alignment with the sealing system.
Transverse sealing group
Make sure the blades are sharpened or worn correctly, the cutting pressure is adjusted and synchronized with the product and film feed. Check the condition of the jaws and sprockets, as well as the bearings. Clean any melted film or product residue.
Outfeed conveyor
Check the condition, centering and tension of the web and rollers.
Checking complementary equipment
It is common to find complementary equipment integrated in flowpack packaging systems: from automatic feeders to vision sensors, labelers or coders, etc. These modules may be part of the packaging process, either upstream (before the packs are made) or downstream (after the packs have been created).
It is essential to follow the recommendations of OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) on how to perform good preventive maintenance on their equipment.
Why is it important to have a stock of spare parts?
The stock of spare parts plays a fundamental role in the maintenance of flowpack machinery. Having spare parts for critical parts of the flow wrappers is essential to be able to replace them when they are very worn or have failed. This is the real key to preventive maintenance: being able to anticipate potential failures before they occur, and to replace critical parts with new ones in an agile and strategic manner.
The three main reasons why all companies operating flowpack machinery should have a minimum stock of spare parts are:
- Downtime reduction.
- Cost control and long-term savings.
- Long-term effects on packaging equipment.
Preventive maintenance is one of the best decisions you can make to protect your flowpack investment. It’s not just about avoiding unexpected downtime or extending the life of your equipment, it’s about ensuring that each flowpack machine is always running at maximum capacity, maintaining packaging quality and production line efficiency.
At Synchropack, we understand that every minute counts. That’s why we offer a preventive maintenance service directly at the customer’s premises, planned and executed by our technicians. Our team analyzes the condition of your machines, applies the necessary adjustments and detects possible wear and tear or breakdowns in time before they become a major problem.
