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Custom Automatic Storage and Retrieval System
Keeps the Client from Being in the Dark
Application: Morrison engineering and account management team devises state-of-the-art solution for precise manufacturing process
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Client Need:
Remember back to the year 2000, prior to the Enron debacle when the electric power industry was struggling to maintain capacity. In this industry, market share is extremely important. The slightest dip in share can mean many hundreds of millions in lost revenue. Morrison Company’s client is a manufacturer of blades & vanes used on turbines for electric power generation. This leading manufacturer had two opposing issues. Their largest client, General Electric, had informed them that to maintain market share they would need a constant supply of blades. Our client’s problem was limited space to store work-in-process inventories.Fabricating the rotating blades begins by pouring special molten nickel superalloys into a ceramic mold made from a wax pattern formed in a die. The manufacturing process is complex, allowing for internal cooling passages to withstand turbine temperatures of 2,400 F or more. These molds are extremely fragile and must be made to the highest tolerances so the turbine generators can work efficiently. Our client’s management assembled a manufacturing project team of internal and external industrial engineers to devise a storage and retrieval solution. The solution originally conceived was a series of overhead conveyor storage loops. This solution, however, was soon scrapped because it took too much room in an already confined space. Morrison Company was asked to analyze the problem and devised a solution that was automated, took up little space, was highly accurate and could be justified within a two-year ROI.
Morrison Company Solution:
Working to assemble a team of component suppliers, Morrison Company devised a totally custom application of standard automation components. The genius surrounding this project was threefold: the unique design enabling an operator to enter the molds to be retrieved into a touch-screen control panel, the engineering behind the stacker crane, and the communication protocol devised allowing the controls to interpret commands and direct the retrieval of the molds.The Morrison Company design engineering and account management team coordinated the activity of five independent component manufacturers. While the project was underway, manufacturing was maintained and the manufacturing management team was able to test the new processes real time.
Results:
The critical component of the ROI justification was the savings in payroll costs. Prior to this project, in order to maintain work-in-process inventories a three-shift, seven day a week operation was needed. By creating a more efficient model, this operation was reduced to a five day a week, three-shift process. Additionally the more efficient storage and retrieval process made die handling easier resulting in decreased scrap.The project leader of the manufacturing management team stated, “Morrison Company thought out of the box and created a real solution for us.”
Client Profile:
Precision Castparts Corp. is a worldwide, diversified manufacturer of complex metal components and products. It serves the aerospace, power generation, automotive, and general industrial and other markets. PCC is the market leader in manufacturing large, complex structural investment castings, airfoil castings, and forged components used in jet aircraft engines and industrial gas turbines.
About Morrison Company:
Contact Morrison Company for an engineered handling system to solve any needs. Morrison Company offers solutions in the following areas:
- Carton and Pallet Flow Systems
- Conveyors
- Cranes and Hoists
- Mezzanines and Work Platforms
- Lift Tables
- Racking
- Shelving
- Vacuum Lifts
- Design Engineering Services
- Installation and Project Management
440-946-8505, or sales@morrisoncompany.com, or www.morrisoncompany.com
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