The Scenario
Cases go through a packing operation consisting of six lines feeding tapers. After exiting the tapers, five of the lines feed at a right angle into a takeaway line. That takeaway ultimately feeds a perpendicular line carrying cartons to a manual palletizing area. The last taper feeds into a 45° offset and then straight into the manual palletizing area.
The Original Solution
The original solution discussed with the customer called for live roller conveyors combined with photo-eyes and PLC control at merge points. The project contained a total of 10 drives ranging from 1/2 HP - 2 HP. Total linear footage including the curves was approximately 200 feet. This initial solution was presented to the customer but did not provide a favorable ROI.
A Better Way
By re-thinking the scenario and considering the use of Hytrol's E24™ & EZLogic® technologies the distributor proposed another solution which provided the customer with zero-pressure accumulation throughout the entire system. This alone created a significant cost savings from the original minimum pressure proposal. In addition, PLC controlled merge points were replaced with inline control by assigning priority to the feed lines and utilizing enhanced EZLogic® module outputs to signal accumulation on the primary takeaway. The entire system required only two main power drops for motor power and two drops for EZLogic® IOP control power as opposed to the ten drives and control devices in the original solution.
| Cost Comparison |
Solution 1 |
Solution 2 |
| |
Min. Pressure
Accumulation |
Zero Pressure
Accumulation
w/ E24 & EZLogic |
| Conveyor Hardware |
$ |
45,322.00 |
$ |
42,158.00 |
| Electrical Contractor |
$ |
20,000.00 |
$ |
000.00 |
| Mechanical Contractor |
$ |
4,000.00 |
$ |
3,000.00 |
| Total Installed Price |
$ |
69,332.00 |
$ |
45,158.00 |
Significant Savings
The new proposal was 35% less than the original proposal and within the customer's budget. Installation of the entire system took less than two days and required no outside electrical contractor. The customer, who is completely satisfied with the new system wound up with a low maintenance, low noise, zero pressure conveyor system installed in record time for less.
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