Customer Success Story: Purpose-Built Automated Material Handling Equipment

At a time when plant investment is carefully weighed against a host of other opportunities, every production line design nuance is important for processing success to occur. Having a relationship with a supplier that specializes in custom, purpose-built automated material handling equipment (AMHE) and system integration is a critical asset to a project.

At Creative Automation our engineering teams are smart innovators who understand the mechanics of production flow and how to design purpose-built equipment to perform well beyond the minimum requirements. This is why Creative Automation equipment performs more reliably and lasts longer, providing a stronger return on investment and lower maintenance costs over the life of the equipment.

Designing for Space Constraints, Heavier Loads and Longer Performance
One of Creative Automation’s door manufacturing customers required AMHE for a double end tenoner line. Automatic feeding, conveying and stacking machinery was required and it had to fit within a certain space in the plant. Further, the line would require handling of exceptionally heavy doors, requiring stronger equipment components and innovative solutions for maximizing throughput of product with a wide range of weights.

To achieve this, Creative Automation suggested several custom design features that have enabled the line to function without interruption for long periods.

Practical Insights Yield Better Performance
Because the customer’s production needs called for a relatively small number of 750 pound doors, the feeder and stacker were proposed to have automatic door weighing capabilities. There was no need to incur higher engineering and component costs to handle the heaviest doors at the highest cycle rate. Instead, doors would be weighed automatically and the carriage speeds for the heaviest doors would be automatically slowed down a bit.

Creative Automation utilized a common beam for the feeder and stacker carriages, saving valuable floor space. Additionally, variable frequency drives, as opposed to abrupt starting and stopping contactors, were recommended to run all motors for smooth, controlled operation and reduced equipment wear.

A piece separating mechanism was designed into the feeder to ensure that only one door at a time would be picked up— double feeds are a relatively common occurrence in some lines, reducing profitability by slowing throughput and increasing labor costs.

Recognizing that system integration is key to the success of a line, Creative Automation initiated discussions with the manufacturer of the European double end tenoner. Details were worked out to ensure that the material handling equipment was designed to interface correctly with the tenoner mechanically and electrically.

Finally, Creative Automation designed custom machine software for different feeding and stacking modes to enable the broadest continued use of the equipment.

The Proof of the Pudding...
The old phrase, “The Proof of the Pudding is in the Tasting” is just another way of saying, “Ideas are Only Great if they Work”! In July, 2009, the line was installed, and the material handling equipment was integrated with the European double end tenoner. To date, the material handling equipment has performed to original specifications—the same expectation we have of all Creative Automation projects.

Do You Have a Material Handling Challenge?
If you are considering a production expansion or automation upgrade, before you award the job consult with an AMHE expert like Creative Automation. Our purpose-built material handling systems and expert system integration have solved countless processing challenges since our beginning over 40 years ago.

Call Creative Automation today at 715-223-6321 to begin discussions on how we can partner together to provide your plants with what we believe is the best-designed, best-built automated production equipment in the world.