Feature Rack design
it, i.e. do not let manufacturing inhibit the design. At the other end of the spectrum the business case should be to utilise assets and there- fore design something that can be built. In reality it is a mixture of both, if the benefit to the customer justifies enhancing the production line then it should be invested in.
Anyone can make a rack.
Technically it is not the most challeng- ing product to make – all that is needed is the ability to be able to cut, punch, fold, weld, paint, assemble and pack the product. The secret to good manufacturing again is simple: consis- tency, quality and on time. Automation is pivotal to solving these issues in the same way robots revolutionised the manufacturing of the car industry. Racks are no different. Removing the human element increases capacity, increases consistency and maintains quality. This allows the whole factory to modulate depending on the demands of the customer. Automation does come with some restrictions and that is specials based on customer requirements – this will typically go down a different route which will require a more labour intensive manu- facturing process, but one which can be handled really easily.
Painting and assembly The slowest process of any rack manu- facturing line is the paint line, and ensuring that this is fully utilised is an exact skill of matching demand with multiple paint changes. The paint line is not a simple process, with an onsite chemist essential, especially, for
example, at the Plymouth factory where the paint line is one of UK’s largest outside of the automotive industry. Each raw rack component is firstly cleaned using a phosphate spray that cleans the oils away from the metal surface, which then gets fully dipped into a wet paint tank. This ensures 100% coverage of the metal which
The designer needs to be aware of a plethora of
technologies that could sit within the rack’s mechanical frame
means that it has a greater resistance to corrosion. The dipped component then enters the epoxy powder coating line, the paint being a 'charged' powder. By applying an electric cur- rent to the rack component we can create a magnetic field and, if we then apply the inverse of the magnetic field to the paint particles, the powder paint effectively sticks to the rack. By vary- ing the charge you can vary the paint thickness being applied. Once the component is coated it is then put through an oven to ‘enamel’ it perma- nently. The powder coating not only provides a very efficient form of paint- ing but being a dry powder it is easier to clean down the spray booth in preparation for a different colour. Racks are then assembled to the customer specification and packed. If any damage happens it is generally incurred within transit from the manu- facturing facility to the end user, and minimising the amount of road transit is essential not only to reduce the potential of damage but also the impact on the environment.
Approximately 2000 products are stored within the production facility, allowing a rapid delivery (next day) but also a lean route to the final cus- tomer. Packaging is a necessary evil and expensive, so just as much design time and effort is spent ensuring that the packaging is fit for purpose but also cost effective.
So, as you can see, the humble rack is not so humble after all.
Rittal T: 01709 704000
www.rittal.co.uk
Enter 221
IT INFRASTRUCTURE
SOFTWARE & SERVICES
www.rittal.co.uk
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