Obsolete parts: Sourcing the extreme

 
The costs of a broken down production line depend on the size of the company, the sector in which it operates, its location, what it's making, and so on. But the feeling of frustration and helplessness when a breakdown occurs is the same anywhere. One way to achieve peace of mind is to find an experienced partner who can source spare parts for you when production is slowed down or stopped altogether.
 
When a broken down pump is holding up waste disposal in your food production facility, the last thing you want is a costly audit. When the reliability of the expensive aerospace parts you manufacture is being jeopardised by a capricious HMI, you don’t need to replace the entire system. When your paper mill is on standby because of a faulty motor no longer supplied by its OEM, there’s no need for an entire system upgrade. All you really need is the right spare – as soon as possible.
 
Traditional industrial automation systems can last for decades without much need for upgrades and replacements. You can’t fault them on reliability, but nowadays sourcing parts for them can be tricky. If you’ve ever tried shopping around for a DC motor that’s older than your kids, you probably know this already. Not to mention that many OEMs have either stopped producing older generation motors, encoders, PLCs, drives and so on – or have ceased to exist altogether.
 
The good news is that a lot of these ‘industrial automation grandparents’ are still around. In fact, European Automation is a specialist in sourcing obsolete parts, so even when the OEM is unable to help, there’s still hope.
 
In fact, there are several solutions available. One involves taking advantage of our network of suppliers and a well-stocked storage facility. Another option is to repair the faulty part.
 
A few years ago, a Japanese customer from the paper and packaging industry was faced with a broken down Indramat RAC drive. These are legacy systems designed for high power applications and usually require a small crane to be moved around, because they weigh almost 150kg.
 
European Automation arranged for the bulky RAC drive to be delivered to our warehouse facility in the UK, repaired and sent back. After just 10 days, the repaired part was fully functional and back in the production line.
 
One of our biggest automotive customers in Mexico placed an urgent order for a Hoyer electric motor. We managed to find one straight away and arranged to transport it from Denmark to our client’s facility. The item was picked up at 2pm on the day and driven 1550km to our warehouse. From there, it travelled to a local airport where a last minute flight was arranged by our customer, ensuring the motor was up and running in Mexico the next day.

 
If we’re talking about slightly shorter distances, it’s not unusual for parts to be sourced and delivered in just 24h. On a spring afternoon in 2014, for example, an urgent order came through from one of our oil and gas clients. We found the required part and delivered it to Aberdeen overnight. From there, it was flown by helicopter to one of the oil rigs in the North Sea – signed, sent and delivered in less than 26h.
 
While most projects are relatively straightforward, every now and then we get one that really breaks the mould. Last year, an automotive company in the UK was in dire need of a PLC card. After its existing suppliers failed to help, the senior engineering manager got in touch with European Automation. Within only a few hours, our purchasing experts had found the right part but, because we weren’t on the company’s authorised supplier list, he was unable to purchase it.
 
A part that existed, was available and only cost around £350 was about to lose the company £32,000 worth of downtime – all because of a technicality. Sometimes profit has to take a back seat to actually helping the people who are counting on you. So we did what any warm-blooded industrial automation supplier would do. Without telling the engineering manager, we ordered the part from the United States and arranged a visit to the automotive company’s manufacturing facility. Upon arrival, we surprised the engineering manager with the part he’d been trying to get for a week and an invoice for £0.
 
His production line was saved, no penalties were incurred and a relieved – if slightly confused – engineering manager could relax knowing that his system was fully functional once more.
 
Sometimes a replacement is difficult to source and often the spare is halfway around the world. But don’t let this keep you up at night. You can pick up the phone and call an industrial automation parts supplier, such as European Automation, who will relish the challenge.