Machinery Retrofitting: Upgrade, Don’t Scrap
Every department of a machine manufacturer can make an important contribution to the company’s sustainability. In the area of aftersales and service, the focus is on extending the service life of machines, tools and devices. In this blog post, you can read about the benefits of retrofitting machines and the role that digital twins play in this process.
What is a Machine Retrofit?
If old machines are no longer state-of-the-art, they should not be scrapped right away. Through retrofitting, old components are given a second life instead of being discarded. This conserves resources, saves costs and improves sustainability. Retrofitting is the modernization or adaptation of old machines, systems and equipment. Usually a machine manufacturer's aftersales department takes on this task. The most important goal is to extend the service life of machines, tools and devices. In addition, retrofitting ensures that
- existing system components meet new legal requirements,
- machines become ready for Industry 4.0 and
- machines can be seamlessly integrated into the operator's IT environment.
How does a Machine Retrofit work?
Industrial machines are in operation for many years or even decades. But even if they provide good service for a long time, their functions can become obsolete. This is due to developments such as digitalization and artificial intelligence, which ensure ever shorter innovation cycles. As a result, many machineries are today becoming obsolete much more quickly than in the past.
In most cases, modernization is more cost-efficient and sustainable than buying a new system. Retrofitting is a reasonable approach, especially for specialized machines that require a lot of time and effort to engineer.
There are various measures for retrofitting and modernizing machines:
- Integration of a new control system in line with Industry 4.0 (digital retrofit)
- Installation of energy-saving drives to achieve higher efficiency and better productivity
- Replacement of components for which spare parts are no longer available
- Installation of new functions to increase machine automation
Advantages of Retrofitting existing machines
In addition to a high increase of efficiency and productivity for operators, retrofitting offers a further advantage: upgraded machines can usually be reintegrated into existing systems without costly conversions. In general, operators do not require extensive training to resume operation, as is the case with a new purchase, because they are already familiar with the basic functions.
Digital retrofitting also offers the advantage of ensuring better monitoring of existing devices and systems. Thus service and maintenance processes become even more efficient in combination with predictive maintenance.
Challenges for machine Manufacturers
Retrofitted machines are not restored to their original new condition through the replacement of wearing parts. Instead, the machine manufacturer creates a state-of-the-art version of the machine with increased productivity and, in some cases, significant changes in the functionality. In these cases, the aftersales service has to pay attention to legal requirements relating to functional safety, for example.
Retrofitting can lead to a situation where machines are suddenly subject to the Machinery Directive. Machine retrofitting can lead to safety-relevant changes that require a revision of the risk assessment. Therefore a new compliance procedure with a new CE label may be required after modernization.
Another challenge is related to the internal processes of aftersales, service and technical documentation. Retrofitting always goes hand in hand with modifications of the machine that require proper documentation. In addition to the operating instructions, there are also changes in the spare parts list of the machine, because new spare parts will be needed for future maintenance. To ensure that service technicians and machine operators can safely and reliably maintain retrofitted machines, they need the latest parts lists and up-to-date technical documentation.
Our solution: Digital Twins
Digital Twins are an effective way to create up-to-date documentation of all machine upgrades during the retrofit. In a digital information twin, new operating instructions and revised service documents can be centrally organized and easily updated — for example, spare parts catalogs for retrofitted machines. Quanos InfoTwin is the right solution for all mechanical engineering companies that value seamlessly networked information about their machines and want to map their retrofitting measures transparently. It intelligently links service and spare parts information with the technical documentation. Information about all changes to devices, machines and systems is available to the user at any time. This simplifies the work of technicians and forms the basis for setting up aftersales portals.
A Summary of Retrofitting
If a component has become outdated, it is often not necessary to convert the entire system right away. A retrofitting project is a sustainable alternative to a new purchase. It brings tried and tested machines up to the current state of the art, upgrades them with the latest technology and prepares old machines for entering the world of digital machinery. The costs are often not as high as the cost of purchasing new machines.
Successful retrofitting projects require expertise regarding legal requirements and technological possibilities. The machine manufacturer's aftersales team has the necessary expertise to professionally replace outdated components and integrate technology that enables digital retrofitting. The result is greater transparency in production.
Our solution Quanos InfoTwin ensures that not only the machinery itself but also the related documents and spare parts information are all up to date. For more information about retrofitting and digital twins, please feel free to contact the experts at Quanos.
