7 ways to cut costs using data loggers

July 8, 2015
Dataloggers can alert workers when food & beverage products are at risk, when process-critical machinery overheats and more.

Do you want to cut operating costs and increase productivity? Dataloggers may be able to help. Dataloggers are able to alert workers when food and beverage products are at risk, when process-critical machinery overheats and more. CAS Dataloggers lays out seven quick ways businesses are using these devices to save money and time:

1. Machine condition monitoring

Machinery and electrical equipment such as 3-phase motors, compressors, generators and bearings/turbines are critical to process manufacturing and many other business applications. CAS' data logger models connect to a wide variety of sensors to log temperature, vibration and current/voltage to track machine conditions in real time. The T&D RTR-501 Wireless Temperature Datalogger is easy to install and use, cost-effective and transmits readings over a 500-ft wireless range. Using the free software you can also graph temperature, for example to prove that a bearing needs to be repaired or replaced before it fails.

2. Cold chain product monitoring

Have you lost Food & Beverage or pharmaceutical product after a sudden power outage? Many of CAS' callers had a similar experience before relying on a temperature datalogger to monitor and alarm their shipments and inventory. The next time your cold storage units fail, a temperature data logger will instantly send an alarm to your mobile device so you can take action and save your product in time.

3. Energy auditing

You just got your facility's electric bill and you're not happy—where is all this usage coming from? The Electrocorder 3-Phase Voltage and Current Datalogger comes as part of a full energy auditing kit to identify savings areas. Additionally, if your site has an electrical problem with dirty power, voltage drops or something completely undiagnosed, these data loggers can troubleshoot it after just a week or two of monitoring.

4. Regulatory compliance

Most transport and logistics shipping companies need a simple way to prove that product temperatures stayed safe in storage and transit. Likewise the healthcare industry needs to show the same for medical products. Data logging software gives you this proof to regulators and auditors in the form of charts and graphs. With a data logger, all your temperature and humidity data is stored on the device's internal memory. For additional convenience, the I-Plug-PDF Temperature Data Logger archives your product's temperature data as a PDF report to give to vendors as proof of best practices. Whether it's HAACP, CDC guidelines or another set of regulations, data loggers are the most reliable solutions.

5. Remote monitoring

Does your HVAC business need to show post-installation savings to customers? T&D data loggers are just one way to log temperature, humidity and/or carbon dioxide indoors—in fact CAS has models that record all these values simultaneously.

6. Free up time

Many companies inadvertently waste time by asking workers to take manual temperature measurements. To free up time, many data loggers perform automatic data transmission over FTP or WiFi so you never have to worry if someone's paying attention or if you have accurate data. VAS has several models for these applications, including Accsense VersaLog series and Brainchild Paperless Recorders. Unlike a paper chart recorder, you don't have to perform any maintenance work with a data logger. 

7. Modbus connection and PLC capability

The dataTaker DT8X loggers can send and receive data via MODBUS which allows them to aggregate data from PLCs, control systems and even other dataTakers. They can communicate via Modbus over USB, RS-232, RS-422, RS-485 and Ethernet. Additionally, the powerful alarming functions of the dataTaker DT8X series can allow them to act as simple PLCs. Meanwhile their digital outputs can be used to control relays, lights, buzzers, etc., providing control in a single system. The included software is easy to learn and gets you started ASAP.