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expert setting knowledge has been imparted. The advanced direct drive technology deployed by the IntElect series illustrates this point. Reducing a 10 second dry cycle time by just 0.55 seconds, for instance, can equate to an additional 2,274 cycles every day. Multiplied, this productivity improvement alone can add up to 14.3 extra production days!
MGS Technical Plastics is just one customer that observed an instant dry cycle time improvement of six seconds after switching from a Demag Ergotech 50ton to an IntElect2 50ton. “From these figures we can deduce that it equates to a 20 percent increase in cycles per year, giving MGS over 53 days of extra production capacity,” says area sales manager Ashlee Gough.
PEOPLE POWER
As efficient as these state-of-the-art machines are, they are only as good as the people operating them. For teams and individuals to put their best efforts into their work, they need to feel engaged, confident and valued.
When they do, quality rises and productivity soars. These are the people you want to keep. They work harder, complete tasks to the best of their ability, deliver better customer service, question
processes and are innovative problem solvers. In-person field support and professional development courses plays a huge role in delivering the right diffusion of skills to maintain this proactive level of productivity engagement. MGS technical director Judson Smythe says: “When teams feel like you are invested in their development and future, they champion further process improvements. This, in turn, has a lasting and invigorating effect.”
Nothing illustrates this point better than the eyewatering results gained when MGS participated in post-installation training. By optimising the machine set up, the Lancashire firm improved their ‘before training’ dry cycle times on the IntElect by a further 10.1 seconds. Compared to the original 29 second cycle time process, the optimised IntElect after training ran at 12.9 seconds.
Resulting in over 761,000 more cycles per year, equating to 168 days of extra production. Ashlee says: “This on-site training helps even the most astute and skilled operatives to explore the full potential of features like parallel functions and how this supports the mould opening and closing speeds.”
Adding robotics into the mix generates at
least another 5% in higher productivity. More, if manufacturers can introduce ghost shifts. To demonstrate the potential untapped after-hours production opportunities, this year’s Interplas showcase premiers a compact, fully-automated, compact IntElect75 ton turnkey cell. Managing director Nigel Flowers says: “Rather than operate split shifts or keep people in the factory until late at night, this cell illustrates to trade moulders and SMEs how they can confidently harness the benefits of automation when manufacturing standard components. “To save costs, moulding firms may introduce ‘ghost’ night shifts to ramp up their manufacturing capacity even more. Equally, day-shift teams benefit from augmented workflow processes.” For productivity to be sustained, marginal gains is the best approach. Every incremental improvement boosts productivity that little bit more. Providing polymer manufacturers with greater capacity to take on new customers and more projects. Nigel continues: “Even in the most profitable organisations, there’s great potential for improving efficiency and workforce competence. The key is to start with the basics; correct operation and setup times; review manual and automated routines; optimise machine cycle times, etc.”
14
September 2023
www.convertermag.com
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