The majority of our machinery installs are requested to be done over a weekend, usually starting on Friday. A weekend install requires key personnel to give up their weekend in order to minimize production interruption. The weekend of September 30, 2022 in Green Bay, WI was a particularly challenging weekend installation because an existing RetroC had to be shut down in order to be upgraded with 70 ft of auto feed live deck, and concurrently a 250 ft Lumber PickLine had to be constructed — and there was a Packers home game on Sunday to boot! [For all photos, See PDF or View in Full Issue.]
For this plant, the 70 ft of “actively passive” auto feeding live deck was replacing two full-time forklifts. The biggest fear factor was the thought of implementing just-in-time material feeding. The two full-time forklifts used to pick several jobs ahead in order to keep up with the RetroC to minimize saw idle time. Just-in-time in-line material feeding is possible because the RetroC is that reliable, and that fast.
The goal for the weekend installation team was to improve material in-feed to the RetroC to utilize as much of the RetroC’s unused capacity and to finish before Sunday’s 3:25 pm kickoff time. Packers fans are some of the best and loudest in the NFL and the weekend installation team was no exception, pushing to finish early to enjoy Green Bay becoming a huge tailgate party around Lambeau Field.
The conversion of two full-time forklifts to just one part-time position of replenishing lumber bunks on the 250 ft Lumber PickLine was a big part of the ROI calculation.
Mission accomplished, and the Packers won in OT!
When you’re ready to see these efficient and effective systems for yourself, let us know! Inside and out, LimTek Process Organization Technology will help you squeeze out more truss production and deliver quality trusses with shorter lead times to better service your customers by organizing your truss fabrication processes to maximize your investment in automation. https://limteksolutions.com/#solutions