Taking Care

Ben Franklin said it best: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Franklin was talking about fire prevention, but the sentiment also applies to preventive maintenance of capital equipment, such as the shredding equipment used in document destruction applications.

When preventive maintenance is ignored, operators are not just risking eventual catastrophic equipment failure, they are experiencing the more immediate effect of such inattention: productivity reductions.

PRODUCTION REDUCTION

Mark Haughey, service general manager for Shred-Tech, Cambridge, Ontario, told attendees of a session at this year’s National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) Annual Conference in March, “Preventive maintenance (PM) is the planned, proactive approach to ensure that the equipment operates at top efficiency.”

Shredder manufacturers stress the role preventive maintenance plays in ensuring the safe and efficient operation of their equipment.

“A shredder or shredding system that is improperly installed, not serviced appropriately or abused may become a liability,” says Jack Cress, CEO of Cresswood Shredding Systems, Cortland, Ill. “The volume and quality of the shredded material will be decreased, and the potential for downtime from failure will increase.”

The toll ignoring preventive maintenance can have on production can be subtle initially. “You may not notice it right away,” Haughey says. “Eventually, you will have a catastrophic failure that will stop production all together.”

Mike Oden, sales and marketing director for Alpine Shredders, Kitchener, Ontario, says, “If maintenance is overlooked, thrust and radial bearings take a beating, leading to overheating, excessive wear and premature failure.”

Oden adds, “In segmented (stacked) cutter sets, knife tension is critical, and if this is not maintained, the tolerances and integrity of the cutter stack is lost. Solid cutter systems, while not requiring any additional maintenance other than standard lubrication, still need the same visual inspection and attention to bearing lubrication that all rotating equipment requires.”

The whole shredding system, not just the shredder itself, needs attention, as Jeff Robas, service manager for Allegheny Shredders, Delmont, Pa., points out. “For example, not properly lubricating a conveyor bearing or drive chain can bring your entire shredding system to a halt,” he says. “Even though the cost to repair the bearing or drive chain may be relatively inexpensive, the loss in ‘shred’ time due to waiting for a replacement part or for a service technician can be extremely costly and could compromise your document security.”

Robas continues, “The capacity of an improperly maintained paper shredder will significantly decrease over time. And, finally, there is the potential damage to components. Lack of proper maintenance will eventually cause damage to conveyor belts, bearings, drive chains and sprockets, spur/drive gears, gear reducers, etc.”

MAINTENANCE MATTERS

Shredding system maintenance programs generally include inspection, lubrication and cleaning at a minimum.

“Preventive maintenance for shredders runs the gamut from basic scheduled greasing of the machine, cleaning of debris areas, monitoring of tooling condition and replacement of cutters to scheduled lubricant replacement and checks of electrical and hydraulic connections,” Cress says.

“We recommend specific daily, weekly, monthly and yearly maintenance procedures for all essential shredder systems and components,” he adds. “A ‘maintenance log’ is an invaluable tool for guidance, developing a machine history and capturing service and parts data.”

Daily maintenance generally will involve cleaning and oiling the cutting assembly, while operators will want to lubricate the main drive bearings and spur drive gears weekly, Robas says. Monthly maintenance tasks include adjusting the tracking and tension of conveyor belts and adjusting the motor drive belts.

“Quarterly maintenance is the most involved,” Robas says, “including lubricating all the flange-mounted bearing, adjusting the motor drive belts, checking the gear-reducer mounting bolts as well as all daily, weekly and monthly maintenance procedures.”

Once a year, operators will want to inspect, lubricate and clean all motors in addition to checking oil quality and levels in gear reducers, adding or replacing the oil as necessary, he suggests. Haughey recommends referring to the user’s manual provided by the shredder manufacturer to find the recommended service schedule.

“A maintenance timetable is typically computed for a six- to eight-hour day, five days per week,” Robas explains. “If a paper shredder is operated for shorter or longer periods (multiple shifts), decrease or increase maintenance frequency proportionately,” he adds.

According to manufacturers, it normally takes from 15 to 30 minutes to complete daily, weekly and monthly maintenance, though cutter adjustments can take up to two hours to perform, Oden says. Quarterly and yearly maintenance involves an additional investment of time, but not much. According to Robas, quarterly maintenance can require as much as an hour-and-a-half, while yearly maintenance can be completed in an hour, if gear oil does not need to be replaced.

These are general guidelines, however; many factors should be taken into consideration. Cress says, “The commitment of time for performing scheduled maintenance must be based on various factors, including total tonnage shredded, type and quality of paper and particle size produced.”

EASY ACCESS

Shredders are typically built to facilitate maintenance; therefore, operators often can and do perform these tasks themselves rather than calling on the manufacturer to do so. Typically, manufacturers also will provide training on maintaining and operating shredding equipment at the time of installation.

“It has been our experience that most companies choose to handle their own maintenance programs,” Cress says. “However, we can offer customized maintenance or training programs based on the specific application requirements of each customer. Cresswood can also provide complete schedule maintenance programs for our shredders and turnkey systems in addition to our 24-7-365 rapid-response support services.”

Shred-Tech offers courses in preventive and corrective maintenance of its shredders and components, according to Haughey.

“Since preventive maintenance on all Allegheny shredders is fairly easy, we typically just train personnel on safe, efficient operation and proper maintenance of their equipment upon installation,” Robas says. “Occasionally, companies will request that one of our service technicians perform an annual inspection of their equipment or retrain personnel in the proper maintenance procedures.”

For companies that are looking for trained technicians to perform shredder maintenance, Oden suggests that many service companies that offer baler maintenance also offer shredder maintenance. “Companies like Industro Tech and Pacific Coast Shredders are a great resource for companies looking for a PM partner.”

Whether a company chooses to use in-house staff or to partner with a manufacturer or another service provider to perform PM, the importance of the task cannot be overstated.

“To put this in perspective,” Cress says, “we have found that ‘total operating costs’ are reduced by up to 30 percent when a machine is kept within factory standards. Preventive maintenance for paper shredders directly impacts the bottom line.”

The author is managing editor of Recycling Today magazine and can be contacted at dtoto@gie.net.