INTERVIEW
Atlas Copco introduces SmartLink 2.0
SmartLink 2.0 is a remote monitoring system that claims to give air users,
industry-of-things-driven insights, not just data, and early warnings from their
compressed air system. Launched in May, it offers
compressor users insights derived from actionable
dashboards, customised views, proactive advice
and alerts. It enables interaction and assessment
of a compressed air system’s performance that
aims to avoid the costs of unplanned downtime
and repair.
In keeping with Atlas Copco’s original
SmartLink 1.0 concept, compressor system users
can choose from three levels of remote data
monitoring to determine the amount of interactive
information they receive: 1 SmartLink Service – users have complete
insight into current and future maintenance
needs of the compressor 2SmartLink Uptime – this includes the service
package features but in addition provides
event warning notification 3SmartLink Energy - this embraces the
benefits of both the service and uptime
programmes, but also provides information
on energy and performance KPI. It also reveals
insights into energy consumption and evolution,
as well as energy efficiency and achieved savings,
machine usage and productive times.
Q What about other customer
demands, such as servitisation
models (selling outcomes)? A It’s all about flexibility and we
have all different options. Some
customers prefer to invest while others
choose leasing options or pay per use of
running time, but the majority still invest
in their equipment.
I would also say that we are seeing a
stronger focus on air quality and oil filter
technology. We’ve carried out some
projects converting factories from oilinjected
units to oil-free units to improve
the quality of air (read about the two
different technologies at www.is.gd/ifuzel).
There is a stronger focus on oil-free and
it’s good to see more competition coming
from oil-free products.
Q Lockdown has seen UK industry
rally together to solve engineering
challenges. Has Atlas Copco
Compressors been involved at all?
A Very much so. I can’t bring up the
names because we don’t have an
agreement yet, but I can tell you that
in some hospitals oxygen generation
systems from Atlas Copco have had direct
involvement. The oxygen we produce
with our system from compressed air
is delivered to the lungs of the patients.
We have also worked with companies
who produce ventilators in the UK. We
had some very urgent demands and
orders for aiding capacity to some of the
factories, which are directly related to the
production of the ventilators.
Q Operations Engineer also ran a
comment piece on its website
in April, penned by you, around the
importance of compressor care during
the lockdown (www.is.gd/uhuvof). Is this
A an issue that has arisen more recently? From a service perspective, the
main issue is access to the sites
that are running. What we are hearing
from a lot of companies is ‘our policy is
no contractors or visitors on site’. So a
preventative service is not an emergency
and the engineers cannot access the site.
There were a lot of planned service jobs in
April, for example, which we couldn’t really
execute, but we know that if the factory is
running, the compressors are running, and
if you don’t do the service on time then
you increase the risk of a breakdown.
We are trying to convince some
customers to let people visit, because we
offer a completely contact-free service.
Our people can go through the formal
procedures and go to the compressor
rooms to work on the machines. And
everything is digital; we don’t ask people
to sign these days, so the engineers would
sign the report and send a digital copy to
the customer.
Q Once we’re out of lockdown and
start getting back to some form of
normality, what near future plans does
A Atlas Copco Compressors have? It’s very difficult to talk about plans
at the moment. Firstly, we need to
come back to some form of stability, to
bring back all of our people and go back to
full capacity. Having said that, Atlas Copco
is releasing a new version of its SmartLink
remote monitoring system − SmartLink
2.0 (see box).
Q If you could send one final message
to the rest of industry, what would
A you say? I would really stress again the
importance of preventative
maintenance. Companies should not
underestimate the importance of
preventative maintenance because we
all want to avoid any sort of breakdowns
and emergencies. So companies really
need to take this seriously. I speak about
compressors mainly but it applies to many
other machinery. So I would again bring
this call to the industry that preventative
maintenance, especially planned service
contracts, need to be done.
28 www.operationsengineer.org.uk Autumn 2020
/ifuzel)
/uhuvof)
/www.operationsengineer.org.uk