Customer story: upgrading from
the Fluke 189 to the Fluke 289
by Artofil, The Netherlands
Artofil runs a spinning mill that produces high-performance
yarns for a broad range of applications. Established in
1951, the company now has around 60 employees and is
part of the Trispin Group, which employs about 150 people.
Fluke
289
Artofil manufactures products for
the cable, aircraft and automotive
industries – concentrating on ad-
vanced technical textiles for mar-
ket niches. In close cooperation
with their customers, they develop
a wide variety of yarns with par-
ticular properties for specific ap-
plications, combining filaments
and fibers to meet virtually every
customer’s needs.
Fluke
189
Versatile operation means that
Artofil can supply relatively small
quantities quickly, with flexible
production using a wide variety of
spinning technologies and their
own coating facility. Artofil owns
various patents for swellable
yarns, and is the world market
leader in swellable spun yarns for
the cable industry.
Application Note
Technical service
Artofil’s internal technical service
consists of six technicians in two
teams, working in shifts. Continu-
ous operation (five days a week,
24 hours a day) makes close con-
trol of the machines essential,
particularly because Artofil has
only two teams of technicians to
cover the three production shifts.
Therefore, for eight hours a day,
and during overtime, there is no
engineering cover. In the past, Ar-
tofil used three teams of techni-
cians, with a troubleshooting
technician always available dur-
ing overtime. This however be-
came too expensive, and the com-
pany converted virtually all of
their machines to custom elec-
tronic controls using the latest
PLCs, and measurement and con-
trol techniques. The investments
were made to reduce machine
failures to a minimum.
All the work was done using the
company’s own resources (engi-
neering, programming, drawing,
panel building, etc.), and it de-
manded the right measurement
tools. A Fluke 189 Digital Multime-
ter (DMM) measured and moni-
tored the control signals, and
faults, on the control panels. Arto-
fil purchased it three years ago as
it had all the required features.
The company now uses Fluke’s
289 DMM, following a large
number of improvements over the
Fluke 189.
According to Artofil, the Fluke 289
has exactly what you would ex-
pect from a Fluke instrument:
straightforward operation, clear
readings, ease of use, (despite the
large number of functions it incor-
porates), a good price/quality ratio
and – above all – safe operation.
Safe, easy operation
Safety is of particular importance
to Artofil with tools like DMMs.
Furthermore all the company’s
technicians have been able to use
the DMM 289 immediately, with-
out having to puzzle over or
search for operating information.
According to Artofil, that is “very
special” for a meter with as many
functions as the DMM 289. At a
glance, all the most important
functions are clear and it performs
better than Artofil’s old Fluke 189
in several respects:
Extended Log function
The Log function has been greatly
improved, the battery lifetime has
been extended to 200hrs, and the
larger internal memory of 15,000
readings gives a clear signal dis-
play for long-term measurements.
The Fluke 289 can also be set so
that it no longer switches off after
a set time.
Clear and helpful trend plot
function
Besides being able to read out the
logged measurements, the Fluke
289 can call them up as a trend
plot (TrendCapture). That gives a
clear graph of the logged values,
which is much easier for measure-
ments taken over a long period. It
is easy to save the logged meas-
urements by date and time, as
well as in five other categories
(Motor, Panel, Circuit, Control and
Battery for example). That makes it
very easy to find the logged values
later.
Separate on/off button
Artofil has found the separate on/
off button on the Fluke 289 very
useful. If (for example) the meter
switches to energy saving mode
during logging, you simply press
the on/off button. Battery time in- applications than our previous 189
creased from 72 hours (Fluke 189) DMM. With just a single meter, our
to 200 hours in logging mode technical services can perform all
(Fluke 289). the tasks they need”.
Fast reading of measured values Denny van Doorne
Another useful feature of the Fluke Technical Support
289 is its speed of measurement, Artofil BV, The Netherlands
identifying all signal changes –
even the smallest ones.
Analog readout by bar graph
The bar graph displayed below
the relevant measured values
shows the smallest signal chang- Fluke. K
 eeping your world
es. A big advantage of the Fluke up and running.®
289 is that it shows the DC signal
components at a glance, with both
Fluke Corporation
positive (to the right) and negative PO Box 9090, Everett
signals (to the left). WA USA 98206
Fluke Europe B.V.
Easy Info button PO Box 1186, 5602 BD
An Info button gives easy informa- Eindhoven, The Netherlands
tion on how to use all the new
For more information call:
and less frequently used programs In the U.S.A. (800) 443-5853 or
and functions. Fax (425) 446-5116
In Europe/M-East/Africa
Size and convenience +31 (0) 40 2675 200 or
Fax +31 (0) 40 2675 222
Artofil engineers have no problems In Canada (800) 36-FLUKE or
with the slight size increase of the Fax (905) 890-6866
Fluke 289. Actually the instrument’s From other countries +1 (425) 446-5500 or
Fax +1 (425) 446-5116
larger display shows more read-
ings, which makes it easier (and
www.fluke.eu
safer) for taking rapid measure-
ments.
Conclusion
“There have been several major
improvements in the Fluke 289,
making it useful for several more
© Copyright 2008 Fluke Corporation. All rights reserved.
Printed in the Netherlands 12/2008.
Data subject to alteration without notice.
Pub_ID: 11481-eng