Together

A traveler won’t notice much of the dynamic world behind her or his bus ride. Tight time schedules, overnight maintenance, daily checks and so on, make the punctual operation of a bus a challenging puzzle. With automatic maintenance systems Groeneveld delivers some essential pieces for that puzzle. Maik Blok, Workshop Manager at Connexxion Haarlem explains their choice for the Groeneveld systems on the 40 new Solaris buses.

Since December 2017, Connexxion is responsible for the public transport on the concession Amstelland - Meerlanden (AML). Part of this concession are the R-Net bus lines from Hoofddorp, Amstelveen, Uithoorn and Aalsmeer to Amsterdam, Schiphol and Haarlem. On these lines the 40 articulated Solaris buses of 18 meters long are deployed. That’s a scoop in the Netherlands, as these are the first Solaris buses operating in the country. Connexxion chose the ex-factory installation of Groeneveld’s SingleLine lubrication and Oilmaster oil management system. “Operational reliability, quick delivery and the need to minimalize the possibility of maintenance mistakes are the three most important reasons for choosing the Groeneveld systems,” thus Maik Blok, Workshop Manager at Connexxion in Haarlem.

As many buses available for public transport as possible

For Connexxion it’s essential to organize maintenance as efficiently as possible. That’s why manual greasing isn’t an option according to Maik Blok: “Nowadays, automatic greasing is pretty standard on our buses. Although a bus can be greased quickly, with a big fleet it isn’t a serious option. Because the lubrication interval isn’t equal to the maintenance interval, the bus must come solely for greasing to the workshop and personnel has to be planned. Our 340 buses are stationed on three different depots or are of course on the road. Thanks to Groeneveld greasing, maintenance is less demanding. The bus only has to come to the workshop for regular maintenance. That decreases workload time spent on maintenance. On top of that, with automatic greasing you benefit optimally from the extended maintenance intervals.”

Reduce daily maintenance

Part of the preparation of the buses is a daily oil check. “For our buses without an Oilmaster the oil level is checked and logged day-to-day by employees who are preparing the bus prior to service. That data is stored centrally and at the moment an oil refill is needed it will be organized. Because every type of bus needs a different type of oil and mistakes are likely to happen, only our mechanics are allowed to refill oil. This workflow has become redundant for buses equipped with the Oilmaster. Because you replace human dependent administration with computer controlled oil management, the chance of errors decreases enormously.” Explains Maik Blok the choice for the Groeneveld Oilmaster.

Ex-factory installation at Solaris

A lot of end-users opt for the automatic maintenance systems of Groeneveld, that’s why most bus manufacturers offer the systems ex-factory, so does Solaris. “Due to the fact that the SingleLine and Oilmaster are installed ex-factory, the systems are completely integrated in the Solaris bus. Besides that, the systems are perfectly adapted to the bus. And ex-factory install limits the number of control units in the bus; the Groeneveld systems are connected to the bus’s electronics.” Concludes Maik Blok. “Our engineers have, in close collaboration with Solaris, optimized the Groeneveld SingleLine and Oilmaster systems for the Urbino buses. The reservoir of the Oilmaster, for instance, is completely redesigned to optimally use the available space. All in all, we’re very proud of our cooperation with Solaris and the fact that Connexxion enhances her efficiency with our products.” Thus Johan Bood, Sales Director Bus at Groeneveld Lubrication Solutions.

Do you want to learn more?

To learn more about our uptime improvement and cost-reducing systems, please visit our Automatic Lubrication Systems overview page via the link below.

 

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