Case study
Improving baggage handling reliability at London Stansted
About London Stansted
London Stansted is one of the UK’s busiest international airports, serving millions of passengers each year. Reliable baggage handling is essential to ensure on-time departures, efficient transfers, and a smooth passenger experience. To handle baggage, Stansted relies on conveyors and reclaim carousels operating continuously under tight time constraints. Any disruption can quickly affect passenger flow and airport operations.
The challenge: Monitoring assets that run non-stop
Baggage handling equipment at Stansted is difficult to inspect using traditional methods due to safety restrictions, limited access, and the need to keep systems running at all times. Without continuous visibility into asset condition, early-stage mechanical issues can go unnoticed until they lead to sudden failures. Stansted needed a way to detect developing issues without interrupting operations or relying on frequent manual inspections.
The solution: Real-time insights from the motor control cabinet
Stansted implemented Samotics’ SAM4 system to monitor its critical baggage handling assets. Because SAM4 sensors are installed in the motor control cabinet, rather than on assets themselves, SAM4 can offer around-the-clock visibility into asset condition and performance for even the hardest-to-reach assets.
Example detection: Mechanical unbalance on a critical conveyor motor
In May 2025, the SAM4 system detected early signs of mechanical unbalance in a critical motor. Thanks to that early warning and insights into the specific fault at hand, maintenance teams were able to investigate what was happening and address the specific issue (by replenishing the gearbox oil) before the issue escalated. The motor returned to normal behavior, without causing any unplanned downtime.
Graph from SAM4 showing how mechanical unbalance in a conveyor motor triggered an alert to maintenance teams, and how behavior returned to normal after the issue was resolved.
The result: Smooth, uninterrupted airport operations
Since deploying SAM4, Stansted has detected and resolved three critical incidents across its baggage handling systems. Early fault detection and continuous insights into asset health have enabled the airport to reduce risk, avoid costly breakdowns, and maintain reliable performance during peak travel periods. With SAM4, Stansted now has a scalable approach to protecting critical baggage infrastructure and delivering smooth, uninterrupted airport operations.
““My experience with installing the SAM4 monitoring system at Stansted Airport has been exceptional. The system’s accuracy and ease of integration have made it a key tool in boosting reliability and reducing unplanned downtime within the airport.””
Taylor Roloff, Technical Lead, Stansted Airport
