Backer Group Measures Remotely and Unlocks Data-Driven Insights With Fluke Connect
Summary
Engineers at heat solutions company Backer Springfield have improved communication, compliance, and safety, while unlocking dynamic insights through Fluke Connect.
By connecting 289 True RMS Data Logging Multimeters, 368 FC Leakage Current Clamp Meters, and other essential Fluke tools, Backer Springfield now:
- Instantly captures, records, and shares real-time data across 3 international plants, as well as with customers
- Tracks essential compliance metrics more easily and efficiently
- Keeps techs safely out of the arc zone with wireless measurement and readings
- Identifies current peaks, leakages, and more through dynamic data logging and trending
- Syncs multiple test tools at once, viewing measurements together to uncover critical correlations
Background
Backer Springfield delivers high-quality heat-related solutions for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) around the world. Founded in 1915, the company is a global market leader in appliance heating elements.
“Backer Group is really a global company," explains Ryan Taylor, Director of Product Engineering." We provide global heating solutions for over 20 different countries. Here at Backer Springfield, we specialize in heaters for the appliance and HVAC industry: residential and commercial applications such as electric ranges, water heaters, dishwashers, refrigeration, heat pumps, and more.”
“Any kind of heating element you can think of, we’ve probably had our hands on it," adds Dan Maxwell, Lab Engineer. "As a matter of fact, in your house, there’s probably a Backer product in there.”
Challenges
Using analog tools and manual data entry without a centralized system to store and share data, Backer Springfield technicians and engineers faced several key challenges:
- Communication and data sharing. Backer engineers and technicians need real-time data to make informed decisions, but sharing this data among distributed teams in Tennessee, Mexico, and China proved challenging.
- Changing regulatory requirements. Updates to the National Electric Code (NEC) required new milliamp measurements, and Backer found previously acquired analog tools weren’t sufficient for maintaining and tracking compliance.
- Measurement safety and speed. To take, read, and record measurements, technicians had to stay near analog and digital tool displays. Without wireless connectivity, they were in the arc flash zone for extended periods. This wasn’t just inefficient; it was also unsafe.
- Isolated, static data. Test tools gave Backer engineers a clear read on live measurements. But without extensive manual data entry, tracking and identifying dynamic trends over time was cumbersome.
- Comprehensive equipment assessments. Individual test tools typically record just one measurement type. When the team needed several measurements at once (such as current, voltage, and temperature), they had to move from tool to tool, reading each screen independently.
Luckily, Fluke Connect served as a robust but easy-to-use solution to each of these challenges.
Implementation
The Backer Springfield team was already loyal to their Fluke instruments. So, when they learned how Fluke Connect could solve their challenges, everything clicked.
“I was very familiar with Fluke instruments,” Maxwell explains. “And when they first came out with the connectable instruments to a phone or iPad or anything like that, I said, ‘I’m all over that!’”
For Maxwell and the Tennessee team, onboarding was simple. “Fluke Connect was extremely easy to learn,” Maxwell says. He quickly set up his plant, then set up an onboarding session at the Mexico plant. Maxwell and the Mexico team explored Fluke Connect capabilities with a Fluke 368 FC Leakage Current Clamp Meter. Within days, the Backer Springfield international team was ready to reap the rewards of Fluke Connect.
Results
Our team traveled to Backer Springfield to learn how Fluke Connect improved operations. Here’s what engineers had to say about the transformation.
Improved communication with real-time data sharing through smart devices
With the Mexico plant fully onboarded to Fluke Connect, communication is better than ever. Backer engineers in Tennessee can take measurements and share them in real-time with the Mexico plant, and vice versa.
“There’s been times that I have taken data from our facility here and dispersed it to three or four different locations at one time through the use of my phone,” explains Stacy Springer, Principal Engineer. “That’s what I like about it: you’re able to collect accurate data quickly and get it into the people’s hands that need to see it now.”
“[Technicians] don’t have to have a computer,” says Taylor. “They can use their phone, which is in their pocket, or they can use a tablet. It’s a really efficient way for them to get the data and get it to our internal team, different locations, or a customer in a very efficient manner.”
Simplified tracking and compliance with automated recording
Outdated tools made NEC compliance updates challenging for the Backer team. But Fluke Connect has changed that.
“Historically, we used analog devices that basically had a needle, and the readings were taken every minute or every 30 seconds in time,” says Springer. “And you had to rely on the data logger — the person themselves — to record that data. With Fluke Connect, what we’ve been able to do is digitize that.”
Now, the team can automatically measure, record, and share essential data for streamlined compliance testing and reliable recordkeeping.
Safer, more efficient measurements with wireless connectivity
Backer technicians don’t need to read measurements from live panels anymore — and they stay out of the arc flash zone. That’s boosted efficiency, since teams don’t need to take readings from instruments one by one. But it’s also a big improvement in safety.
“The wireless capability of Fluke Connect is invaluable to me because it's a lot safer,” says Maxwell. “When you're trying to get data off of a piece of equipment that may be malfunctioning, and you're trying to troubleshoot it — well, doing it remotely is a lot safer than standing next to it.”
Dynamic data analysis and troubleshooting with trend logging
Although Maxwell loves his Fluke 289 multimeter, he used to lament that static data output just couldn’t give him the full picture he needed. But he doesn’t have that issue anymore.
“What I love about Fluke Connect the most is the ability to get dynamic data versus time off any of my instruments,” says Maxwell. “When we take static measurements, that's just one point in time. But to be able to see the spectrum versus the time — that's what's important to me.”
This level of insight recently helped Maxwell identify and troubleshoot a current leak.
“One of the things that was surprising to us was when we turn off one leg of the power going to the element, we get a spike of current leakage,” explains Maxwell. "But with Fluke Connect, we could capture that spike and record it — and that was amazing to us.”
Streamlined data readings through multi-device sync
“Fluke Connect has really helped us, in a lot of ways, become more efficient,” says Taylor. “There’s a hundred different tools that Fluke offers with the Fluke Connect option. You can connect up to six tools at one time, record various different parameters over time, log that data into a spreadsheet, and email that off to other engineers and team members.”
“Everything is so much faster with Fluke Connect,” says Maxwell. “The ability to use multiple tools [simultaneously] is really valuable to me. You may be looking at voltage. You may be looking at current of the actual heating element. You may be looking at leakage. And you may be looking at a temperature as well. So, there's four different types of measurements that we’re trying to look at. And if I've got four different instruments, I'm looking over here and I'm looking over here and I'm looking down here, trying to keep up with everything.
“But with Fluke Connect, I can connect up all four of those instruments to one screen and look at all that at one time. It’s great.”
Conclusion
If the Backer team could use just one word to sum up their experience with Fluke Connect, it would be “easy.” Maxwell, Springer, and Taylor all agree.
“[Fluke Connect is] easy; it’s not complicated,” says Taylor. “These are tools that you have in your tool bag. Your phone’s in your pocket. It’s readily available for all of us: engineers, technicians, and any professional.”