Predictive maintenance for optical fiber and cable plants
How do we keep draw towers and stranding lines running without scrapping a length?
Optical fiber and cable plants run continuously, from fiber draw towers through SZ stranding and sheathing to take-up.
DHMSCare monitors the motors, bearings and drives on those lines, plus the compressors, fans and cooling pumps behind them, with wireless vibration and temperature sensors.
Each asset is compared against its own baseline, so early bearing wear is flagged before a stop scraps a length.
Industry challenges
Drawing, stranding and sheathing produce continuous lengths, so a stop mid-run can leave a length that has to be cut out or scrapped.
Capstans, binders and take-up drives run fast, so their bearings and motors wear quickly and can fail suddenly.
A plant runs many lines side by side, and checking every motor and bearing by hand cannot keep up.
Compressed air, cooling water and extract fans serve every line, so one utility failure can stop several lines at once.
Quantifiable value
Monitoring solution
Focus monitoring on the rotating equipment of fiber and cable lines: draw-tower capstan and take-up drives, SZ stranding binders, sheathing extruder drives and pay-off and take-up stands.
Add the plant air compressors, HVAC and extract fans and cooling water pumps that serve them.
Wireless vibration and temperature sensors sample on a fixed cycle and compare each asset with its own baseline.
Platform
DHMSCare uses AI to identify early fault signs such as gear wear and bearing anomalies, assess equipment health and provide maintenance recommendations.
Recommended measuring points and plan
What a typical production line needs, so you can see the whole plan before we talk.
| Asset | Suggested sensors | Measuring points (bearing seats) |
|---|---|---|
| Fiber draw tower | 4 | Capstan and take-up motor bearings |
| SZ stranding line | 4 | Binder pedestals and drum-drive motor |
| Sheathing extruder | 3 | Motor DE and NDE, gearbox input |
| Pay-off / take-up drive | 2 | Motor DE and NDE bearings |
| Plant air compressor | 3 | Motor and compressor bearing seats |
| HVAC / extract fan | 2 | Motor and fan bearing seats |
| Cooling water pump | 2 | Motor DE and NDE bearings |
Actual quantities are confirmed on site
AI Care
The first plan with AI fault diagnostics, the AI that finds the gear wear and bearing anomalies behind these results.
Choose AI Care Plus for unlimited automatic diagnostics, remaining-life forecasts with Mina Ultra and 24 months data retention.
Smaller teams can start on Care: AI condition monitoring and daily reports with 10 user accounts, then move to AI Care when you need AI fault diagnostics.
Start with one line
The smallest sensible start, then grow line by line or roll out plant-wide.
Watch the machines you can least afford to stop.
You learn about faults days ahead.
All your lines, all sites, on one dashboard.
Tailored to your project's requirements.
Runs on your own servers or private cloud.
Contracted and delivered as a project.
Questions
We are a small or mid-sized company. Is this for us?
Yes. Start with one line and one gateway, subscribe per sensor per year, and begin on AI Care; Care if you only need condition monitoring.
How long does a one-line pilot take?
Installation follows the seven steps in our quick installation guide: create the equipment, mount the gateway, attach the sensors and bind the measuring points. We agree the pilot period with you by line size.
We have no vibration engineer. Can we still use it?
Yes. The AI identifies early fault signs, assesses equipment health and gives maintenance recommendations, and Mina tells you which machine to handle first and why.
Which assets does DHMSCare monitor in an optical fiber and cable plant?
The rotating equipment that keeps the lines running: draw-tower capstans and take-up drives, stranding-line binders and sheathing extruder drives, plus the compressors, fans and cooling pumps that serve them. The sensors are wireless vibration and temperature units mounted on the equipment exterior.
How are early faults located on a fast-running binder?
Each bearing pedestal is compared with its own baseline, and the drum drive motor's spectrum is compared like for like, so a change is flagged early and located to a specific component.
Tell us the line and its critical assets; we size the sensors and the plan with you.