How to Increase Conveyor Line Efficiencies by Removing Change-over
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The document outlines an agenda for a presentation on how to increase efficiencies by removing changeover in production lines. The agenda includes sections on mistakes to avoid, conveying equipment options, product handling considerations, line layout recommendations, controls requirements, cost comparisons, and a Q&A. It provides examples of conveying equipment like drum spiral conveyors, accumulating tables, and live roller metering conveyors. It also shows before and after examples of layouts and includes a poll about payback periods for capital projects.
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How to Increase Conveyor Line Efficiencies by Removing Change-over
- 1. How to Increase Efficiencies by Removing Changeover
- 2. Agenda ✓ 1 Mistakes to avoid when minimizing changeover 2 Conveyor systems and equipment options 3 Product handling considerations 4 Line layout recommendations and examples 5 Controls and logic requirements 6 Cost comparisons and payback 7 Live Q & A breaks
- 3. Agenda 1 Mistakes to avoid when minimizing changeover ✓ 2 Conveyor systems and equipment options 3 Product handling considerations 4 Line layout recommendations and examples 5 Controls and logic requirements 6 Cost comparisons and payback 7 Live Q & A breaks
- 4. Agenda 1 Mistakes to avoid when minimizing changeover 2 Conveyor systems and equipment options ✓ 3 Product handling considerations 4 Line layout recommendations and examples 5 Controls and logic requirements 6 Cost comparisons and payback 7 Live Q & A breaks
- 5. Agenda 1 Mistakes to avoid when minimizing changeover 2 Conveyor systems and equipment options 3 Product handling considerations ✓ 4 Line layout recommendations and examples 5 Controls and logic requirements 6 Cost comparisons and payback 7 Live Q & A breaks
- 6. Agenda 1 Mistakes to avoid when minimizing changeover 2 Conveyor systems and equipment options 3 Product handling considerations 4 Line layout recommendations and examples ✓ 5 Controls and logic requirements 6 Cost comparisons and payback 7 Live Q & A breaks
- 7. Agenda 1 Mistakes to avoid when minimizing changeover 2 Conveyor systems and equipment options 3 Product handling considerations 4 Line layout recommendations and examples 5 Controls and logic requirements ✓ 6 Cost comparisons and payback 7 Live Q & A breaks
- 8. Agenda 1 Mistakes to avoid when minimizing changeover 2 Conveyor systems and equipment options 3 Product handling considerations 4 Line layout recommendations and examples 5 Controls and logic requirements 6 Cost comparisons and payback ✓ 7 Live Q & A breaks
- 9. Avoid Mistakes to Avoid Accumulation Through Turns Accumulation Through Turns Extreme Diversity Of Products Combining Speed With Product Manipulation Failure to Consider Operating Costs
- 10. Mistakes to Avoid Excessive Product Extreme Diversity of Products Crowding Extreme Diversity Of Products Combining Speed With Product Manipulation Failure to Consider Operating Costs
- 11. Mistakes to Avoid Excessive Product Crowding Combining High Speed With Manipulation Extreme Diversity Of Products Combining Speed With Product Manipulation Failure to Consider Operating Costs
- 12. Mistakes to Avoid Excessive Product Failure to Consider Operating Costs Crowding Extreme Diversity Of Products Combining Speed With Product Manipulation Failure to Consider Operating Costs
- 13. Conveying Equipment Best Uses Carton Handling Case Handling Bundle Handling Speeds 30 CPM Product weights less than 40 lbs. Vertical Conveyor Lifts Vertical Conveyors
- 14. Conveying Equipment Drum Spiral Conveyors Drum Spiral
- 15. Conveying Equipment Best Uses Product Flexibility Product Diversity High Capacity Mass Flow Higher Rate Applications Multiple product orientation Product stability Drum Spiral Conveyors
- 16. Conveying Equipment Serpentine Accumulators Serpentine Accumulators
- 17. Conveying Equipment Best Uses Product that can’t handle back pressure First-In, First-Out Accumulates during short down-times Serpentine Accumulators
- 18. Conveying Equipment Reflow Accumulating Table
- 19. Conveying Equipment Best Uses Round product shapes Small footprint Low backpressure accumulation Minimal controls required Reflow Accumulating Table Accumulation Tables
- 20. Conveying Equipment Bi-Directional Table Bi-Directional Table
- 21. Conveying Equipment Best Uses Round Containers Various Sizes without Rail Changes Off line storage Bi-Directional Table
- 22. Conveying Equipment Nercon Knowledge Center Media Center
- 23. Conveying Equipment Best Uses Product versatility – tapered containers, non- round shapes Single Filing without Changeover Mass Flow Product Alignment Single Filer / Combining Conveyor Pressureless Combiner
- 25. Conveying Equipment Best Uses Handles various types of products and shapes High Capacity / Rate Weight variety Product variation ARB Technology
- 26. BEFORE
- 27. AFTER
- 28. Conveying Equipment Live Roller Metering/Merging Conveyor Live Roller Metering /Merging Conveyor
- 29. Conveying Equipment Best Uses • Low profile products • Hard to handle packages • No backpressure • Multi-lane merging Live Roller Metering/Merging Conveyor
- 30. BEFORE
- 31. AFTER
- 32. POLL QUESTION: What do you consider a minimum acceptable payback for capital purchase projects? 1. 6 months or less 2. 6 to 12 months 3. 1 to 2 years 4. Over 2 years
- 33. BEFORE: A system example
- 34. BEFORE: A system example BUMP TURN Bump Turns
- 35. BEFORE: A system example CLAMP
- 36. BEFORE: A system example STAR WHEEL UPENDER Star Wheel Upender
- 37. After: A system example
- 38. After: A system example WIDE EDGE LEADING PRODUCT FLOW
- 39. After: A system example DUAL CHAIN CASE TURNERS
- 40. After: A system example STAR WHEEL – on Sliding Carraige
- 41. After: A system example Manual Pack Station Redesigned for Robotic Pick-up. END – OF – LINE AUTOMATION
- 42. Devices Dual Lane Rotator Star-wheel Upender
- 43. Product Handling Characteristics Round Containers Oval Containers Cartons Cases Pouches
- 44. Round Containers • Single dimension • No orientation • Easier to group similar sizes in guiderails
- 45. Round Containers
- 46. Oval Containers • Orientation • Tapered containers • Traveling on lids/caps • Puck transportation to eliminate changeover (same pucks)
- 47. Oval Containers
- 48. Cartons • Challenges traveling hard way • Orientation issues • Needs of assembly line equipment • Top load/End load/Side load • Length vs Width
- 49. Easy Way Vs. the Hard Way Easy Way Hard Way
- 50. Cases • Typically sizes on case erectors are close in dimensional sizes • Elevating equipment should handle multiple sizes without changeover • Justification can help eliminate changeover
- 51. Flexible Packages • Watch out for flaps & seals • Accumulation causes product shingling and or damage • Can cause jams and issues with interface equipment • Similar pouches can be looked at for eliminating change over
- 52. ARB System Example BEFORE AFTER UPTIME / LABOR $39,500 / Year 1.5 Years FUTURE SALES $36,000 / Year 1.7 Years Best Case .80 Worst Case 1.46 INPUT DATA 8 Hrs / Day, 250 Days / Year EQUIPMENT COST: $60,000 LABOR SAVED: 15 Min / Day LABOR RATE: $30 / Hr UNIT PROFIT: $0.25 / Unit THROUGHPUT: 40 / Min. FUTURE SALES: 3% / Year
- 53. Live Roller Merge Example BEFORE AFTER UPTIME $34,312.00 1.05 Years FUTURE SALES $14,670.00 2.45 Years Best Case 0.73 INPUT DATA Worst Case 1.45 8 Hrs / Day, 250 Days / Year EQUIPMENT COST: $36,000 LABOR SAVED: 30 Min/day LABOR RATE: $30/ Hr. UNIT PROFIT: $0.25/ Unit THROUGHPUT: 16 / Min. FUTURE SALES: 3% / Year
- 54. ROI FUTURE UPTIME SALES How to Increase Line Efficiency by Removing Changeover
- 55. THANK YOU! For more information, visit our website www.nercon.com Check out our blog! Change-over White Paper
Notas do Editor
- Thanks for watching our webinar, “How to Increase Efficiencies by Removing Changeover.”I want to thank Mike Weickert, Dan Mentzel and Jeff Falash for their assistance with the content for this webinar. They have over 50 years of combined experience at Nercon and they are our conveyor applications and engineering experts. My name is Jessica Jacobson and I create informational webinars and white papers for Nercon’s customers to help them with their manufacturing objectives.
- Today -the agenda will begin with Mistakes to Avoid when minimizing or removing changeover, specifically in terms of product handling.
- I’ll will spend some time on conveyor systems, equipment and devices that offer real-time changeover with no guide rail contact.
- I’ll identify product types and groups and best practices for conveying those types.
- I’ll cover a couple examples of before and after conveyor line layouts with change-over processes removed.
- Then I move on to controls requirements and best practices for fully automated lines.
- I have some costs on some of our examples and on some of the systems that handle multi-sku real-time switching.
- I have some questions in a couple places that have been pulled from our live event that I’ll share with you.
- The 1st topic is about avoiding accumulation through turns? Why is that a problem? Accumulation occurs when products stop and back-up. Accumulation through turns can cause products to nest differently when stopped. Kind of what you’re seeing in the picture, products can skew and jam and sometimes products get damaged. The skewing is happening because of the larger rail opening through the turns. Longer products require a larger rail opening to make the corner, so a large difference in product lengths can create a problem if you want to go to minimal guide rail changes. Some of these “mistakes to avoid” are inter-related, but the main point here is to allow for smooth positive flow through the turns.
- Why is product diversity and issue?There will almost always be different requirements for interfacing machines on the line with different package types. Even on lines with the same package type, if there are extreme differences in the packages you may have interface issues, guide rail settings could be too extreme, single filing could be an issue, and more than likely the rates will be different.You will need to find a product grouping that will work to minimize the amount of change-overs. In some cases simply raising a guiderail for a group of products can be enough to better handle the conveyance.
- Another mistake:Combining High Speed with ManipulationAgain this can be related back to the turn example. When designing for multiple size products; consideration needs to be made when adding devices to your product line, there may be the need for more adjustments like narrowing up guide rail clearance to control products going into the device and or adjusting the device so that it does not interfere with larger products. In this picture the clamp works for multiple products, but at high speeds, products may skew and get caught on the clamp. The design of these devices has to be that they do the job they where intended to do, at as little cost to line speed and time spent on change over.
- I see a lot of manufacturers focus on the capitol acquisition cost of equipment. And what is often overlooked, are the long term operational costs related to changeover.The main reason for removing or minimizing changeover is to lower unit cost. For manufacturers with many SKU’s that require a changeover between product runs, the correlation between high change over labor, and unit cost is clear. Longer changeover times raise unit costs.Some manufacturers looking to increase capacity. This is often done by adding staff, extra shifts, or perhaps even an entire new line. In this situation, increasing up-time on the line through reduced changeover may allow the existing line to meet capacity needs for a relatively low investment.
- These next few slides are going to demonstrate conveying equipment and systems that don’t require guides rails for change-over.Starting with Lifts and Elevators, this Vertical Conveyor is a continuous motion elevator that lifts or lowers products. This type of lift is best utilized if you have a big size difference in the product sizes & shapes. It fits in a small footprint & handles multiple sizes of products without change-over. Due to the type of lifting platform there is no guiderail or adjustments required to transport the product up the lift.The lifting platforms run in a continuous loop and we simply time the infeed product flow to match the lifting platform speed.In some instances we have run a large case with a low rate & a small carton with a high rate on the same lift. We simply doubled up the small carton release into the lift to maintain the higher rate.We have a video link if you want to watch it operate.
- The next equipment is a Drum Spiral Conveyor. This is a low-tension elevator that uses a stainless steel drum that imparts the drive of the chain.
- This type of elevator provides continuous flow; as well as mass flow like in the picture. Unlike the vertical conveyor lift, this equipment doesn’t require pushing or clamping. This can be used in multi-SKU lines because there is no need for guide rail change-over. Many package types and even extreme size differences, can be conveyed on this equipment as long as it fits on the chain and fits between the flights. This can be designed for maximum product stability for mass flow products by lowering the amount of incline or decline while still preserving valuable floor space when compared to incline conveyors or Alpine systems. Live Drum Spiral Conveyors are used when higher rates are required, and also for high capacity production requirements.
- This accumulator operates on the concept of an expandable serpentine style product path. Normal operation we would either run product through a bypass conveyor or run through the carriage which would be parked at the infeed section.As you need to go into accumulation mode, we move the carriage at the required speed to keep the products at a near back-to back placement.When you can receive products downstream again, we reverse the operation & empty the accumulator.We have a link if you want to take a moment to watch the video on our website.
- Usually one product wide conveyors require change-over, and this accumulator is also one-product wide, so I asked our experts how this works without guide rail changeover…Here’s an example with 3 sizes of tapered containers.The accumulator chain width and guide rail would be tailored to the largest container size, the other sizes would travel on the moving chain without aid from the guide rail. Since this container would be a stable product it would not need guiderail in the accumulator. Like I mentioned you would only need a guiderail change on the infeed and discharge. We would run the accumulator speed at the required back-to-back rate for each different size. This allows for maximizing the accumulation without the products touching and possibly causing a jam or product tip over.This equipment is best used for handling packages that are other-wise fairly difficult to handle and accumulate, such as: Stand-up pouches for coffee or cookies, tapered cups like RTE (ready to eat) containers, cheese packs. It provides accumulation for short downtimes, like changing labels or resupplying glue. This equipment is also absolute first-in, first-out.
- Next is a recirculating table. Nercon’s refers to this table as a Reflow tables ---
- BEST USES?they are a good example of an accumulation equipment choice with little or no change over. Reflow tables can handle a variety of product sizes. There is an offset pressure relief designed into the single filing rail, that only allows a single row of products to continue through the discharge. If you would like a video demonstration, then just click on the link to visit the web page.Consider however, that the larger the product size and the less duration of accumulation time you will get on those larger products.
- Here is another type of accumulation table that can handle different SKUs with no changeover. This Bi-Directional Table offers more accumulation and more diversity of product sizes than the Reflow Table. It also handles mass flow infeed and discharge with no guiderail adjustments. Product stability is achieved by a tight nesting of products that stay in one location while on the table, unlike the reflow table that is constantly recirculating. These tables can be designed with a sweep arm, as shown in the picture, to assure products stay nested and are cleared from table when required.
- Best Practices?The continuous movement of the table is a benefit to handling different container sizes, because it can expand and accumulate in mass flow and there is no guide rail adjustment. As you can see, it works well with mass flow.
- There is much more detail on Accumulators, layouts and planning, as well as package and product criteria, so to learn more go to The Knowledge Center on Nercon’s website and then click on Media Center. The webinar is archived there and it’s called “How to Choose the Right Accumulator for the Application.”
- With these pressure-less single filing systems, you can run various sizes and shapeson the same system. Most people often associate single filers just with round products, common in the beverage industry, but they also work very well for oval and some rectangular products. If the product is oblong, it will always line up with its long axis along the rail as it is being single filed. These systems can be used after mass flow conveyors, as well as after chillers and freezers.This equipment can handle different sizes without changeover. The reason is because it only has a rail on one side, so product diameter or size is less relevant.You can click on the video link if you want to watch a demonstration of the pressurelesscombiner.
- This next piece of equipment we want to talk about is an Activated Roller Belt system – ARB for short. The concept, licensed by Intralox, is a mechanism under the belt that engages the rollers integrated into the belt which then directs flow of packages.
- ARB systems can handle a variety of types and sizes of products as long as they have a fairly flat, rigidbottom and some density so the rollers acknowledge some resistance. It can also handle a variety of product weights, it is a versatile technology for sorting, merging, combining, centering and singulating.
- Now I have a couple of layouts to show you. – A before and after layout solution of how the ARB system was leveraged.In this layout example we had multiple lanes feeding one merge conveyor.Each individual lane had a clamp & product stop to allow for the products to be metered into the merge section. Each line requires independent rail adjustment for each specific product.We would build a product slug in each lane, then release one at a time to allow for a single file discharge.As far as controls go…In this before example, each lane needs a stop and a clamp to regulate product flow into the merge. The stops and clamps require photo eyes, position sensors PLC inputs and outputs and a control program to coordinate the lanes. Now we will take a look at how we can eliminate changeover on this same system
- We removed the clamp & stop assemblies & designed an ARB singulatorEach ARB section provided a centering merge with speed changes that created gaps to handle the high volume product flow. And the last section provided the rail alignment as products exited the system.All four infeed lines have to run at the similar speeds, which can not exceed the throughput of the singulator.And on the controls here…The ARB solution eliminates the need for all the clamps and stops, along with thesensors and PLC logic, now the only controls required are the motor controls. Additionally, the ARB eliminates the pinch points often found with clamps and stops.Changeover is nominal and efficiencies and throughput are drastically increased.
- Next we have another example of the embedded roller technology, and this system is called the Live Roller Metering and Merging Conveyor.This product is conveyed onto a roller top belt that has sections with rollers, and a section without rollers just ahead of the white pusher blocks, called pockets. Underneath the chain, the rollers are engaged. This will allow the products to float on the roller sections briefly until they encounter the pocket section, then the products are conveyed forward and indexed. The timing is accomplished by assembling the chain with the pockets staggered to get the separation required. Simple plow rails or powered side rails are used to merge multiple lanes into single file, or an ARB rail alignment system as shown in the video.If you want you can click on the link to see a video demonstration.
- what are the best uses when using this equipment as a strategy for removing changeover?This Live Roller Merge is a simple solution for merging and metering products without the use of clamps, stops or controls.This makes it a good choicefor multi-SKU lines, because there are no adjustments between sizes required. It can handle pouches, cartons, overwrapped products without backpressure or impact on the packages themselves.The only requirement is that the different product shapes have to all fit on the pocket.
- Next, we have a layout again to show an example, before and after, of how the Live Roller was used and what types of system it replaces.In this example each of the lines need to be stopped to allow the other line to merge into the main trunk line. This is accomplished by the use of clamps and electrical controls. The rates for this line are 50ppm.Although the controls are not complicated there are quite a few devices. We need sensors to determine when a group of product is ready to be merged. Solenoid valves to actuate the clamps and stops and PLC logic to run the processes, and more than likely , the clamps, the stops, or both, will need to be adjusted for different products sizes.
- This is the after version of the layout, back to Jeff, What’s been changed?Here we have gotten rid of the stops and have installed a live roller merge. This keeps the product moving and reduces product damage while increasing throughput. This solution more than doubled the product rate.the Live Roller Merge also eliminates the need for clamps and stops and only requires simple motor control and a few back up detect sensors. This reduces the cost of ownership in two ways. Eliminating the change over reduces operation costs, removing the devices reduces maintenance costs.
- Here’s a poll question if you want to vote…And also a few QUESTIONS from our live event:What types of controls are required to prevent accumulation in the turns? Clamps upstream, stopping conveyor motor…Mike: This can be done in a few ways depending on the layout of the conveyance system. One method would be to put a clamp just upstream of the turn, that would hold back product when the downstream backs up. A second approach would be to simply pause the conveyor. A third method would be to put a metering, or brake conveyor, before the turn to hold back product. All of these solutions, including the clamp, can be designed to be change over free.2. On the Vertical Lift Conveyor, can the product pusher be designed for multiple case sizes?The answer is yes & we can & have done this in the past. We design the pusher face to be narrow enough for the smallest case, so we do not push (2) at one time. The wider cases have no issue being pushed by the smaller pusher, since they are guided be the fixed end stop.3. On rail adjustments for the infeed and discharge conveyors on accumulators, what is the most cost effective method for making those adjustments quickly? Would those be automated? Could be automated, but it is just a quick adjustment with tool-less guide rail systems.These usually require a small adjustment in the rail to make them work properly so ratchet handles work very well. If the customer would like it automated this can also be done with anyone of our automated rail systems.
- These next couple of slides show a system example with BEFORE AND AFTER scenarios. This line conveyed full & sealed packages from an overhead conveyor. The packages were brought down a decline to floor level for the operators to be able to hand palletized on a skid for shipping.
- We ran different size cases requiring multiple change overs in various areas.We had multiple guiderail adjustments throughout the system for multiple package widths.We also utilized a manual bump turn for some packages. In the photo, we’ve zoomed in to show an example of a bump turn. The single bump reorients the cases 90 degrees. This can be a clockwise or counterclockwise rotation.
- We also had an adjustable pneumatic case clamp, similar to the picture. The clamp was utilized for ensuring no products would back-up into a vertical star-wheel package upender.
- We utilized a dual vertical star-wheel package upender. These were mounted on a carriage, as you can see in the photo, and were slid into position for different package sizes.As you can see there was a lot of manual changeover required to accomplish running various size products on the same line.JESSICA: Mike, what are the controls requirements for this line?MIKE: For this application we monitor that the bump turn is in the correct position, and use backup detection by the operator to regulate the clamp, which controls product flow into the star wheel.
- This is the after layout, how has this system been modified for reducing changeover?
- We’ve zoomed in again to show you that we revised product orientation earlier in the system to a wide edge leading package.In this case, the wide edge leading package flow allowed for reduce guide rail changes. If the package were kept narrow edge leading, a guide rail changeover still would be necessary. This is an example where we utilized a simple process for eliminating changeover in these rails.
- We have removed the bump turn & added a dual lane case turner for the required clockwise or counter clockwise rotation. Dual chain case turners can reorient packages 90 degrees in either direction, or with some packages, 180 degrees without the use of a guide rail or bump turn.
- On the star-wheel device, we added automation with a pneumatic controlled adjustment for changing between the (2) different sizes.
- Where the manual pack station was, we added a pneumatic flip-in stop & a pneumatic retractable end stop to create product gap for a robotic pick-off. This could also be a pneumatic manual assist lift.Also to ensure a proper package pick, we added a pneumatic squaring guide rail to ensure a true & square package orientation.By making these changes we were able to eliminate the need for an operator to man this area & utilize those resources elsewhere in the plant.Now the controls…Although we reduced changeover, we added devices. The devices are not complex and consist of a series of sensors and solenoid valves to control the a adjustable backstop and squaring guides. These changes allowed us to reduce operating expense by eliminating an operator from a repetitive, heavy lifting task.
- There were a couple of devices shown in the layout example that we wanted to show you. The dual lane rotator on the left, consists of 2 lanes of chain independently driven and controlled by a VFD controller.To rotate the product you simply slow down or speed up one of the chains, using the VFD controller, depending on which way you would like it to rotate. Different case sizes can be rotated by changing the chain speeds.On the right, the star-wheel upender can be non-powered or powered. Product back-pressure causes the non-powered star-wheels to turn and reorient the package. A different product size would require a different design, but in this case, the starwheel device is changed out very quickly between product sizes, on the sliding carriage.
- In the next few slides, we’re going to talk about product handling characteristics in automating or removing changeover in packaging lines. Our five groups are round containers, Ovals, Cartons, Cases and Flexible Packages.When engineering a plan for automating multi-SKU lines, there needs to be some planning with the product sizes. Here’s a product grouping demonstration by Mike that we video-taped on our production floor.
- Round ContainersRound containers can utilize different mass flow methods to reduce changeover. As shown in Mike’s video, they are fairly easy to group in similar sizes. Keeping in mind there is no way to maintain orientation on round containers.
- In this diagram we have a guiderail with a 2 ½” opening & we need to run products that range from 1 ¼” to 2” diameter.As you can see – with the blue, purple and green products -- we can easily run the 1 ½” to 2” diameter products in the same guiderail opening without making a change. They will nest a little bit side to side, but that is acceptable in most cases.The small 1 ¼” diameter product in orange, would require a guiderail change, but by grouping the larger products together, we have eliminated the need to change the guiderail for each individual size.On a round container you can generally run a product in a guiderail opening that is 60% bigger than the diameter of the product with no issues.
- On oval containers orientation is typically more critical. Oval containers might utilize pucks, like the orange puck, shown on the far right of the picture transported a tube. Puck shapes can improve product handling and mass flow possibilities. These types of containers are less stable and typically have less leeway with similar guide rail openings.
- DAN:In this diagram we again have a guiderail with a 2 ½” opening & we need to run products that range from 1 ¼” to 2” wide, but they are now oval in shape.As you can see we can easily run the 1 ¾” blue products and 2” wide purple products in the same guiderail opening without making a change. They will nest a little bit side to side & cam slightly, but this would be acceptable.The smaller 1 ½” to 1 ¼” products would require a guiderail change. The products can get side by side, or even worse, cam diagonally & jam. This will cause downtime & possibly even product damage.Oval containers are very tricky to run, but can still be grouped in a guiderail opening, typically that is 30% bigger than the width of the product with no issues.
- Cartons can be challenging by their construction. Most cartons are made of materials that are soft in nature and do not handle product manipulation well.Changing orientation of these types of products can be challenging so not to damage the product or the carton.This is where the less invasive manipulations may need to be required, like ARB units or Dual Lane Rotators.Even product orientation of easy way vs. hard way can be more challenging with cartons because of the soft sides and product sizes.In the picture the toothpaste is much harder to convey than the popcorn because of the length to width proportions.
- Here’s an example of Easy Way which is narrow edge leading and hard way which is wide edge leading.This issue with easy way versus hard way product traveling has to do with the guide rail settings.When traveling the easy way, packages stay aligned because chain friction carries the packages in a positive direction. Guide rail positions are more forgiving on easy-way package conveyance. While easy-way package travel offers reliable conveyance, it may limit buffering capabilities depending on the length of the package.
- JEFF: Generally cases are much easier to convey because on case handling lines case sizes are fairly similar. Cases are also stronger than cartons and this can allow cases to be manipulated easier with pushers and bump turners.
- Thanks Jeff, and now what are the characteristics of Flexible packages, like pillow-type pouches, stand-up pouches – all flexible configurations from polyethylene and polypropylene, Mike?many manufacturers are moving towards flexible packaging. When transporting flexible packaging, the general concerns are usually related to the fin seals, and to the flexibility, or non-rigid natureof the package. The fin seals on the packaging often interfere, or get hung up on the guide rails. A best practice for guiding pouches with fin seals, is to engineer low-profile guide rails, close to the conveyor surface, so that there is little chance of catching on the fin seal. Or the application might work best with no guide rails at all.You want to also avoid accumulation because low-profile packages want to shingle and jam between rails.
- MIKE: Now were going to cover some ROI, cost and payback comparisons, from our earlier examples. Most of the RIO input data is self explanatory, but I did want to define our EQUIPMENT COST as the additional cost of the equipment to go to the more automated “After” version. We also want to define “FUTURE SALES” as percentage of annual projected growth now possible due to the additional capacity of the system “AFTER” changeover was removed Now lets review the ARB system we discussed earlier Our system runs 8 hours a day, 250 days per year. EQUIPMENT COSTS is $60,000. We saved is 15 minutes a day @ $30 per hour Our UNIT Profit is $0.25¢, and our THROUGHPUT is 40 units per minute. FUTURE SALES growth is 3%.When we look at our ROI output, we see that our combined annual direct LABOR SAVINGS and increased UPTIME, which is the profit of the units produced during the saved change over minutes and that’s $39,375 per year, which produces an ROI of 1.5 years.Our FUTURE SALES projection of 3%, provides $36,000 per year in additional profit or an ROI of 1.7 years.When you add the two together, you get a “BEST CASE” ROI of $75,375 per year and an ROI of 0.80 years.When we factor in other costs such as trucking, installation, lost production during installation you get a “WORST CASE” ROI. For this example we added $50,000, related to installation and start up. This resulted in a “WORST CASE” ROI of 1.46 years. Now Jeff will review the Live Roller Merge example.
- JEFF:Here is the example cost comparison of the main trunk system versus the Live Roller Merge conveyor.The upgrade to this system cost an extra $36,000.Our LABOR SAVED is 30 minutes / dayOur LABOR RATE is $30.00/hourPROFIT PER UNIT is $0.25¢Our THROUGHOUT was 16.3 units, which was the max capacity of the system.Our Future Sales forecast is 3% annual growth.Using the same formula as Mike but on a smaller investment we get a labor savings per year of $3,750.00 which gives us a ROI of 9.6 years. This again is not the real payback you would like to see on this investment. The real payback comes from your increase in production time which adds up to $30,562.50 per year and an ROI of 1.18 years. You have also increased some capacity for future growth which comes to $14,670.00 per year with an ROI of 2.45 years. When calculating all these things together you get a total pay back of $48,670.00 with a ROI of 0.73 years. I also added in some cost, for ROI after install, of $35,000.00 this of course doubled the ROI to 1.45 years.Jessica: Thanks Jeff, Dan what did you come up with on your example?
- What we found in our calculations is that unless your replacing personnel with a robot, it is the uptime and capacity for future sales that is going to give you the fastest ROI.We appreciate your time with us today. I will be sending all attendees the corresponding white paper that includes some of these ROI examples – It has the same name as this webinar, “How to Increase Line Efficiency be Removing Changeover.” Now, Joyce is going to lead us in our final Q and A.
- What are the pros and cons of running a non-standard size on your production line versus just installing a different line for that non-standard product? COST is the major con of installing a new line for just one non-standard product. This investment could easily exceed $1,000,000. Even substantial modifications to an existing line should be much smaller in comparison. The only pro I can think would be if you existing line were already at peak capacity, and the new line would allow for additional growth. What are the mass flow elevating options that can handle different container sizes without change-over?The Live Drum Spiral is mass flow, regular incline conveyors if you have the floor space. What kinds of tasks are you eliminating when you run the similar sizes one right after the other on your line? The OEM equipment such as fillers and cartoners, will always requires some level of changeover, but you can eliminate the conveyor guide rail opening changes from every size, to every few package sizes. You will want to test the maximum guide opening for the smallest product, and then see which larger sizes can run in that opening. What costs are included on the payback calculation? To keep it simple for the webinar we only looked at a few basic costs. The cost of the equipment that eliminated the changeover, the labor saved, the value additional products created during the saved time, and some forecasts on future sales growth. For a more accurate payback calculation you need to include installation & commissioning costs. And if this is a modification to an existing line you may need to factor in lost revenue while the line is down, or costs related to inventory buildup and storage of products in order to meet customer demand during the downtime. The accuracy of your ROI calculation is dependent upon identifying all of your costs up front. Does a bump turn utilize less floor space than a dual lane turner? Not really because you still need to have the conveyor to transport the product and the product still needs the room to rotate. A dual lane rotator can help with the automation of a rotation instead of a manual adjustment on a bump turn.