Smart Plastics

Intelligent solutions for condition monitoring and predictive maintenance

Extend product life & save maintenance costs with smart plastics

Smart plastics for e-chain® cable carriers and chainflex® flexible cables are a group of sensor systems that detect breakage, monitor push/pull forces, cable tension, and the electrical resistance of conductors. i.Sense for condition monitoring checks for any unexpected operational states, such as a broken cable carrier link, and will either sound an alarm or shut off the system completely to prevent catastrophic failure. i.Cee for predictive maintenance incorporates software to determine the maximum service life of your igus® cable management system and when the best time is to service it.

Smart Plastics Overview

i.Sense - Condition Monitoring Sensors:
  • Smart sensors allow self-monitoring for select products
  • Real-time alerts prevent unplanned downtime
  • Value limits can trigger a system shut-down
i.Cee - Predictive Maintenance Software:
  • i.Cee dashboard visualizes all movement data
  • Increase user safety and product service life
smart plastics

Condition monitoring (i.Sense)

Condition monitoring is the fastest, simplest way to combine many igus® products to form a self-monitoring smart plastics product. Sensors are mounted to measure values (such as temperature, forces and sound waves/vibrations) within predefined limits. Values outside the limits result in an alert or notification. This information provides the basis for taking subsequent steps, such as maintenance or shutting down the system. Values outside defined limits can directly trigger a system shut-down to prevent costly damages and repairs. At igus®, we use the term "i.Sense" (i feel) to refer to condition monitoring.
 
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Predictive maintenance (i.Cee)

Predictive maintenance uses sensors, software, and the elements of condition monitoring to create a system that allows dynamic service life calculation and determines the best times for the maintenance of igus® products. This makes predictive maintenance the next step in achieving a comprehensive concept for smart energy supply and bearing technology. This predictive maintenance system is called "i.Cee" (i see ahead) and is available in a wide variety of designs. The goal is always to maximize system and user safety and product service life.
 
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Smart plastics general overview

Insight into the complete product portfolio for Industry 4.0

Content overview:

  • Condition monitoring (i.Sense)
  • Condition monitoring products
  • Condition monitoring application examples
  • Predictive maintenance (i.Cee)
  • Application examples for predictive maintenance
  • How does data flow in the case of predictive maintenance?

 
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smart plastics brochure

Smart plastics industry 4.0 solutions, tools and applications

cranes

Reliable condition monitoring in the crane industry

Heavy loads, long periods of use, and a wide variety of weather conditions – cranes must present a fantastic performance. To ensure this at all times, reliable condition monitoring concepts are needed.
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smart plastics automotive

Predictive maintenance in automotive production

In automotive production, the assembly lines never stand still. Smart production concepts in the style of predictive maintenance have long been established in these production lines.
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Application examples with smart plastics

smart examples with e-chain®, chainflex® cables and bearings.

Smart e-chain® and cables

Smart Plastics e-chain® and cables

Use smart plastics to stay abreast of how your chain is doing.

Our intelligent e-chain® systems are already reliably in use in hundreds of thousands of applications worldwide - from beverage machines and CNC machines to steel mills. 
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Smart bearing technology

Smart plain bearings

Don't let a defective plain bearing ruin your day.

Smart plain bearings are great for sensitive or hard-to-reach spots on a machine, since they allow the bearing's condition to be assessed at any time.
 
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Smart Applications

Smart applications

Customer application examples with smart plastics

Whether a new project for Industry 4.0 or efficiency-driven retrofitting - our smart plastics solutions are available as universal modular systems and can be individually adapted to any system.
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Contact a smart dry-tech® expert

Contact a smart drytech® expert
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Contact a smart e-chain® expert

Contact a smart e-chain® expert
Contact an expert now