Laser Alignment
Laser Alignment
Sales • Service • Training • Laser Rentals
Proper alignment of your machinery saves you money. It saves you from needless and expensive repairs. It saves you up to 8% of total power used. It saves you by increasing output. Properly aligned equipment is a big part of keeping your equipment in optimal condition.
Here is information from a case study done in a Steel and Aluminum plant in the UK from September 2001. “This report will go on to show that improving Alignment Methods will lead to savings in the maintenance budget and power consumption in the plant.”
Cost Savings on Laser Alignment
The most common method of a straight line, thickness gauge and your eyes is compared to the “Easy-Laser™ Method.” With the eyeball method, as the illustration shows, you measure the alignment of the shaft. Using Laser Alignment with the Easy-Laser™ method you have much more accuracy and precision that greatly improves the results from proper alignment.
Labor Costs Savings Comparisons for Laser Alignment:
|
Straight Edge Alignment |
Dial Indicator Alignment |
Laser Alignment |
|
| Time Per Alignment | 1 |
3 |
1 |
| # of Aligned Machines | 39 |
39 |
39 |
| Frequency of Machines /Year |
2 |
1 |
1 |
| Total # of Alignments /year |
78 |
39 |
39 |
| Hours spent on Alignments / Year |
78 |
117 |
39 |
| Average Labor hourly cost |
$42/Hr. |
$42/Hr. | $42/Hr. |
| Technicians required per alignment |
2 |
2 |
2 |
| Cost per Team |
$85/Hr |
$85/Hr. |
$85/Hr. |
| Total Yearly Labor Cost for Alignment |
$6,630 |
$9,945 |
$3,315 |
Repair Cost Savings comparison for Laser Alignment:
|
Straight Edge Alignment |
Laser Alignment |
|
| Number of Machines | 39 | 39 |
| Average Repair Costs/Machine | $460 | $460 |
| Current MTBF | 6 Months | 20 Months |
| Repair Costs | $35,880 / Year | $10,764 / year |
| Annual Savings for Laser Alignment | $35880-$10764 = $25,116 |
An increase of just 1 month on the MTBF to 7 Months would give yearly repair costs of $30,753 a savings of $5126.
Energy Cost Savings for Laser Alignment:
| Plant Size | 1180KW |
| Cost of Power | $0.0566 |
| Machine Operating Time | 24 X 365 Days = 8,760 hours / year |
| Total Cost of power for one year | 1,180 X 0.0566 X 8,760 = $585,063 |
| Power Saving | 11.8kW |
| Power Cost Saving | $5,850 (1% of $585,063) |
Assumptions:
- A 25 mils aligned motor was measured at 12.2 Amps.
- After Laser Alignment to 2.5 mils this came down to 11.8 Amps, a 3.28% reduction in power.
- We assume that only 1% is reduced in the above example.
Summary of Annual Cost Savings for Laser Alignment:
| Labor Cost Savings for Laser Alignments | $3315 |
| Electricity (Power) Savings for Laser Alignments | $5850 |
| Repairs Cost Savings for Laser Alignments | $5126 |
| Total | $14,291 |
These figures are the minimum that this plant would save by using Laser Alignment methods of their motors. The electricity savings could be up to 3 times higher (3.28% instead of the 1% used in the example). Repair cost savings could be up to $10,724 if the MBTF was 20 months (instead of the 7 months used in the example). If they also use the system on the entire plant (instead of the 41% used in the example) we could easily increase savings of over 2.5 times. If you then also calculate with increased productivity, you would see even more significant savings.