RELIABILITY DESIGNED FOR WASHDOWN AND REGULATION

Posted on May 26, 2026May 26, 2026 by Motion

In food and beverage manufacturing, bearing performance is measured not only in hours run, but in hygiene compliance and production uptime. SKF’s Blue Line units are engineered to withstand aggressive cleaning, reduce contamination risk, and support continuous operation.

Food and beverage processing is unforgiving. Production lines often run 24/7, cleaning cycles are frequent and rigorous, and compliance requirements leave little room for error. In this environment, bearings are exposed to far more than rotational load.

“Regular stringent cleaning requirements to eliminate contaminants and reduce bacteria place enormous pressure on manufacturing machinery to keep performing at maximum levels,” says Fabio Rebecchi, Product Manager – Industrial Bearings at Motion.

Frequent washdowns, Cleaning-in-Place (CIP) and Sterilisation-in-Place (SIP) processes, and exposure to caustic antibacterial cleaning agents create a harsh operating environment. Standard bearing units can suffer from corrosion, seal degradation, and lubricant breakdown, leading to premature wear and unplanned downtime.

“Frequent exposure to pressure washdowns and aggressive cleaning chemicals means the bearing unit has to be specifically engineered for that environment,” Rebecchi explains. “It’s not just about load capacity – it’s about how the materials, seals, and lubrication respond to repeated chemical and moisture exposure.”

Designing for compliance

Hygiene compliance adds another layer of complexity. Food processors must meet strict standards around contamination control, traceability, and audit readiness. Components that trap moisture or debris, or that are difficult to clean effectively, can introduce risk.

SKF’s Blue Line bearing units are designed with this reality in mind. The housings are manufactured from food-grade materials and finished in blue to support optical detectability during processing. In the event of component damage, the colour contrast assists with visual identification.

“The blue colour facilitates optical detection during food processing, which reduces the risk of undetectable product contamination,” Rebecchi says.

Material selection is equally critical. Certified food-grade grease compliant with stringent standards such as NSF H1 supports safe operation in the event of incidental contact. For manufacturers supplying multiple markets, additional certifications such as Halal and Kosher provide further assurance.

Reducing maintenance and downtime

Beyond compliance, reliability remains a commercial driver. Unplanned stoppages in continuous processing operations can have significant financial impact, from lost production to wasted product and labour.

One of the key differentiators of the Blue Line range is its sealed, relubrication-free design. By removing the need for routine greasing, the units reduce both maintenance labour and the risk of contamination introduced through manual intervention.

“Maintenance-free products allow the customer to maximise production uptime with the confidence that the product isn’t being contaminated by the maintenance process,” Rebecchi says.

Robust sealing systems further protect internal components from the ingress of moisture and cleaning agents. By preventing contamination from entering the bearing cavity, the design supports extended service life even under frequent washdown conditions.

In practice, this translates to fewer replacements, reduced maintenance frequency and more predictable performance across production cycles.

Supporting performance on site

Motion supports customers by ensuring ready access to the SKF Blue Line range through its national distribution network, enabling faster response for breakdown situations and planned maintenance.

“We are here to improve our customers’ performance,” Rebecchi says. “Our customers’ business isn’t to buy bearings – it’s to make product. If we can help them increase production, reduce downtime, and operate with confidence in a highly regulated environment, then we’ve done our job.”

CLEANER TRANSFERS, SAFER SITES

Posted on May 26, 2026May 26, 2026 by Motion

At high-dust processing sites, airborne particulate is more than a housekeeping problem. Motion New Zealand’s Conveyance Solutions team helps operators contain dust at the source – improving health and safety, reducing cleanup, protecting equipment, and keeping more product on the belt.

Across heavy processing environments, the worst dust problems often start in the same place: conveyor transfer points. Material drops from one belt to the next, hits steelwork inside a chute or hopper, and a dust plume follows – settling on walkways, structures, equipment and electricals, or escaping into the wider environment.

Alan Harris, Motion Conveyance Solutions – NZ Manager, says the original driver for many sites seeking greater efficiency is simple efficiency. “Industry associations have recognised that companies can lose between one and three per cent of their load as airborne dust or fugitive material coming off the belt,” he says. “That dust is actually product – and when it doesn’t stay on the belt, it ends up on the floor, under the conveyor, or stuck to the underside of the belt.”

For a large New Zealand industrial processing site, the impact went well beyond product loss. The customer was also managing tighter expectations around worker exposure to fine particulate, plus heightened scrutiny on environmental discharge – particularly where dust can wash into stormwater and waterways.

“We’re now dealing with four issues at once,” Harris says. “There’s a health and safety issue, an environmental issue, a production issue, and a maintenance issue – where product build-up can cause damage and breakdowns.”

The challenge

Airborne dust creates immediate safety risks: reduced visibility, slip hazards from build-up on floors and walkways, and increased cleaning demands that drive downtime and labour costs. Over time, dust ingress accelerates wear on rotating equipment, rollers and bearings, and can shorten the life of electrical components.

In certain materials and operating conditions, dust accumulation can also increase fire or explosion hazards – adding another layer of risk that sites must manage through better containment, housekeeping and controls.

The solution

Motion’s dust suppression approach focuses first on controlling impact energy and keeping material flow stable at the transfer point.

“The first thing we look at is anywhere product bangs against a conveyor structure,” Harris explains. “As it bangs around in the hopper, it throws up dust. Then as it hits the belt, it creates another cloud of dust.”

To reduce that impact, Motion specifies engineered chute and transfer solutions that guide material onto the receiving belt more gently. “By using deflector plates, we can help the product land on the belt at an angle close to the belt’s direction,” Harris says. “That reduces the impact.”

Next comes containment – holding dust in place long enough for it to settle back onto the belt. “In some cases, that might take 10, 15, 20 metres,” Harris says. “So, we build an enclosure over that section to contain the dust until it settles.”

Sealing is critical. “If there are gaps, the dust will ‘pump’ out,” he says. “So, we focus on the belt support and sealing underneath – using sealed slider systems rather than relying on rollers, because sag between rollers is where dust escapes.”

Where required, Motion also uses collection and settling aids that give dust a controlled space to go, rather than venting into the building. “We can hang collection bags from the enclosure so dust has somewhere to expand and then settle back down,” Harris says.

The result

With transfer points properly engineered and sealed, customers typically see cleaner floors and structures, improved visibility, reduced clean-up and fewer dust-related maintenance events. Just as importantly, more product stays on the belt – supporting throughput and reducing waste.

KEEPING DAIRY IN MOTION

Posted on May 26, 2026May 26, 2026 by Motion

New Zealand dairy runs on reliability, with zero tolerance for breakdowns that disrupt quality or schedules. Motion supports the sector with compliant products, food-grade lubrication, and practical engineering that lifts uptime and lowers total cost of ownership.

“In New Zealand, dairy has got its own set of requirements for its approvals for products that go into that dairy sector,” says Neil Hulme, General Manager – Industrial Products at Motion. “Those expectations can be different to other food categories. Our job is to understand the requirement and plug in the right, compliant solution.”

Cleaner lubrication, longer asset life

Lubrication is a prime example. “We’ve got food-grade lubricants that are manufactured in facilities that run the same requirements as a dairy factory,” Hulme explains. “That’s clean-room environment, the products going into the lubricants are of a set standard. And we’ve even got some food-grade lubricants that become part of the food product through a process.” For operators, that means audit-ready compliance, reduced contamination risk, and longer-lasting, cleaner-running assets.

From farm gate to factory floor

Dairy operations depend on consistent performance across a wide spread of equipment – from transfer and handling through to processing and packaging. Motion supports maintenance teams with fit-for-purpose products and technical support that reduce failure points and help standardise what “good” looks like across sites, so teams can spend less time firefighting and more time preventing issues.

Evolving the solution, not just supplying parts

Proactive improvement is part of the offer. As Hulme puts it: “It wasn’t our customer that came to us and said, ‘We’ve designed this milk hose.’ It was us that went to them and said, ‘We’re constantly evolving the hose.’” That trusted-advisor approach helps Motion introduce better-performing components, smarter lubrication strategies, and practical installation methods that improve hygiene outcomes and extend service life.

In an industry that can’t pause for breakdowns, Motion helps keep dairy moving.

FORESTRY IN MOTION

Posted on August 19, 2025August 22, 2025 by Motion

Forestry is unforgiving work. Motion’s technical support, rugged components, and engineering know-how are helping loggers reduce risk and extend asset life.

Forestry machinery in New Zealand works some of the hardest hours in the most punishing conditions. From clear-felling in the ranges to processing at the landing, the demands placed on equipment are relentless. This is not an industry where you can cut corners – if a bearing fails or a slew ring cracks, productivity stalls, safety risks spike, and cost stacks up fast.

That’s why Motion takes a boots-on-the-ground approach. Their team works closely with OEMs, contractors and maintenance crews to deliver componentry that’s not just fit for purpose but engineered for endurance.

“This stuff gets beaten up,” says Neil Hulme, General Manager – Industrial Products at Motion. “We’re working with local OEMs that build processing heads for excavators, and our job is to help make those heads tougher. That might mean supplying a stronger slew ring, or designing a more robust bearing assembly that can handle the loads. The goal is to keep that gear in the bush for longer – not in the shop.”

That on-the-ground understanding informs every Motion solution – from heavy-duty hydraulic hose assemblies to drive components custom-fit to cope with shock loading and long duty cycles.

“Processing heads from when they first started out, used to do a log this size,” Hulme explains, gesturing to the original standard. “Now they can cope with a log twice that size. So what does that mean to a forestry crew owner or contractor? It means that they can process a bigger log, faster – and more uptime. But it also means heavier components, more force, and more pressure on every moving part. That’s where we come in.”

With 31 branches across New Zealand and a network of workshops, Motion supports forestry operations nationwide – not only with stock and servicing, but with upstream partnerships that improve machine performance from the factory floor.

“There’s quite a number of equipment manufacturers here in New Zealand,” Hulme adds. “We work with them, these OE manufacturers, around things like bearings and slew rings – components that go into the machines right at the start, before they’re even sold. These heads are going on to excavators that are heading to export markets. So the build quality has to be right – and the parts need to hold up under international conditions.”

That means Motion isn’t just a supplier. It’s a partner in the performance of forestry gear from design to delivery.

“There are two big focus areas in forestry right now,” says Hulme. “One is automation – using technology to make operations quicker, more reliable, and safer. The other is durability. That’s our space. We’re here to help make the equipment last.”

With local insight, engineering expertise, and a national footprint, Motion is helping forestry businesses stay productive, stay safe – and manage the inevitable wear and tear of a tough business.