Custom Solution Stories
Structural steel fabrication industry:
Problem:
Blast cleaning parts in this company, using an airblast system in their current blast cleaning operation, usually took two men a total of 30 man hours to blast clean one 40 to 50 foot long I Beam ranging in height up to 42”. Due to an increase in business, it was necessary to find a way to dramatically reduce the time it took to blast clean their parts while reducing labor costs. In addition, due to space constraints, any solution would also require that it was going to be necessary to blast clean steel plates up to 4 feet in width in the same machine.
Alexander Industrial Solution:
After consulting with the staff at Alexander Industrial and the engineers in the Engineered Products division of Goff, a solution was found to be in the Goff structural pass through SB 4-25 blast machine that was custom designed to handle not only I Beams up to 42” in height but also blast steel plates vertically up to 4 feet in width. The cycle time to accomplish an SP-6 finish for a 40 foot beam was reduced from 30 man hours to 4 minutes (for an SP-10 finish the cycle time was reduced to 8 minutes).
Investment casting company:
Problem:
Traditional manufacturing processes usually took 4 weeks to completely manufacture a product from design to completion, which made it difficult to compete due to the long production cycles, high labor costs, slow deliveries, and falling prices. Lean manufacturing seemed to be the way to go in solving this company’s dilemma. However, a problem was identified in the blast cleaning processes where a bottle neck in production hampered the need to reduce the entire manufacturing processes.
Alexander Industrial Solution:
After consulting with the staff at Alexander Industrial, it was recommended that the Goff 2024 D Spinner Hanger would be the perfect machine to go into a lean manufacturing cell. The Goff 2024 D Spinner Hanger was specifically designed for the harsh environment of the investment casting industry. Now, an operator not only operates the Goff 2024 D Spinner Hanger in a lean cell, he also concurrently handles 3 to 4 other operations in the cell. No longer a bottleneck, the total manufacturing time for a product, from design to completion, was reduced from 4 weeks to 6 days.
Aerospace industry:
Problem:
Hampered by slow air blast cleaning processes and strict customer requirements, this company needed to find a way to reduce 60 minute cycle times that they were experiencing in their current air blast cleaning process to clean only 2 parts while finding an abrasive that would allow their parts to pass required humidity tests performed by their customer.
Alexander Industrial Solution:
After consulting with a team that included Alexander Industrial, Goff engineers, and a stainless steel abrasive supplier, it was recommended that a new product, Grittal, be used in a Goff 2460 D Spinner Hanger. Grittal, a stainless steel grit, made it possible to switch to a high production blast machine in order to radically increase production, reduce cycle times, reduce labor costs per part, and meet the demanding requirements of the customer. No longer did it take 60 minutes to complete 2 parts. One chamber in a 2460 D Spinner Hanger, holding as many as 12 to 15 parts, could now provide the right finish in less than 3 to 4 minutes.
Energy industry:
Problem:
The recreational propane tank saw a dramatic increase in growth in just a few years. The increased demand for recycled and re-filled tanks required this company to take a fresh look at how to increase blast cleaning paint, rust, and grime from the tanks prior to a new coat of powder coating. An in-line blast cleaning system was needed that would fit between the company’s processes of an aqueous pass through machine and the re-fill station.
Alexander Industrial Solution:
After consulting with the staff at Alexander Industrial Sales, it was recommended that a U Shaped Monorail blast machine (PTM 4-15) with 4-15 HP blast wheels on two oscillating pods would match the line speed and monorail height currently in place while providing the increased required demands for production. In addition, Alexander Industrial, in consultation with the engineers at Goff, offered another solution to blast clean larger propane tanks by modifying a standard 4884 Hanger Table, designing a front door-back door approach, so that the larger tanks would also move through a monorail pass through system through several production processes. Innovative thinking reduced labor costs and increased production.