DrivePro® reduces cost, downtime, and failure rate for Dahe Paper Group

When Dahe Paper Group reached out for support, the key challenges were to reduce the risk of drive faults and minimize downtime when a fault occurred.

Meeting these challenges was complicated by the distance of Henan Province from China’s major manufacturing centers, which made it more difficult to access spares and support.

Danfoss engineers proposed a solution that included an effective and reliable maintenance regime, as well as readily available spares and technical support, all of which would be achieved by the adoption of products from the DrivePro® services portfolio.

In the project's first stage, Danfoss engineers performed a DrivePro® Site Assessment. This detailed on-site survey used top industry tools to measure and evaluate the status and condition of the drives, as well as their importance and potential risks. The assessment revealed that many of the drive cooling fans were in poor condition, mostly because the customer did not have strong in-house maintenance capabilities.

Following the DrivePro® Site Assessment, the engineers created a detailed report recommending the urgent replacement of all drive cooling fans and their related components, which was quickly done. The report also advised using the DrivePro® Spare Parts service. This service provides a package of essential spare parts to keep on-site, ensuring users have immediate access to genuine Danfoss parts with the latest software and firmware for quick repairs and maintenance.

While assessing the condition of the drives, the DrivePro® Site Assessment, the report recommended training for Longfeng maintenance engineers to help them better manage the drives. It also suggested that the factory could benefit from DrivePro® Remote Monitoring of drive performance.

While conducting the site survey, Danfoss engineers checked if the installed drives could connect to the DrivePro® Remote Monitoring service. As a result, Dahe Paper Group decided to implement DrivePro® Remote Monitoring for all their VACON® NXP Air Cooled drives.

The DrivePro® Remote Monitoring service continuously sends data from the drives to Danfoss Cloud services through a secure internet connection. The system analyzes this data to spot potential faults. If a fault is detected, Longfeng engineers are automatically notified by text message. The service also stores historical data from the drives, allowing engineers to analyze trends and detect gradual performance issues, which helps with maintenance planning.

By January 2023, the DrivePro® Remote Monitoring service was up and running, delivering positive results. Longfeng engineers were impressed and requested additional features, which Danfoss gladly added. One of these custom enhancements was a real-time dashboard display that gives a quick overview of the status of all monitored drives. This new version of the dashboard is ideal for process industry customers like Longfeng because it shows only essential information, avoiding unnecessary clutter. However, users can also click to access more detailed information when needed.

In May 2023, Longfeng added a new feature that helps engineers find faulty drives on a site map, making it easier to fix problems. That same month, Danfoss provided additional training for engineers at the Longfeng Factory.

The first use of DrivePro® services at the Longfeng factory has shown great results. With the recent addition of DrivePro® Remote Monitoring and advanced analytics, even better performance and efficiency are expected. In the first year, Longfeng saved $140,000, reduced plant downtime by over 10 hours, and cut the drive failure rate by 50%. On-site drive maintenance expertise also improved significantly.

The project at Dahe Paper Group's Longfeng factory was a huge success in terms of improved drive reliability and performance. Because of this, the company plans to extend it to its other plants in Henan Province in the near future.