Safe on the road worldwide: MSR shock data loggers monitor the transportation of grinding machines
What happens when and where to valuable freight on its way to its destination? With the MSR175plus transport data logger with shock sensors, climate sensors and GPS tracking, it is possible to clearly trace where the consignment has been around the world. In the event of damage, the recorded data can be used to quickly obtain a comprehensive picture of the transport circumstances.
Transport damage is not only expensive, it also damages the company's image. To prevent this from happening in the first place, a leading global technology provider for gear grinding uses MSR data loggers to monitor its freight for quality assurance purposes. The company develops top-class gear grinding machines, 90 percent of which are used in the automotive industry.
In a company whose products are almost exclusively exported to international markets, monitoring transportation is of crucial importance. In production and logistics, it was established early on that in the vast majority of cases, product complaints were not due to material or production defects, but to damage caused during transportation.
Determining transport loads in shipping tests
First and foremost, the logistics manager wanted to prevent transport damage to the freight from occurring in the first place by optimizing the packaging. To do this, he turned to the Swiss export packaging specialist Wegmüller AG from Attikon near Zurich. Wegmüller developed tailor-made wooden packaging and recommended a special desiccant corrosion protection process. In order to prove the perfect effectiveness of the corrosion protection process and the outer packaging, Wegmüller relied on MSR165 data loggers equipped with shock, temperature, humidity, air pressure and light sensors from Seuzach-based measurement technology manufacturer MSR Electronics GmbH for the first tests back in 2016. Shocks caused by excessive bumps and knocks during loading, reloading or unloading are generally regarded as the main cause of transport damage. They can have a very negative effect on the mechanical construction of any industrial or consumer goods, but are often not visible from the outside.
Very frequently, however, goods also suffer rust damage during the voyage. Corrosion is caused by moisture, especially by temperature fluctuations, which cause condensation to accumulate on metallic surfaces. Wegmüller's desiccant process keeps the packaged goods in a constantly dry atmosphere. With the data collected by the MSR data loggers, Wegmüller was able to demonstrate that the process works perfectly.
Data loggers allow potential damage to be detected at an early stage and events to be reconstructed.
Based on the recorded data from an MSR data logger, it is therefore possible to determine beyond doubt after transportation whether a product has been exposed to excessive shocks or environmental stresses and whether it is necessary to check the quality again. In addition to MSR165 data loggers, MSR175plus data loggers are also used to answer the question of where the damage occurred.
The MSR175plus transport data loggers are equipped with two shock sensors (±15 g and ±200 g), one temperature, humidity, pressure and light sensor each and a GPS/GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver. The satellite-based position data is stored by the data logger, allowing critical transport events to be localized quickly. In the event of insurance or liability issues, the MSR175plus data logger helps to process claims quickly and easily.
Tests were carried out to determine the best place to mount the MSR175plus shock data logger. The decision was made in favor of the machine's grinding head, as any impacts occurring there would pose particular challenges. As it is not always clear in advance of a transport which measuring range is required for the acceleration measurements, the parallel shock value recording of the ±200 g sensor at 6400 Hz and the ±15 g sensor at 1600 Hz is used. Light shocks and strong shocks and impacts are recorded equally in all three axes. The higher the recording frequency, the more accurately both the actual course and the peak values are mapped and the more meaningful the data obtained.
The service technician on site dismantles the logger as soon as the freight arrives and sends it back to the control center in the package already supplied. Both the MSR165 and the MSR175plus are approved for air freight. The MSR175plus data logger also offers the option of removing the battery for return shipment, which may be relevant depending on country-specific regulations.
The responsible employee reads the recorded data from the logger via USB and interprets it using the MSR PC software. In addition to the MSR PC software for configuring and evaluating the data, the MSR165 and MSR175plus data loggers also come with the "MSR ShockViewer" evaluation software, which specializes in evaluating shock events. If nothing abnormal is detected, the data file is stored for documentation purposes. If a critical event is detected, a technician is immediately contacted on site to deal with the matter. The data logger is reconfigured and included with the next shipment
The logistics manager emphasized the preventive effect of the data logger as a positive aspect: He noted that care in handling freight is generally much higher when an MSR data logger is on board.
A trained employee packs a logger together with the circuit boards when loading the containers and places this box at the top of the container. The "Start" button on the logger must first be pressed to begin the measurement cycle.