Undercarriage management is not just a matter of inspection

Undercarriage Management is not just a matter of inspection

Undercarriage maintenance costs can be as much as 50% of the total owning and operating costs of the machine. Managing these costs is not just a matter of reviewing historical costs in the management accounts. To manage the undercarriage with serious intent requires performing inspections regularly and then using the data collected to:-

1. Maximise the life of the undercarriage components
2. Ensure machine operating techniques will support maximum undercarriage life.

The TrackTreads Undercarriage Management software Program provides customers with a repository for their inspection data. The customer’s complete fleet can be monitored since the software covers all brands and models of machine.  The data can then be utilised to manage the undercarriage systems across the fleet and identify operator techniques that may need improvement. However the data alone will not lead to the improvements. The data in the hands of a skilled undercarriage specialist is gold and this can lead to significant observations and improvements.

Skilled experts will look at:

• The Undercarriage selected for the machine for the application in which the machine operates
• Overall undercarriage current condition
• Wear patterns of currently installed components
• Review of historical wear patterns to identify significant changes or increased wear
• Frame condition, damage and wear
• Missing components which can lead to damage
• Component Wear patterns that indicate operator techniques

All of these observations will be recorded along with images and comments to illustrate the points in discussion and for repairs.

TrackTreads Undercarriage Management Software system enables the skilled expert to gather all this data in one place. The data can then be reviewed against historical data in order to make relevant decisions

• Repair options will be considered, balancing the cost of repair or replacement of individual components against the extra life that will be achieved. The measurement being the overall cost per hour of the individual components and then the undercarriage cost per hour as a whole with the target of achieving lowest cost per hour.
  • Re-grousing/re-barring shoes
  • Turning pins and bushes
  • Swapping rollers
  • Re-welding or building idlers
• Performance of components will be compared against the average historical performance of this type of component in the given environment. Large variances will need to be investigated and discussed with the supplier or manufacturer.
• Where necessary, chains will be removed and swapped for a new or repaired chain while the removed one is repaired.
• Components needing replacement should already be available in jobsite inventory

TrackTreads Undercarriage Management Software system provides the tools necessary to:

• Forecast the required inventory based on machine condition and average usage.
• Forecast when repairs and replacements will be due so that the necessary replacement components have been ordered.
• Provide the historical component performance data to compare current installed component performance
• Facilities for tracking of all aspects of chain management from swapping across machines and inventory to performing repairs and replacements with costs included. Each chain being tracked using a unique serial number.

Customers can leverage the functionality of the TrackTreads Undercarriage Management system to their maximum benefit by ensuring they are properly trained in the use of the software. The undercarriage management skills and experience is harder to achieve since skilled Undercarriage experts are not born, but gain these skills over many years of hard lessons. But, every customer serious about managing their undercarriage should have a one of these experts on their team, or have access to one. Customers can partner with Tracktreads to develop the skills of their internal undercarriage specialist in a program specifically laid out to

1. Assess the current skill levels
2. Train and educate in areas that need improvement
3. Reassess over time and monitor knowledge progress

To request a demonstration of how the TrackTreads software can benefit you, Contact Us