Reduce Downtime From Changeovers with Enoline packaging
Any manufacturer concerned about costs would want to achieve the goal of minimizing the amount of downtime experienced during changeovers. In today's market, it is necessary to provide a wide range of products in various sizes to satisfy individual customers' requirements.
The practice of merchants placing specific restrictions on the materials and packing processes used, such as requiring shelf-ready packaging, is becoming increasingly widespread. This indicates that manufacturers must fulfill these requirements by producing fewer units in a single run and increasing the number of times they change over.
Unforeseen conditions can emerge during changeovers and result in downtime. Complications such as constant delays, excessive waste, and profit losses can result when downtime is prolonged by even a few minutes due to a mechanical breakdown or an error caused by a human. Changeovers are unavoidable, but their effects on downtime can be reduced through the training of the workers and the use of mechanical solutions.
Training For The Workforce
Often, the producers run into the problem of a restricted skilled workforce. There are a limited number of trained equipment operators capable of executing a swift and successful changeover. Brief interruptions mustn't be allowed to snowball into lengthy periods of downtime.
If personnel have been trained in advance and are prepared to respond if something occurs, they will be able to correct these interruptions promptly. An in-depth investigation into the occurrences and reasons for downtime can help identify the areas in which staff most need additional training.
Acquire More Consistency
If you communicate with two separate technicians, you will get two completely different perspectives on which machinery settings are the most optimal. The increased trust that the machine will function properly after a change will result from establishing standard settings.
When you improve something's repeatability, you spend less time altering and refining the parameters. You also eliminate the need to rely on personal preferences, which can cause inconsistencies in the results.
Dealing With Components
Ambiguity, inconsistency, and errors are possible outcomes of many parts and instruments that must be utilized during a changeover. This will only increase the likelihood of damage and defects occurring. Although an Operational Manager's primary focus would be on developing more efficient operating methods to cut back on the number of minutes lost to downtime, there are mechanical workarounds that can assist the management team in more reliably achieving their objectives.
Whether this involves buying new, mechanized equipment or modernizing the technology currently used for secondary packing, here are a few things to think about. The question is not whether or not they are available; instead, it is how quickly and at what cost they can be obtained.
Proprietary parts, exclusively available from the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), rapidly become a source of ire among workers. There is a clear correlation between the speed and convenience with which parts and service personnel are available, the cost of preserving a solid in-house spare inventory, and the ability to recover quickly from downtime occurrences.
That's why at Enoline, with our 30 years of experience as a packaging machine integrator, we only work with trusted and experienced manufacturers to provide highly reliable packaging solutions. We also have over 400k parts available in our Canadian warehouse, ready to be shipped to the US or Canada in less than a day to minimize the time lost with a non-functioning machine. Contact us now to find together the perfect solution for you.
Cut Down On The Complexity
Each component possesses a certain number of charge points linked and locked to the machine to facilitate a changeover. There are also more opportunities for equipment malfunctions and line-halting breakdowns when there are more charging points. A more efficient and error-free changeover can be achieved by consolidating all change points into a single location and minimizing the number of components involved.
We believe that reducing components doesn’t mean a less efficient machine, on the contrary, by choosing trusted parts and reducing them to a minimum, we can offer you solutions that are more reliable over time and easier to use and maintain, quickly turning into a long-term profit.
Intuitive Design
Depending on the work week's schedule, a machine operator may switch between several machines or conduct only one changeover every week. Managers of shifts must contend with the passage of time and a steep learning curve when it comes time for a transition. Optimizing the machine components can alleviate some of the hassles associated with changeovers. It may sound banal, but elegance is the ability to simplify a complex subject matter. Ensure that the machine's parts are easily accessible, that there are as few moving parts as possible, and that electro-mechanical functions are replaced with digital ones.
They all result in greater uptime efficiency. Logical and concise changeover sequences and labeled change parts for both their size and purpose eliminate human mistakes and allow supervisors to make optimum use of their workforce.
We've told you before, with fewer and simpler parts, our machines are also easier to use and more intuitive, and our team can train yours to ensure you can exploit our solutions to their full potential.
Cut Down On Waste
Even while cleaning and priming are critical steps in the switchover process, the waste generated by these steps is significant. Modifications to the design, such as making the conveyor belts shorter, can be implemented to reduce the amount of product needed for priming. These changes will save money by minimizing waste, saving money when the time comes to make the changeover.
The ability to reduce waste contributes to increased accuracy in planning.
There is no possibility of unscheduled or scheduled maintenance with a packaging machine and automation system that have been carefully developed. An analysis of the packaging process can help uncover potential issues that could result in downtime and areas where improvements could be made.
Forming machines with designs that decrease the adverse effects of tool swaps, the restocking of consumables, cleaning, and other planned maintenance activities is a significant element of the solution to this problem.
Are you eager to optimize your manufacturing line with secondary packaging equipment that enables the ability of your team to conduct changeovers that are efficient, accurate, and easy to implement?
Changeovers that are quick and can be repeated in under five minutes; recipes drive changeovers to ensure repeatability and the capacity to produce product-specific recipes. Get in contact with a member of Enoline right away to find out more information about the innovative secondary packaging solutions that we provide and how they can be adapted to meet the requirements of your particular business.