CHANGEOVERS RAPIDLY IMPACT PROFITABILITY
IMPROVING THE SPEED OF MACHINERY CHANGEOVERS, CONSEQUENTLY DECREASING DOWNTIME, RAISES PRODUCTIVITY AND PROFITS.
A company that fully understands the benefits of rapid changeovers is Morrison Container Handling Solutions, Glenwood, Ill. “There are a number of benefits from a good rapid changeover system,” explains Chris Wilson, engineering director. “First is the reduced time to install parts for a new container. The installation of quick change parts usually doesn’t require tools. The quick changeovers can be done with less skilled employees since tools are not required and the parts are often color coded to correspond to product size.
A good system, once set up, requires no adjustment after installation and this is often the biggest payback—little or no time spent tweaking the setup before production speeds are reached, which also reduces the amount of non-conforming product,” Wilson says. He points out that rapid changeover parts usually are lighter, an important consideration in today’s diverse workforce and considering workmen’s compensation issues. An increase in available production time is also a plus, but Wilson says the most important benefit is better team performance.
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In Verified Changeover mode, Serpa Packaging solutions uses digital dials (above) and dials (below) that show the current value of the changeover point as well as the target value. |
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There are several factors which can limit the return on investment in new change parts, however. “If line capacity is not constrained, there may be no incentive to invest in rapid changeover. If labor agreements control the number of people required to do the changeover or the skill level of the people who do the work, the gain may be limited,” Wilson points out.
Just how far a company is willing to go and how much they are willing to invest is an individual decision. As Wilson says, “This varies from the ‘I think we’ll give it a try’ to formal evaluation of the estimated return. In general, I think the companies over-estimate the return of just buying the parts and under-estimate the training required to get the real advantage of the conversion.
“Quick line changeover success can be defined as significant, sustainable and continuously improving time and quality for changing from one product to another,” he continues. “Lean sets the Holy Grail for line changeovers as one minute. What does it take to get buy-in to achieve quick line changeover success?”
Three years ago Morrison Container Handling Solutions adopted a two-prong approach to becoming a lean company (PMT May/June 2008) and the buy-in necessary for successfully achieving that goal: develop the then-current leadership to work in a team environment; and develop everyone in the organization into functioning well in teams.
One of the company’s best success stories is Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR), Waterbury, Vt. (PMT Nov/Dec 2006). Working through Schneider Packaging Equipment, GMCR installed a rotary carton erector and carton packing machine, designed and fabricated for positive control of the then-new single-use K-cups throughout the machine. The cartoner uses timing screws from Morrison on the cartoner infeed to control and provide an accurate cup count prior to the cartoner load station.
ERGONOMIC CHANGE PARTS
Septimatech Group Inc., Waterloo, Ont., is recognized for its RXNT (Rapid Exchange No Tool) change parts. The products consist of nucleus parts, which are timed only once at installation on the machine and container-specific satellite parts, which can be installed on only one nucleus, eliminating any timing or discretionary set-up and virtually eliminating the possibility of mistakes. According to Jim O’Keeffe, vice president, marketing and sales, the parts are also lightweight, which reduces the possibility of strains and injuries and minimizes accident claims. He says RXNT benefits a company financially by reducing overtime hours caused by excessive downtime. Since any person can perform the changeover without tools, mechanics are freed to perform other maintenance and trouble-shoot problems elsewhere in the plant. The products conform to World Class Manufacturing and 5S principles.
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The Wayne Automation T-Bar Tooling has two sets of preset inserter arm assemblies and is pre-wired and pre-plumbed so only toolless quick connects are needed to plug into the partition inserter. |
O’Keeffe points out that, of all the machines on a packaging line, guide rails can be one of the most time-consuming to changeover. For that reason, Septimatech offers the Unison Guide Rail Adjustment Solution for rapid line changeover with consistent, accurate and repeatable set-up. Up to 80 feet of guide rails including S-bends, crossovers and corners can be adjusted in seconds from a single position without pneumatics. The Unison guide rail adjustment solution can be retrofitted to existing conveyors or applied to new machinery.
No stranger to the pitfalls inherent in changeovers, O’Keeffe understands the financial gains that can be realized from minimizing necessary downtime on the packaging line. As he explains, just ten minutes of lost production time on one eight-hour shift per day, running 300 containers per minute, five days a week equates to 15,000 containers each week or 780,000 containers per year.
O’Keeffe relates the true challenge faced by a multi-national consumer goods company which had previously manufactured and packaged one of its signature brands in a single facility on dedicated lines. But the rising costs of transportation eventually forced the company to move manufacturing and packaging to regional plants, which then meant a need for greater flexibility in their packaging lines to handle multiple products. “They made this decision when gas prices were still just $2 per gallon,” O’Keeffe marvels. He wonders how any company could afford to remain in dedicated plants any longerwithout adding or converting to flexible packaging lines.
ENGINEERED FOR EASE
Some machinery manufacturers engineer quick changeover features into the equipment that they build. Serpa Packaging Solutions, Visalia, Calif., builds every machine for rapid, repeatable and toolless changeover. Every changeover point is easily accessible by the machine operator. Serpa has eliminated many changeover points and change parts to allow most of its machines to be changed in less than ten minutes. All changeover points are documented and given to the customer in electronic and paper format.
As Rich James, director of marketing, explains, Serpa’s color-coded change- over is a step above the standard changeover. “It features color-coded change parts to allow for fast and easy identification of the proper parts. In addition, when a program is selected on the human machine interface (HMI), the screen can display the color of the parts that will be needed to accomplish the changeover. This changeover eliminates errors associated with using the wrong change parts on a machine,” he says.
“The newest feature offered by Serpa Packaging Solutions available on all machines is the verified changeover. This patent-pending feature allows the machine program to verify that all assemblies have been moved to the proper position and that all of the correct change parts are on the machine before allowing the machine to start,” James continues.
A third option is automatic change- over. As with color-coded and verified changeover, automatic changeover is available on every machine that Serpa builds. Automatic changeover utilizes servo, stepper and DC motors to automatically move assemblies to the proper location once a program is selected on the HMI, with no further operator intervention required.
BUILT IN CHANGEOVER
Wayne Automation Corp., Norristown, Pa., provides the new T-Bar Quick Change Inserter option available for Wayne partition inserters. According to Marsha Hays, marketing director, the option is an ideal solution for manufacturers whose requirements necessitate multiple changes from one partition style or size to another. The T-Bar Quick Change Package enables users to significantly reduce changeover time by as much as 50 percent or more.
In addition to the T-Bar Tooling, the Quick Change Package utilizes an HMI interface which, with a push of a button, unlocks the T-Bar assembly and the magazine pickup vacuum cups to facilitate the rapid repositioning of them on the new partition. A push of another button activates motorized magazine top gate and case conveyor adjustments. The T-Bar Quick Change Inserter option is available on all new Wayne Partition Inserters including the SF-400 Series with one, two or four inserter heads and the enhanced series of inserters with one or two heads.
PMT’s Packaging Line of the Year, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates line uses the Wayne Automation technology to insert a partition after the case is filled with wine bottles—resulting in a smaller carbon footprint, significant cost savings, reduced changeover time and increased line throughput. Using the partition inserter, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates achieves significant annual materials savings. (See page 38.)
Change Parts Inc., Ludington, Mich., manufactures Kwik-Change starwheels and guides for toolless changeovers, with only a quarter-turn locking hub. Color-coded sets are available for easy identification. The parts can be custom designed for new containers or for replacing worn parts. According to Ken Mattison, inside sales manager, packagers need to document the amount of time spent on changeovers per month, then contrast that with what could be saved in an investment of new change parts. He says employees appreciate that the changeovers are toolless, quick and also more ergonomic because the parts are lightweight polyethylene.
COMPETING IN A GLOBAL ECONOMY
Today’s packaging lines operate in a highly competitive global environment where flexible, lean and sustainable throughput practices are essential to obtain corporate objectives. Reduction of changeover time, increased machine uptime and efficiency has never been more important to meeting these goals.
Mary Ann Falkman is in her 15th year reporting on the packaging industry.
