Schaeffler OPTIME receives the “Red Dot Award“ 2021
The Red Dot Award: Product Design honours the best products each year. Whether aesthetically pleasing, functional, smart or innovative – the objects receiving the award are united by their outstanding design quality.
As of this year, Schaeffler has been added to the list of “Red Dot Award” winners – which includes brands such as Apple, Google, Ferrari, Ducati, Kuka and Sony – for their innovative condition monitoring system OPTIME.
In the “Smart Product” and “Industrial Equipment” categories, the jury consisting of designers, professors and journalists from various specialist areas chose OPTIME to receive the award. OPTIME receiving the award in two categories is testament to the exceptional quality of the product.
OPTIME - Plug. Play. Predict.
Condition monitoring can be expensive. Which is why up to 95% of all machines inside factories are only sporadically monitored, or often not at all. This can lead to unplanned breakdowns and downtime.
OPTIME from Schaeffler allows for comprehensive condition monitoring that is both easy and affordable. Thanks to its simple plug & play installation, OPTIME allows you to start monitoring hundreds of rotating machines in just a few hours.
With the ability to work on almost all machines, OPTIME can detect potential damage, imbalances or misalignments – even weeks in advance! This enables you to easily and conveniently plan your long-term maintenance, manpower or spare-parts requirements
OPTIME is now available in Europe, China, USA, Canada and selected countries in Asia Pacific (Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and India). Other countries will follow soon.
Your key benefits at a glance
Highly cost-efficient monitoring
Monitoring hundreds of rotating machines for a few cents each per day – up to 50% cheaper than handheld measurement
Installs quickly
Installing the sensors and setting up the OPTIME app takes mere minutes – no prior experience required
Expert know-how
Digital Service provides professional diagnostics based on expert algorithms and machine learning, available 24/7 via app – so you’ll always make the right decision
For beginners & experienced users
With its intuitive operation, OPTIME provides crucial information and comprehensive expandability – perfect for a broad range of users and applications
OPTIME directly from practical application
Customers from different industries already are successfully using OPTIME. Take a look for yourself!
Comprehensive condition monitoring in raw material plants
Reliable monitoring around the clock for supply systems
Smart machine monitoring – Reduced downtime, reduced costs
This is how OPTIME works
Plug.
The vibration sensors are attached to each machine using screws or adhesive. Then they are activated via NFC.
All sensors automatically connect to each other and the gateway. Together they form a mesh network, which is among the most reliable and energy-efficient IoT networks available today.
The system can be expanded with additional sensors at any time.
Play.
The app displays trends and, using a multi-stage warning system, provides a visual representation of the severity of potential incidents. In an emergency, it can sound an alarm and present additional information.
Exceptionally intuitive in its operation, the app offers a comprehensive array of tools that make it the perfect solution for everyone – from beginners to experts.Depending on the user’s requirements, the monitored machines can be organized into groups. The machines’ operational status can then be displayed in a variety of user-specific formats.
Predict.
The system detects malfunctions weeks in advance and provides information on the root causes. This works with continuous automatic analyses based on Schaeffler’s extensive rolling bearing expertise, know-how in condition monitoring as well as machine learning algorithms. This way, OPTIME can make planning maintenance work, identifying manpower requirements, and procuring spare parts quick, easy and cost-effective.
The system in action (Click on the green circles to find out more):
The OPTIME system consists of three components:
- Wireless, battery-powered vibration and temperature sensors that are attached to the machines to monitor their condition. Remarkably quick and easy installation means hundreds of machines can be equipped with sensors in just a few hours.
- A gateway that receives the data from the sensors. The sensors and gateway connect autonomously to form a mesh network, and the gateway transmits the data straight into the cloud – without having to be integrated into the customer’s network.
- A digital service that analyzes the data using proprietary algorithms that draw upon Schaeffler’s extensive technical expertise. The service then supplies you with intuitive diagnostic reports – via an app on your desktop or mobile device – that help you schedule your maintenance activities.
Ask the Experts
In our video series "Ask the Experts", our experts explain various aspects of OPTIME in detail.
Schaeffler OPTIME - Ask the Expert - Mesh-Network - Richard Haagensen
OPTIME enables you to start monitoring hundreds of rotating machines in just a few hours, thanks to its simple plug & play installation. Richard Haagensen, Ecosystem and Partners Program Manager at Schaeffler, explains how the mesh network technology allows for massive scale IoT.
Schaeffler OPTIME - Ask the Expert - Analytics - Jukka Elfström
OPTIME provides professional diagnostics based on expert algorithms and machine learning, available 24/7 via app. Jukka Elfström, Solutions Manager at Schaeffler, explains how analytics help to make planning maintenance work easy and cost-effective.
Schaeffler OPTIME - Ask the Expert - Data Security - Matti Seppä
As OPTIME allows for comprehensive wireless condition monitoring, IT security is crucial. Matti Seppä, Lead Solutions Architect at Schaeffler, explains how OPTIME ensures data security and makes it easy for the user to monitor thousands of machines.
You can easily download the OPTIME user manual as a PDF file here.
Excerpt from the table of contents:
- Scope of delivery
- Mounting
- Gateway configuration
- Using the OPTIME app
- Using the OPTIME dashboard
Do you want to discuss a concrete project or want more information about OPTIME?
OPTIME is now available in Europe, other regions will follow soon. Feel free to contact us, one of our experts will get in touch with you directly.
