You know that feeling when you're driving through the backroads, trying to get around freeway rush hour, only to hit every single red light? Like, Every. Single. Stop. Lost time and frustration fulminate into road rage and you wonder why you didn't just take the train.
In factory automation, machinery upgrades are a lot like those stop lights—slowing you down from your all-important destination. Every time a manufacturer has to replace a field component, production halts. Obviously, that lost time translates to higher purchasing costs and concerns about product quality and consistency.
Not long ago, we worked with an international multimillion-dollar food service packaging corporation with exactly that problem. Higher-than-expected field component replacements on machinery in multiple field offices made production a frustrating pace of stop-and-go. Bearings had to be switched out far earlier and more often than they expected.
Bishop-Wisecarver engineers worked closely with this packaging corporation to pinpoint the problem: the bearings weren't being installed properly. Botched installation caused premature failures and required all too many emergency replacements.
So our engineers figured out how to maximize product life by producing a training video specific to the installation issue. In the video, the engineers explain how to install and adjust the v-rollers. They also show how to calculate the proper preload.
The video was a hit. The packaging company played it in various production facilities, which cleared up the problems almost immediately. That simple fix and multimedia outreach saved the entire corporation a fortune—some $50,000 to $75,000 a year—by reducing maintenance and machinery downtime.
By the way, we upload product videos on our YouTube channel for anyone to watch. Check it out!
