Wheelabrator has launched new digital tools to help customers reduce cost around three key areas of the blast process: abrasive consumption, energy use, and maintenance and downtime. The tools were built using Norican’s Monitizer software and NoriGate hardware, both already proven on equipment at sister companies DISA and StrikoWestofen, and are available for many existing and all new Wheelabrator machines.

Heinrich Dropmann, senior VP – global wheel at Wheelabrator, says: “Digital technologies allow us to make the blast process more transparent than ever before and optimise it accordingly. We’ve been working with a select group of pilot customers to identify the applications that would make the biggest difference to their productivity and profitability, and quickly zeroed in on these three. The digital tools we’ve developed enable customers to pinpoint the parameters that drive abrasive consumption, energy use and wear in their specific operational setting – and then do something about it. They can very quickly get a much better handle on their blasting cost, without impacting the volume or quality of their outputs.”

The three tools can be deployed as stand-alone solutions or plugged into a wider Industry 4.0 system – be it from Norican, customer-built or from another supplier. The NoriGate data gateway extracts data from each machine – from the control system and from sensors – while the Monitizer software collects, visualises and analyses it in customisable dashboards.

“This is not about collecting data for the sake of it,” states Dropmann. “As experts on the blast process, we can select the right data points to track, so we can combine them meaningfully and in a way that gives us insights into what’s running at optimum and what isn’t. It gives customers the data they need to continuously improve the process and save some money along the way.”

For further information
www.wheelabratorgroup.com