Most measurement systems provided by Global Gauge Corporation (GGC) are categorized as Capital Equipment. Our customer’s hard-earned profits are invested in long-life Capital Equipment, to earn future profits thru the supply of high-quality products and services to their customers. Ongoing Preventative Maintenance is critical to maintaining the value of the Capital Investment, sometimes over decades of time.
Proper Preventative Maintenance can be difficult under modern staffing realities, where fewer-and-fewer qualified maintenance personnel are on the staff. Evermore, customers are relying on Global Gauge Corporation to support their Preventative Maintenance needs.
Preventative Maintenance should be performed on thickness gauges, coating weight gauges, and some vision-based measurement systems. Many customers schedule quarterly, semi-annual or annual Preventative Maintenance service visits to maximize the uptime of their critical equipment. Typical Preventative Maintenance activities include the following:
- Identification of any obvious issues and evaluation/immediate repair if possible.
- Confirmation that electrical, mechanical, control, and instrumentation operational levels are within the proper allowable ranges.
- Verification that the overall measurement system is operating to the proper specifications. Oftentimes this includes calibration or re-certification to standard samples.
- In the case of Isotope-based gauges, wipe-testing to ensure that no radiological release has occurred.
- Verification that mill interfaces are functioning properly.
- Training of local operations and/or maintenance personnel as needed.
In addition to Preventative Maintenance services, customers contract GGC to perform critical, periodic Calibration and re-certification Services. Periodic calibration or re-certification of the measurement system ensures that the system’s performance ties-back to a reference standard. The Quality Assurance Program of many customers requires an annual calibration or re-certification using a 3rd Party Resource like GGC. During these activities, a qualified staff member from GGC will bring a set of GGC’s Certified Standards to the customer’s facility to measure and document the performance of the customer’s measurement system.
Additional calibration and re-certification activities can be also be performed at Global Gauge’s factory. In these cases, customer’s send their thickness gauge Standards Magazine and/or Hand Held Samples to GGC to evaluate, repair as needed, and re-certify using GGC’s certified thickness samples on an in-house gauge system. Many customers do this on an annual basis. Furthermore, some customer’s send in competitors thickness samples for GGC to re-certify using GGC’s certified thickness samples.
GGC’s certified thickness samples are traceable to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
In addition to Preventative Maintenance, calibration, certification services, Global Gauge can provide solutions for outdated and obsolete systems via upgrades or replacement systems on x-ray and isotope thickness gauge systems as necessary or warranted. Our solutions for upgrades can either incorporate an industrial computer approach (Accura Gauge System) or our PLC (Perfecta) based gauge systems.
Our engineering staff also has the knowledge and experience to review and work on the customers’ existing vision systems for dimensional measurement (e.g. stereoscopic width measurement), and for shear control systems. These systems can be upgraded or replaced based on the current operations and a study for determination of long-term supportability. Past upgrade projects have resulted in significant product yield improvements.
Please contact GGC for your Preventative Maintenance, calibration, and certification service needs!
