Laser alignment boosts Dutch naval efficiency
A
Fixturlaser product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Oct 1, 2002
When the Royal Dutch Navy realised that savings could be made by properly aligning its machines, the department in charge decided to invest in the most modern laser-optical alignment systems.
When the Royal Dutch Navy realised that significant savings could be made by properly aligning its machines, the department in charge of the project decided to invest in the most modern laser-optical alignment systems.
Finding a system was one thing.
Fulfilling the Navy's stringent requirements was quite another.
As pointed out at the time: "Costs cannot just be expressed in Euros.
Readiness in a crisis is vitally important, and nonscheduled downtime for maintenance work could be expensive in other ways".
To meet the Navy's needs, instruments had to be easy to install even in the confined spaces aboard ships, and designed to align both horizontally and vertically built machines (eg pumps).
It was of the utmost importance that all data should be stored directly in PCs, enabling results to be printed out immediately and easily compiled in a database for future reference.
The instruments had to be robust enough to withstand the ships' tough environment, and the price/cost ratio had to be favourable.
But perhaps the most important requirement of all was that the instruments should be easy to use even by inexperienced operators.
After careful consideration and thorough assessment, the choice finally fell on Fixturlaser Shaft100, manufactured by the Swedish company Fixturlaser, and delivered by the Rotterdam firm Schwartz.
The first instrument used by the Navy exceeded all expectations.
It paid for itself in six months.
By the end of 2001, 14 Fixturlaser systems had been ordered, and the Netherlands Ministry of Defence took the decision to equip all present and future ships with alignment instruments as standard equipment.
The bright, large screen displays data clearly, and operators with no experience and of any nationality can use the touch screen.
There is no text.
The operator is guided through the whole procedure with pictograms.
Shaft 100 is even more robust than its predecessor, and new options became available for entering distance values and pre-adjusted values.
With these and other advantages, it was not too surprising that the Royal Dutch Navy decided to buy 14 new alignment systems, and exchange the original 14 systems with 14 new Shaft 100 systems.
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