One common enemy of production is an unbalanced flow of materials and/or processes. These unbalanced tasks on an assembly line operation create surges that can dramatically reduce overall throughput.
In the same manner as one car making a sudden stop on a busy interstate highway will cause traffic to stop or slow at the same point for hours, a sudden stoppage on an assembly line may cause an extended delay in overall production. If the stoppage or delay is due to the inability to provide parts or material in a timely manner, then The Proper Buffer could be the answer.
Buffer designs can take many forms. The most popular is accumulation conveyor. This can be accumulation tables on a high speed bottling line, zero pressure or low back pressure accumulation zones on floor conveyor, or lane accumulation on floor or overhead conveyor systems. The purpose of all accumulation conveyors is to receive and stage items from an upstream operation until the downstream operation(s) are ready. The effect is that the upstream operation is not held up due to a downstream delay and the downstream operation is not waiting for upstream part delivery.
Many operations require a more creative approach to resolve unbalanced product flow issues. Bay Industrial Group has developed a number of custom buffers for a variety of manufacturing processes. One of the most effective concepts is an accumulation “Tower”. This design allows product to be stored in a vertical direction therefore greatly reducing the floor space required. A tower may be designed to accept and deliver items in the same order as received providing a “First in – First out” (FI-FO) design. A tower may also be design to strictly balance flow. These systems receive parts from a surging upstream operation while presenting a consistence flow of parts to the downstream operations.
If you are having production issues due to an unbalanced flow of parts, material, or sub-assemblies, Bay Industrial Group may be able to help!