Westin Drives has been welcomed into the premier league of industrial electric motor repairers. Our company is one of only seven in the UK to achieve the status of SKF Certified Rebuilders after undergoing a rigorous certification process. To satisfy the requirements, our employees completed extensive training in electric motor failure analysis, bearing installation, lubrication systems and condition monitoring technologies. The accreditation, awarded in October, demonstrates that Westin Drives has the high level of expertise and experience needed for the optimum diagnosis and repair of electric motors. To become an SKF Certified Rebuilder, repairers must meet exacting standards. For customers, that translates into increased performance and profitability as certified rebuilds can help prevent recurring failures, extend motor service life and reduce repair costs and downtime. To ensure standards are upheld, certified rebuilders must comply with requirements governing service, procedures, quality control, cleanliness, tooling, bearings, components and workplace conditions. Compliance audits and re–certification are conducted regularly by SKF. Managing director Ian Sheppard said: “I am delighted that the expertise of our employees has received this recognition and that our many customers will benefit accordingly. It raises the bar in repair service.” SKF says: “Certified Rebuilders have access to our unparalleled collection of parts, tools, and technical support. They're kept up to date with the latest technologies and best practices. And they're empowered to perform root-cause failure analyses and troubleshooting. In short, they have the resources they need to do your repair correctly.” We are pleased that this story was reported in the Huddersfield Examiner. http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/business/westin-drives-joins-premier-league-8247002
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Bradford University turned to Westin Drives when it needed to install drives and motors on test equipment used for research into vehicle brake noise.
Vehicle manufacturers try to minimise brake noise at the design stage and, to help to tackle that, the university has established a braking research laboratory in its School of Engineering, Design and Technology. Professors John Fieldhouse and Andrew Day are aiming to establish a UK centre of excellence, bringing together expertise and equipment under one roof. The university operates new and existing brake test-beds for Bentley and Jaguar Land Rover. The test rigs include a Jaguar Land Rover 24kW single-wheel brake noise rig, a 45kW commercial vehicle rig, a light-duty disc thickness variation rig, several 7.5kW rigs for testing axle and brake noise, vibration and harshness, and a heavy-duty sample friction tester. When a fault occurred on an old servomotor on one of the test-beds, research fellow Dr David Bryant thought the centre could save money and have a more reliable drive system by installing a standard 15kW three-phase induction AC motor powered by a variable-speed drive. He said: “We needed something that was up-to-date and more reliable. Plus, we needed simple speed control for the motor itself.” He opted for a WEG motor driven by a WEG CFW11 VSD, supplied by Westin Drives. To test the judder effect on brakes, the university uses a rig powered by a 90kW motor-and-drive combination with a control system that was also designed, built and commissioned by Westin. Our company also supplied a safety interlock control system that interfaces with the drive, allowing researchers to shut down the equipment rapidly in the event of a fault. Dr Bryant said: “This is incredibly important as with typical high-speed brake testing we might be running the brake at around 100 mph, and sometimes up to 200 mph.” When a fault was found on the motor controls of another Jaguar Land Rover test rig, this was also replaced by a WEG drive, an IP54-protected 11kW CFW11 model. The laboratory is now operating three WEG drives and two motors, all installed since early 2013. Explaining this choice, Dr Bryant says: “We are in the business of using a motor for an application rather than getting into the nitty-gritty of how a motor works, so we want a package that gets us up and running quickly. |
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