Fluke 810 Vibration Tester Helps Alpenrose Dairy Keep Milk Flowing

Alpenrose Dairy is able to maintain the efficiency of its processing operations by using the new Fluke 810 Vibration Tester to analyze the condition of its production machinery and troubleshoot any faults or potential problems.  

At Alpenrose Dairy in Portland, OR, operators process raw milk into a dozen varieties of milk, six cultured products (cottage cheese and sour cream) and 31 flavors of ice cream. It’s a challenge to keep the complex Alpenrose production facility, with its hundreds of motors, pumps and gearboxes, running butter-smooth.

“We’ve got equipment here that if it goes down, processing stops,” said Maintenance Technician and electric motor expert Todd Toburen. “If the bad part is a high-dollar item we don’t have sitting on the shelf, we could be down for a couple of days.” In the dairy business, where fresh products are essential, such an outage is a non-starter.

To prevent such incidents, Alpenrose manages a more proactive maintenance program to help understand when a motor or machine may encounter problems. “This is why this Fluke 810 is relevant to us,” said Maintenance Manager Eric Trummel. “It’s good to have this capability in house and check this equipment every couple of weeks. We get a better idea and a better feel for what’s going on.”