Predictive maintenance with Walki – David Brown Santasalo GearWatch system secures critical production lines

"It is often easy to carry out GearWatch installations at customers' premises, but for new or serviced gears that come off our production line, the installations are completed before they are shipped to the customer," says GearWatch Product Manager Mika Hirvonen.

19.09.2025 | Teollisuus

Walki’s Valkeakoski factory has implemented the David Brown Santasalo GearWatch system, which provides real-time condition monitoring for critical equipment. The result is fewer production interruptions and more predictable maintenance costs.

The maintenance operating model at Walki’s Valkeakoski factory, which manufactures building insulation boards and packaging material laminates, has undergone a significant change. GearWatch, supplied by David Brown Santasalo, enables continuous condition monitoring, which helps critical gears, motors and hydraulic equipment remain in working order and allows maintenance to be planned well in advance.

Efficiency and reliability in production

Walki’s Valkeakoski factory specializes in the manufacture of building insulation boards and packaging materials for the food industry. The production has five main machine lines: three extrusion lines, one paper coating line and one crepe paper line. The GearWatch system is installed in locations where failure is most critical for the continuity of the production process.

– We have identified the most critical equipment in our process – in practice, large gears and the associated electric motors, says Mikko Nurminen, who is responsible for maintenance at the Walki factory.

It is not always profitable to store valuable spare equipment in its entirety, so according to Nurminen, continuous condition monitoring of critical equipment is the best solution in terms of costs and usability.

– In addition to gears, the GearWatch system is also used to monitor the condition of hydraulic systems, such as the hydraulic motors of a winder, where particle counting indicates possible wear at an early stage.

Damage is detected before it has time to occur

Previously, maintenance was based on periodic inspections and servicing, as well as observations by operating personnel. Now the situation has changed:

– Continuous measurements of vibration, oil particle counts, oil quality and temperatures tell us in real time if any variable deviates from normal. We are able to determine whether it is a variation in the process operation or an incipient damage, Nurminen explains.

For example, GearWatch has already prevented a major equipment failure by giving an alarm about the hydraulic temperature on a slitter.

– The slitter had been stopped in an unusual way at the end of production. The machine’s cooling water circulation had stopped, but the hydraulic pumps remained on and temperatures began to rise. There was no operating personnel on the machine who would have noticed the alarm from the control room. GearWatch sent an alarm via email in time, which allowed us to prevent more significant damage, Nurminen describes the situation.

Cooperation with DB Santasalo is long-term

According to Nurminen, David Brown Santasalo not only supplies condition monitoring systems, but is an active partner in planning the life cycle of gearboxes.

– We combine GearWatch data, route measurement vibration data, oil analysis results, visual inspection observations, and observations from operation and maintenance personnel. This allows us to plan maintenance well in advance and budget for the coming years. Unexpected maintenance costs are significantly reduced and the availability of the machines increases, he states.

David Brown Santasalo is also an important partner because the company has documentation and expertise for the gears used by Walki.

– When a new gear or other component needs to be manufactured for maintenance, the necessary information can be found through David Brown Santasalo. In addition, the joint staff has reacted quickly whenever we have needed support in unexpected situations, Nurminen states.

The system is expanding to other factories in the group

Due to good experiences, GearWatch has also been implemented at Walki's Pietarsaari factory.

Valkeakoski can be said to have been a pilot site for Walki. Because we have received good results, the Pietarsaari factory also decided to implement GearWatch, Nurminen says.

Looking to the future

According to Nurminen, GearWatch's browser-based user interface is clear, and it would be great if a mobile application were developed from it. In the future, the GearWatch system is planned to be integrated into the maintenance enterprise resource planning system. This way, work and observations would be automatically transferred between systems. For example, warnings and alarms would generate an urgent work order for the maintenance system.

Nurminen considers the GearWatch investment to be successful, it serves a need and creates value – above all by preventing expensive and unforeseen production outages.