Service points within Volvo equipment have been designed to be readily accessible
Making machinery maintenance-free
The focus on equipment maintenance has changed considerably in the last decade with end-users wanting to achieve more work with less scheduled servicing and machine downtime. Volvo elaborates on how it has been able to keep pace with this shift in focus through a series of innovations.
01 September 2003
Making machinery easier for technicians to service and troubleshoot in a similar manner is the challenge that faces most manufacturers.
Customers and dealers also want to reduce their spare parts holding, placing more responsibility on the OEM to provide creative solutions.
The Sweden-based Volvo Construction Equipment (VCE) has responded to these requirements by introducing shared concepts among its various product lines. Service items such as lube points, filters, hydraulic pressure test ports and grease nipples are grouped together to simplify maintenance. These points have been designed to be readily accessible.
Each is either located at ground level, or via wide platforms on larger machinery. For example, the company's new backhoe has grouped filters located on the right side of the engine and filling points at the left. Its wheel loader models sport large panels for easy access to the engine and cooling system. And the compact excavator line features hydraulic hoses mounted outside the swing post to promote easier replacement, a move that has found favour with service personnel.
Decreasing the time taken to inspect machinery before work starts is another key requirement of customers. Buyers want to maximise productivity with simple, easy checks that take minutes to complete. Several useful features make this a reality with Volvo products and many are common to the entire range. Easily accessible sight gauges fitted to all of its various equipment lines allow fuel and hydraulic oil to be checked at a glance.
Volvo's latest compact wheel loaders, the L20B and L25B, feature engine oil changes at 1,000 hours on installation of multi grade oil and correct filters. Greasing is now a weekly activity, or at 50-hour intervals in the motor grader and the backhoe line. And the greasing of steering cylinder, joint and hitch bearings in the articulated hauler models has made weekly maintenance a thing of the past.
''Volvo equipment boasts features not always fitted to competitor products,'' says a company spokesman. A case in point is the transparent fuel tank incorporated within its compact excavator line. Dual pumps for hydraulic movement and steering of the company's compact wheel loaders is another example. Two separate circuits, instead of one and a priority valve, equates to fast speeds while manoeuvering the bucket, because hydraulic power is not diverted to steering functions.
Contronics, a monitoring system included as standard with Volvo's articulated hauler, excavator, motor grader and wheel loader ranges, has allowed users to boost uptime by alerting operators of a potential breakdown before it happens. The sophisticated device available in up to 13 different language versions comprises an electronic network made up of three computers, protecting operator and machine via a warning system.
Data related to the engine, electrical and hydraulic system is displayed, alerting the operator if a problem occurs and allowing him to undertake essential maintenance work ahead of a potential failure.
Volvo's Matris (machine tracking information system) logs operating conditions and techniques, thereby providing a useful history for analysing vital statistics back at base. It records 28 different functions: two general, 16 related to the engine and 10 to hydraulic characteristics, charting results in bar or pie formats. This allows customers to bid work more effectively, knowing how equipment performs in a given application, schedule maintenance during slack periods and even show if additional operator training is required, among many other possible applications.
Capacity and versatility are what owners want from today's generation of construction equipment. Customers demand machinery that can adapt to a variety of new and different operating conditions. Volvo's TP linkage and attachment bracket does just that by making it possible to switch tools and gain parallel movement with high break-out force from the same machine.
Volvo is consistently raising the bar with its equipment after listening to customers. Each new upgrade and machine significantly improves on previous designs, thereby improving productivity and profit for the customer.
