Siemens has opened a new $AUD20 million equipment service centre for the mining, energy, shipping and heavy industry sectors.
The centre, in Perth, is the third new Siemens Service Centre opened in Australia in less than two years, following the opening of similar centres in South Australia and Queensland.
According to Siemens the centre will aid Australian operators and Western Australia to transition into the 4th Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) and help minimise operator downtimes on site.
“Industries such as mining and oil & gas that have made significant capital investments are now challenged with falling resource prices; at the same time the world is entering a new industrial era enabled by digitalisation,” Siemens global head of customer service for Siemens’ industrial business, Dr. Thomas Moser, said.
“Operational phases represent about 95 per cent of the lifecycle costs – compared to just 5% or less in the capital investment phase, so hi-tech service becomes critical to drive increased overall equipment effectiveness while reducing these operational costs.
“Now more than ever, it’s critical for companies to embrace hi-tech service to produce more at lower costs and avoid downtime that can cause losses and negatively impact company share prices; that’s why we Siemens is pleased to be making this $20 million investment in WA,” he said.
“It’s about being competitive to secure your place in the global supply chain. Through modern technology and services, companies can achieve operational efficiencies, extend the life of their assets, optimise performance, reduce energy consumption and protect investments. Remote monitoring, predictive maintenance, simulation and cloud based asset management are just some of the new technologies and practises that operators can utilise.”
The centre itself will reportedly provide end-to-end service capabilities such as motor, generator, and variable speed drive servicing.
It will act as a remote service hub, allowing “experts to monitor equipment and key plant anywhere in Australia with the ability to remotely connect to equipment and perform trouble shooting and reactive services, as well as support condition based maintenance strategies,” Siemens said.
Siemens new centre also has a 20 tonne balancing machine to ensure shafts and rotors can be precision balanced before returning to the field.
It also has a $5 million specialised test-bed for electric motors with a load test facility which means that any of the motors being overhauled can be fully simulated to run as in installed condition, which Siemens stating that “is the most sophisticated test bed of its kind in Australia and can test the widest breadth of motors under load for its size”.
According to Jeff Connolly, Siemens Australia CEO, the timing of the opening supports critical projects as they transition into operations such as Chevron’s Gorgon, where the first LNG production is expected within the next few weeks.
“As the main motors and drives contractor for important infrastructure projects including some of WA’s biggest LNG projects, we take a long term view to the market and understand the importance of being there to support our customers over the operational life of the project as well,” Connolly said.
“Rapid developments in digitalisation mean that the future of service equates to the future of competition. Almost every modern piece of equipment now has the ability to capture data – it’s what you do with that data that matters!”