ITALY: Sapio Group, Italy's leading producer of industrial and medical gases, has established a service agreement to ensure reliable uptime. Their Danfoss service partner will provide the services DrivePro® Retrofit and DrivePro® Remote Monitoring as well as a condition monitoring service. This project demonstrates how DrivePro® services can address critical challenges while creating opportunities for long-term business growth for Sapio Group.
The challenge: Eliminate risk of downtime
Sapio Group supplies industrial gases, including oxygen and hydrogen, throughout Europe. Importantly, they provide essential gases direct to a major semiconductor manufacturer that requires extremely high uptime for its production facilities. Any interruption would result in expensive damage to the semiconductor production.
Sapio Group’s gas production facility was equipped with obsolete drives and experienced service issues, resulting in high downtime risk. With aging compressor systems and critical production requirements, Sapio decided to move to Danfoss Drives as reliable partner.
With Danfoss drives and services, we see potential to improve the reliability and efficiency of our operations. The customized support, including remote monitoring and condition-based maintenance, represent the innovation required in meeting our current and future targets—especially for critical deliveries to our strategic customers. We are currently finalizing the whole solution, but this partnership gives us confidence in expanding these solutions across other applications.
Delivering a customized service experience
Every AC drive application is different. The DrivePro® service portfolio is a collection of tailor-made products designed around individual needs.
Discover DrivePro® services
To upgrade its operations for more reliability, Sapio chose the proposal made by Danfoss Italy, its local partner Viking Automation, and DrivePro® partner HS Progetti, which combined DrivePro® services and variable frequency drives from Danfoss:
- DrivePro® Retrofit: VLT® HVAC Drive FC 102 units replaced 3 obsolete drives
- DrivePro® Remote Monitoring: Monitoring of real-time data to enable proactive maintenance
- Condition monitoring: By activating integrated condition-based monitoring (CBM) functionality in the intelligent drive, the drive gathers and analyses machine data to give early warning of abnormalities, before they develop into problems which may cause downtime. The integrated functionality means there is no need for external sensors
The team optimized the sizes of the VLT® HVAC Drive FC 102 units, replacing two 315 kW drives and one 250 kW drive with two 250 kW drives and one 200 kW drive. Correct sizing, combined with the back-channel cooling used for heat management in these drives, improved efficiency – while also meeting the application requirements.
Initial discussions began in April 2023, and final equipment was installed and commissioned in May 2025.
The outcome: Remote monitoring for 24/7 surveillance
The system is in full operation with integrated condition monitoring (CBM) and DrivePro® Remote Monitoring. As a result, the operations now benefit from enhanced efficiency and productivity. Early warning of potential issues enables staff to react fast, to avoid unplanned stoppage - for more uptime.
A noteworthy aspect of this project is the requirement for customized services. Due to the critical nature of the application, the service agreement comprises:
- 24/7 availability with 48h response time
- Active monitoring of the DrivePro® Remote Monitoring platform
Viking Automation managed to provide a turnkey solution and all the necessary services to let Sapio achieve their targets. As a Danfoss partner, that’s what we do!
Unleashing the power of data
In today's rapidly evolving industrial landscape, effective condition monitoring is paramount for ensuring the reliability, efficiency, and longevity of critical equipment.
Explore condition monitoring with remote monitoring
Related products
With secure access to your system, our engineers can connect to your AC drives from any off-site location to deliver rapid support and get you up and running in no time.
Take the guesswork out of your maintenance plan. With a structured maintenance program tailored to your needs, you can boost operational efficiency and reduce the effects of wear and tear.
The DrivePro® Retrofit service offers an onsite audit to plan for the replacement of your AC drive well in advance. Be prepared for the end of your AC drive’s life cycle and ensure minimal unexpected downtime.
Take the complexity out of commissioning with DrivePro® Start-up’s full range of health checks and adjustments. Our DrivePro® experts inspect and test your AC drive and motor performance to ensure the best configuration of your AC drives.
Maintain maximum uptime with a spare parts package that covers you in any AC drive breakdown. Choose from three customized packages to get your AC drive back up and running with minimal impact to operations.
Related applications
Achieve significantly lower energy consumption and lower operating costs, using Danfoss AC drives to continually adjust the compressor capacity to the actual heat load and process needs.
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