Avoid Costly Conveyor Mistakes

Keeping conveyors in good repair and operational is key to maintaining manufacturing and distribution operations. By performing the following items you will minimize lost time:

• Regular inspections - Routine maintenance on your conveyors is as important as maintaining your other production equipment.Periodic inspections can spot trouble areas that maintenance can address before a breakdown occurs.
• Keep good maintenance records - Tracking maintenance efforts in a log book or electronically will help you be aware of yout conveyors' condition.
• Monitor temperature of motors and gear boxes - Higher than normal temperatures can indicate an overload condition due to internal component ware or mis-application (wrong drive train).
• Follow OSHA standards - Make sure that all moving parts are guarded and utilize OSHA to keep all aspects of the conveyor hazard free.
• Employ enough competent maintenance personnel to adequately maintain the system. When your maintenance group is short handed farm this out to a certifies conveyor service group.
• Maintain replacement parts in your inventory. Stocking critical items such as motors and bearings can mean the difference between minimal and severe production losses. Keeping these parts on-handhas strong positive payback potential.
• Learn from serial breakdowns - Continous identical failures should not be given a quick fix or ignored. Find and eliminate the root cause.
• Change the "if it isn't broken don't fix it " mentality. - Things that lead to imminent failures should be given priority for repair. Items such as frayed belts or screeching bearings typically occur before the components fail.
• Maintain the controls - Simple things suchas cleaning the lens on your photo-eye and tightening the lever arm on your limit switch can prevent hard to detect problems. Be sure that your control system is surge protected as well.
• Proper use of your conveyors - your conveyors have limitations. Use them to transport and accumulate products that are below the maximunm weight allowable and within the confines recommended for their width, length and height.
• Service hard to access places - Such  as conveyors stuck in dark corners, underneath production equipment etc. It's easier to maintain then repair conveyors in these areas.
• Train personnel in the use and maintenance of conveyors - Properly trained operations and maintenance employees are key to  a successful conveyor system.

Conveyor Safety

Conveyors can be very beneficial to your operation or, if neglected, badly designed, poorly maintained, improperly installed, etc. they can have devastating effects.  
The following CEMA standards, if adhered to, will help keep your people safe:
1.Do not climb, sit, stand, walk, ride, or touch the conveyor at any time. Not following this rule can lead to injury.
2.Do not perform maintenance on conveyor until electrical, air, hydraulic, and gravity energy sources have been locked out or blocked. Block the incline/decline on a gravity conveyor before working on it.
3.Operate equipment only with all approved covers and guards in place. Guards are sometimes removed. This exposes machinery, gears, and moving parts that are extremely dangerous if left unguarded.
4.Do not load a stopped conveyor or overload a running conveyor. This simple safety standard helps preserve your conveying equipment because it helps prevent overheating.
5.Ensure that all personnel are clear of equipment before starting. Workers should always be certain that everyone is clear of the conveyor before starting it up.
6.Allow only authorized personnel to operate or maintain material handling equipment.
7.Keep clothing, body parts, and hair away from the conveyor.
8.Remove trash, paperwork, and other debris only when power is locked out and tagged out.
9.Ensure that all controls and pull chords are visible and accessible.
10.Know the location and function of all stop and start controls.
11.Report all unsafe conditions. Jams should be cleared ONLY by authorized, trained personnel.  

Accepting part-time and short term opportunities: 
•Project Engineering and Project Management for material handling and packaging projects.
•Integrating new, rebuilt, and used equipment into new and existing systems.
•Analyzing and consulting on improvements in manufacturing processes and material handling systems.

Serving Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware and other customer locations from the Reading Pennsylvania area.
Contact me at 484/300-0373 or kevin.elphick@indoff.com or kelphick@comcast.net.

Sincerely, 
Kevin Elphick, P.E.
Indoff - Material Handling Partner
Phone: 484-300-0373, e-mail: kevin.elphick@indoff.com
website: www.conveyorsunlimited.com

Equipment Maintenance

Maintenance activity can generally be broken down into three categories:

• Corrective Maintenance.
• Preventive Maintenance.
• Predictive Maintenance.

 
 A. Corrective Maintenance: Also known as traditional maintenance.

• Maintenance responds to non-working machinery.

• Activities are not planned or anticipated.

• Machines run until breakdown occurs that disrupts production. Equipment could require major repairs or complete overhaul.

• Repair work draws man-power from periodic inspections.

• Costly maintenance method. Breakdowns happen randomly. Replacement   parts and skilled staff may not be readily available causing long and exensive downtime.

 B. Preventive Maintenance: Also known as planned, periodic or scheduled maintenance.

• Compares the current operating characteristics to a specific baseline standard.

• Machinery is periodically inspected for proper operation. Time is regularly set aside for each machine.

• When a problem is identified maintenance can plan to fix it before a major problem happens.

• During an inspection repairs are made only if a component failure is imminent.

• Production departments may fight this procedure as it erodes the available time to produce.

• Expensive random downtime is reduced but non-breakdown labor is increased.

C. Predictive Maintenance: Also known as condition based maintenance.

• Compares the current operating characteristics to the same operating characteristics at a time in the past
• Reviewing a machine’s operating characteristics overtime can uncover negative trends and foresee potential failure.
• By predicting failures scheduled repairs can be made thus avoiding costly random production downtime.
• Costs time & money to do but can be less than the alternatives.

   The above is a thumbnail sketch. For more information on Equipment Maintenance or other "Applied Lean Solutions" topics contact kevin.elphick@indoff.com.

    Your input is welcome; let me know what other subjects interest you.

    Consultative Conveyor & Equipment Sales : 484/300-0373

Kevin Elphick, P.E. Indoff - Material Handling Partner
Phone: 484-300-0373,e-mail: kevin.elphick@indoff.com website: www.conveyorsunlimited.com,
Blog: http://appliedleansolutions.indoff.com

When buying a machine consider its effect on all aspects of the operation.

Evaluate the following :  
  Does the equipment suit the basic purpose of the purchase? (i.e. does it make good widgets?).
 Is it designed & built to perform for the length of time it is needed? (i.e. is it durable?)
 What standards in warranty, performance, quality, safety etc. will need to be met?
 Parameters/guidelines regarding installation, commissioning, troubleshooting and handover.
 Are there any government regulations that need to be considered? (i.e. environmental, labor, etc.?)
 What are the costs, lead-time & terms? (include installation requirements, shipping time & costs, etc.).
 What is the estimated cost of direct labor, scrap/rework, maintenance, replacement parts, etc?
 Are manuals, drawings, spare parts & technical service readily available?
 How will the equipment fit into the existing operation? (i.e. will additional building space be necessary, will existing support machinery be sufficient, and how will total output be affected?).
 How will the other departments be affected?

Which “Company stakeholders” could contribute to this process? :
• Company management.
• Department supervision.
• Engineering.
• Purchasing.
• Line foreman.
• Machine operators/attendants.
• Responsible maintenance personnel.
• Safety department.
• Company sales & marketing group.

Which “Non-Company stakeholders” could be considered for this process? :
  Technical consultant(s) – Professional who provides specific advice.
 Manufacturer’s sales representative(s) – Has specific information & cost for their product.
 Consultative Sales Engineer – Can provide complete, effective & integrated solutions including:    

1.) System layouts.
2.) Costs & specs for equipment from multiple sources.
3.) Installation.
4.) Troubleshooting, commissioning & handover.

The above is a thumbnail sketch. For more information on Holistic Equipment Purchasing or other "Applied Lean Solutions" topics contact kevin.elphick@indoff.com.

 Your input is welcome; let me know what other subjects interest you.

Consultative Conveyor & Equipment Sales :  484/300-0373

Kevin Elphick, P.E.    Indoff - Material Handling Partner

Phone: 484-300-0373,e-mail: kevin.elphick@indoff.com website: www.conveyorsunlimited.com, Blog: http://appliedleansolutions.indoff.com

Improve Facility Utilization: Pre-Engineered Components

Industrial and Commercial businesses today are faced with:

1.      A variety of volatile direct labor and material costs which require constant attention.

2.      Costs related to business consolidation, expansion or contraction. An economical solution to keeping these costs low is maximizing your existing operation’s space.  This includes both floor layout and cube utilization.   

The Federal Government has passed the “Tax Relief Act”. Under this action, machinery and equipment can be expensed 100% if placed in service during 2011 and 50% during 2012. Pre-fabricated components and structures fall into this category. Review this with your accountant for the particulars of your situation.

Are you looking to improve your floor plan? Consider pre-fab wall components for:

• Adding partition walls in your warehouse or manufacturing plant.
• Add additional offices to an existing pre-fab structure.
• Combining an existing building corner with two pre-fab wall sections to make a four-sided office, single or two level structures.
• Machine enclosures that require temperature control, sound abatement, secure access, etc.

Do you have high ceilings and usable overhead space? Are you talking to your building contractor for ideas and costs? Think about the following:

ü  Pre-engineered mezzanines and pre-fab wall offices are typically more economical than design and build platforms and framed/block structures.

ü  Pre-engineered mezzanines and pre-fab wall offices can be readily moved to another location.

ü  Pre-engineered mezzanines and pre-fab wall offices have a re-sale value.

Consider using pre-engineered mezzanines with pre-fab wall components:

o   For security, place a storage room on the mezzanine and a pre-fab office below.

o   Place a pre-fab office on the mezzanine and raw materials or W.I.P. below.

o   Anytime you need to add functions in an existing area.

o   When requiring a shorter project lead-time. Layouts and costs are computer generated.

The above is a thumbnail sketch. For more information on Improve Facility Utilizationor other "Applied Lean Solutions" topics contact kevin.elphick@indoff.com.

 Your input is welcome; let me know what other subjects interest you.

Equipment Selection: New vs. Used

New: Typically new equipment is preferred over used in the following scenarios:

• The application requires the “state of the art” technology i.e. fastest, cleanest, best methods, new patented equipment, etc.
• Highest quality products can be manufactured with most new equipment.
• The unit is typically built for a specific purpose and/or industry.
• The plant environment requires it i.e. extreme temperatures, corrosive process, safety, sanitary, etc.
• Management policy calls for new equipment and does not allow used equipment.
• There is funding approved to purchase new.

Used: Typically used equipment is suggested over new in the following cases:

• The equipment is suitable and sized to the application and is in good condition.
• Highest quality products can be manufactured with some used equipment.
• The cost to purchase, remove, repair, upgrade, modify, etc. is at least 15% less than the new cost.
• Used equipment is available and, in some cases, ready for immediate use.
• Management policy allows used equipment.
• There is not enough funding approved to purchase new.

Consider the following when choosing used equipment:

ü  Check for component wear and structural damage.

ü  Is it suited to handle the full range of products? Are change parts available?

ü  Completeness of the machinery i.e. is it missing any drives, moving parts, controls, etc.

ü  Are replacement/repair parts commercially available?

ü  Is the control system obsolete?

ü  Are operator/maintenance manuals and electrical schematics included/available?

ü  The plant environment allows it.

ü  The machine voltage fits the plant voltage.

ü  Can the machine be successfully integrated into the operation?

The above is a thumbnail sketch. For more information on Equipment Selection: New vs. Used

 or other "Applied Lean Solutions" topics contact kevin.elphick@indoff.com.

 Your input is welcome; let me know what other subjects interest you.

Accumulating with Pallet Conveyor

In both high volume and low volume production situations there are reasons to accumulate completed or in-process pallet/unit loads.

Potential Benefits: 

1. Increase production capability.
2. Loads that are accumulated at the system discharge or infeed enables the lift truck operator to better utilize his time between his various loading and unloading responsibilities. It minimizes waiting time
3.   Staging/accumulation before secondary packaging equipment such as stretch wrappers or strappers.
4. Loading or unloading with a dual load lift truck.  Allows for the lift truck operator to lower the time spent storing production or loading incoming materials to the production line.
5. Final area for quality checks and labeling accuracy.

Types of accumulating pallet conveyor:

ü  Chain driven live roller with photo-eyes. When the photo-eye is blocked by a pallet the conveyor stops. This is integrated with the conveyors around it by a PLC.

ü  Belt driven live roller with photo-eyes. When the photo-eye is blocked by a pallet the belt below the section drops out and that section of conveyor stops. The rest of the conveyor operates until all the photo-eyes are blocked. 

ü  Drag chain conveyor with photo-eyes. When the photo-eye is blocked by a pallet the conveyor stops. This is integrated with the conveyors around it by a PLC.

ü  Drag chain conveyor with photo-eyes and lift platforms. When the photo-eye is blocked by a pallet the lift platform below the section lifts the pallet off the conveyor. The rest of the conveyor operates until all the photo-eyes are blocked and all the lift platforms are up with pallets.

ü   Gravity roller conveyor with photo eye would be used at the end of the powered conveyor system.

The above is a thumbnail sketch. For more information on Accumulating with Pallet Conveyor

 or other "Applied Lean Solutions" topics contact kevin.elphick@indoff.com.

 Your input is welcome; let me know what other subjects interest you.

Palletizing

Palletizers position products onto pallets or unit loads.

Potential Benefits: 

1. Reduce load building labor costs.
2. Increase production capability.
3. Reduce lead-time.
4. Improve finished load stability and uniformity.

Typical palletizer applications:

ü  Placing full cases/bags of products on pallets/unit loads.

ü  Building loads of product in bundles, such as roofing shingles. 

ü  Bulk palletizing containers without cases (glass, metal, plastic, fiber board, etc,).

Specifying your palletizer:

Ø  Determine which products will be palletized.

Ø  What are the minimum and maximum product dimensions and weights?

Ø  What is the production rate?

Ø   Will you use a pallet de-stacker?

Ø    Decide what type of palletizer to utilize i.e. dedicated automation, special design, or robotics.

Ø    Infeed elevation high or low?

Ø  What size and style of pallet will be used?

Ø   What dunnage will be used?

Ø   How will the empty be pallet loaded?

Ø  How will the full pallet empty be unloaded?

The above is a thumbnail sketch. For more information on palletizers or other "Applied Lean Solutions" topics contact kevin.elphick@indoff.com.

 Your input is welcome, let me know what other subjects interest you.