Condition monitoring of machines and systems in the field of plastic recycling

"The monitoring of the operating conditions of granulators is a cost-effective alternative to ensure the safe and economic operation of production plants in plastic processing processes with recycling. With Rapid Connect, data can be directly captured at the machines and necessary measures can be initiated immediately or maintenance and service work can also be planned. Rapid Connect also supports the efficiency or economic operation of systems.

Kleinostheim/Germany, December 2023 – If granulators in plastic processing processes come to a standstill, the entire production lines quickly comes to a halt. This can quickly lead to high costs. However, machines and systems should run as uninterrupted as possible. In addition to continuous maintenance and service, early detection of damage, errors and malfunctions is important to avoid unplanned downtime. Permanent monitoring is necessary to detect damage to machines and systems in good time and to take appropriate measures. In highly automated production facilities, however, there is hardly any personnel on site, so other solutions are necessary to ensure permanent monitoring.
Rapid Granulier-Systeme, a leading provider of granulators for the recycling of plastics, offers a system for condition monitoring of plastic granulators for these challenges: Rapid Connect.

Everything in view
“Rapid Connect enables permanent monitoring of the operating conditions of the granulators. The system captures data directly at the machines and can thus transmit, for example, increased temperature values, increased vibrations, standstills, but also energy consumption. Consumption values can be derived from these over certain periods of time, as well as important information on necessary maintenance and service work (“predictive maintenance”).
For example, if an overload due to increased temperatures or vibrations is detectable, an alarm is triggered, and the machine can be shut down before major damage occurs. If critical values begin to emerge, maintenance or repair can be planned in good time so that it takes place in a favorable time window, for example at night. 
Rapid Connect also supports the efficiency or economic operation of systems, because the utilization of systems or production lines can be optimized on the basis of the recorded data. The system helps to save energy by simply switching off machines during idle times. An interactive dashboard with display of running time, idle time and interruptions presents this very clearly. With this data and tools, the costs of the grinding process can also be calculated more accurately.

Easy installation and setup 
Rapid Connect captures states with sensors that are easily installed on one or more granulators. The machines can be networked wirelessly via radio. The Rapid Connect system then communicates wirelessly via a gateway with the cloud service portal of Rapid Granulier-Systeme. This enables access to networked units from anywhere, with an encrypted connection outside the network infrastructure. 
After installation, alarms can be set up that send messages to various end devices, such as smartphones.
 

About Rapid Granulier-Systeme
Rapid Granulier-Systeme is a German subsidiary of the Swedish Rapid Granulator AB, which belongs to the investment company Lifco AB. The company, headquartered in Bredaryd (Sweden), was founded in 1942 and is one of the leading providers of machines and systems in the fields of plastic shredding and recycling. With eight branches in Leetsdale (PA, USA); Sydney (Australia), Shanghai (China), Singapore, Manila (Philippines), Venice (Italy), Lyon (France) and Kleinostheim (Germany), Rapid Granulator is present worldwide. In addition, sales support is provided by a global network of over 90 representatives and local partners1.