Customer Success Story
Dynamic Conditions for Container Cranes under Control
Cost-effective instead of overpriced
At Contargo‘s 26 trimodal terminals, containers are loaded from A to B. The cranes in the terminals almost never stand still and have to operate reliably and safely at all times. The transportation of empty and full containers is carried out under very dynamic and different operating conditions. These pose major challenges for the measuring system, because there are only a few moments in which the measurements can be taken.
For this special application, Schaeffler offers the wireless and cost-effective OPTIME Condition Monitoring (CM) solution with the additional function “High Dynamic Mode“ (HDM). This allows measurements to be taken on machines where the time window for a valid measurement is very short (less than 10 seconds). Faber Industrietechnik, Schaeffler‘s certified service partner, recommended precisely this solution to Contargo for cranes in Mannheim and Ludwigshafen.
Result: Shortly after the solution was deployed, imminent bearing damage on an engine was detected at an early stage, preventing an unplanned downtime and expensive consequential damage.
Customer
Information on the terminals
Containers are transported to and from the terminal by ship, truck and rail (trimodal). Contargo‘s trimodal terminal connects Mannheim with major seaports such as Hamburg, Antwerp and Rotterdam. Mannheim and Ludwigshafen are an important interface for container transportation between the western seaports, the Rhine-Neckar metro- politan region and the European hinterland. For transport reasons, the terminal in Ludwigshafen serves customers in Rheinland-Pfalz in particular.
Contargo is active in 6 countries in Europe.
Challenge
The five cranes in Mannheim and three cranes in Ludwigshafen work hard at the Trimodal terminals - around the clock on six days a week and 313 days a year . A fully loaded container weighs up to 38 tonnes and between 1000 and 1200 containers of hazardous goods, food or technological equipment are moved in a single day. It takes a maximum of five minutes to load a container. The entire process with registration and documentation takes a maximum of 30 minutes.
No two days are the same ...
„There is no typical day for us,” says Technical Manager Monir El Khiari at Contargo Mannheim. „My day usually starts with familiarising external companies with their work on site. At times, we have five or six of them at the terminal, who have to carry out different tasks at the same time. Add to that inspections, maintenance and repairs. We have to keep a cool head at all times to maintain an overview. One minute we‘re talking about defective circuit boards in the air conditioning system, the next we are discussing the additional setpoint of the synchronisation control in the crane chassis. The daily challenge is not knowing which challenge is coming up when and to what extent. It‘s a surprise every time. For example, if there is a fault or failure of a crane or reachstacker, I have to localise the problem, classify it, take initial measures to rectify the fault and, if necessary, initiate the next steps.”
Never run out of breath ...
It‘s not that easy to get a quick overview, at least not at the Mannheim site. If the problem is ‘upstairs’, the technician has to walk up to 30 metres three flights upstairs. Once they have reached the hotspot, the early morning exercise is completed, but the problem solving is not.
Solution
For this special application, Faber Industrietechnik supplied the Schaeffler OPTIME CM solution with the additional High Dynamic Mode function. With this function, it is possible to take measurements of motors, gearboxes and other machines that are operated under very dynamic and different operating conditions. Just five seconds are enough to obtain information about the machine‘s condition. With success, as the application example on the following page shows.
Few “ingredients”, simple installation ...
It doesn‘t take much to be able to monitor machines in high dynamic mode. A gateway, OPTIME sensors, the app and a cell phone. After installing the gateways and wireless OPTIME 5 sensors on the motors and gearboxes at Contargo, the Schaeffler OPTIME app only needed to activate the sensors by scanning the Schaeffler OPTIME app. A process that was completed in a very short time.
The OPTIME sensors connected to each other to build a mesh network. This ensures that every sensor finds its way to the gateway. The mesh network works independently and normally transmits the measurement data via LTE connections to the OPTIME environment for further analysis. The results can then be viewed in the OPTIME app or OPTIME dashboard.
Sleeping and waking up ...
Special algorithms in the sensor ensure that wake-up will be done on optimal time. Only when the wake-up limit is exceeded does the sensor become active. In this case, the wake-up limit ensures that the machine has started to run. The measurement is then carried out automatically. A subsequent check of the machine run ensures that a valid measurement has been taken. This approach ensures that a demanding machine, such as a container crane, can be monitored effectively.



Why monitor high dynamic operating conditions?
Precise monitoring allows potential problems to be detected and rectified in good time, leading to improved overall reliability and efficiency. Monitoring High Dynamic Operating Conditions requires advanced sensing and data processing technologies to capture and analyze the fast and constantly changing conditions in real time. The solution can be used in various applications such as elevators, conveyors, certain container cranes or crane systems in a wide range of industries to ensure the safety, performance and service life of systems and equipment.

Use Case

What happens if the gearbox needs to be replaced?
Contargo itself had such an incident at the Mannheim terminal in 2018. From damage to complete repair, the gearbox replacement took just two and a half weeks thanks to good connections to qualified specialists. Without such good relationships, a gearbox replacement can easily take 8 to 12 weeks.
Replacement at a dizzying height ...
To replace a gearbox on a crane is a complex and demanding task and has to be carried out under the supervision of specialists. During this process, the crane needs to be positioned safely and stably. All relevant safety precautions have to be taken to avoid accidents. In order to be able to remove the gearbox from a dizzying height, the various components of the crane, such as the crane jib or cable winches, are first removed to allow access to the gearbox. The defective gearbox is then transported out of the crane using lifting equipment such as a mobile crane. Now the way is paved for the installation of the new gearbox. It is installed and connected in the crane in accordance with the manufacturer‘s instructions and specifications. The previously removed components of the crane are reinstalled and the entire system is checked and calibrated.
What does a machine downtime mean for logistics?
Worst-case scenario: If a crane fails due to unplanned down- time, this can lead to significant delays and bottlenecks in the logistics chain, as containers cannot be reloaded or trans- ported in time. This can lead to traffic jams in ports, ware- houses and on transport routes and affect the efficiency of the entire logistics process. Where containers with food are affected, perishable goods may even have to be disposed of.
Service Center under Stress ...
When the crane broke down in 2018, the volume of phone calls and e-mail correspondence in Contargo‘s service centers initially rose sharply. To avoid delivery delays, the ships were diverted to the nearby terminal in Ludwigshafen. In this way, this challenge was “circumnavigated” and high follow-up costs were avoided. For the logistics planners and the entire staff in the service centers, this meant additional work. In order to avoid such To avoid this kind of workload for employees, the mainte- nance department is always looking for innovative soluti- ons to plan maintenance work even better.