Paving the Way for a Greater ROI with Dual Function Equipment

Overview
One of Cherry’s clients, a manufacturer and industry leader in the creation of concrete pavers for architectural use, sought a solution to improve its manufacturing processes and overall efficiencies.
 
The pavers are made of pressed concrete, measuring 24”x24” by 2” thick, and weighing 100 pounds each. This product is used in outdoor landscaping areas and for roof decks on the tops of buildings. The manufacturer distributes these pavers to landscape contractors across the United States, to the tune of approximately 6500 pallets per month. The fully loaded pallets weigh between 2400 and 4000 pounds.
 
One of the challenges the manufacturer faced was the process of getting the finished pavers onto pallets with the need for less human labor.

The pressed concrete comes off the machines in two different angles. Some emerge in horizontal fashion, while others come off in a vertical stack. Then, to allow for the secondary processes which complete the final steps for the pavers (blasting, staining or sealing), the company needs to move the pavers so that they are all aligned in the same direction on the assembly line. The means of doing so included a pallet tipper which could accommodate a 90 degree shift but required a considerable amount of manual moving of these heavy pavers so that they all aligned and could then be moved throughout the plant for warehouse storage.
 
That is where Cherry’s Industrial Equipment was brought in – to find a way to reduce manual labor and speed up the manufacturing process.


The Challenge
The company sought to overcome several obstacles in improving its manufacturing process: (1) align the direction of the pavers for the final steps of production; (2) reduce labor costs; and (3) reduce the likelihood of workplace injury.
 
The client’s existing equipment included a pallet tipper, which they had purchased from a different company than Cherry’s. The tipper had the capacity to turn the product 90 degrees. To bring the pavers into alignment, some needed to be moved 90 degrees but others needed to be turned 180 degrees. The process required a significant amount of human labor to physically pick up the pavers and re-position them manually.
 
In seeking a better solution, the client was also concerned about how to justify the potential return on investment to move forward with the design and purchase of a new piece of equipment that would improve the workflow on their assembly line.


The Solution
Jason Podjasek, Account Manager at Cherry’s, was the lead person on this client engagement.
 
“The client needed a machine that could turn both 90 degrees and 180 degrees to accommodate the different angles of the pavers, including the capability of turning the heavy pavers to their side,” he said. “They needed a tipper which also functions as an inverter. We worked with their team to design a custom inverter that would accommodate both angles and would greatly reduce the need of humans picking up and manually moving these pavers.”
 
To be certain that the new machine would meet the client’s expectations, the client sent several “test loads” to Cherry’s to put the new machine through its paces. The client’s site visit showed them that the machine would perform as expected.

The new machine performed more functions than the previous tipper. With the previous equipment, it required four laborers to handle the product. With the new machines it requires only two workers, and it reduces both the number of laborers and the time it takes to accomplish these tasks. To flip the product, and with the newer and faster machine, it requires only two workers.
 
Other features included a proximity switch that stops at 90 degrees to keep the load level for the forklift drivers.
 
Instead of hard fencing on the front side, the tipper was designed with laser scanners to wrap around the corners, so that in doing 90 and 180 degree turns on the front side it would prevent the machine from operating when a human walks within the area.
 
Cherry’s worked with the client to assist with a cost justification formula for the client’s board of directors. In reviewing the data, it showed that ROI to be strong enough that the client ended up purchasing two machines instead of one. During the client’s on-site visit they ended up adding some enhancements to both machines.


The Results
The new inverter/tipper machine is much faster than the previous equipment. When workers were involved in the repositioning of the pavers, there were periods of time when four people were “down” because of the moving of the pavers and the slowness of the first machine. The increased speed of the machine requires only two where four were needed before.
 
The time savings is about 1800 hours a year in labor cost, which is a reduction of about 50% in total cost. The return on investment should take approximately 19 months.


Conclusion
Jason notes, “Going through the process of involving engineering and inviting customers to see machines before we ship helped us win and got the customer exactly what they wanted.”

A Cherry’s differentiator is that the company treats each client engagement as unique; we do not believe that “off the shelf solutions” works. We have many points of contact with the client along the way in each process to be certain that we understand what the client needs and work to design a customized solution that will meet the client’s specific requirements.