Moving from reactive repairs to proactive reliability. We measure, align, balance and educate.
Engineering service 01
Every machine fault has a unique vibration signature. Our specialised team uses advanced data collectors to listen to your machinery and catch hidden defects long before a catastrophic failure occurs.
The benefit. Eliminates unexpected production stops and pinpoints exactly what needs fixing — so you replace the bearing that is failing, not the four around it.
Engineering service 02
Misalignment is one of the most common causes of rotating machinery failure, and one of the least visible. We use Fixturlaser systems to align coupled shafts to sub-millimetre precision, and we document the result.
Share of rotating machinery failures commonly attributed to misalignment in reliability literature
Power reduction reported when misalignment and unbalance are eliminated — a contested figure, see below
We publish our sources because we would rather you check them than take our word for it.
On the energy figure, the literature disagrees. Peer-reviewed experimental work confirms that power consumption rises measurably with the degree of misalignment, particularly parallel misalignment.2 But a Navy-sponsored study published by the Vibration Institute tested the widely-quoted 10–15% claim directly and measured very small savings, and referenced a University of Tennessee study finding essentially none.3 We report the industry figure because it is the one you will encounter, and we report the challenge to it because you should know that it exists.
The 50% figure is widely repeated but rarely sourced. It appears throughout reliability literature and equipment documentation,1, 4 though we have not traced it to a single primary study.
What is not disputed is the mechanism. Misalignment applies cyclic loads to bearings, seals and couplings that they were not designed to carry, and it raises vibration across the machine train. That is why we align — and it is why we measure your machine and report what we find, rather than quoting an industry average back at you.
Why lasers, not dial gauges. Dial indicators are accurate in skilled hands but slow, hard to use in tight spaces, and impossible to audit afterwards. A laser alignment takes less time and leaves a report.
Engineering service 03
Even minor unbalance in heavy fans, rotors or pulleys creates large centrifugal forces that tear machinery apart. We perform accurate dynamic balancing on site, inside your facility, without dismantling your machine or sending the rotor away.
The benefit. Restores smooth operation, protects your foundations and bearings, and extends equipment lifespan — usually in a single shift, without a rotor ever leaving the plant.
Engineering service 04
A single survey tells you the state of a machine today. A monitoring programme tells you the direction it is heading — which is the information that actually lets you plan a shutdown instead of suffering one.
The benefit. Failures announce themselves weeks or months in advance. A monitoring programme is simply the discipline of listening during that window.
Our process
The same four steps whether it is a one-day survey or a standing programme.
We review your asset list, criticality and failure history to agree what is worth measuring and how often.
On-site data collection with calibrated instruments, on running plant wherever possible. No production stoppage required.
A written report naming the fault, its severity, and how long you have. Plain language, with the spectra attached for your own analysts.
We align, balance or supply the replacement component — then re-measure to prove the fault is gone.
Certified technical training
In partnership with the internationally recognised Mobius Institute, we deliver certified training programmes that turn your technicians into diagnostic experts. Kistal is an Approved Training Centre and an Approved Exam Centre — so your team trains and certifies without leaving West Africa.
From data collection and basic fault recognition through to advanced diagnostics, resonance testing and corrective action. The recognised international standard for condition monitoring competence.
Correct lubricant selection, relubrication intervals and quantities, contamination control, and reading oil analysis results. The cheapest reliability improvement available to most plants.
Reliability strategy rather than instrument technique: criticality analysis, failure modes, maintenance strategy selection, and building a programme that survives a change of management.
Both accreditations, one location. Most organisations are approved to train or to examine. Holding both means a technician can finish the course and sit the certification exam in the same week — no international travel, no visas, no waiting for an examiner to visit the region. See our certificates
Contact our engineering division to schedule on-site diagnostics, or to register your team for upcoming certified courses.